Getting Paid at Emory BSHE??

[ATLPCV]

I recently got accepted to Emory’s BSHE department for Fall 2012. Unfortunately, I’m in the Peace Corps and won’t be home until May, so I can’t go in person and meet people.

I was wondering if anyone, especially current Emory BSHE students, might be able to provide some insight into how much a student can reasonably expect to shave off of tuition. How generous are they with merit awards? Once at RSPH, how much can a student typically earn/reduce tuition through the various work, research, or intern opportunities?

I really want to go to Emory, but I’m scared by the big price tag. I really want to work in public health and I don’t care if I make more than 40k coming out of school, but I also don’t want to go 50k or more in debt.

Any advice/experience/anecdotes you all might have about reducing Emory tuition would be greatly appreciated.

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[aerorun87]

Hi there - that's super cool you're doing an MPH after PC. I actually just got accepted into Emory's BSHE MPH/PC master's international program. I'm pretty sure as a returned peace corps volunteer you are entitled to a 25% tuition scholarship plus a nice stipend (automatically).

check it out here:

http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm...en.school_detail&coll_prog_id=11450&program=F

If you find out, it'd be great to hear if this is indeed the case. I am considering possibly doing PC before the mph (if i can defer) just to get this scholarship.
Best of luck to you!

 

[cerealrhapsody]

I'm a current MPH student at Emory, although I'm not in the BSHE dept.

Emory RSPH does give merit scholarships, but they seem to be extremely few and far between. I definitely wouldn't hold my breath for any scholarships.

The majority of Emory MPH students across all departments do typically work (either as research assistants within the school or for external organizations like CDC) for the duration of the MPH program; however, don't expect to make much more than $2000 per semester. It's helpful, but it barely makes a dent in that $13,000/semester tuition. And even that is not guaranteed.

I'm sad to say there just doesn't seem to be much financial assistance for MPH students in general. However, not being a Peace Corps volunteer myself, I don't know anything about Peace Corps-related funding....so there's that.

 

[ebp]

Hi there - that's super cool you're doing an MPH after PC. I actually just got accepted into Emory's BSHE MPH/PC master's international program. I'm pretty sure as a returned peace corps volunteer you are entitled to a 25% tuition scholarship plus a nice stipend (automatically).

check it out here:

http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm...en.school_detail&coll_prog_id=11450&program=F

If you find out, it'd be great to hear if this is indeed the case. I am considering possibly doing PC before the mph (if i can defer) just to get this scholarship.
Best of luck to you!

You could try PMing Awapi. I'm pretty sure they are a returned peace corps volunteer now at Emory and received a merit scholarship. I'm sure they can answer what you can expect as far as scholarship money.

 

[ATLPCV]

Cerealrhapsody – Thanks, that’s kind of what I was afraid of…

Aerorun87 - THANKS! I got really excited when I saw this. I looked into all the RPCV benefits before applying to schools, but this program apparently started this past September and I hadn’t seen anything about it. I’m just trying not to get too psyched until I figure out how it works…

It seems to me like it might not be an automatic thing. I guess they started this program as a pilot program in 2009. There is information about the program on the Rollins website, but I’m not sure if it’s current. I think I may have seen the same page before September, but I can’t be certain. In any case, it doesn’t mention anything about financials, which is the only thing that’s mentioned on the Peace Corps page you linked to. The Rollins webpage also implies that it’s competitive, just like all of the other Merit Awards. So while it looks AWESOME (and not just financially, the whole thing looks really cool) I’m not sure it’s something that you’re entitled to just for being an RPCV… When I find out how it works, I’ll let you know. And THANKS again! If you have any general PC questions, feel free to send them my way.

I tried to PM Awapi, but my internet here is really bad and it kept timing out and I’m not sure if it went through. Maybe they just weren’t on today. If you’re reading this Awapi, I’d love to hear from you!

 

[ATLPCV]

aerorun87 - You might want to check out this page:

http://whsc.emory.edu/home/publications/public-health/public-health/fall2011/peace-be-with-you.html

It looks like Rollins had 42 RPCVs last year and 8 Coverdell Fellows this year. So you might want to really look into it before you decide to pass up the MI program and bank on getting the scholarship after your service. On the upside, the MI program also looks really great, so congrats on that!

I'm bummed though... this looks like the biggest (only?) financial opportunity Rollins offers RPCVs and it seems pretty limited.

 

[Awapi]

Hey! I got the PM and responded before I read this thread, so maybe I can help clarify here

Unfortunately, the RPCV fellows scholarship is not automatic. Like ATLPCV read, all RPCVs who are accepted are considered (but you cannot have both the RPCV fellowship and an academic scholarship like I have, I don't know which order they are chosen in, but you can't double up on scholarships in case anyone was going to ask, haha). There are 8 right now, but that number should be higher next year. The pilot program was expanded and officially recognized by the Peace Corps this year at an awesome celebration in the fall where we all got to wear garb from our country of service! But I digress...2 of those 8 are second years, 6 were chosen from my class. So this year about 6 will be chosen (so that total will be about 12 for next fall between first and second years).

ATLPCV is right, the funding is not a gigantic amount, but I do think that RPCVs have more opportunities for funding than most other groups (there is a similar program for Americorps volunteers at Emory, but from what I understand the amount given is less than what is given for the RPCV fellows, but the RPCV fellows run the Masters International program so they have a lot more work expected from them).

Anyhoo, good luck to you all making your decisions, let me know if I can help further!