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I haven't received any financial aid/loan packages from the schools I applied to just yet, so I'm not sure if I should just submit the application without other school's offers..
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MPH 2019: Applied, Waitlisted, Accepted!
Started by el.mo19
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krequals10
Full Member
It might be worth an email to Emory's financial aid department?? I actually might do that now haha
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SunshineSarahbelle
Full Member
Just heading back home from UW's visit day! It doesn't sound like too popular of a program among people on this forum, but I'll just give some feedback in case anybody wants some info or overall thoughts on the program. This is mostly UW mph epi specific.
1. UW has a very strong epi program. They have a huge focus on quantitative methods in order to ensure that their students come away with an applicable set of skills. There is a lot of room for personalization after your first 2 quarters so that you can take electives that interest you.
2. UW is VERY collaborative. They encourage you to explore courses in the global health dept and even in other graduate schools. Some people will create their own unique niche this way in specific concentrations. They also offer certificates you can apply to through the grad program. The best way to tailor your degree to your needs is through choosing electives, a practicum experience at a place you're interested in, and by choosing a thesis on a topic you want to study. There is a lot of research going on in global health, reproductive and child health, and aging / cognition and neurodegenerative diseases. These are not a focus of every program, and so it's great if you have interest in any of these.
3. Funding through RA and TA positions is frequent. Many students either become an RA through an organized program called START or by enrolling in independent study and then continuing research with this faculty member. Funding is widely avertised and there is a lot of it if you look hard enough and be proactive about it.
4. Seattle is a great city to live in. The public transit is awesome and free if you're a student. You can get away with not having a car. The city has many places closer and farther away from campus to live. A lot of grad students tend to live a little farther from campus (10 to 20 min bus ride). Rent seems pretty average for a big city. The neighborhoods I explored felt relatively safe and clean. The diversity of the city and the campus is a big plus. There are also a lot of different types of cuisine, which is a huge deal for foodies like me.
5. If you are at all considering continuing on to a PhD, they make the transition from mph to phd pretty easy. If you go through the mph program and take the phd prelim exam after your first year (you will know all the epi methods necessary by then), they have a 95% acceptance rate into the epi phd program for continuing UW students. It's a huge plus for me because if I do decide to get my phd, I will be setting myself up to still be on track for the program. In addition, if you choose your electives strategically, you can complete most phd core requirements during your mph degree, which could allow you to potentially finish your phd in only about two extra years (depending on your research, of course).
Overall, I really enjoyed my visit. I think UW has a great vibe. They know they are a top ranked program, but it's not a self promoting one. The students seem to feel supported in many different ways. It's just a great community and I'm excited to become part of a strong and supportive epi program!
1. UW has a very strong epi program. They have a huge focus on quantitative methods in order to ensure that their students come away with an applicable set of skills. There is a lot of room for personalization after your first 2 quarters so that you can take electives that interest you.
2. UW is VERY collaborative. They encourage you to explore courses in the global health dept and even in other graduate schools. Some people will create their own unique niche this way in specific concentrations. They also offer certificates you can apply to through the grad program. The best way to tailor your degree to your needs is through choosing electives, a practicum experience at a place you're interested in, and by choosing a thesis on a topic you want to study. There is a lot of research going on in global health, reproductive and child health, and aging / cognition and neurodegenerative diseases. These are not a focus of every program, and so it's great if you have interest in any of these.
3. Funding through RA and TA positions is frequent. Many students either become an RA through an organized program called START or by enrolling in independent study and then continuing research with this faculty member. Funding is widely avertised and there is a lot of it if you look hard enough and be proactive about it.
4. Seattle is a great city to live in. The public transit is awesome and free if you're a student. You can get away with not having a car. The city has many places closer and farther away from campus to live. A lot of grad students tend to live a little farther from campus (10 to 20 min bus ride). Rent seems pretty average for a big city. The neighborhoods I explored felt relatively safe and clean. The diversity of the city and the campus is a big plus. There are also a lot of different types of cuisine, which is a huge deal for foodies like me.
5. If you are at all considering continuing on to a PhD, they make the transition from mph to phd pretty easy. If you go through the mph program and take the phd prelim exam after your first year (you will know all the epi methods necessary by then), they have a 95% acceptance rate into the epi phd program for continuing UW students. It's a huge plus for me because if I do decide to get my phd, I will be setting myself up to still be on track for the program. In addition, if you choose your electives strategically, you can complete most phd core requirements during your mph degree, which could allow you to potentially finish your phd in only about two extra years (depending on your research, of course).
Overall, I really enjoyed my visit. I think UW has a great vibe. They know they are a top ranked program, but it's not a self promoting one. The students seem to feel supported in many different ways. It's just a great community and I'm excited to become part of a strong and supportive epi program!
MuppetLord
Full Member
Dang, I'm having the same kinda of dilemma between Columbia Epi (Global Health) and JHU MSPH GDEC. I'm scheduling some convos with students at both schools to get more info. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to bounce off ideas!
If you don’t mind me asking, when did you submit your app and what track? Their Cal State Apply deadline was just this Friday!
I'm with you too! Just visit Columbia and will be visiting Hopkins next week. If you are at Hopkins next week, would you like to meet to bounce off ideas?
mightyhopeful94
New Member
I submitted on January 20th for the Epi track
MuppetLord
Full Member
I'll be at admitted students day on the 8th, so absolutely! I'll send you a PM so we can figure out details.
Greentree1
Full Member
Hello guys - does anyone have experience writing a letter asking to increase financial aid? I wanted to shoot an email to a few unis but having difficulty writing it. If anyones happy to share, please DM 🙂 Thanks a lot!
#notadoctor
Full Member
Hi! For those who went to the Columbia students day, would you mind sharing your thoughts? I literally still haven't heard back, and would probably only go if I get a scholarship because of the NYC COL, but you know, if I do get in it kinda sucks to have entirely missed the admitted students events :/
I just received an email from GW awarding me $23k in additional institutional grant funding. And it's a Sunday. Am I getting pranked or something? 
Memm77
Full Member
Congrats! Can I ask you How much your initial scholarship was? And have you did anything—like an email or filling an application— to obtain this additional award?I just received an email from GW awarding me $23k in additional institutional grant funding. And it's a Sunday. Am I getting pranked or something?
Memm77
Full Member
Wow congrats! It seems that finally Yale started sending decisions!Took a nap and dreamt I had gotten into Yale, and now I am awake and annoyed.
Hi everyone! I wanted to share my thoughts on Columbia's admitted students day:
-The dean and the professors were really trying to sell us on the school. I liked the vibe- after visiting some schools for undergrad that had a "you need us" rather than "We want you" vibe, this was important to me.
- The departmental session was the real selling point for me. The population family department was amazing. The current students were excited to be there and involved in really cool research and TA positions. There were a lot of faculty members there who spoke to us and stayed for lunch to talk with us in small groups.
- The alumni have cool jobs and the alumni network and department seem to have great connections and are happy to help you. They have alumni at all of the places at the top of my list to work (Population Council, UNFPA, and UN Women)
Also, many students TA and RA in their second semester. I has been talked about that students can't TA or RA the first year. Ths is only true of the first semester.
-The dean and the professors were really trying to sell us on the school. I liked the vibe- after visiting some schools for undergrad that had a "you need us" rather than "We want you" vibe, this was important to me.
- The departmental session was the real selling point for me. The population family department was amazing. The current students were excited to be there and involved in really cool research and TA positions. There were a lot of faculty members there who spoke to us and stayed for lunch to talk with us in small groups.
- The alumni have cool jobs and the alumni network and department seem to have great connections and are happy to help you. They have alumni at all of the places at the top of my list to work (Population Council, UNFPA, and UN Women)
Also, many students TA and RA in their second semester. I has been talked about that students can't TA or RA the first year. Ths is only true of the first semester.
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Might be a dumb q, but when you say funding do you mean these positions provide a tuition waiver or like a stipend/hourly wage (or both?)
Thanks. I was initially awarded 19k deans scholarship and the institutional grant is from filling the CSS profile I think.
ellajanepotter
New Member
Thanks for your sharing! I’m planning to go to MS epi!
Have you contacted any epi student? I hope to get more information about faculty members and work experience after graduating from the MS program. I might not pursue a Ph.D. after graduation.
So here's a weird one -
I emailed Cornell for an update on my application, and they responded that I would be alerted later this month. A few minutes later, I received another email asking me if I had received offers from any other MPH programs yet.
I responded with the names of the schools i've gotten into as at this point....I think it could only help my app which has been bouncing around their committee for 4 months. Pretty odd though yeah?
I emailed Cornell for an update on my application, and they responded that I would be alerted later this month. A few minutes later, I received another email asking me if I had received offers from any other MPH programs yet.
I responded with the names of the schools i've gotten into as at this point....I think it could only help my app which has been bouncing around their committee for 4 months. Pretty odd though yeah?
I received an email from UIC on Saturday that my award letter is ready, but I can't view it until they email me login info for the portal, which they said would come in 1 to 3 business days. So it's sitting there waiting for me, and I can't read it, torture haha.
hahaha if anyone did, it would be here.
Amvist1819
Full Member
That's odd, I received login info for the portal as soon as I was accepted. I hope you get more aid than I ended up getting. I also got my award letter Saturday, but there was no true aid award - all loans. Given my financial situation, I was pretty surprised. But from what I've been able to find on their website, it seemed that they have very few institutional awards that go out, and I wasn't able to find information on when those exactly get distributed. It looked to me like being able to score an RA, TA, or GA-ship were the best bets on getting aid. Has anyone been able to find other info? I'd love to hear insight and general impressions from anyone seriously considering UIC. I'm from the Chicago suburbs myself but don't think I have a true feel for the program just yet.
Ok, I'm dumb, I had access....haha. All loans for me as well, and it's out of state tuition so that makes it tough... Any idea how plentiful RA and TA-ships are?
Amvist1819
Full Member
Coming in without faculty relationships established, probably slim. Because I've TA-ed and RA-ed in undergrad I'm gonna try to sell that experience and get one anyway, though. Afterwards, it's hard to tell. I didn't get a good idea from one of the faculty members, other than them saying that is the way most students get aid, IF they are able to secure a position. They will post them on the student SPHViews ListServ, which we will get more info about in April, though I think you really get to have access once you've submitted your deposit.
twinkysaur
Full Member
I visited UIC back in November. From what I could tell from my conversations with the academic coordinator of epi and biostates, TA-ships are reserved for second year students and RA-ships were more for MS students. However, the guy said that there are a lot of opportunities off-campus, especially with all the hospitals/organizations nearby and the research they do. Overall, I got the impression that while UIC is a small program, they are very supportive of their MPH students in the way that they help cater students' degree path to what they want to do career-wise. I'm not a huge fan of the SPH building itself but Chicago and UIC campus is pretty nice.
Amvist1819
Full Member
Thanks, that's really helpful! Disheartening, though, as the tuition waiver is really what would set this program apart for me. Saving 20K between UIC and other programs is still significant, but the ability to have a good shot at tuition waiver aid is really what I was hoping for here.
Hey! did you end up submitting without the other school's offers? I'm in the same situation & unsure if i should just submit now or wait until later this week incase anything comes through from other schools 🙂
NeuroGeeK07
Full Member
Anyone heard anything on financial aid from Harvard?
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the wait for berkeley is driving me up the wall...
I've honestly given up on them LOL. i'm fully convinced that they'll never let us know.
hellohello1876
New Member
did anyone else get an email from BU about applying for a dean's scholarship for 100% tuition?/ Anyone know when they will announce the results?
PublicHealthScholar
Full Member
I got my financial aid letter from Harvard on Feb 25! I heard my decision on Feb 21.
NeuroGeeK07
Full Member
Damn i got mine early of the month but still hasnt heard anything from them. Which concentration did you applied to?
PublicHealthScholar
Full Member
I applied to the SM-80 GHP
krequals10
Full Member
I ended up sending them an email asking if they would prefer we wait or submit the app as soon as possible. I haven't heard back though. I plan on submitting the app this evening or tomorrow morning at the latest.
called the epi/biostats dept again today, finally answered after a week of voicemail. she said they made their final decisions last week (final wave i believe is what she said) and the decisions have to be centralized through one office (this made no sense lol) and that we should hear back this week.the wait for berkeley is driving me up the wall...
#overit
Hi Everyone! I've never posted before but this page has been extremely helpful. I figured I'd post now since it's better late than never.
Undergrad School: UCI (will graduate in June 2019)
Undergrad GPA/Major GPA: 3.4 / 3.7
Major: Public Health
GRE: 148 V, 152 Q, 4 W (November 2018)
Experience/Research:
- 3 months summer research assistant in Epidemiology
- 3 months Environmental Advocacy and Research Intern
- 3 months research assistant in Earth system science
-9 months volunteer as a Crisis Counselor
LOR: 2 from public health professors, 1 from the PI in the epi lab I researched at
Interests: Environmental Health
Applied: UCI (11/30), UCLA (11/30), UCB (11/30), SDSU (1/25), CSUF (1/28)
Accepted: UCLA (1/31), UCB (2/5), UCI + $$ (2/15)
Waitlisted/Rejected:
Undergrad School: UCI (will graduate in June 2019)
Undergrad GPA/Major GPA: 3.4 / 3.7
Major: Public Health
GRE: 148 V, 152 Q, 4 W (November 2018)
Experience/Research:
- 3 months summer research assistant in Epidemiology
- 3 months Environmental Advocacy and Research Intern
- 3 months research assistant in Earth system science
-9 months volunteer as a Crisis Counselor
LOR: 2 from public health professors, 1 from the PI in the epi lab I researched at
Interests: Environmental Health
Applied: UCI (11/30), UCLA (11/30), UCB (11/30), SDSU (1/25), CSUF (1/28)
Accepted: UCLA (1/31), UCB (2/5), UCI + $$ (2/15)
Waitlisted/Rejected:
SunshineSarahbelle
Full Member
Not a dumb question at all! So their positions give you a tuition waiver and a stipend as long as you work between 10 and 20 hours, I believe
Thanks for sharing! It's ridiculous how long they have made us wait.
alekazam13
New Member
Yeah. I woke up to it today. All I got were loans. 55k a year. The login information should be in your inbox.
Yeah, I am wondering the same thing. I looked at the TA/RA part, and it said that initially these are given out by need, and the rest of us have to find a professor when we are there who is willing to sponsor us for a TA/RA job.
I haven't submitted the application yet. Emailed Emory but I doubt I'm going to get a response soon... Last time, they were very slow at replying to my email. I'm just going to submit it by the end of this week while waiting for other schools' offers.
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doc_tfk
Full Member
If you don't mind me asking, how generous was the financial aid? Just to get an idea...
MPAfya_19
Full Member
Can't believe it, but I just found out I was awarded a fellowship at Harvard (the Foreign Language & Area Studies Fellowship -- not housed in the School of Public Health) that will provide me with full tuition award + a $15,000 stipend for the first year of the mph program. Still completely in shock as it is a university wide fellowship, and I really didn't think I had a chance competing against grad students from other Harvard programs.
The fellowship supports students who already have some proficiency in a typically under-studied language to continue to study that language alongside "area studies" courses (public health with a focus on SS Africa in my case).
It still leaves funding for the last semester of the program up in the air, but I think as of now makes Harvard my most affordable option.
The fellowship supports students who already have some proficiency in a typically under-studied language to continue to study that language alongside "area studies" courses (public health with a focus on SS Africa in my case).
It still leaves funding for the last semester of the program up in the air, but I think as of now makes Harvard my most affordable option.
doc_tfk
Full Member
That's amazing! Congratulations!Can't believe it, but I just found out I was awarded a fellowship at Harvard (the Foreign Language & Area Studies Fellowship -- not housed in the School of Public Health) that will provide me with full tuition award + a $15,000 stipend for the first year of the mph program. Still completely in shock as it is a university wide fellowship, and I really didn't think I had a chance competing against grad students from other Harvard programs.
The fellowship supports students who already have some proficiency in a typically under-studied language to continue to study that language alongside "area studies" courses (public health with a focus on SS Africa in my case).
It still leaves funding for the last semester of the program up in the air, but I think as of now makes Harvard my most affordable option.
WOW. What language will you be studying? Pretty hard to turn up that offer!Can't believe it, but I just found out I was awarded a fellowship at Harvard (the Foreign Language & Area Studies Fellowship -- not housed in the School of Public Health) that will provide me with full tuition award + a $15,000 stipend for the first year of the mph program. Still completely in shock as it is a university wide fellowship, and I really didn't think I had a chance competing against grad students from other Harvard programs.
The fellowship supports students who already have some proficiency in a typically under-studied language to continue to study that language alongside "area studies" courses (public health with a focus on SS Africa in my case).
It still leaves funding for the last semester of the program up in the air, but I think as of now makes Harvard my most affordable option.
#notadoctor
Full Member
Hi everyone, as we all are starting to hear back about admissions and financial aid packages, for those who pretty much only applied for schools with huge price tags, how are people navigating questions of whether to defer for a year and work + prepare for bigger scholarships that they maybe only recently found out about versus committing to the cost and just spending time preparing to compete for a higher paying job post graduation? Added to that the caveat that a lot of one year positions that I, at least, could think of that are tangentially related to public health are more entry level so it's not certain how much I'd be able to save + very uncertain of earning much extra from scholarships just due to high volume of competition? Or are people considering the third option of waiting a cycle to apply for more cost effective programs?
I'm stressing out a bit over this, and I know each person will arrive at a different answer, but just hoping for guidance for what people are considering along the way 🙂
I'm stressing out a bit over this, and I know each person will arrive at a different answer, but just hoping for guidance for what people are considering along the way 🙂
