on a related note... how hard is it to get into HSPH?
i have a degree in optometry (recent grad from Waterloo, Canada - its admission is viewed as competitive). i didn't think i'd do additional studies so i kinda slacked off and my average during optometry school was basically about 79%. on a GPA scale, not entirely sure - but say about 3.1ish (?) - i really don't know. my undergrad was from UToronto where i had a 3.91/4.0.
i worked as an optom for one year, but i am now a faculty member at a medical school in asia. if i were to apply, it would be for Sept.2007. by that time, i expect to have about 2 refereed journal articles, and maybe half-a-dozen case report articles in unrated journals.
i've written the GRE before (this was in 1998) so i'll have to write it again (it's now expired). the scores i got at the time were 800Q, 710V, 730A. i imagine i should be able to roughly duplicate that performance when i write again this summer.
i know HSPH admits a majority MD class. i also know that some ODs have gone through their school as well. but i have no idea how competitive it is (hey, i'm canadian). as for some other profile info, i'm still in my 20s (don't know if that matters or not).
i like the idea of HSPH because they have a 1-year program, and perhaps more importantly, being in the university system here in Asia, they definitely give greater weight to degrees of top U.S. universities - and since I'll be in academia for at least the next few years, a degree like that would definitely pay dividends.
so i guess my question is: the profile above - is that someone that Harvard would admit? i certainly didn't excel in my professional school - i was about middle of the pack. what is the rough profile of someone in the class?
edit: actually - i just sat down and crunched my optometry GPA - it's about a 3.4 (not as bad as i thought). but still, not anywhere near an A-student-GPA.
