Fall 2009 Applications!

[ImPublicHealthy]

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For those of you who have gotten into BU, did you hear from them through regular mail or through email?

I heard through regular (postal) mail. They sent a big folder.

 

[alicecalifornia]

Hi folks,

I haven't finalized to which schools I am applying, but Emory is my top choice at the moment. I am pursuing an MPH. Something like 93% of those matriculating into the program I want at Emory (Behavioral Sciences / Health Education) were female, and as a bonafide male, I like those odds!

I am also very interested in George Washington U. I had originally intended to apply to Columbia and UC-Berkeley but looking deeper into the programs dissuaded me from applying.

It has been hard for me to find programs...I want to work in mental health issues specifically and many schools do not exactly tailor to this concept. Instead some programs are better outlets than others (Health Policy / Management programs are hit or miss on this topic). This means I have had to spend a lot of time researching the programs themselves and contacting admissions / recruitment folk and faculty researchers tp figure out of the programs are a good fit.

Would anyone here have any advice specifically for someone interested in mental health and mental illness issues in general?

Cloudchaser:

I have the same sets of interests as you. I have been mostly interested in Columbia and JHP since I've started research. What turned you off about Columbia? are you interested in psychiatric epidemiology or more mental health administration stuff?

Alicecalifornia

 

[troopa]

I heard through regular (postal) mail. They sent a big folder.

Does anyone know how BU notifies you of a rejection?

 

[aquastar]

Hi.Im applying for fall-2009 mph programs.I've been accepted by hopkins,yale and emory..so far for an MPH in epidemiology.Does anyone have any idea which program would be the best among these?
I've applied to Harvard(MS in chronic disease).Still awaiting a decision,which adds to the confusion.....:-(
Since I am an international graduate,i was thinking of emory-tuition fee for two years equals one yr tuition fee at hopkins.Plus extra time to give my mle steps...but then again,how do i let go of a hopkins admit...??oof!

 

[Bizzle4Rizzle]

Hi aquastar

Congrats on your admit to Hopkins! Am curious to know when you submitted your app and when u got acceptance. I also applied to Hopkins though I applied to HPM. I havent heard from them yet. . .am quite anxious. Also can I have an idea of your stats? Thanks. I am also an international student

 

[watereverywhere]

Hi aquastar, congrats! Do you mind letting us know when you submitted your app and when you heard back? I applied to hopkins and yale as well (different programs though)

 

[gsbound]

GSBound-

Yale is a phone interview with an alumn

For me, Minnesota is an on-campus tour/interview

I too will be at Michigan on Feb. 2 for the Visit Day! From what I understand, if they invite you to visit day, you have a very good shot at getting in, so that is good news.

The only problem w SLU's funding, is that they want an answer by mid-feb, which might be before I hear from other schools! SLU is one of my top choices, but if I have an offer for more cash from a different school, that might change things. I don't know what to do!

Good luck!

Thanks for the info 👍

Hmmmm...doesn't a GRA position take care of the tuition and health insurance? I couldn't ask for much more from one of my top choices...but I'm saying that while still holding onto hope that I can get a fellowship somewhere that offers tuition support plus a stipend (give me that MacArthur Scholars Fellowship and I'm DONE...talk about a slim chance lol). I applied later than other schools to SLU and should have my interview not too far from now (they are QUICK)...if accepted and get a comparable funding offer, I really hope they don't put me in that same situation :-/

April 15th still holds as the national deadline where accepting the offer really becomes binding. Anything before that, sure I'd feel bad saying yes and then saying no but...gotta do what you do. I think anybody would understand that. You'd still be in the position where it just kinda looks bad (even though it's a situation that they set up) and not where you have to get an official release from them. Forgot where I read it, but I think someone last year had a scholarship offer from Michigan and they gave until early March to accept it. We should hear back pretty soon after the interview in Feb. but I'm not sure when the scholarship offer will be laid out to us.

My advice, based off of what I'd do in that situation:

1) talk to Bernie. Tell him the situation (which he should certainly be aware of considering that's very early for us applicants waiting to even hear back from other schools)

2) if it's still a cloudy situation, accept it and then see what you get elsewhere. can't let the offer just drop. it's a great offer 👍 congratulations on that again.


waiting on pins and needles for a yale or bu package in the mail

 

[jdando]

jdando - which school sent you this email? I bet it's a good sign!

It was for Drexel - it's now been 9 days... nothing has come in the mail and the email says they can't give admissions info over email or phone...

I think it's strange they had 12/24 (at the earliest) until 1/2 to review the application and send a decision??!!?

Waiting to hear from JHSPH, BU, GWU and Penn

 

[FenderBender81]

Hi folks,

I haven't finalized to which schools I am applying, but Emory is my top choice at the moment. I am pursuing an MPH. Something like 93% of those matriculating into the program I want at Emory (Behavioral Sciences / Health Education) were female, and as a bonafide male, I like those odds!

I am also very interested in George Washington U. I had originally intended to apply to Columbia and UC-Berkeley but looking deeper into the programs dissuaded me from applying.

It has been hard for me to find programs...I want to work in mental health issues specifically and many schools do not exactly tailor to this concept. Instead some programs are better outlets than others (Health Policy / Management programs are hit or miss on this topic). This means I have had to spend a lot of time researching the programs themselves and contacting admissions / recruitment folk and faculty researchers tp figure out of the programs are a good fit.

Would anyone here have any advice specifically for someone interested in mental health and mental illness issues in general?

Hi CloudChaser,

I am also interested in mental health issues. My top choice is Johns Hopkins. I'm actually going to go visit them next week to see what their program is like. Where else did you say offers mental health issues related to Public Health?

 

[honeysuckle]

OMG everyone has basically already applied, waited and received final decisions, based on this thread. SOPHAS hasn't even forwarded my freakin application yet (there were transcript issues which held everything up 🙁) Are ALL the spots taken at places with rolling admissions? Is there anything left??

 

[FenderBender81]

OMG everyone has basically already applied, waited and received final decisions, based on this thread. SOPHAS hasn't even forwarded my freakin application yet (there were transcript issues which held everything up 🙁) Are ALL the spots taken at places with rolling admissions? Is there anything left??

I just sent in my applications too... don't worry.

 

[cutejz1982]

i will be submitting my sophas application today, just tweaking my statement of purpose...

but yeah, have yet to take the GREs..hopefully by feb 1st week....

how late am i generally????

 

[erikalindsay]

i will be submitting my sophas application today, just tweaking my statement of purpose...

but yeah, have yet to take the GREs..hopefully by feb 1st week....

how late am i generally????

You're pushing it since it takes a little while for the writing part of the GRE to be graded (several weeks back when I took it in '05). Not sure when your deadlines are, though.

 

[futureepi]

Has anyone heard anything (confirmation of application, particularly) from UMich MPH/Epi? I applied before the priority deadline of 12/15 and haven't heard a peep from them.


Congrats to all who have received acceptances thus far!

 

[bigpharmD]

Has anyone heard anything (confirmation of application, particularly) from UMich MPH/Epi? I applied before the priority deadline of 12/15 and haven't heard a peep from them.


Congrats to all who have received acceptances thus far!

futureepi are you a MD?

 

[watereverywhere]

I applied to Umich and Yale through SOPHAS on 12/14. Yale sent me a confirmation a day or so ago. Umich - not a word

 

[gsbound]

Has anyone heard anything (confirmation of application, particularly) from UMich MPH/Epi? I applied before the priority deadline of 12/15 and haven't heard a peep from them.


Congrats to all who have received acceptances thus far!

Not epi but hmp...My apps were sent out by SOPHAS early December and I received confirmation from Umich...I wanna say within a week but def by mid-December.

I would follow up on it.

 

[jdn]

Has anyone else received an interview invite from UNC Chapel Hill? Is this a good or bad sign? How hypothetically damaging would it be to an application if one didn't attend? (I live on the other side of the country, would find it difficult to take time off work/finance a trip to NC, etc.)

(Sorry if the question's been covered before -- nothing came up when I searched old threads.)

Thanks!

 

[ncbabyblue717]

Has anyone else received an interview invite from UNC Chapel Hill? Is this a good or bad sign? How hypothetically damaging would it be to an application if one didn't attend? (I live on the other side of the country, would find it difficult to take time off work/finance a trip to NC, etc.)

(Sorry if the question's been covered before -- nothing came up when I searched old threads.)

Thanks!

I just received one today...pretty excited about it! I would think it's a good sign, because the email said that the interview is a required part of the admissions process. Sorry, I don't know how damaging it would be, but maybe you could explain the situation to the admissions office and see if an alternative could be reached (e.g. phone interview or interview with an alumni who lives in your area).

Anyhow, I booked everything for the trip already, and it's not too expensive ($110 for hotel, $224 for roundtrip flight from CA). The interview would be a great chance for you to check out the school too!

 

[futureepi]

I applied to Umich and Yale through SOPHAS on 12/14. Yale sent me a confirmation a day or so ago. Umich - not a word

watereverywhere - sounds like the same timeline as me. glad I'm not the only one!

 

[watereverywhere]

futureepi -

Just got an email from Umich saying they received my app through SOPHAS. Had to verify my information by creating a Umich account, and clicking a button or two. Hope you got the email, also!

 

[justchillaxing]

i submitted to umich on 12/15. just got a confirmation email today.

 

[futureepi]

I got the confirmation today as well - now the waiting and finger crossing begins!

 

[TJNYM]

What program were those of you who received an interview invite from UNC applying to? Unfortunately one of my recommendation letters must have gotten lost in the mail and never arrived at UNC, so I had to have it re-submitted earlier this week. I hope that doesn't kill my chances.

 

[ncbabyblue717]

What program were those of you who received an interview invite from UNC applying to? Unfortunately one of my recommendation letters must have gotten lost in the mail and never arrived at UNC, so I had to have it re-submitted earlier this week. I hope that doesn't kill my chances.

MHA in Health Policy & Management. I think you should be fine. I actually had to resend one of my transcripts at the end of last week because they never received it. 🙁 So yes, don't stress. 😀

 

[UnsunnedSnow]

Due to a foul up with some transcripts, I wasn't able to e-submit until early this month but turn around on SOPHAS end (verification) seems to be moving pretty quick.

Anyone know if UNC HBHE department usually extends interview offers? Also, does anyone have any experience in terms of how long it takes them to let you know?

Anyone know what the next SOPHAS mailing date is?

 

[watereverywhere]

I got the confirmation today as well - now the waiting and finger crossing begins!

For the information verification, did you only have to verify your name and birthdate? That's all I did, hoping I didn't miss anything.

 

[gsbound]

Got an email from Minnesota today!!!

(but it was just a student newsletter) 😕

 

[jdn]

I just received one today...pretty excited about it! I would think it's a good sign, because the email said that the interview is a required part of the admissions process. Sorry, I don't know how damaging it would be, but maybe you could explain the situation to the admissions office and see if an alternative could be reached (e.g. phone interview or interview with an alumni who lives in your area).

Anyhow, I booked everything for the trip already, and it's not too expensive ($110 for hotel, $224 for roundtrip flight from CA). The interview would be a great chance for you to check out the school too!

Cool, that's actually a lot cheaper than I thought it'd be (I'm in CA as well), and it'd definitely be nice to check out the school/area. Time to pull out those unused sick days... 😀

What program were those of you who received an interview invite from UNC applying to? Unfortunately one of my recommendation letters must have gotten lost in the mail and never arrived at UNC, so I had to have it re-submitted earlier this week. I hope that doesn't kill my chances.

MSPH in HP&M. I think you'll be okay, too -- one of my recommenders couldn't figure out the online rec system and finally had to email in her letter earlier this week. They seem to be pretty understanding about the supplementary materials, as long as you submitted your part of the application on time.

 

[TJNYM]

Thanks for the info about UNC. I am actually applying to the Epi program and thought I remembered reading that they don't generally do interviews, so I was curious as to which program you guys were applying to.

For whatever reason its been such a pain to get all my applications everywhere. The SOPHAS stuff went really smoothly, but I applied to 3 non-SOPHAS schools and it seems like something went wrong in all of them. I think a couple are still missing my transcripts too. Ugh, so irritating.

 

[jdando]

Got the acceptance from Drexel today with a merit scholarship. Still waiting on 4 other schools. Fingers crossed!
GL!!!

 

[FutureMDMPH]

Was accepted at Yale and Dartmouth. Still no word from Harvard...

Applied to all of them in early December.

 

[watereverywhere]

Congrats! Mind putting up stats - and which programs? Thanks for letting us know when you applied (we're all waiting in agony, I'm sure)!

 

[moreschoolagain]

i'll second the motion for stats/schools


gpa: 3.5
gre: 750 v / 790 q

bu, columbia, yale, harvard. submitted mid december, no word yet from any.

 

[watereverywhere]

yikes - moreschoolagain, your GRE score is really great!

gpa: 3.2
gre: 630 v / 770 q

yale, hopkins, unc, umich, MIT... submitted all by mid-late december, still waiting!

 

[ChnMnStn]

GRE: Q630 /V650
GPA: 3.4
Experience: 1.5 year in China for INGOs, 6 months in Africa for USAID

Schools: Emory, UofWashington, UCBerkeley, UNC, Hopkins, Harvard
All in global health
Applications sent mid-late December

Good luck!

 

[FutureMDMPH]

GPA: 3.5
MCAT: 31R
Am in third year of med school now. Spent a year doing HIV research in a public health agency.

Yale - applied to IH and health policy. Accepted into health policy.
Dartmouth - no tracks. Accepted.
Harvard - global health. No word yet.

 

[TJNYM]

I'll join the stats party....

GRE's: 660v/540q 620v/550q (can't figure out why I've done so bad on math)
GPA: 3.6 undergrad, 3.85 grad work
-I'm currently in a experimentally based grad psych program now, working on various research projects

Schools
Yale, Minnesota, Albany, Univ Illinois-Chicago, Pitt, Boston Univ, UNC, South Carolina, Columbia, Brown.

Its a mix of programs, MPH and/or PhD, mostly epi programs though some Brown is general public health, and the Columbia one is sociomedical sciences.

Sent most of the applications out around mid December, haven't heard back on any decisions yet.

 

[jdando]

I'll join in on this. My SOPHAS went out on the 12/24 mailing and i submitted all other apps (bedsides JHSPH 11/28) around that time.

 

[newname]

I submitted mid-December. My apps were sent by SOPHAS 12/24. How long do you guys think it will take to hear back? I'm very anxious...

Undergrad GPA: 3.86
GRE: V620 Q730; I took it twice and these are my top scores. How do most schools look at the scores? Average them? Just look at highest?

I've worked as a grant writer for an international development NGO for 1 1/2 years.

Applied to Yale, BU, JHSPH, Emory, Tulane, LSHTM, Oxford, Harvard and GW, all for int'l health. I haven't heard back from any of them.

 

[jdando]

I submitted mid-December. My apps were sent by SOPHAS 12/24. How long do you guys think it will take to hear back? I'm very anxious...

Undergrad GPA: 3.86
GRE: V620 Q730; I took it twice and these are my top scores. How do most schools look at the scores? Average them? Just look at highest?

I've worked as a grant writer for an international development NGO for 1 1/2 years.

Applied to Yale, BU, JHSPH, Emory, Tulane, LSHTM, Oxford, Harvard and GW, all for int'l health. I haven't heard back from any of them.

newname - you have great scores and great gpa - you should get in to most schools!

Reagrding taking the gre twice - from what I've heard, they look at your best score or if they see both, they look at the amount you improved. Don't worry about it.

Good luck!

 

[152364]

Is anybody here applying to UT Houston's School of Public Health DrPH or PhD program? I cannot for the life of me figure out how to complete their application. Heeeeeelp......please?

 

[Wiingy]

Thought that I would join in on the stats party... I wish that I had found this site for public health earlier! First, a bit of shameless self-promotion... I set up a quick website with some info on applying (as the public health application system is wayyyy less streamlined than the med school one) and rankings with links to application sites. I'd appreciate it if you guys could check it out and tell me what you think (http://somewhereelse.weebly.com/public-health.html and http://somewhereelse.weebly.com/rankings.html).

Moving on...
Stats:
Undergraduate GPA: 3.48
GRE: 680V/780Q/Writing=6
MCAT: 10V/10PS/15BS/R
Experience in microbio labs, hospital volunteering, and Fulbright

Applications sent out from SOPHAS on 11/26:
MSPH at Emory in Global Epidemiology, accepted on 21 Jan 09

MPH at Michigan in International Health, confirmation of reciept, still waiting for decision BUT got an email from the admin dept. that says Epi at UMich has just finished reviewing PhD and are moving on to MPH, expect a decision in 4-6 weeks (yay more waiting!)

MPH at Washington (epi), confimation of reciept, nothing else

MPH at Columbia (epi), confirmation of reciept, said to wait until early March

MPH at UAB (International Health), accepted on the 9 Dec 08, scholarship offers pending FAFSA and reciept of transcripts from international school currently attending.

Sorry for the long post, hope some of it was helpful!

 

[emjill]

I thought I would join in on the Stats sharing.

GPA-3.4(including some grades from SPH)

GRE- V540 Q680 W5.0

1 year on a fellowship working with refugees in SE Asia followed by 1.5 years at a Refugee service NGO

I have heard from and been excepted to Tulane and Emory for Global Health Programs. I am still really hoping for Berkeley's Community Health Education Program but it sounds pretty competitive..... Does anyone have any input?

Additionally, does anyone have a better idea of when Berkeley will send out their acceptance/rejection information? The email I got said "by April 15" which seems very late..........

Thanks and congrats to everyone who has been accepted so far!!

 

[Wiingy]

I thought I would join in on the Stats sharing.

GPA-3.4(including some grades from SPH)

GRE- V540 Q680 W5.0

1 year on a fellowship working with refugees in SE Asia followed by 1.5 years at a Refugee service NGO

I have heard from and been excepted to Tulane and Emory for Global Health Programs. I am still really hoping for Berkeley's Community Health Education Program but it sounds pretty competitive..... Does anyone have any input?

Additionally, does anyone have a better idea of when Berkeley will send out their acceptance/rejection information? The email I got said "by April 15" which seems very late..........

Thanks and congrats to everyone who has been accepted so far!!

Hey how long did it take you to hear back from Emory's Global Health Program... I've been waiting for about 5 weeks now.

 

[moreschoolagain]

this is probably a dumb question, but how do you find out what it is ? does it come by mail, and if so, what's the time frame?
thank you so much!

 

[emjill]

Emory took about 6 weeks from when it was sent out from SOPHAS, but that includes the time between XMas and New Years. I had been checking on OPUS and saw it there, but then got an email from Fedex a few days later notifying me that Emory was sending me stuff. OPUS is the best way to do it, plus you can check it constantly. BTW how long did it take for those of you who have heard from Michigan?

 

[ImPublicHealthy]

this is probably a dumb question, but how do you find out what it is ? does it come by mail, and if so, what's the time frame?
thank you so much!

Your writing score will come by mail, typically within 2-3 weeks.

Once it is graded (which generally takes 1.5-2 weeks), the score will be available by phone as well, for a $12 fee

To find out if it has been graded, call ETS and ask.

 

[Wiingy]

Emory took about 6 weeks from when it was sent out from SOPHAS, but that includes the time between XMas and New Years. I had been checking on OPUS and saw it there, but then got an email from Fedex a few days later notifying me that Emory was sending me stuff. OPUS is the best way to do it, plus you can check it constantly. BTW how long did it take for those of you who have heard from Michigan?

Thanks for the update, I'm coming up close on 6 weeks and just wanted to make sure that that was normal.

 

[honeysuckle]

When is the next SOPHAS mailing date, anyone know??? My last transcript was FINALLY logged into SOPHAS on Jan 16, and SOPHAS has not calculated my GPA yet. Everything else is in, though. How long does it take them to calc your GPA and do they have to do that before they send everything out??

What's the point, I'm assuming it's a bit too late, anyway. I'm applying to BU, UIC, and USF in social/behavioral sciences and community health [b/c I'm not good enough for epi :-( ] Uggggghh.