I am a biology senior from a small private northwest college. I graduate in December and would like to apply to MPH programs in Global Health or Health Policy and Management for Fall, 2009. My cumulative GPA is 2.9, and my science GPA is no better. I have a 1410 in GRE (660V, 750Q), and have no work experience, but have tons of international volunteer experience in social service, and some (one summer) in health. I am looking into programs such as UW, Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Michigan, etc). I know all of these are very competitive programs, and am therefore very nervous about the probability of my acceptance. I will have good recommendations, and I think, can explicitly define my career goals in my essay. From the threads I have read so far, there are some programs that value work experience a lot (Harvard, Columbia) and there are all who value GPA. I see slim chances of being able to bring up my GPA by the time I graduate. I am curious as to what you think regarding the possibility of acceptance to one of these top programs. I want to be realistic but at the same time, not underestimate the weight of my extracurriculars and recommendations, so I need to know what schools I can actually get into. Thanks a lot!
how big a problem is poor gpa?
- Thread starter kancha
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MPH admissions are generally less numbers oriented than med school admissions are. Your GRE score is excellent and should definitely help compensate for the GPA, but to be safe I'd aim to raise the GPA to at least 3.0 if you can. I applied with a higher GPA but much lower GRE, but I believe it was my personal statement and experiences that were the factors in my admission offers, so really focus on those two things.
Harvard MPH has a two year work requirement I believe, so you may want to check into that before applying. In fact, I was under the impression that you needed to already have an advanced degree to apply to the Harvard MPH program. I think you'd have a realistic shot at Columbia, UM, and Yale, specifically Yale which seems to take many students right from undergrad and really values experience. I don't know to much about UW, so I can't comment on what they value in a candidate. Good luck!
hi KGkhan23 and bbas, thank you for your responses. I will post the results as soon as I get admitted. I am not applying to the Harvard MPH program, you are right- they do have an almost mandatory requirement for a two year experience, and require at least a graduate degree before one is eligible for application. I am going to be applying to their Masters in Social Medicine program, I think, but I have to look into it more closely.
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I actually had almost exactly the same numbers you did (2.95 GPA from top-25 university, 1440 GRE), a year doing admin work at a public health non-profit, decent recommendations, and a good personal statement. I got rejected from Hopkins and UW, but accepted to Tulane, Emory, and BU.
I was pretty anxious about getting accepted too, so I did a couple of things to help my case for admission. First, I used my personal statement not just to explain away my poor grades in college, but also to lay out a very specific roadmap for how I wanted to use the MPH. Second, I took an Epi class right before I applied and aced it to demonstrate that I could handle the material (I also got a good recommendation out of it). I'd recommend taking a relevant class part-time if you still can. You can always use the transfer credits once you do get in anyway. Good luck!
I was pretty anxious about getting accepted too, so I did a couple of things to help my case for admission. First, I used my personal statement not just to explain away my poor grades in college, but also to lay out a very specific roadmap for how I wanted to use the MPH. Second, I took an Epi class right before I applied and aced it to demonstrate that I could handle the material (I also got a good recommendation out of it). I'd recommend taking a relevant class part-time if you still can. You can always use the transfer credits once you do get in anyway. Good luck!
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I'm jealous. Tulane is the one I had been looking at, but I'm more of in a bad place than either of you. I graduated with a Bachelors in Biology, minor in Chemistry, and I have a 2.23 GPA. I'm wondering if taking classes to get it up to a 2.5 with a high GRE score would be more worth it than retaking my entire undergraduate courseload over again (academic suicide). I wasn't really serious in my studies at school, making mostly B's and C's in everything and having a very horrible first year. The last two years were a lot better, but you can only bring up your gpa so much. How did you get to take an Epi class? At which school?
Hi, I am so glad I found this I am actually in a similar position. I will be graduating in May from Rutgers New Brunswick with about a 2.9 maybe a 3.0 if I push myself. I have not taken my GRE's yet. But I am debating weither to apply for Fall 2011 or Spring 2012. I am looking at Texas A&M and University of Texas- Houston MPH programs. If I do well on the GRE's (at least in 70th percentile) I would have a good chance.
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wow, i am also in a similar position as this as well. My GPA is roughly a 3.0 and I am a double major in biology and psychology at Boston University. i too need to take my gre's. i really want to go to BU's school of public health and was debating whether to take a year off to boost my resume or just apply for spring 2012 (since i am going abroad this fall).
Do keep in mind that schools do take your major(s) into consideration. A 3.0 in Biology is going to be looked at just as favorably as a 3.5 in fine arts. They DO take your course selections into account (and this is especially true for BU as I was on the waitlist and when I called to speak with someone about my app they specifically noted that my class choices helped with my application).
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a lot of us are in a similar position...
Need to get my GPA above 3 this year...
Need to get my GPA above 3 this year...
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Hi! I m an international student from Nepal. I Graduated in Psychology last year. Now I can finish Bach in Nursing in 2 yrs too becoz i finished all my pre-requisities. I am very curious about MPH. I have not taken GRE yet. I work with people with mental disability for one year. My GPA is 3.5 I needed help who knows more about international students............
What type of public health experience do you have?
