Harvard decision

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classicvendetta said:
I was accepted to the SM in Society, Human Development, and Health. My professors have been telling me that Harvard is more inclined towards research while other public health schools (like UMich, UNC) are more concerned with practice, which is what I want to do. UNC is giving me a substantial award, so I don't feel so bad turning down Harvard's $100K loan offer lol.
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$200K loan for those of us who plan to do SD. I want to be involved in research, so Harvard is the best place to be. Was accepted with a fellowship to some other university and will be receiving $2500 per month for stipend (even I was surprised with the amount they are giving). But I rather be $200k in debt for Harvard.
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That sounds mildly outrageous to me. But you, of all people, would know what you want and why you want it. So, fingers crossed!

Which uni is offering you that kind of bank? Congratulations!
 
werd814 said:
That sounds mildly outrageous to me. But you, of all people, would know what you want and why you want it. So, fingers crossed!

Which uni is offering you that kind of bank? Congratulations!
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Uni ranked >10 in public health (just checked the latest ranking). I was given some sort of presidential fellowship.
 
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NYC2000 said:
$200K loan for those of us who plan to do SD. I want to be involved in research, so Harvard is the best place to be. Was accepted with a fellowship to some other university and will be receiving $2500 per month for stipend (even I was surprised with the amount they are giving). But I rather be $200k in debt for Harvard.
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Please please please tell me that the $200k you're getting will be in subsidized loans. At the very least, tell me you're finding source of external funding. That's a huge number to sit on, especially since we won't find high pay jobs until several years out of our doctorates (hello, poor paying post-doc).

werd814 said:
That sounds mildly outrageous to me. But you, of all people, would know what you want and why you want it. So, fingers crossed!

Which uni is offering you that kind of bank? Congratulations!
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Stipends of that sort are common. For any science discipline, stipends are typically in the $20-$30k year/range (depends on the university you are at and the living costs in that area).
 
oops, yep I've seen some pretty decent science stipend figures-- definitely looking forward to getting paid (anything) for once. What I meant was that turning that down for 200k in debt sounded mildly outrageous. But everyone's motivations are different.

Yay for March!
 
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My package was a number of subsidized and unsubsidized loans. The larger amounts were unsubsidized.
 
Yeah, I got a similar loan package for Epi (MS). I was under the assumption that they can only give a limited amount of $ in Subsidized vs. Unsub loans.

Does anyone know anything more about financial aid at Harvard (especially for masters students)? From the looks of the epi and financial aid websites - there are really only specific fellowships that give funding that you can apply to and not a whole lot else (except for maybe the Presidential Scholarship).

However, I feel like with an endowment like Harvard there must be some scholarship $ somewhere- Please tell me I am looking in the wrong place!!:luck:
 
Reading the comments about gradcafe's acceptance results last year is making me very nervous. I don't understand what is taking Harvard so long to send what I assume is a standardized rejection email/letter. As a reference, I submitted my app to SOPHAS before 12/15 for the Society, Human Devt, and Health dept.

I have also only heard back from one of my schools. Fortunately it was an acceptance, so at least I won't be stranded.

Does anyone else think to themselves, "Man, If I had just done [so and so] on my application...." while they obsessively check their email?
 
UCMaroon said:
Yeah, I got a similar loan package for Epi (MS). I was under the assumption that they can only give a limited amount of $ in Subsidized vs. Unsub loans.

Does anyone know anything more about financial aid at Harvard (especially for masters students)? From the looks of the epi and financial aid websites - there are really only specific fellowships that give funding that you can apply to and not a whole lot else (except for maybe the Presidential Scholarship).

However, I feel like with an endowment like Harvard there must be some scholarship $ somewhere- Please tell me I am looking in the wrong place!!:luck:
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There's a limit to how much you can take out in federal subsidized loans per semester. At the info session, they said masters students almost never get funding and should look for external funding. Doctoral students in some departments are likely to get funding (biostats and epi) while other departments are very unlikely to get funding (global health and SHDH).

As for the endowment, they addressed that too--it was cut for the 2010 year so I wouldn't look there.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/about/what-are-endowment-funds/
 
I spoke with someone in the admission office today and they are sending out acceptance/rejection letters and emails on March 5th. March 5th is Harvard SPH last big notice blast but there will be one on the 12th to notify people who "fall between the crack".

Hopefully, this helps and he said that on March 5th more people will be accepted into the SPH...so do not lose all hope!
 
This sucks. In speaking with admissions today, there is no rhyme or reason as to when or why certain files have decisions sent in front of other files. It's apparently not by program. But what I did pick up is that if you don't hear March 5/6, depending on when the email goes out, you are pretty much hosed. Not official, but that's certainly what it sounded like to me. Then again, I am a raging pessimist who thinks it will be a cold day in h*** when Harvard actually admits me. :laugh:
 
Oh yeah, by the way, I applied October 4th! SOPHAS complete November 19. For those counting, my file has been complete nearly 4 months now! What is the point of the "priority" deadline if everyone hears at the same time, and apparently, admission decisions are made at the same time? MPH Health Policy & Management, Policy Track. I expect someone to post the second they get the email tomorrow! Please, the waiting is worse than just getting rejected!
 
UniqueStylez said:
I spoke with someone in the admission office today and they are sending out acceptance/rejection letters and emails on March 5th. March 5th is Harvard SPH last big notice blast but there will be one on the 12th to notify people who "fall between the crack".

Hopefully, this helps and he said that on March 5th more people will be accepted into the SPH...so do not lose all hope!
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It's blast day. Anyone heard anything yet?
 
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I haven't heard anything yet! Anyone else? I called the admissions office at noon and they gave the same answer that they are sending out acceptances/rejections today through the end of next week.
 
You're killin' me smalls.



edit: I'm especially curious about Epibuff who said they'd definitely hear back today. Good luck!
 
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I haven't heard back yet either. I applied to the Clinical Effectiveness concentration for the MPH program. I heard back from the Clin Effect office weeks ago (accepted) but they said that the acceptance is only for the Clin Effect portion, and the MPH program is handled separately. So, I've been diligently checking my email for the MPH office's decision too. Still no news yet, but waiting patiently. :)
 
this is getting ridiculous. they say March 5, and apparently no one has heard anything. isn't is 3pm in Boston already? do these emails come from a third party provider since they are apparently sent over weekends (Feb 27 was a Saturday), and I find it hard to believe staff would be in on the weekend. So I assume we will be getting them tomorrow?
 
MPHwanabee said:
this is getting ridiculous. they say March 5, and apparently no one has heard anything. isn't is 3pm in Boston already? do these emails come from a third party provider since they are apparently sent over weekends (Feb 27 was a Saturday), and I find it hard to believe staff would be in on the weekend. So I assume we will be getting them tomorrow?
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Unfortunately for us, most mass email programs like Convio, Kintera, and Constant Contact allow for the user to send emails at a scheduled time. They can input our information into the system and schedule it for Saturday at 11pm. I wouldn't blame them if they did it over the weekend to avoid a bombardment of calls but I want to doubt that's the case.
 
That totally makes sense to me. I wouldn't want to talk to me either. Especially when I call up about my rejection! So, I guess we all have something to look forward to tomorrow afternoon!
 
lillaregn, sorry to hear your workday has been so stressful! I'm sending good vibes your way =). AND, Oslo sounds sweet. I hope you're enjoying it otherwise. :)
 
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Best of luck to everyone! We'll know soon enough! :luck:
 
lillaregn said:
I'll probably delete this message soon since it just struck me that posting too much identifying information on this forum isn't such a great idea
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Yeah, been there. haha.
 
OK, so who has the stones to call admissions and figure out the deal with the alleged "blast" is?
 
I nominate msdr... hazing? Haha.
 
Good luck. I have called and emailed more people there today than I want to admit to. Any more calls or emails will probably hurt my chances! I am thinking you will see activity either after 5pm EST today, or sometime tomorrow. I agree, they don't want to be there when decisions go out.
 
Just accepted to Health Policy MPH - Policy Track. Email came in 4 minutes ago!:)
 
lillaregn said:
Anyone else? Or was that the full extent of the blast?
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Yeap has anyone else heard from Harvard today? I was told by someone in the admissions office that you should hear sometime this evening and/or anytime up until next Friday the 12th.
 
Have a couple of questions about studying at Harvard and living in Boston:

1. Accommodation :sleep: - any comments about Shattuck House vs Vanderbilt Hall vs Trilogy vs living outside? Shattuck is more expensive but I'm wondering if it is quite an important socialising area for HSPH students?

2. Anybody going for the open house on 26 Mar? I definitely can't as I'm 15000km away - Please, please :D write us a report like

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=606434&highlight=shattuck&page=3

3. Coming to America will be a new experience for me :eek:. Anybody got any suggestions for books I could read as an introduction to America generally and Boston specifically?

4. When are you all going to start arriving in Boston?

Harvard accepts almost 200 full-time MPHs, but it seems like there are only a handful here - where's everybody else? Where are all the 60+ Global Health candidates? :confused:

Little rain: Which hospital are you at? I have a doctor friend doing a PhD in U Oslo - hypertension risk factors.
 
Rejection from Harvard (SD) came in at 8:27 this morning. Since this is the first I am hearing from anyone, I am assuming the rest will fall in line in the same way. I hope a few of you got good news this morning instead!!!
 
Sorry to hear about your rejection.

I still have not heard anything. :( I don't know what this means.. If they were going to reject me, why not do it already. This is so frustrating.
 
way2 said:
Have a couple of questions about studying at Harvard and living in Boston:

1. Accommodation :sleep: - any comments about Shattuck House vs Vanderbilt Hall vs Trilogy vs living outside? Shattuck is more expensive but I'm wondering if it is quite an important socialising area for HSPH students?

3. Coming to America will be a new experience for me :eek:. Anybody got any suggestions for books I could read as an introduction to America generally and Boston specifically?
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Shattuck is only for HSPH students, is a pretty close walk to the school, and the utilities are paid. A/C is extra, but a one time yearly fee I think. Internet is apparently a little slow. Because it's all HSPH students there is definately a social atmosphere.
Vanderbilt is for mostly HMS/HSPH/HSDM students I think, and it is dormitory style -they are not regular apartments.
Trilogy is a little farther away but is in a nice, fancy new building - thus, it is really expensive.
If you want all your neighbors to be your classmates, I would apply to Shattuck, but I think they get full pretty fast. Otherwise, I would go through sites like Craigslist to find a place off-campus. Just beware of shady realtors and high broker's fees.

Orientation for new students is 1 week long, which includes things specifically for international students, like a tour of the area and integrating into American classroom culture, etc.
 
I got a rejection email today as well. Honestly, I'm not upset... I went into it knowing that Harvard was a reach for me, so oh well. No big deal. I think Emory is gonna be my choice anyway... :)

Hope you are all taking your decisions well and not beating yourselves up! It is HARVARD after all :p
 
Still waiting for news on SD status. Absolute torture!
 
Sorry to hear that guys!

Love2bfit, Emory and Hotlanta are awesome, so it looks like you're still sittin pretty ;).

Bioshockgal, don't fret-- Hahvad is Hahvad =).
 
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I applied to Quantitative Methods MPH at Harvard.
But I have not heard anything from them.

Has anyone heard from the Quantitative Methods departement?
I am tired of waiting!
 
iron0120 said:
I applied to Quantitative Methods MPH at Harvard.
But I have not heard anything from them.

Has anyone heard from the Quantitative Methods departement?
I am tired of waiting!
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I haven't heard anything from them. I'm taking it as a good sign that none of the three known applicants to Quantitative Methods on this board have heard anything.
 
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I too am anxiously waiting, called the Admin office today, they stated Mid-March....so maybe we should hear closer to March 12th. I don't think they have sent out any rejections either though....
 
anyone who applied to SM2 (80 credit) in health policy (policy track) hear back yet?
 
I just accepted into the MPH program in Clinical Effectiveness. I got the notification by email this afternoon. Hooray. This is the only program I applied to and I had no backup plan! I was starting to sweat. The email is definitely a relief!
 
Anybody heard back yet from the QM department about MPH decisions? Thanks. :)
 
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Just recieved my rejection via "batch email" from Harvard. I had applied for the SHDH program with a concentration in Maternal & Child Health (80 credits). Congrats to everyone else who made the cut!
 
GW2009 said:
Anybody heard back yet from the QM department about MPH decisions? I kind of would like to plan my life. Thanks. :)
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Yesterday I asked a nice person at the admissions office about my application for an SM in biostats, and he said that the Biostats department is way behind in its reviews, that it may take them another 5-7 business days to have all their decisions finalized. He said to call again if I hadn't heard anything by Monday. If faculty in the Biostats department are part of the QM admissions committee, you may have to wait a while longer.
 
Any news?
 
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