How competitive is Emory's MPH program?

[ATLPCV]

So I've only recently begun looking into grad schools and, after browsing these forums for a while, I realize I'm a little behind the curve on knowing what's up with all the different public health schools. ANYHOW, I'm REALLY interested in applying to Emory's MPH program, most likely their global health track, possibly the behavioral science/education track. I really like the looks of their programs. I'm a little nervous about my chances, however, so I thought I'd throw my stats out there for everyone to have a look at. Obviously, nobody will be able to say for certain, but it seems like a number of people on this forum could at least give me a decent idea of what sort of chances I'm looking at. I'll have a backup plan, of course, but Emory is my top choice, so I'm particularly interested in how competitive it is. Just trying to manage expectations.

THE GOOD: I'm currently in the Peace Corps doing rural health extension in Paraguay and am going to apply for fall 2012. I've only completed one year of service and have experience in a pretty wide range of public health projects, like starting dental health education and fluoride programs at local elementary schools, community organization and working with community groups, and designing small scale, government funded health projects.

I have a bachelor's in anthropology with some medical anthropology coursework, a 3.6 GPA, GRE 740 Quant, 690 Verbal, 4.5 writing. I can speak Spanish and Guarani very efficiently, and have a little experience with Italian and Japanese.

THE BAD: I only recently became very interested in public health, and Peace Corps is really my only relavent work experience, unless you count working as a tutor to high school kids at a private tutoring company for about 4 months or a smattering of volunteer events, maybe totaling 5 complete days. I worked my ass off as an undergrad, but only in kitchens and landscaping.

Regrettably, I wasn't particularly involved in school as an undergraduate, so I don't have any extra-curricular activities to report, and I don't have awesome LOR's. I hope to get one LOR from my boss here in the Peace Corps and another from my old undergrad advisor. Don't know yet about the third. I really am passionate about public health and plan on writing a good SOP.

So I guess what I'm looking for is an idea about how much MPH grad schools, Emory specifically, might weigh these things against one another. I don't have awesome LOR's, lots of extra-curricular activities, lots of volunteer or intern experience, or a lot of work related experience, but I think I've got decent numbers and I feel like the experience I do have is a really great one.

So what do you guys think? Thoughts? Comments? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

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[nietzsche754]

Being honest with you LOR's outside of your own statement of purpose are the most important element of a graduate application. Good luck but in the future never submit a LOR you know isn't any good. Also answering your broader question your odds of getting into Emory for any graduate program is significantly higher if you went to Emory as an undergraduate in my experiences. Their own website hints at this if you look at the profiles of accepted students.

 

[mystal]

Who knows what the applicant pool will be like, but in 2010 emory's acceptance rate was 51.4%. I'm under the impression that peace corps is a pretty big deal when it comes to applying to public health school, and you have solid stats, so I'd say you have a good shot.

 

[Awapi]

I agree that LORs are very important, aside from numbers on a page, your SOP and LORs are the only thing that a lot of admissions committees have to get a feel for who you are and what you are all about!

That being said, I am an RPCV who was accepted to Emory for Global Health for this coming year (woohoo!) and Peace Corps was also my first big dive into public health (I had some other small volunteer/study experience, but nothing I would consider to be terribly substantial)...you listed this as a "bad", but it's OVER 2 years of experience! And it's GLOBAL public health experience! That's a lot more hands on experience than many applicants will have so you shouldn't feel like it's a hindrance, instead you should own it and highlight how it has prepared you and solidified your desire to work in public health. Your GPA and GRE are very good, and I think you have plenty of experience to make you a very competitive applicant on paper (scores and experience).

As others have said, I think that the other half of the application (SOP and LORs) are what turn people from a GPA/GRE score into an accepted student or not. You said that you are only a year into your PC service, do you guys have a Volunteer Advisory Committee? Do you have Project Advisory Councils, other committees, or working groups that PCVs volunteer for? With a new batch coming in did you apply to be a facilitator for them? These are great opportunities to make up for your (self-claimed) lack of involvement in college. While I was in the PC I took advantage of every leadership opportunity no matter how small, they all give you valuable experience working with diverse groups of people and allow you the opportunity to showcase your leadership, organization, and your reliability to finish a project. If you haven't done it already, I would suggest trying to participate in at least a few of these things! I had one of the more "rural" sites in our batch and there was no internet access in my town, but I still made sure to participate as much as possible because I knew it was important to build those skills and gain those experiences for my future, so even if it's a little inconvenient for you, still do your best!

Also, you said you were getting an LOR from your "boss"...is that your supervisor at your site or your country director? If you could get one from both of those people that would be GREAT, if you don't have a relationship with your CD then try to develop one over the next 5-6 months before you submit your application. If you help out with surveys, volunteer for committees, etc then he/she will most likely appreciate it and be willing to write you a very positive LOR. Even your regional or sector manager would be a great third LOR, just make sure that you discuss your passion for public health with them prior to them writing the LOR (if you haven't already), I think an LOR that includes their knowledge of your desire to work in public health is much stronger than a generalized one. When I came to visit Emory a professor brought up my LOR from my country director and how impressed he was with it, I really think it could help you a lot! Those two combined with your undergrad professor should be pretty strong as long as you have made the most of your time in the PC.

You said you are passionate about public health and plan to write a strong SOP. Just like your SOP to admissions committees, your post on here is the only thing I have to go on to "envision" who you are, from that writing sample, I would just say to make sure to be positive and don't apologize for any perceived shortcomings you think you have. I think it sounds like you have a great chance. Good luck and I hope to see you at Emory in 2012!!

 

[espre]

Who knows what the applicant pool will be like, but in 2010 emory's acceptance rate was 51.4%. I'm under the impression that peace corps is a pretty big deal when it comes to applying to public health school, and you have solid stats, so I'd say you have a good shot.

51.4% is the rate for all degree programs combined, not for the MPH. I expect that MPH is higher. In 2010, Emory had 2,745 total applicants, of which 2,028 (73.9%) were for the MPH program, 411 were for the Ph.D., and the rest were other masters or joint degrees.

Source: ASPH Annual Data Report 2010. This is an interesting document for all applicants:

http://www.asph.org/document.cfm?page=749

To the original poster: You might also consider applying to the Hopkins MPH program, since it is only one year long, and your time in the Peace Corps would satisfy the minimum health care experience requirement. We had quite a few Peace Corp people in our class this year.

 

[ATLPCV]

Thanks for the advice everyone, especially you Awapi. I've been reading a lot of your posts about Emory lately and have found them really helpful.

To clarify, I didn't at all mean to imply that Peace Corps is a "bad'. I think that it's an incredible experience, professional and otherwise. What I meant is that it's really my only professional public health experience and I get kind of nervous when I see that a lot of people who apply to these programs have HUGE lists of experience spanning multiple organizations, multiple years, etc. And I'll certainly be nothing but positive and confident in my SOP, I just wanted to be as honest as possible about my doubts and perceived shortcomings on this board to get an honest idea of what others think. Thanks for the input!

Also, I just read all about the experiences that you and others had on Visit Emory day, and I was wondering if you got any sense about whether or not there's much interaction or overlap between the MPH tracks, specifically the Global Health and Behavioral Science/Health Promotion tracks. I'm really torn between these two... I'm less interested in Infectious Disease, which seems to me to be a huge part of the Global Health track, than I am in chronic diseases, like cardiovascular and nutritional issues, and behavior change, and substance abuse, etc. However, I'm also very interested in the other Global Health concentrations, working with underserved populations, and working internationally. I'm curious as to whether or not choosing one track will shut me out of opportunities and courses from the other tracks, like the international work/research opportunities, and just generally about how much fluidity there is between the different MPH tracks.

Thanks again for all the info everyone!

 

[Awapi]

I was wondering if you got any sense about whether or not there's much interaction or overlap between the MPH tracks, specifically the Global Health and Behavioral Science/Health Promotion tracks. I'm really torn between these two... I'm less interested in Infectious Disease, which seems to me to be a huge part of the Global Health track, than I am in chronic diseases, like cardiovascular and nutritional issues, and behavior change, and substance abuse, etc. However, I'm also very interested in the other Global Health concentrations, working with underserved populations, and working internationally. I'm curious as to whether or not choosing one track will shut me out of opportunities and courses from the other tracks, like the international work/research opportunities, and just generally about how much fluidity there is between the different MPH tracks.

I got the feeling that there is quite a bit of overlap if a student is interested in it. You have 45 hours to complete for the degree and 4 semesters (that's about 11 hours a semester) but you can take more than that if you want (I plan to take 13 in the fall). For global health, there are 31-33 "required" global health hours ( http://www.sph.emory.edu/cms/departments_centers/gh/courses.html ) the rest of your 45 hours are electives which, from what I understand, can be from other departments. Some of the global health electives (which count towards part of those 31-33 hours) are also cross referenced with other departments (such as BSHE, EPI, etc). Most electives are 2 hour courses, so, really, you could take several classes in BSHE while in Global Health.

One of the students I met at Visit Emory who I email back and forth with is currently doing his global field experience in another country. He's a Global student, but a BSHE student is also on the same project that he is, so obviously there's some overlap there .

Personally, I was told that Global Health is the most "fluid" program at RSPH, most of the other concentrations are more rigid in their required courses for each semester (but this is just what I was told by a, surely biased, group of global health students and staff, haha). I would check out the course requirements for BSHE and see if they give you as much movement at the global health requirements do. I definitely agree with you that Infectious Disease is a popular concentration for Global Health, but we were told at Visit Emory that the Reproductive Health concentration has more people this year than ID (for the first time in a long time, haha)...I think ID is just talked about more because it's "sexier" (as someone else called it on the boards and it made me laugh), but the other concentrations (like community development, nutrition, repro health) seem really strong! Also, you apply under a certain concentration with Global Health, but you are not stuck with it. On the internal accepted students website we just recently got access to it says that we will chose our concentration a couple of months in to the fall semester, so you could see which concentration would give you the most opportunities and go from there.

I'm sure you'll write a great SOP! Good luck with your decision, feel free to PM me if you have any questions, I'm glad that all my pro-Emory posts have helped some, it's a great place!

 

[swaffles]

I didn't do anything amazing like the Peace Corps, had a couple of internships and decent GPA and GRE scores (almost identical to yours). I am, like you, a tutor for high school kids with a company, too!

I applied after the deadline to Emory and I got into my first choice - Global Epidemiology. Later, i was also awarded a bit of a scholarship but I think most people at Emory get a little love from the finaid department.

This is just to give you one anecdote about admissions into Emory, obviously it's not the same situation for everyone.

Ditto on the LORs, by the way. They take you a long way, especially if you get an LOR from a professor who attended the school you want to go to.

 

[Borks]

. . . I'm REALLY interested in applying to Emory's MPH program, most likely their global health track . . .

THE GOOD: I'm currently in the Peace Corps doing rural health extension in Paraguay and am going to apply for fall 2012.

I have a bachelor's in anthropology with some medical anthropology coursework, a 3.6 GPA, GRE 740 Quant, 690 Verbal, 4.5 writing. I can speak Spanish and Guarani very efficiently . . .

So I guess what I'm looking for is an idea about how much MPH grad schools, Emory specifically, might weigh these things against one another. I don't have awesome LOR's, lots of extra-curricular activities, lots of volunteer or intern experience, or a lot of work related experience, but I think I've got decent numbers and I feel like the experience I do have is a really great one.

So what do you guys think? Thoughts? Comments? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

I think you have a good shot of getting into Emory, and/or other top notch schools, especially if you "sell yourself", meaning that you stick to the substantial positives and not worry about what you perceive as negatives. Getting interested late in public health is not a major crime, especially since you have substantial global health experience, and since your stats are respectable.

For your application, I would develop a narratives as to the "how" and "why" you got interested in public health, and flesh out some of the specifics of your career goals as much as possible at this point. Networking is important as well as you might discover a niche area of interest which leads you to consider other good schools as well, or you may discover what specifically about Emory would make you a good fit there and allow you to contribute to the school.

I think Emory is a great school, and may bust into the top 5 schools. For global health is it one of the places to be. This being said, about half of applicants who apply make it, but this percentage may go down as the reputation of the school continues to grow.

Awapi has great advice.