Is it too late to apply

[aspiring-mph]

Hello! So I'm looking at getting my MPH, and because of the impact of the pandemic on the job market, and because many graduate schools were thinking of removing the requirement for GREs, would it be a good idea to just apply now and go straight instead of taking a few years off. I am particularly interested in maternal and child healthcare programs or healthcare communications or minority health programs. So the reason why I wanted to take a few years off was that I wanted to strengthen my application and save money. With my experience, I figured I'd have a decent chance of getting a job at a non-profit or a consulting I'm in an odd position where my activities and internship make me a much better applicant than my undergraduate grades. Currently, I have a 3.2 from a small, liberal arts school in the northeast. It's a New York liberal arts school that is decent, but definitely not a big public health school and has a high acceptance rate (but I feel like I've gotten a great education). The main reason why my GPA isn't that great is pre-med classes, but I realized I didn't want to be a doctor partway through college. The majority of low grades are in non-major classes. I have a C in statistics I might retake, but the rest of my major classes are As or Bs (mainly -A). My main question is, with the job market looking how it's looking, would it be a good idea to apply for graduate schools instead of jobs? I've heard from some of my friends that they took a month or two to apply for their MPH programs, would it be possible for me to be ready to apply for some schools and get in this Fall or should I wait for winter or next fall.

My Stats

• I'm a black woman from a low-income single-parent household. I am not first-generation, however (Not sure if these *matters* during grad school, it mattered during undergrad I remembered)
• Internships: I worked at my local health department in the emergency preparedness department, a Planned Parenthood Affiliate, A HIV/Hepatitis NGO in Lagos (Nigeria), a reproductive health non-profit in DC
• Research: I haven't been published yet, I had a paid research appointment where I worked on a case study project as a sophomore, and I was working on a research project that was derailed due to the pandemic but had the potential to be published
• GRE: Haven't taken yet, I usually don't mind standardized testing, (My SAT was a highpoint for my undergrad applications) but many schools aren't requiring them next year
• Extra-curriculars: I'm on the student advisory board for my school, I was the president of our Health Professions Association this year, I won 2 healthcare case competitions, I interned for title IX this year, I was a (paid) diversity educator for my junior and senior years, and I was a (paid) interfaith project assistant
• Letters of Recommendations: I could get 3-4 really good ones for professors/the Dean, just because they mentioned they would be interested in doing them for me, or they have done them for me for internships

Schools I'm Interested in
George Washington, Emory, Georgetown, Drexel, Dartmouth, NYU, also taking reqs

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[rap15]

I think your first step should be to check out the websites for these schools and reach out to admissions. Many schools had deadlines to commit/pay a deposit on 4/15, so that would indicate that they are no longer accepting applications for Fall 2020.

It can take a few weeks for SOPHAS to verify your application. Say you get everything (essay, letters of rec, etc) in tomorrow - well you still may not be officially all set for another 3 weeks later.

Your background sounds really awesome and I think you'd be a strong candidate based on that. However, like I noted above, some schools may have totally closed their application systems by now! You may be better off looking at a January 2021 or May 2021 start, if the schools you're looking at offer those. But if you reach out and they say you can still apply for 2020, you should go for it if you want to!

 

[mimi2198]

Hello! So I'm looking at getting my MPH, and because of the impact of the pandemic on the job market, and because many graduate schools were thinking of removing the requirement for GREs, would it be a good idea to just apply now and go straight instead of taking a few years off. I am particularly interested in maternal and child healthcare programs or healthcare communications or minority health programs. So the reason why I wanted to take a few years off was that I wanted to strengthen my application and save money. With my experience, I figured I'd have a decent chance of getting a job at a non-profit or a consulting I'm in an odd position where my activities and internship make me a much better applicant than my undergraduate grades. Currently, I have a 3.2 from a small, liberal arts school in the northeast. It's a New York liberal arts school that is decent, but definitely not a big public health school and has a high acceptance rate (but I feel like I've gotten a great education). The main reason why my GPA isn't that great is pre-med classes, but I realized I didn't want to be a doctor partway through college. The majority of low grades are in non-major classes. I have a C in statistics I might retake, but the rest of my major classes are As or Bs (mainly -A). My main question is, with the job market looking how it's looking, would it be a good idea to apply for graduate schools instead of jobs? I've heard from some of my friends that they took a month or two to apply for their MPH programs, would it be possible for me to be ready to apply for some schools and get in this Fall or should I wait for winter or next fall.

My Stats

• I'm a black woman from a low-income single-parent household. I am not first-generation, however (Not sure if these *matters* during grad school, it mattered during undergrad I remembered)
• Internships: I worked at my local health department in the emergency preparedness department, a Planned Parenthood Affiliate, A HIV/Hepatitis NGO in Lagos (Nigeria), a reproductive health non-profit in DC
• Research: I haven't been published yet, I had a paid research appointment where I worked on a case study project as a sophomore, and I was working on a research project that was derailed due to the pandemic but had the potential to be published
• GRE: Haven't taken yet, I usually don't mind standardized testing, (My SAT was a highpoint for my undergrad applications) but many schools aren't requiring them next year
• Extra-curriculars: I'm on the student advisory board for my school, I was the president of our Health Professions Association this year, I won 2 healthcare case competitions, I interned for title IX this year, I was a (paid) diversity educator for my junior and senior years, and I was a (paid) interfaith project assistant
• Letters of Recommendations: I could get 3-4 really good ones for professors/the Dean, just because they mentioned they would be interested in doing them for me, or they have done them for me for internships

Schools I'm Interested in
George Washington, Emory, Georgetown, Drexel, Dartmouth, NYU, also taking reqs

Hey!

I don't think it's too late to apply. I am in the process of applying to schools now and a lot of them have rolling deadlines which would allow you to submit your application. However, you would have to get started with SOPHAS straight away. I think it is a good thing to take advantage of the fact that many schools aren't requiring the GRE because a lot of testing centers are closed and it costs a lot of money. You would need at least 3 recommendations and an essay so if you have that, you're set but SOPHAS has to verify your application and it took me a couple days maybe 3-4. I am senior in college applying for the Fall 2020 cohort and I still have some applications to turn in. Sign up for SOPHAS to see the current requirements of each school. I just applied to GWU and Rutgers and I'm applying to Drexel, NYU, BU, Tufts, TAMU and Oklahoma.

 

[Clement K. Rudder]

I agree that you should rather go to a school where they do not require GRE. If you need help writing essays or dissertation, you can turn to specialists who can help you do this online and save a lot of your time. I have already applied to NYU and TAMU. They don't require GRE.