MPH 2020: Applied, Accepted, Rejected, Waitlisted

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A caveat— Hopkins had, thus far, been the most affordable program that fit my interests & needs. The last school I was waiting to hear from was Emory, but I didn’t feel that their program offered what Hopkins had to offer for my professional goals. If you have no clue about funding from programs your interested in, then I wouldn’t.
 
Anyone know if there's a Facebook group for Emory admitted students? Sorry if this question's already been asked upthread.
A question for int students applying through the Fulbright program. I’ve received an email that I’ve been nominated by the Fulbright commission of my country for an award and that my nomination has been forwarded to the Board of Foreign Scholarship to the US. Has anyone received something similar? And do you know what the acceptance rates are of this Board?
to my knowledge, Fullbright programs are on quota basis which depends on the political as well as economical situation of a country. Though, mutual cooperation may come into play here. Acceptance rates might vary.
 
Didn't get the email, but I just got my financial aid package from Columbia. Kinda shocked that I only got 5k a year in need based, but at least it's something
Was the 5k listed under the award section of the financial aid portal?
 
ANYONE still waiting to hear back from UCLA, CUNY , and Columbia ??? The wait is killing meeeeee. I’m a huge planner and I’m trying to figure out expenses!!! 🙁

Applied to HPM btw
 
Hi all, international applicant here.

Silly question. Do we have to formally decline offers once you've chosen where you want to go? I've applied for Harvard, JHU, Columbia and Yale and I've already accepted Harvard.
 
Hi all, international applicant here.

Silly question. Do we have to formally decline offers once you've chosen where you want to go? I've applied for Harvard, JHU, Columbia and Yale and I've already accepted Harvard.
Yes you should decline the offers. Most programs will give you a deadline where you need to accept, decline, or defer your acceptance. I think the option to do so should be in your student portal/offer letter.
 
ANYONE still waiting to hear back from UCLA, CUNY , and Columbia ??? The wait is killing meeeeee. I’m a huge planner and I’m trying to figure out expenses!!! 🙁

Applied to HPM btw

I'm still waiting on Columbia too.

When did you go under review for CUNY? My application went in on 12/13 and the acceptance came 2/6. They said that all decisions should be out by March 1, 2020, so you might want to email them!
 
I'm still waiting on Columbia too.

When did you go under review for CUNY? My application went in on 12/13 and the acceptance came 2/6. They said that all decisions should be out by March 1, 2020, so you might want to email them!
Yeah I went under review on 12/13, but when I called they said a step was skipped in my application review process so they had to go back and review it again...they said this caused a major delay and that I should hear back soon! /:

Also where did you hear that decisions are sent out by March 1?? The email I got said February 1
 
Yeah I went under review on 12/13, but when I called they said a step was skipped in my application review process so they had to go back and review it again...they said this caused a major delay and that I should hear back soon! /:

Also where did you hear that decisions are sent out by March 1?? The email I got said February 1

Oh shoot... I hope they get back to you asap!

At the bottom of the "Your application to the CUNY SPH is now complete" email they sent, it says "Your application is now being directed to our admissions committee and we expect to notify you of your admission decision by March 1, 2020".
 
Has anyone applied to or heard back from UMichigan’s online MPH program? They told me they would begin sending out admissions decisions by the end of the month and I’m anxious to hear back!
 
Did anybody do an updated resume or submit a letter of continued interest after submitting their applications? Just did a LOCI for Columbia because I'm desperate and had a few things come up that I would have put on my resume to begin with that happened after I applied.
 
Oh shoot... I hope they get back to you asap!

At the bottom of the "Your application to the CUNY SPH is now complete" email they sent, it says "Your application is now being directed to our admissions committee and we expect to notify you of your admission decision by March 1, 2020".
That’s so weird! My email said February 1
 
Did anybody do an updated resume or submit a letter of continued interest after submitting their applications? Just did a LOCI for Columbia because I'm desperate and had a few things come up that I would have put on my resume to begin with happened after I applied.
I tried to update my application with a major change that has happened to me in the past month (mostly for increasing my chance of merit scholarships) and it's been a complete mixed bag of responses depending on the program. Columbia added my updates but I'm not convinced it made a difference or was actually received by the department at any point. I've received the advice that if the addition is major enough that reaching out to a professor to convince them that you're a strong candidate will bypass any of the bureaucratic processes, but I haven't tried it because the chance of a random professor actually being on the admissions committee seemed low to me.

It's frustrating for sure because so many applicants are doing really cool things that the department will never see if they don't let you update. Good luck, let me know what happens!
 
Ugh, just got off the phone with Emory admissions, all merit scholarships have been awarded. They're only giving out institutional (need based) scholarships now, in the first couple of weeks of March.

bleh...that sucks. welp, i guess there's still a chance for SOMETHING that's not federal lol.
 
Emailed Emory fin aid and they stated that aid packages will start to be release late next week.

I guess there is conflicting information going around
 
I tried to update my application with a major change that has happened to me in the past month (mostly for increasing my chance of merit scholarships) and it's been a complete mixed bag of responses depending on the program. Columbia added my updates but I'm not convinced it made a difference or was actually received by the department at any point. I've received the advice that if the addition is major enough that reaching out to a professor to convince them that you're a strong candidate will bypass any of the bureaucratic processes, but I haven't tried it because the chance of a random professor actually being on the admissions committee seemed low to me.

It's frustrating for sure because so many applicants are doing really cool things that the department will never see if they don't let you update. Good luck, let me know what happens!
Thanks for the information! My application is in the final review stage from what admissions said. The told me end of this week (I'm assuming not considering it is Friday) or by end of next week to expect a decision. Figured a LOCI wouldn't hurt though! I'm thinking it might be too late to make any more of an impact at this point. Congrats on your acceptance!
 
Emailed Emory fin aid and they stated that aid packages will start to be release late next week.

I guess there is conflicting information going around

I emailed them too and they said "We should begin releasing [financial aid] award in the next week. The Office of Financial Aid does not determine the scholarships. If you are awarded one, you should have heard from Rollins."


Sounds to me like there are no more merit scholarships but the email is a little unclear.
 
I emailed them too and they said "We should begin releasing [financial aid] award in the next week. The Office of Financial Aid does not determine the scholarships. If you are awarded one, you should have heard from Rollins."


Sounds to me like there are no more merit scholarships but the email is a little unclear.
Hopefully that's not the case 😀 Gonna be optimistic and hope for the best next week
 
I emailed them too and they said "We should begin releasing [financial aid] award in the next week. The Office of Financial Aid does not determine the scholarships. If you are awarded one, you should have heard from Rollins."


Sounds to me like there are no more merit scholarships but the email is a little unclear.

I just spoke to someone from the Office of Admissions and Student Services earlier today and I was informed there are no more merit scholarships being awarded to incoming students. Financial aid information as well as institutional awards will be given to students in March. They could not tell me when students will hear back in March (i.e. beginning, mid, late-March).
 
Well I just declined my offer at Emory b/c no scholarships - getting closer to making a decision 🙂
LOL I did the same thing earlier! Hopefully if I was going to get any institutional aid it will go to someone else who needs it 🙂
 
Welllll in light of no money from Emory, I guess I'm also starting to make some decisions too!

Shifting to looking for advice at this point then-- I was also admitted to Tulane (+20k) and GWU (pending $). I'm hoping to eventually get a job in DC one day, but my interest field is global reproductive health epi so I am open to living and working in many different places.

I love the research opportunities at Tulane but I know it's technically not ranked as high as a program like Emory. Are the extra loans worth it? I'm feeling like I will be set up for success in terms of the job search at both schools, so fewer loans would be great...But if I am totally misreading that please let me know!
 
What did you use for the ID & password/pin?
If you go onto the general portal and then hit financial aid info, it shows a link to click on to get to the financial aid portal. You'll need your CUID (which is listed on your portal), and then you can reset your password
 
I contacted the Berkeley Public Health Admissions Office, and they replied “Final decisions will become available within the next two weeks. Thank you for your patience during this admissions cycle.”

I just want to know either way...how many of us are still waiting to hear from them??
They said the same thing to me, two weeks ago.....
Guess we will have to wait.
 
I don't care too much about Brown, but if anyone is wondering their admissions rep. just informed me that they are working "hard" to get through the rest of their applications and that folks should hear back before the end of next week.
 
I contacted the Berkeley Public Health Admissions Office, and they replied “Final decisions will become available within the next two weeks. Thank you for your patience during this admissions cycle.”

I just want to know either way...how many of us are still waiting to hear from them??
I'm waiting and I was told on Monday that they'd have all decisions out by the end of the week.
 
Anyone accepted to OHSU-PSU and get any scholarship/financial aid info along with their decision?
Hi Carla,
I emailed them a while ago about this and this is what they said: Financial aid is processed after tuition rates are announced for the upcoming academic year and admission has been offered. This happens once tuition and fees are set for the upcoming academic year, typically in mid-May. This is for federal loans only, as any financial assistance would be from outside resources found by the student.

So it looks like they don’t offer merit aid?? I was pretty disappointed by their response.
 
I appealed based on what previous years have suggested once I was awarded an initial amount of financial aid. Past forums haven't been the best about updating whether or not this has worked for them (people fall off posting once they commit), but I'll try my best to let you know if anything comes out of my various appeals. Here's the basic formula I used for Columbia:

1. Explain to them that their school is your top choice due to x, y, z
2. Thank them graciously for the amount they have offered.
3. Indicate that your choice in commitment will ultimately come down to funding. If you've been awarded a substantial amount to somewhere else: "another top program has awarded me x amount, which will reduce my yearly tuition to y amount." You could also bring up your income here (I did) or cost of living differences.
4. Don't ask directly about matching an offer, I said something along the lines of "avenues of alternative funding" or something like that. Ask straight up for the appeal though!

Remember that you've worked really hard to get where you are, and you deserve access to higher education.

Hi! Thank you so much for posting this - can I PM you with extra questions? I'm trying to appeal to Columbia as well.
 
Just got off the phone with Columbia financial aid. The numbers I've been seeing about cutoffs for GPA or GRE for consideration for merit scholarships aren't strict. They said I am being considered and I have a 3.55 GPA! My GRE scores are also good but not exactly groundbreaking and they said that's fine, if you aren't as strong in one section (like me and verbal) it won't cause you to not be considered. It seems like a very holistic process. They are also behind and so don't worry if you haven't received anything yet.

Also, TA and RA positions are typically only available to 2nd-year students (in case anyone was interested in that way of funding).

What did you ask/say when you called them?
 
Hi just an update to this, I emailed the Boston University MPH program and they granted me a 40% scholarship. I also got into UCI and USC, and wanted to see if they would match the scholarships. Does anyone here have any history or background in asking graduate schools relating to MPH programs if they can match scholarships from other schools? Do you usually ask the directors of the program over the phone or have a constructed email to generate a dialogue with them? I'd rather stay in state so if USC or UCI would honor it I would have a good case to stay here over Boston

Hi Lakers4Life24, would love to hear how you approached BU/what prompted the additional scholarship funds. Were you asking them to match another program?
 
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