MPH 2020: Applied, Accepted, Rejected, Waitlisted

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GlobalOrthoLover said:
You can always contact ETS and ask them to push your grades again. Seems to be a really normal request, I’ve been told by the Berkeley administration.
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Thank you! I will try to call them! Thank you so much!
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Just got into the Hopkins full-time Schoolwide MPH program :clap:
 
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I just received an email from JHU asking if I was interested in their MHS in Mental Health. Unfortunately, I am only interested in the MPH in International Health, and responded to the lady with that intention. Do you think this will lower my chances of getting into that program? The MHS program does not appeal to me at all, but I am scared this response will cause them to reject my application.
 
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I got my acceptance from Johns Hopkins yesterday for their MSPH program in the Population, Family, and Reproductive Health Dept!
 
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Hey everyone congrats on all the acceptances!!! I have a question regarding Emory's application. I've been verified by SOPHAS and they have received my application and everything. I got the opus log in stuff as well but when I click on my application status is says application incomplete? But then there is nothing on my "To Do List"? Is this just their way of saying under review or am I actually missing something? Does anyone else's say this lmk bc I am stressed and will be going somewhere with no internet in a week lol
 
jayecee said:
Hey everyone congrats on all the acceptances!!! I have a question regarding Emory's application. I've been verified by SOPHAS and they have received my application and everything. I got the opus log in stuff as well but when I click on my application status is says application incomplete? But then there is nothing on my "To Do List"? Is this just their way of saying under review or am I actually missing something? Does anyone else's say this lmk bc I am stressed and will be going somewhere with no internet in a week lol
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I'd shoot them an email or phone call for peace of mind, but you're more than likely fine.
 
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Just had my interview with Columbia’s HPM department!
 
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CarissasWeird said:
How did it go! What did they ask you?
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Super chill. A current student interviewed me and asked why hpm/public health, why mailman, anything you want to highlight from your application. That about covers it!
 
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LaylaMPH said:
So I'm assuming BU won't have their decisions out until January since their admission office is closed starting on the 24th through New Years Day...Last couple of years they have released decisions in the middle of December, I wonder why the delay this year.
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BU is a public health school with one of the highest ratios of accepted students to matriculated students, and in fact used to the highest and might still be, ergo to try to to figure out who would actually attend the school they'd give out acceptances in December or January and begin the process of waiting to see what happens. It is ALL a game at this point with schools like BU, they'd probably want to know what other schools you applied to in order to gauge what sort of financial assistance you'll get, and they might ask you to provide more information about why'd you think of going to their school as otherwise you might be sitting on their waitlist for a longtime while really you're planning on going elsewhere to better options.

If you want to do something Epi or global health related, there are a lot of more established schools you can go to, where you go for public health school isn't that much of a big deal as even the top school have high admission rates, the issue is getting hard skills, externships, and working hard and networking, and keeping your student loan burden down! I don't think it is prudent to consider BU unless you get a hefty merit scholarship or a part-time teaching position at the school as the tuition cost is massive and makes NO sense for people entering public health which is a competitive field to find a job and is relatively low paying, especially with the high cost of living in Boston.

BU claims to be a "top five private public health school", but in reality they are ranked something like 10th as there are many great public health schools that are public institutions, though the ranking methodology is flawed and doesn't necessary correlate with quality of the education. BU makes a lot of misleading statements, or at least pushes misleading statistics, about their program of education in order to lure students in, which I think is an issue as the school's interests don't overlap with the student's necessarily in that they want to increase tuition dollars coming into the program. BU also did away with the GRE for the public health school starting in 2020 as they claimed it was unfair to female students, though they've got the highest percentages of female students out of most public health schools, they also pushed really hard to keep vaping and vaping flavors unregulated. In reality they did away with the GRE as they need more students, if you feel even half-way confident about your application/experience/education, definitely ask for a significant merit scholarship, they know that if they don't fill all the seats they will lose money. On rankings of student's perception of their public health school on things like friendliness towards students, BU doesn't even make that list, students definitely aren't treated equitably at this school.
 
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She-Hulk said:
BU is a public health school with one of the highest ratios of accepted students to matriculated students, and in fact used to the highest and might still be, ergo to try to to figure out who would actually attend the school they'd give out acceptances in December or January and begin the process of waiting to see what happens. It is ALL a game at this point with schools like BU, they'd probably want to know what other schools you applied to in order to gauge what sort of financial assistance you'll get, and they might ask you to provide more information about why'd you think of going to their school as otherwise you might be sitting on their waitlist for a longtime while really you're planning on going elsewhere to better options.

If you want to do something Epi or global health related, there are a lot of more established schools you can go to, where you go for public health school isn't that much of a big deal as even the top school have high admission rates, the issue is getting hard skills, externships, and working hard and networking, and keeping your student loan burden down! I don't think it is prudent to consider BU unless you get a hefty merit scholarship or a part-time teaching position at the school as the tuition cost is massive and makes NO sense for people entering public health which is a competitive field to find a job and is relatively low paying, especially with the high cost of living in Boston.

BU claims to be a "top five private public health school", but in reality they are ranked something like 10th as there are many great public health schools that are public institutions, though the ranking methodology is flawed and doesn't necessary correlate with quality of the education. BU makes a lot of misleading statements, or at least pushes misleading statistics, about their program of education in order to lure students in, which I think is an issue as the school's interests don't overlap with the student's necessarily in that they want to increase tuition dollars coming into the program. BU also did away with the GRE for the public health school starting in 2020 as they claimed it was unfair to female students, though they've got the highest percentages of female students out of most public health schools, they also pushed really hard to keep vaping and vaping flavors unregulated. In reality they did away with the GRE as they need more students, if you feel even half-way confident about your application/experience/education, definitely ask for a significant merit scholarship, they know that if they don't fill all the seats they will lose money. On rankings of student's perception of their public health school on things like friendliness towards students, BU doesn't even make that list, students definitely aren't treated equitably at this school.
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I second this! While I don’t know a ton about the school personally, I’ve only heard bad things from people who went there (of course there will be people who enjoy it, but still shocked that so many people had so many negative experiences). I have a friend who was there for 1 year of undergrad and she left because she was so miserable— they didn’t care much about the student body, according to her. I considered it briefly because it seems that a lot of people get good financial aid/scholarships but it didn’t seem worth it to me to be miserable for two years, I’d rather have a pleasant time elsewhere and have some debt. Also, finding a second year project and later, job, is supposed to be relatively difficult because there are so many schools in the area— Harvard, Tufts, and BU! I applied to Tufts because it seems like what I want but I don’t think I’ll ultimately attend if I’m accepted precisely because of the competition and high tuition.
 
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seehunde said:
I second this! While I don’t know a ton about the school personally, I’ve only heard bad things from people who went there (of course there will be people who enjoy it, but still shocked that so many people had so many negative experiences). I have a friend who was there for 1 year of undergrad and she left because she was so miserable— they didn’t care much about the student body, according to her. I considered it briefly because it seems that a lot of people get good financial aid/scholarships but it didn’t seem worth it to me to be miserable for two years, I’d rather have a pleasant time elsewhere and have some debt. Also, finding a second year project and later, job, is supposed to be relatively difficult because there are so many schools in the area— Harvard, Tufts, and BU! I applied to Tufts because it seems like what I want but I don’t think I’ll ultimately attend if I’m accepted precisely because of the competition and high tuition.
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Definitely you'll get a range of opinions on a variety of schools, probably BU's size and the presence of the other public health schools in Boston leads to sort of a depersonalized experience. BU is not good with fostering a noncompetitive and pleasant learning atmosphere. BU revamped their curriculum not so long ago based on Columbia's curriculum, and people complained as you'd have classes with basically students teaching students, which is OK, if you want to learn what other students have experienced prior to the mph, but at that price of tuition you'd think there would be more access to faculty.

Some (all?) of the staff who searches for externships in Boston got fired not too many years back, not sure if it was their fault, but you can see that there would be competition in Boston between the schools. Not just BU, Tufts and Harvard, but you've also got other ones too like UMass which being a state school might have more of a claim to state health department opportunities. Tufts is a good school for those looking at a nutrition focus though and they seem to have better post-grad placement than BU.

The really good news is that it is a buyer's market in a way for the mph degree, and you can negotiate to get a better deal in terms of a merit scholarship and financial aid. There are plenty of other schools which have a higher reputation, or are the only major public health school in a regional area without major competition, no need to get worried at all that BU hasn't looked at your application for people who applied there.

No harm in considering letting BU be your safety school if all else fails, but be aware of tuition discounts and that the cost of living is sky high, yes.
 
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Does anyone know—or heard rumors of—the average GPA and GRE scores of people who get into the Harvard MPH program, preferably the Health Management MPH65 program?
 
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Applied: Harvard & Johns Hopkins (review started Dec 12)

Accepted: JHU (Dec 27)

Did anyone hear about scholarship info for Johns Hopkins?
 
Just had my HPM interview with Columbia! The student said people who interview around this time normally hear around late Feb-early March... I’m hoping I make it into the January batch whatever the decision may be.
 
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Any part-time JHU MPH'ers heard anything yet? I was verified on 10/23 and haven't heard a peep (aside from the confirmatory email). I'm assuming that the admissions committee are probably prioritizing the full-time program students first... or maybe I just have a slow reviewer?
 
jt1050 said:
Any part-time JHU MPH'ers heard anything yet? I was verified on 10/23 and haven't heard a peep (aside from the confirmatory email). I'm assuming that the admissions committee are probably prioritizing the full-time program students first... or maybe I just have a slow reviewer?
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Echoing off of this, does anyone know if Yale's admissions office will be closed until the new year? It's been a while since I received any sort of update from them while other schools like JHU have still been proactive between Christmas and new years.
 
fsch500 said:
Echoing off of this, does anyone know if Yale's admissions office will be closed until the new year? It's been a while since I received any sort of update from them while other schools like JHU have still been proactive between Christmas and new years.
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I get the feeling that most schools closed for the holidays. Honestly very surprised to have seen that Columbia & JH were releasing acceptances!
 
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I was accepted to JHU today via the portal! Full time MPH. Applied on 11/27.
 
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What are people's thoughts on providing the optional writing sample? Is it a good way to boost an application or do you think it just provides an unnecessary way to be critiqued.
 
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honeybee77 said:
No, the statement on the portal was very short, simple, and generic. It said I should be getting a formal email in 24-28 hours!
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Yeah I got the email, but there wasn't any statement regarding scholarship..so I was wondering if I simply didn't make it or they are sending out that info later..
 
Admitted at IS-Global (Universitat de Barcelona) and attending! Its a Masters of Global Health program located in Barcelona, Spain. Withdrawing my US apps! I am so psyched!
 
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mrose_22 said:
What are people's thoughts on providing the optional writing sample? Is it a good way to boost an application or do you think it just provides an unnecessary way to be critiqued.
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I've always viewed it as a way to make your application stand out. Not only do you get to show off your writing skills, but you also get to pick a sample that maybe is relevant to your research interests/area of study and would allow you to show your knowledge/passion for a certain topic. There are so many directions you can go with the writing sample that can make you stand out as an applicant. I've also been the kind of person to think that anything "optional" is, by itself, a way to make your application unique because many people would choose not do something that is optional anyway
 
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gbr101 said:
I've always viewed it as a way to make your application stand out. Not only do you get to show off your writing skills, but you also get to pick a sample that maybe is relevant to your research interests/area of study and would allow you to show your knowledge/passion for a certain topic. There are so many directions you can go with the writing sample that can make you stand out as an applicant. I've also been the kind of person to think that anything "optional" is, by itself, a way to make your application unique because many people would choose not do something that is optional anyway
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This is how I view the optional writing sample, too! When I submitted one with my app I chose a piece of writing that I was proud of and that demonstrated my interest in a particular area.
 
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JHU said we won’t hear back about scholarships until February when I emailed admissions about a month ago
 
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On another note, which is better johns hopkins school of public health mph or harvard school of public health mph??

If anyone has any experience or have heard any reviews, feedbacks or ratings.
 
EGATA123 said:
On another note, which is better johns hopkins school of public health mph or harvard school of public health mph??

If anyone has any experience or have heard any reviews, feedbacks or ratings.
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For different applicants and different alumni of these schools the answer will be different and everybody's has their own dream school. JHU, at least according to US News, outranks Harvard, and there is always the concern that Harvard is reputation over schools that work to constantly improve themselves.

One issue with JHU is that the university is in Baltimore which is a high crime city, their homicide rate is near 58 per 100,000 compared with like 5.7 for the US in total, so we're looking at a 10-fold rise in homicides compared with the average, the homicide rate reached a peak sadly last year and is second only to St. Louis. For me that might be a plus as you could work with traumatized inner city families and communities and maybe even have an impact, when communities have crime/homicide rates that high, it really impacts people's lives in general and their outlook on life and probably a lot of people in Baltimore know somebody who is/was a victim of gun violence, I've seen firsthand how such violence can impact communities, and students of public health are probably more atuned to the mal effects of gun violence on communities, versus if you are just at JHU to get a computer science degree or something and you don't want to even be cognizant of the issue.

I think the issue in terms of being a grad student at JHU is being sure you pick a quiet/safe neighborhood or live on campus if possible. Along with a high homicide rate there are probably increased rates of other crimes as well. The crime issue is so prominent that Michael Bloomberg wants to let JHU have armed guards on their campus to protect their 25,000 or so employees.

Probably both schools have a lot of great programs . . . but you have to look at which school makes sense for you in terms of research focus, faculty interests, tuition/scholarships and just if it makes sense career wise. A good idea might be to talk to current and former students of the schools and get an idea about what each school offers. I think that JHU offers a better education and experience in global health, epidemiology, math based concentrations and community and behavioral stuff, Harvard might offer a slight advantage in terms of having that on your resume to do a policy related job, but YMMV depending on what opportunities you take advantage of.
 
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Is anyone familiar with whether or not health policy/management students are able to TA in some schools? Is it more common with MPH programs or do MHA students TA as well?
 
She-Hulk said:
For different applicants and different alumni of these schools the answer will be different and everybody's has their own dream school. JHU, at least according to US News, outranks Harvard, and there is always the concern that Harvard is reputation over schools that work to constantly improve themselves.

One issue with JHU is that the university is in Baltimore which is a high crime city, their homicide rate is near 58 per 100,000 compared with like 5.7 for the US in total, so we're looking at a 10-fold rise in homicides compared with the average, the homicide rate reached a peak sadly last year and is second only to St. Louis. For me that might be a plus as you could work with traumatized inner city families and communities and maybe even have an impact, when communities have crime/homicide rates that high, it really impacts people's lives in general and their outlook on life and probably a lot of people in Baltimore know somebody who is/was a victim of gun violence, I've seen firsthand how such violence can impact communities, and students of public health are probably more atuned to the mal effects of gun violence on communities, versus if you are just at JHU to get a computer science degree or something and you don't want to even be cognizant of the issue.

I think the issue in terms of being a grad student at JHU is being sure you pick a quiet/safe neighborhood or live on campus if possible. Along with a high homicide rate there are probably increased rates of other crimes as well. The crime issue is so prominent that Michael Bloomberg wants to let JHU have armed guards on their campus to protect their 25,000 or so employees.

Probably both schools have a lot of great programs . . . but you have to look at which school makes sense for you in terms of research focus, faculty interests, tuition/scholarships and just if it makes sense career wise. A good idea might be to talk to current and former students of the schools and get an idea about what each school offers. I think that JHU offers a better education and experience in global health, epidemiology, math based concentrations and community and behavioral stuff, Harvard might offer a slight advantage in terms of having that on your resume to do a policy related job, but YMMV depending on what opportunities you take advantage of.
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Thank you very much for your insight.
 
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CarissasWeird said:
Is anyone familiar with whether or not health policy/management students are able to TA in some schools? Is it more common with MPH programs or do MHA students TA as well?
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I can only speak for Columbia because I asked about this in my HPM interview and the student said yes! Although she hasn’t done any TA work herself, she said she has many friends who have been TAs for both classes they took and classes they didn’t take but professors thought they would be a good fit for. Not sure about MHA because I applied MPH but hopefully this is a little helpful!
 
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Well... guess my question on this board a few days ago worked. Just received an acceptance email from JHSPH this morning - I guess someone in the admissions office is working on New Year's Day.
 
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Thrilled to receive today an interview offer from JHU for the MSPH/Registered Dietitian's program! :)
 
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Just got my first acceptance GW for Community Oriented Primary Care (COPC)! :)
 
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For GW, how soon after submitting did you get the "under review" notice? I submitted on 12/15 and have not heard anything back :(
 
honeybee77 said:
For GW, how soon after submitting did you get the "under review" notice? I submitted on 12/15 and have not heard anything back :(
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It took two weeks for mine to be "under review" after being verified in SOPHAS. I haven't heard anything else yet and I've been under review since 12/16.
 
honeybee77 said:
For GW, how soon after submitting did you get the "under review" notice? I submitted on 12/15 and have not heard anything back :(
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It was received on 12/2 and I got the "under review" email on 12/12. If you submitted on the 15th it could be that they went away for the holidays and just needs a few more days to get there. I'd wait a few more days and then maybe call in about the status.
 
honeybee77 said:
For GW, how soon after submitting did you get the "under review" notice? I submitted on 12/15 and have not heard anything back :(
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I was under review on 10/15 and accepted 12/16, I wouldn't worry about it
 
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Has anyone heard from NYU CGPH? Not really a program that's high up on my list, but I feel like they've been really quiet.
 
jparky said:
Has anyone heard from NYU CGPH? Not really a program that's high up on my list, but I feel like they've been really quiet.
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Same here, especially since they said they’d get back within 4-6 weeks. I assume the week of Christmas doesn’t count for the 4-6 weeks
 
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