PhD Epidemiology PhD schools

[deleted652242]

I kinda wanted to get a sense of what kind of programs I should realistically be applying to. Here are my stats:

UG: 3.2 GPA Biology (Top tier state school)
Grad: 3.66 MPH
GRE: 164Q, 156V, 4W

Research Experience:
Currently working (worked part-time during last year of MPH and will be 1 year full-time by Fall 2015) in a public health research (health disparities) lab.
No publications yet. I was co-author on one paper but it didn't get accepted 🙁.
Two poster presentations at a student symposium during MPH program.

My recommendations will be:
1. My PI who is has a PhD in Biostatistics (from a top 5 school in Biostats) and is published (and gives talks) often.
2. Another PI I work with. Also has a PhD in Biostatistics (same school as other PI) but seems to have fewer publications.
3. My Epidemiology professor. I took two courses with her and was her research assistant for a few months.

Right now I'm thinking of applying to:

1. Emory
2. Yale
3. Brown
4. Boston
5. Tulane
6. University of Washington
7. Columbia

I'm an international student (Canadian) and I've heard it's even more competitive for international students 🙁. I have both my degrees from US schools though.

What do you all think? Am I shooting in the right range? Are there any other schools I should be looking at?
(I've been unsure about applying to Rutgers and George Washington because I couldn't find anything about their funding situation. If anyone has some info, please let me know!)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

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[niki_m14]

I kinda wanted to get a sense of what kind of programs I should realistically be applying to. Here are my stats:

UG: 3.2 GPA Biology (Top tier state school)
Grad: 3.66 MPH
GRE: 164Q, 156V, 4W

Research Experience:
Currently working (worked part-time during last year of MPH and will be 1 year full-time by Fall 2015) in a public health research (health disparities) lab.
No publications yet. I was co-author on one paper but it didn't get accepted 🙁.
Two poster presentations at a student symposium during MPH program.

My recommendations will be:
1. My PI who is has a PhD in Biostatistics (from a top 5 school in Biostats) and is published (and gives talks) often.
2. Another PI I work with. Also has a PhD in Biostatistics (same school as other PI) but seems to have fewer publications.
3. My Epidemiology professor. I took two courses with her and was her research assistant for a few months.

Right now I'm thinking of applying to:

1. Emory
2. Yale
3. Brown
4. Boston
5. Tulane
6. University of Washington
7. Columbia

I'm an international student (Canadian) and I've heard it's even more competitive for international students 🙁. I have both my degrees from US schools though.

What do you all think? Am I shooting in the right range? Are there any other schools I should be looking at?
(I've been unsure about applying to Rutgers and George Washington because I couldn't find anything about their funding situation. If anyone has some info, please let me know!)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I think you have a pretty descent shot. Just make sure to have a very strong Personal Statement to balance every element of the application. I'm also nervous because I have a pretty strong application with the exception of my GRE scores (I'm re-taking them, I have to).

My stats:
UG: Biology mayor, GPA: 3.32
Masters in Public Health, GPA: 4.0
GRE: Verbal:150; Quant:146; AW: still waiting
TOEFL: will take on December
Conference presentations: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Fellow's Day and APHA next week.
Publications: 1 publication as a primary author, two publications as a co-author submitted.
Work experience: ~2 years as a student researcher working at the CDC- Dengue Branch in Puerto Rico in numerous projects regarding infectious diseases. I'm even leading a project right now that I proposed and it might even turn into a publication.
LoRs: 1 from thesis advisor, 1 from epidemiology faculty, 1 from EIS officer/Epidemiology Group leader at CDC-Dengue Branch (this letter should be very strong).
Research interest: infectious diseases, emerging diseases, epidemiology, neglected tropical diseases, surveillance
Additional info: I'm in the student council, vice-president of a public health student association, secretary of my class. I've been involved in countless community outreach projects including vaccination campaigns and providing food and care to homeless communities.
Programs of interest (All PhD Epi):
-Indiana Bloomington, Columbia, Yale, Tulane, Emory

 

[agh2415]

I kinda wanted to get a sense of what kind of programs I should realistically be applying to. Here are my stats:

UG: 3.2 GPA Biology (Top tier state school)
Grad: 3.66 MPH
GRE: 164Q, 156V, 4W

Research Experience:
Currently working (worked part-time during last year of MPH and will be 1 year full-time by Fall 2015) in a public health research (health disparities) lab.
No publications yet. I was co-author on one paper but it didn't get accepted 🙁.
Two poster presentations at a student symposium during MPH program.

My recommendations will be:
1. My PI who is has a PhD in Biostatistics (from a top 5 school in Biostats) and is published (and gives talks) often.
2. Another PI I work with. Also has a PhD in Biostatistics (same school as other PI) but seems to have fewer publications.
3. My Epidemiology professor. I took two courses with her and was her research assistant for a few months.

Right now I'm thinking of applying to:

1. Emory
2. Yale
3. Brown
4. Boston
5. Tulane
6. University of Washington
7. Columbia

I'm an international student (Canadian) and I've heard it's even more competitive for international students 🙁. I have both my degrees from US schools though.

What do you all think? Am I shooting in the right range? Are there any other schools I should be looking at?
(I've been unsure about applying to Rutgers and George Washington because I couldn't find anything about their funding situation. If anyone has some info, please let me know!)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I think you should have a good shot. Not having a publication isn't a deal breaker by any means. You could even mention what you learned from the rejections in your SoP. From what I've been able to find, Epi PhD acceptance rates range from ~15% at the top schools to ~25% at mid-level schools. This means there's really no such thing as a 'safety school' at the PhD level. Are you finishing your MPH this academic year? I am, and was hesitant to apply this cycle, but I'm going to give it a shot....2016 seems so far away! Planning to apply to Minnesota, Iowa, Pitt, Texas, UIC and probably a couple more.

UG: Public Health Education. GPA: 3.0
Masters in Public Health (Epidemiology) from low/mid range school of public health. GPA: ~3.8
GRE: V:160; Q:155; AW: 4.0
Conference presentations: None
Publications: 1 as second author. Submitting 3 more this spring, but won't have anything in time for my application. Name on a couple of white papers/technical reports.
Work experience: 1 semester internship w/county health department in undergrad; 1 year of AmeriCorps after graduating; 1 year full-time health education for county healthy department; 1.5 years (and counting) working for nutrition research center.
LoRs: 1 from Epi faculty advisor, 1 from faculty/work supervisor, 1 from county health department manager. These should all be pretty strong.

I think you have a pretty descent shot. Just make sure to have a very strong Personal Statement to balance every element of the application. I'm also nervous because I have a pretty strong application with the exception of my GRE scores (I'm re-taking them, I have to).

My stats:
UG: Biology mayor, GPA: 3.32
Masters in Public Health, GPA: 4.0
GRE: Verbal:150; Quant:146; AW: still waiting
TOEFL: will take on December
Conference presentations: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Fellow's Day and APHA next week.
Publications: 1 publication as a primary author, two publications as a co-author submitted.
Work experience: ~2 years as a student researcher working at the CDC- Dengue Branch in Puerto Rico in numerous projects regarding infectious diseases. I'm even leading a project right now that I proposed and it might even turn into a publication.
LoRs: 1 from thesis advisor, 1 from epidemiology faculty, 1 from EIS officer/Epidemiology Group leader at CDC-Dengue Branch (this letter should be very strong).
Research interest: infectious diseases, emerging diseases, epidemiology, neglected tropical diseases, surveillance
Additional info: I'm in the student council, vice-president of a public health student association, secretary of my class. I've been involved in countless community outreach projects including vaccination campaigns and providing food and care to homeless communities.
Programs of interest (All PhD Epi):
-Indiana Bloomington, Columbia, Yale, Tulane, Emory

Have you finished your MPH yet? I feel like it's a disadvantage to apply while still in school, as none of your Fall/
Spring grades will be reported yet. I think you have a great shot at all the schools you listed, especially if you can get that GRE score into the 60th percentile range.

 

[niki_m14]

I think you should have a good shot. Not having a publication isn't a deal breaker by any means. You could even mention what you learned from the rejections in your SoP. From what I've been able to find, Epi PhD acceptance rates range from ~15% at the top schools to ~25% at mid-level schools. This means there's really no such thing as a 'safety school' at the PhD level. Are you finishing your MPH this academic year? I am, and was hesitant to apply this cycle, but I'm going to give it a shot....2016 seems so far away! Planning to apply to Minnesota, Iowa, Pitt, Texas, UIC and probably a couple more.

UG: Public Health Education. GPA: 3.0
Masters in Public Health (Epidemiology) from low/mid range school of public health. GPA: ~3.8
GRE: V:160; Q:155; AW: 4.0
Conference presentations: None
Publications: 1 as second author. Submitting 3 more this spring, but won't have anything in time for my application. Name on a couple of white papers/technical reports.
Work experience: 1 semester internship w/county health department in undergrad; 1 year of AmeriCorps after graduating; 1 year full-time health education for county healthy department; 1.5 years (and counting) working for nutrition research center.
LoRs: 1 from Epi faculty advisor, 1 from faculty/work supervisor, 1 from county health department manager. These should all be pretty strong.



Have you finished your MPH yet? I feel like it's a disadvantage to apply while still in school, as none of your Fall/
Spring grades will be reported yet. I think you have a great shot at all the schools you listed, especially if you can get that GRE score into the 60th percentile range.

Yes! I finished my MPH. It's just the GRE scores that are haunting me. I've read that most school focus more on research and goals rather than GRE scores but I just don't want to take any chances. Those scores are just terrible.

 

[agh2415]

Yes! I finished my MPH. It's just the GRE scores that are haunting me. I've read that most school focus more on research and goals rather than GRE scores but I just don't want to take any chances. Those scores are just terrible.

I know not all schools post their admission statistics, but I've been able to find many of them by Googling "SchoolName CEPH self-study." A lot of schools post their CEPH accreditation self-study in a PDF, which requires them to list admission statistics. It's been helpful to see the GPA, GRE scores, and overall admission rate for the schools I'm looking at.

 

[niki_m14]

I know not all schools post their admission statistics, but I've been able to find many of them by Googling "SchoolName CEPH self-study." A lot of schools post their CEPH accreditation self-study in a PDF, which requires them to list admission statistics. It's been helpful to see the GPA, GRE scores, and overall admission rate for the schools I'm looking at.

Thank you!!!!!

 

[deleted652242]

I think you have a pretty descent shot. Just make sure to have a very strong Personal Statement to balance every element of the application. I'm also nervous because I have a pretty strong application with the exception of my GRE scores (I'm re-taking them, I have to).

My stats:
UG: Biology mayor, GPA: 3.32
Masters in Public Health, GPA: 4.0
GRE: Verbal:150; Quant:146; AW: still waiting
TOEFL: will take on December
Conference presentations: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Fellow's Day and APHA next week.
Publications: 1 publication as a primary author, two publications as a co-author submitted.
Work experience: ~2 years as a student researcher working at the CDC- Dengue Branch in Puerto Rico in numerous projects regarding infectious diseases. I'm even leading a project right now that I proposed and it might even turn into a publication.
LoRs: 1 from thesis advisor, 1 from epidemiology faculty, 1 from EIS officer/Epidemiology Group leader at CDC-Dengue Branch (this letter should be very strong).
Research interest: infectious diseases, emerging diseases, epidemiology, neglected tropical diseases, surveillance
Additional info: I'm in the student council, vice-president of a public health student association, secretary of my class. I've been involved in countless community outreach projects including vaccination campaigns and providing food and care to homeless communities.
Programs of interest (All PhD Epi):
-Indiana Bloomington, Columbia, Yale, Tulane, Emory

I think you have a pretty strong application! Especially with the research/work experience!

I know not all schools post their admission statistics, but I've been able to find many of them by Googling "SchoolName CEPH self-study." A lot of schools post their CEPH accreditation self-study in a PDF, which requires them to list admission statistics. It's been helpful to see the GPA, GRE scores, and overall admission rate for the schools I'm looking at.

Thanks for that pointer! Now I'm gonna go and google a bunch of schools' admissions stats! (And yeah, I already have my MPH).

 

[smarcailTU]

Anybody know anyone who has applied for an epi PhD at Rutgers?