MPH Fall 2015: Applied, Accepted, Waitlisted, Rejected!

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Still no word from Hopkins MHS....I was really hoping for it today so I could end my cycle.


Same for Columbia. Hopkins may be on Spring break as well? Thought about calling 81288 times today, pulled out my phone each time and froze ---just concluded it won't make a difference they'll let me know when they let me know lol
 
Still waiting on NYU...They said most decisions will be made in four weeks (from March 2) so hopefully next week! And UConn told me that they will have a decision for me on March 25. Also I cant wait to hear back about financial aid...I've only heard back from BU.
 
I submitted my application on 10th January, but i dont thingk they will delay it further , hopefully . Good Luck ! btw which concentration did you apply to ?
Sighhhh, Yale has been telling me "Next week" every week for the past three. Last week, they said they planned on having all the decisions sent out by EOW this week. When did you submit your application? I submitted Feb 1st.[/QUOTE
 
I got accepted to Harvard today! I'll probably go there provided I can swing it financially.

Buffalo (my hometown) also accepted me with an assistantship but I'd feel like a fool for the rest of my life if I took that over Harvard.
Shout out to western NY!! 🙂 Also, yea, I wouldn't go to buffalo. I got into their PhD program and was not impressed with the department during my interview.
 
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I went to Pitt's accepted student's day on Friday and while wasn't very impressed with the school as a whole - career services was particularly unhelpful, I LOVED EVERYONE in the epi department. Regarding funding, I talked to a professor who is interested in having me work in her lab, and said the lab may have money to help with my tuition, so that is going to make my decision much harder! I've been all set to head to Emory, but I don't want to underestimate the importance of connecting well with the faculty.
 
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I went to Pitt's accepted student's day on Friday and while wasn't very impressed with the school as a whole - career services was particularly unhelpful, I LOVED EVERYONE in the epi department. Regarding funding, I talked to a professor who is interested in having me work in her lab, and said the lab may have money to help with my tuition, so that is going to make my decision much harder! I've been all set to head to Emory, but I don't want to underestimate the importance of connecting well with the faculty.
I don't know. My experiences with the people at Pitt have been great and if I would have been confident I could pay for it, it would definitely still be on the table. However, with them not sending out the aid package before April 15 or giving any sort of commitment to funding, I was too uncomfortable with it given their high tuition. They have a lot of great resources and faculty there and student services has some really great people. I guess it depends on how comfortable you are with the financial uncertainty and what your experience is like when you visit Emory.
 
I don't know. My experiences with the people at Pitt have been great and if I would have been confident I could pay for it, it would definitely still be on the table. However, with them not sending out the aid package before April 15 or giving any sort of commitment to funding, I was too uncomfortable with it given their high tuition. They have a lot of great resources and faculty there and student services has some really great people. I guess it depends on how comfortable you are with the financial uncertainty and what your experience is like when you visit Emory.


I was just think of applying to UPitt's HPM program... But i wasn't sure if I needed experience or not :/... HPM is one of those programs where some schools want you to have prior experience before applying.


EDIT: eeeeek that price tag is crazy!
 
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Hey all. This thread was a great help when creating my application. So to give back...

Undergrad School:
University of Miami
Undergrad GPA: 3.74
Major/Minor: Finance and Economics
GradGPA (if applicable): 3.96
Grad Studies (if applicable): Northwestern University, MS in Predictive Analytics
GRE (including date taken) or Other Test (if applicable): GRE was good...forgot the score...I'm thinking Q was 165 and R was 160?
Experience/Research (please, be brief): No research experience. Was a healthcare six sigma master black belt consultant for 3 years, generating $30 million in cost savings for several large healthcare institutions.

***Please include the following whenever possible: specific concentration/track, dates, type of correspondence (phone, email, letter, etc.), scholarships/grants. Judging by last year's thread, yes we are this obsessive and neurotic.***

Applied: (See below) + Johns Hopkins (haven't heard back)
Accepted: Harvard (with $10k scholarship), Drexel (full ride), Washington University in St. Louis ($25k scholarship w/ offer to interview for $45k fellowship), Dartmouth ($10k scholarship), UPenn, Emory, Columbia
Rejected: Vanderbilt, Yale
Waitlisted:


In my application, my "pitch" was despite my lack of a science background, as a process enginerr/data scientist I'd like to study biostatistics/epidemiology to bring big data into healthcare delivery because algorithmic population health management is absolutely the future. Good luck all!
Hey all. This thread was a great help when creating my application. So to give back...

Undergrad School:
University of Miami
Undergrad GPA: 3.74
Major/Minor: Finance and Economics
GradGPA (if applicable): 3.96
Grad Studies (if applicable): Northwestern University, MS in Predictive Analytics
GRE (including date taken) or Other Test (if applicable): GRE was good...forgot the score...I'm thinking Q was 165 and R was 160?
Experience/Research (please, be brief): No research experience. Was a healthcare six sigma master black belt consultant for 3 years, generating $30 million in cost savings for several large healthcare institutions.

***Please include the following whenever possible: specific concentration/track, dates, type of correspondence (phone, email, letter, etc.), scholarships/grants. Judging by last year's thread, yes we are this obsessive and neurotic.***

Applied: (See below) + Johns Hopkins (haven't heard back)
Accepted: Harvard (with $10k scholarship), Drexel (full ride), Washington University in St. Louis ($25k scholarship w/ offer to interview for $45k fellowship), Dartmouth ($10k scholarship), UPenn, Emory, Columbia
Rejected: Vanderbilt, Yale
Waitlisted:


In my application, my "pitch" was despite my lack of a science background, as a process enginerr/data scientist I'd like to study biostatistics/epidemiology to bring big data into healthcare delivery because algorithmic population health management is absolutely the future. Good luck all!
Incredible offers you got. Congratulations!! What did you apply to at Dartmouth? Great to see Dartmouth offered you a scholarship, despite explicitly stating this was only available for PHD programs
 
I don't know about the other schools but Dartmouth is known for their Health Policy research at the Dartmouth Institute. So if that's what you like, you can't go wrong with it!
Thank you for your response @kimto8 and congratulations on your awesome offers. Leaning towards Dartmouth actually, can you shed a little more light on what is so peculiar with Dartmouth's health policy research as compared to other programs and any other key thing you know about Dartmouth that could help me lock in on a decision, lol. Still stalemate in this BU vs Dartmouth game
 
Shout out to western NY!! 🙂 Also, yea, I wouldn't go to buffalo. I got into their PhD program and was not impressed with the department during my interview.

Yeah last summer I interned at Roswell Park, so I made a few UB connections.. but honestly I'd be a fool to refuse harvard to for a free ride in the town I've lived in for 21 years.
 
Hi guys,
I just declined the admission at Emory Rollins, Yale and Boston University. So hopefully some of you might hear from them.
Best of luck for all your dreams!
 
Yeah last summer I interned at Roswell Park, so I made a few UB connections.. but honestly I'd be a fool to refuse harvard to for a free ride in the town I've lived in for 21 years.
100% agree. Spread your wings and fly…sounds corny, but it's true. Also, Buffalo weather is terrible. lol (Although Boston got it worse this year)
 
Declined BU stI'll waiting on financial aid stuff from emory to make final decision between there and UGA. Good luck to everyone as they start making their choices!
 
ugh! Haven't heard from Dartmouth or CU 🙁

I did get accepted to San Diego State and St. George University though :clap:

Those that did hear from the above, was it via email or snail mail?

Thanks!
 
I received my acceptance letter from SDSU last week! But the weird thing is they're rushing me to make a decision by March 20th 🙁 and I'm still waiting for other schools. Have you heard of this happening before?
oh really? That's weird. I got my acceptance last week too; but they said I'd need to accept/deny by April 1 (maybe it's a program specific thing? I applied to the MPH in Epidemiology). SDSU is most DEFINITELY my #1 (unless a program want's to offer me $$$ to go, doh!) Good luck!
 
I heard back this morning from Yale, saying that I was waitlisted. Does anyone know if there's a chance for me to get in after being waitlisted? Or should I just accept my Columbia admission offer?

In your opinion, which one is a better school? Yale or Columbia?
 
So, going into this whole graduate school thing, I always thought and have heard from friends in grad school that classes are graded as pass/fail and sometimes high pass and low pass. However, I learned that Berkeley's grad classes are graded (A, A-, B+, etc). Is this really as big of a deal as I think it is? Having graded classes makes it seem like undergrad all over again as far as competitiveness goes.
 
Rejected from Yale this morning 🙁

Now, I need to make a decision between UCLA and Columbia.

No funding from Columbia (so will need to take out school loans + grad plus loans). UCLA offered me some aid, but it's under $10k. I'm a native Angelino & got my undergrad degree from UCLA, so Columbia sounds enticing for the new life experience, but is it silly of me to dive into a pool of debt in exchange for a new "life experience"? Doing Health policy at both schools.

Help pleeeease!
 
havnt called but emailed and got no response

I keep checking my application status, and it still just says "submitted". They have to tell us this week, right?! I want to call, but know they will give me the same answer..
 
So, going into this whole graduate school thing, I always thought and have heard from friends in grad school that classes are graded as pass/fail and sometimes high pass and low pass. However, I learned that Berkeley's grad classes are graded (A, A-, B+, etc). Is this really as big of a deal as I think it is? Having graded classes makes it seem like undergrad all over again as far as competitiveness goes.


It's not, I finished one graduate degree; I prefer having grade scores rather than pass/fail. Especially if I decided to continue into a professional program afterwards they don't look too lightly at pass/fail... So if it's not the end of the rope for you I wouldn't do pass/fail or at least ask them to calculate your grades for professional school (but I believe you have to pre-request this is what I was told; if you ask at the end of the program it will be too late to calculate grades).
 
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So is the financial aid package out for Emory? I haven't received anything yet.

Hi guys,
I just declined the admission at Emory Rollins, Yale and Boston University. So hopefully some of you might hear from them.
Best of luck for all your dreams!

Which one did you choose and why did you decided against Yale and Emory? I am considering those two.
 
Just got accepted to Indiana University MPH in HPM

:drowning: my heart dropped I was hoping it was Columbia.... Sigh still holding on strong for you Columbia!!!


Hopefully we hear something from Columbia this week!! I mean there second admitted student's day is only two weeks away!!!!!!
 
So, going into this whole graduate school thing, I always thought and have heard from friends in grad school that classes are graded as pass/fail and sometimes high pass and low pass. However, I learned that Berkeley's grad classes are graded (A, A-, B+, etc). Is this really as big of a deal as I think it is? Having graded classes makes it seem like undergrad all over again as far as competitiveness goes.

While pass/fail is pretty common in med schools and looked upon favorably, it's my impression and experience that it is the opposite in graduate schools. I don't think i've heard of many that work on a P/F grading system. In fact, getting below a B- is very unheard of and frowned upon in grad school and usually you have to then speak to the department head who may or may not put you in probation.
 
Hopefully we hear something from Columbia this week!! I mean there second admitted student's day is only two weeks away!!!!!!


You know I may just call them on my way out today. I don't want to miss the admitted student's day... Nor do I want to get stuck with a $800+ ticket it can get that crazy to fly out to NYC from my place. Especially with last minute flights. And driving is about 10 hours for me (maybe even more).

When is it exactly?
 
Incredible offers you got. Congratulations!! What did you apply to at Dartmouth? Great to see Dartmouth offered you a scholarship, despite explicitly stating this was only available for PHD programs

Thank you for the kind words. I applied to the Master of Science in Healthcare Research (MS). It's funny you mention the "PhD only scholarship" rule...I remember reading that too and calling the admissions office to ask them for more financial aid. They politely rejected my request...then 1-2 weeks later I got an email saying "congratulations here is this scholarship".
 
So is the financial aid package out for Emory? I haven't received anything yet.



Which one did you choose and why did you decided against Yale and Emory? I am considering those two.

Actually, the choice was between Johns Hopkins, Emory, Yale and BU (15000$ scholarship).
Basically it was Hopkins' positives more than anything else. It's my dream school and though I loved the program at Emory, I did not get any scholarship. Plus I want to complete my MPH within 1 year.
 
I went to Pitt's accepted student's day on Friday and while wasn't very impressed with the school as a whole - career services was particularly unhelpful, I LOVED EVERYONE in the epi department. Regarding funding, I talked to a professor who is interested in having me work in her lab, and said the lab may have money to help with my tuition, so that is going to make my decision much harder! I've been all set to head to Emory, but I don't want to underestimate the importance of connecting well with the faculty.
It seems as a traditional that career services tend to be unhelpful... I met a staff at columbia career services and she answered every of my questions with "I am confused..."
 
I'm committing to Berkeley, I've notified the other schools. So, hopefully, anyone waiting on Emory, Columbia, or UCLA for HPM will hear back soon!

I need to make a decision between UCLA and Columbia.

No funding from Columbia (so will need to take out school loans + grad plus loans). UCLA offered me some aid, but it's under $10k. I'm a native Angelino & got my undergrad degree from UCLA, so Columbia sounds enticing for the new life experience, but is it silly of me to dive into a pool of debt in exchange for a new "life experience"? Doing Health policy at both schools.

Help pleeeease!

I was accepted to UCLA, Columbia, and Berkeley for health policy. I chose Berkeley for a few reasons. These aren't the only reasons for my decision, but they were important ones:
  • I got a research gig that'll help pay for school.
  • The culture of the school was a great fit (go to admitted students days if possible)
  • I asked around and the post-grad money in policy isn't all that great. The problem is, as I understand it, we HPM folks get all lumped together (policy and management). The management group does alright salary-wise, but us not as much. So, careful when you hear about ~$70,000 salaries straight out of grad school. Not that it's impossible . . .
  • I opted for an in-state tuition (still at a top-10, by the way) for less than half the cost. What's the real difference between Columbia, UCLA, and Berkeley anyway? In my opinion, you'll get a world-class education at every single one of them.
  • Lastly, and for policy, it's worth considering that the ACA roll-out was highly successful in California (many states are looking to us). UCLA, and specifically the Center for Health Policy Research, lead the charge in that regard. So, ask yourself do you want to do international (go NYC) or domestic policy?
. . . Good luck deciding, I know it's tough.
 
Hey everyone! I've been lurking on this board for the past week and wanted to add to the discussion.


Undergrad School:
Howard University
Undergrad GPA:
3.47
Major/Minor: African-American Std./Chemistry/Pre-Med
GradGPA (if applicable):
Grad Studies (if applicable):
GRE (including date taken) or Other Test (if applicable): GRE wasn't the greatest.
Experience/Research (please, be brief):

Summer Medical and Dental Program
Medical Internship in Gujarat, India
Served 2 years with AmeriCorps after graduation

Applied: Emory (BSHE), BU (Social and Behavioral Sciences), Yale (Social and Behavioral Sciences), Columbia (SMS)
Accepted: Emory - 01/27 (so far $5000 service scholarship), Columbia - 03/10
Rejected: Yale
Waitlisted: Columbia -02/11, BU

I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Columbia was originally my first choice. But Emory is close to home. After I was waitlisted at Columbia I assumed that I wasn't going to be admitted there. But I was accepted two weeks ago....and haven't heard from them since.
 
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Hey everyone! I've been lurking on this board for the past week and wanted to add to the discussion.


Undergrad School:
Howard University
Undergrad GPA:
3.47
Major/Minor: African-American Std./Chemistry/Pre-Med
GradGPA (if applicable):
Grad Studies (if applicable):
GRE (including date taken) or Other Test (if applicable): GRE wasn't the greatest.
Experience/Research (please, be brief):

Summer Medical and Dental Program (
Medical Internship in Gujarat, India
Served 2 years with AmeriCorps after graduation

Applied: Emory (BSHE), BU (Social and Behavioral Sciences), Yale (Social and Behavioral Sciences), Columbia (SMS)
Accepted: Emory - 01/27 (so far $5000 service scholarship), Columbia - 03/10
Rejected: Yale
Waitlisted: Columbia -02/11, BU

I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Columbia was originally my first choice. But Emory is close to home. After I was waitlisted at Columbia I assumed that I wasn't going to be admitted there. But I was accepted two weeks ago....and haven't heard from them since.

Hey I have applied to the same departments and schools. Leaning most towards Columbia right now. I will make up my mind after Emory visit. You gonna be there for the admitted students day?
 
Hey everyone! I've been lurking on this board for the past week and wanted to add to the discussion.


Undergrad School:
Howard University
Undergrad GPA:
3.47
Major/Minor: African-American Std./Chemistry/Pre-Med
GradGPA (if applicable):
Grad Studies (if applicable):
GRE (including date taken) or Other Test (if applicable): GRE wasn't the greatest.
Experience/Research (please, be brief):

Summer Medical and Dental Program (
Medical Internship in Gujarat, India
Served 2 years with AmeriCorps after graduation

Applied: Emory (BSHE), BU (Social and Behavioral Sciences), Yale (Social and Behavioral Sciences), Columbia (SMS)
Accepted: Emory - 01/27 (so far $5000 service scholarship), Columbia - 03/10
Rejected: Yale
Waitlisted: Columbia -02/11, BU

I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Columbia was originally my first choice. But Emory is close to home. After I was waitlisted at Columbia I assumed that I wasn't going to be admitted there. But I was accepted two weeks ago....and haven't heard from them since.
I'm a Howard grad as well!
 
I'm committing to Berkeley, I've notified the other schools. So, hopefully, anyone waiting on Emory, Columbia, or UCLA for HPM will hear back soon!



I was accepted to UCLA, Columbia, and Berkeley for health policy. I chose Berkeley for a few reasons. These aren't the only reasons for my decision, but they were important ones:
  • I got a research gig that'll help pay for school.
  • The culture of the school was a great fit (go to admitted students days if possible)
  • I asked around and the post-grad money in policy isn't all that great. The problem is, as I understand it, we HPM folks get all lumped together (policy and management). The management group does alright salary-wise, but us not as much. So, careful when you hear about ~$70,000 salaries straight out of grad school. Not that it's impossible . . .
  • I opted for an in-state tuition (still at a top-10, by the way) for less than half the cost. What's the real difference between Columbia, UCLA, and Berkeley anyway? In my opinion, you'll get a world-class education at every single one of them.
  • Lastly, and for policy, it's worth considering that the ACA roll-out was highly successful in California (many states are looking to us). UCLA, and specifically the Center for Health Policy Research, lead the charge in that regard. So, ask yourself do you want to do international (go NYC) or domestic policy?
. . . Good luck deciding, I know it's tough.




Congrats!! When was your interview with Columbia if you don't mind me asking? Im still waiting on them. I'm hoping for good news [emoji4] I just wish I knew how their system worked
 
Hey I have applied to the same departments and schools. Leaning most towards Columbia right now. I will make up my mind after Emory visit. You gonna be there for the admitted students day?

Yeah, I'll be at Emory Thursday and Friday. I would be more set on my decision if I had more info from Columbia (don't even have my OrgSync login yet...I'm guessing they were on spring break last week?). Financial aid info from both schools would be nice too.

I'm a Howard grad as well!

Hey my fellow HU alum! *Howard Hand*
 
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I'm committing to Berkeley, I've notified the other schools. So, hopefully, anyone waiting on Emory, Columbia, or UCLA for HPM will hear back soon!



I was accepted to UCLA, Columbia, and Berkeley for health policy. I chose Berkeley for a few reasons. These aren't the only reasons for my decision, but they were important ones:
  • I got a research gig that'll help pay for school.
  • The culture of the school was a great fit (go to admitted students days if possible)
  • I asked around and the post-grad money in policy isn't all that great. The problem is, as I understand it, we HPM folks get all lumped together (policy and management). The management group does alright salary-wise, but us not as much. So, careful when you hear about ~$70,000 salaries straight out of grad school. Not that it's impossible . . .
  • I opted for an in-state tuition (still at a top-10, by the way) for less than half the cost. What's the real difference between Columbia, UCLA, and Berkeley anyway? In my opinion, you'll get a world-class education at every single one of them.
  • Lastly, and for policy, it's worth considering that the ACA roll-out was highly successful in California (many states are looking to us). UCLA, and specifically the Center for Health Policy Research, lead the charge in that regard. So, ask yourself do you want to do international (go NYC) or domestic policy?
. . . Good luck deciding, I know it's tough.
Ugh this is so so helpful, thank you so much!
 
You know I may just call them on my way out today. I don't want to miss the admitted student's day... Nor do I want to get stuck with a $800+ ticket it can get that crazy to fly out to NYC from my place. Especially with last minute flights. And driving is about 10 hours for me (maybe even more).

When is it exactly?

April 10th. Driving for me is not an option lol it would be around 25 hour drive. So hopefully we hear something before this Friday.
 
April 10th. Driving for me is not an option lol it would be around 25 hour drive. So hopefully we hear something before this Friday.


Hopefully! I was going to call them today, but then this little voice inside my head was like "let it go woman, just let i-t g-o they'll tell you when they're ready". This waiting game is a good lesson in self-control and patience for me loool looking at the bright side [emoji4]I'm going to do some yoga to calm down, keep those endorphins running, and my spirits high.

I guess for me, being in the HPM program I know not everyone receives an interview @ Columbia. But, if you do lol I'm thinking what are the statistical chances of acceptance-waitlist-rejection post-interview [emoji23] I think too much. I guess they'll tell me when they're ready and as much as lasts week school break didn't help time wise, I wasn't refreshing my email every 0.2162 nanoseconds

I will be very happy with either Columbia, UIC or UMich. I feel like I'm late in the game with UMich; but we'll see how it all pans out in the end.
 
Congrats!! When was your interview with Columbia if you don't mind me asking? Im still waiting on them. I'm hoping for good news [emoji4] I just wish I knew how their system worked

It was on Feb. 14, 2015 (and I was notified of acceptance a few weeks after that, the exact date is somewhere in this thread, I think). Hope that helps give you an idea of where you're at. Plus, I just got their confirmation of my withdrawal a few hours ago. Good luck!
 
It was on Feb. 14, 2015 (and I was notified of acceptance a few weeks after that, the exact date is somewhere in this thread, I think). Hope that helps give you an idea of where you're at. Plus, I just got their confirmation of my withdrawal a few hours ago. Good luck!


I was the week after, and last week was spring break. Everyone seems to be somewhere in between the 3 to 5 week margin. Though I read somewhere someone was accepted the very next day! We shall see [emoji4]

Best of luck with everything, and thank you for the reply!
 
Long time lurker, finally posting!

Undergrad School:
Small LAC
Undergrad GPA: 3.99
Major/Minor: Biology Minor- Africa and Diaspora Studies
GradGPA (if applicable):
Grad Studies:
GRE (including date taken) or Other Test (if applicable):
Verbal 162 Quant. 159 Writing 6.0

Experience/Research (please, be brief):
-
Clinical Internship with Local hospital
-Research on Teenage Pregnancy and adolescent health
- International research on Hepatitis and malaria

Applied: Yale (MPH epi of microbial diseases) , Johns Hopkins (MSPH GDEC), Emory (MPH GH), Vanderbilt (MPH GH), WashU in St. Louis (MPH GH)
Accepted: Yale, Johns Hopkins, Emory ($30K), Vanderbilt (1/2 tuition) and WashU (Full tuition)
Rejected:
Waitlisted:


Probably going with WashU. I am international so I don't qualify for any need-based financial aid and it is hard to get loans too.
 
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