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

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I GOT INTO UCLA!!!!!!!! AHHHHH for MPH- Community Health Sciences. My first choice!!!!!! I received the school email Tuesday night and the grad admissions office email Wednesday morning. I seriously cried so much out of happiness and exhaustion and relief and "I'm good enough!" ^_^

Congratulations! I got into the MPH Environment Health Sciences. Guess we're neighbors!

By the way, how are you paying for grad school? I am a little worried. FAFSA gave me projected loan of $20,000, but it does not factor living expenses. So it'd be $30,000 for the year :\

Also, anyone going to UCLA admitted day?
 
FYI people who were asking about info on Columbia for accepted applicants. I just got an email from the department with a link to an accepted applicants webpage. Looks pretty comprehensive.
 
I have also heard amazing things. Between the CDC, the actual research going on, and the program I am pretty amped. I like that it is a MSPH so I will be taking core classes and doing a practicum in addition to a thesis. The other program I am considering, which is the MS in epi at Tulane, does not require core classes or a practicum. I think having those things will provide a more well-rounded education in preparation for a PhD. The main thing holding me back is that I know who my advisor will be at Tulane and I really like the research she is doing (and she seems really nice!). I haven't been assigned an advisor at Emory yet and I am worried it will be someone doing research that is not of interest to me. But I have a feeling that I can't go wrong with Emory given the large number of opportunities they seem to have.

I will not be attending Visit Emory, which I am bummed about. Just can't make it out before I move. What about you?

I believe MPH students at Emory also have the opportunity to a thesis in addition to their practicum, but thesis is not required as it is with MSPH. That's what I read for the EH program, at least. I think as far as advisors go, you should be able to choose your own at Emory. Browse the faculty, read some papers, and send e-mails. I would reach out to multiple professors and then schedule phone conversations or meetings/lab tours during the first week of classes if you decide to go to Emory. The worst thing in the world would be to fall in love with a professor's research but not really enjoy working in their lab. I made that mistake in my undergrad research.
 
Yes ma'am for the health policy and management MPH program

I'm assuming because they're

1- limited on seats
2- usually the most competitive department/concentration
3- highest paying MPH program according to a few web links (I believe US news) I'd have too look for the web links again
 
I believe MPH students at Emory also have the opportunity to a thesis in addition to their practicum, but thesis is not required as it is with MSPH. That's what I read for the EH program, at least. I think as far as advisors go, you should be able to choose your own at Emory. Browse the faculty, read some papers, and send e-mails. I would reach out to multiple professors and then schedule phone conversations or meetings/lab tours during the first week of classes if you decide to go to Emory. The worst thing in the world would be to fall in love with a professor's research but not really enjoy working in their lab. I made that mistake in my undergrad research.
Thanks for the advice! I definitely plan on emailing some professors asap. I just emailed the ADAP for epi to get some more info. I do have to say there are quite a few professors doing research I am interested in (definitely over 5), whereas at Tulane there are really only two, maybe three.
 
Have you looked at potential professors you may want to work with? It wouldn't hurt to email them or ask your dept if you can work with them/have them as an advisor.

And yeah I'll be attending visit Emory !
Yup, definitely going to send out some emails asap. I wish I could go to Visit Emory, sounds like a great opportunity to network and get a feel for the school!
 
Thanks everyone for the advice! Definitely going to start reading up on professors. I didn't apply to any doctorate programs because I don't have actual public health experience, and I had already turned in my UNC application when I found out about their MPH-to-PhD program, which would have been a great opportunity. I definitely want the full, culminating experience with a practicum and thesis and enough electives to concentrate on epi and biostats, so hopefully, I'll actually be ready for all that.
 
Long-time lurker on these boards last year and finally decided to join in all the support here! I'm coming off of a year applying for psych PhD programs and the welcoming environment of this board makes me even more confident in my choice to pursue public health 🙂

Undergrad School:
Private University in the West
Undergrad GPA: 3.6
Major/Minor: Psychology/Spanish
GradGPA (if applicable):
Grad Studies (if applicable):
GRE (including date taken) or Other Test (if applicable): V: 90%; Q: 75%; A: 5.5
Experience/Research (please, be brief): Worked in psych research during undergrad, employed for last few years at a program evaluation firm working as a research assistant.

So far I've been accepted to GWU, BU, Columbia, UCLA, and UCI (just now!) and am waiting to hear back from Claremont (dual MPH/MA) and Berkeley. Given my interests and history, I've applied to all MPH programs and Health Promotion/Community Health/Social Behavior concentrations.

I currently live in Los Angeles and am definitely planning on attending UCLA's Visit Day. I'm debating whether or not to attend GWU and Columbia's visit days as well. If anyone has any questions about life in LA, I'd be happy to answer!
 
Congrats on everyones' acceptances!

For all the individuals admitted into UCLA's MPH program in Health Policy and Management, how long did it take for you guys to receive the graduate division email? I received the department acceptance and they said an email would follow shortly.
 
Congrats on everyones' acceptances!

For all the individuals admitted into UCLA's MPH program in Health Policy and Management, how long did it take for you guys to receive the graduate division email? I received the department acceptance and they said an email would follow shortly.

I'm not HPM, but it took 2 or 3 days for me to receive the grad division email after getting the department acceptance. I actually saw the letter on the site to check your status before I got the official grad division email.
 
Long-time lurker on these boards last year and finally decided to join in all the support here! I'm coming off of a year applying for psych PhD programs and the welcoming environment of this board makes me even more confident in my choice to pursue public health 🙂

Undergrad School:
Private University in the West
Undergrad GPA: 3.6
Major/Minor: Psychology/Spanish
GradGPA (if applicable):
Grad Studies (if applicable):
GRE (including date taken) or Other Test (if applicable): V: 90%; Q: 75%; A: 5.5
Experience/Research (please, be brief): Worked in psych research during undergrad, employed for last few years at a program evaluation firm working as a research assistant.

So far I've been accepted to GWU, BU, Columbia, UCLA, and UCI (just now!) and am waiting to hear back from Claremont (dual MPH/MA) and Berkeley. Given my interests and history, I've applied to all MPH programs and Health Promotion/Community Health/Social Behavior concentrations.

I currently live in Los Angeles and am definitely planning on attending UCLA's Visit Day. I'm debating whether or not to attend GWU and Columbia's visit days as well. If anyone has any questions about life in LA, I'd be happy to answer!


Congrats on your acceptances! Which MPH concentration(S) did you apply for?
 
Congrats on your acceptances! Which MPH concentration(S) did you apply for?

I applied for concentrations focused on community health/social and behavioral health. The specific name varied from school to school (i.e. at Columbia I'm in for Sociomedical Sciences, at GWU for Health Promotion) but they're all centered around those issues.
 
I've been lurking this thread for longer than I can remember! Well, here goes:

Undergrad School: University of Texas at Dallas
Undergrad GPA: 3.2
Major/Minor: Neuroscience/Music
GRE: V: 162; Q: 160; A: 5.0
Experience/Research (please, be brief):
  • Research assistant in undergrad in a neuroscience lab.
  • Research technician in an Alzheimer's research lab for the last two years at one of the "big name" universities.
  • Two publications, both second author.
Applied: Harvard SM2 (12/15), Columbia MPH (1/14), Tufts MPH (1/14), Yale MPH (1/14)
Accepted: Tufts MPH (2/5), Columbia MPH in Epidemiology (2/17)
Rejected:
 
I applied for concentrations focused on community health/social and behavioral health. The specific name varied from school to school (i.e. at Columbia I'm in for Sociomedical Sciences, at GWU for Health Promotion) but they're all centered around those issues.


Awesome congrats! 🙂
 
I've been lurking this thread for longer than I can remember! Well, here goes:

Undergrad School: University of Texas at Dallas
Undergrad GPA: 3.2
Major/Minor: Neuroscience/Music
GRE: V: 162; Q: 160; A: 5.0
Experience/Research (please, be brief):
  • Research assistant in undergrad in a neuroscience lab.
  • Research technician in an Alzheimer's research lab for the last two years at one of the "big name" universities.
  • Two publications, both second author.
Applied: Harvard SM2 (12/15), Columbia MPH (1/14), Tufts MPH (1/14), Yale MPH (1/14)
Accepted: Tufts MPH (2/5), Columbia MPH in Epidemiology (2/17)
Rejected:
Are you planning on continuing neuroscience research?
 
Yep! I love neuroscience 😀
I'm glad to see someone else interested in that specialization! How do you feel about Columbia for research opportunities? I was going to PM you but apparently am not smart enough to figure that out. I plan on doing psych epi, which is not necessarily the same as neuro but could be (I want to study severe mental illness; I applied to Harvard's neuropsych epi program and that's a perfect fit). Anyway, I'm nervous because I don't have any research experience and really want the opportunity to get experience in neuro/psych research. What is your impression of research opportunities at the MPH level at Columbia?
 
ACCREDITED SCHOOLS ***

Just thought I would plop this in! I know many students may not care too much about ranking (I wish I was one of them, but ranking means everything too me) ... Just something important to note, make sure your school is accredited!

Here's the link I used before I applied to Universities by CEPH (Council on Education for Public Health): http://ceph.org/accredited/
 
Congrats buddy!!!!! When did you apply/get verified/etc etc?

So, I applied on 11/06/14 and was verified on 11/12/14! Was starting to go crazy as it definitely took longer than 8-10 weeks to get a determination. I am now on Cloud 9 and have a feeling that this is it for me (unless by some miracle I get into Harvard's DrPH which I am like 99.9% sure I didn't).
 
I've been lurking this thread for longer than I can remember! Well, here goes:

Undergrad School: University of Texas at Dallas
Undergrad GPA: 3.2
Major/Minor: Neuroscience/Music
GRE: V: 162; Q: 160; A: 5.0
Experience/Research (please, be brief):
  • Research assistant in undergrad in a neuroscience lab.
  • Research technician in an Alzheimer's research lab for the last two years at one of the "big name" universities.
  • Two publications, both second author.
Applied: Harvard SM2 (12/15), Columbia MPH (1/14), Tufts MPH (1/14), Yale MPH (1/14)
Accepted: Tufts MPH (2/5), Columbia MPH in Epidemiology (2/17)
Rejected:
Just wanted to say hey to a fellow neuroscience major !! Congrats on your acceptances & publications, those are hard to come by as an undergrad.
 
Alright, y'all, I can hide no longer! Finally have the courage to post my stats in light of my dream coming true (JHU accepted)! I hope that this can serve as some encouragement for those who continually question their worthiness because of their lower-range GPA and GRE scores.

Undergrad School:
Small East Coast Private Liberal Arts College
Undergrad GPA: 3.17
Major/Minor: BA in Public Health and Comparative Politics
GRE : Q 149, V 156, W 4.0 (yeah, never was a good standardized test taker)
Experience/Research (please, be brief):
  • 3 years in U.S. Senate as a health legislative staffer (fortunate to have witnessed the development and passage of the ACA)
  • 1 1/2 years as a health and education specialist with a well-established human rights organization
  • 3 years and counting as a public health practitioner where I design and implement nationwide health equity trainings, facilitate strategic CHIP re-authorization planning processes for county health department accreditation, and manage a regional task force policy initiative focused on credentialing Community Health Workers as a reimbursable public health workforce
Going back to school to specifically study social epidemiology which, while not new, is a field that is still, from my observations, gaining traction in terms of meaningful school-wide curriculum development and incorporation.

Applied (SOPHAS Verified 11/12/14): Columbia (MPH- SMS), Drexel (MPH- Epi), GWU (MPH- Epi), Yale (MPH- SBS), Emory (MPH- Epi), UPenn (MPH- Generalist), UNC (MSPH to PhD - Epi), Boston U. (MPH- Epi), JHU (MPH) and Harvard (DrPH)

Accepted: GWU (MPH- Epi) 1/6, UPenn (MPH- Generalist) 1/13, Drexel (MPH- Epi, $16,000 merit award ) 12/6/14 Boston U. (MPH- Epi, $12,000 merit award) 12/18/14, JHU (MPH) 2/19
Rejected: Yale (MPH- SBS) 2/6, UMich (MPH - Epi) 12/8/14, Emory (MPH-Epi) 1/21
Waitlisted:

Still waiting to hear back from remaining schools but, at this point, I am all but certain that I will be attending JHU in June!

To echo previous sentiments, this has been an AWESOME community of support and a safe space to air our most personal insecurities. I thank you all for creating such a space and for allowing me to take part in it! Let's keep it going and BEST OF LUCK!!!
 
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Long-time lurker on these boards last year and finally decided to join in all the support here! I'm coming off of a year applying for psych PhD programs and the welcoming environment of this board makes me even more confident in my choice to pursue public health 🙂

Undergrad School:
Private University in the West
Undergrad GPA: 3.6
Major/Minor: Psychology/Spanish
GradGPA (if applicable):
Grad Studies (if applicable):
GRE (including date taken) or Other Test (if applicable): V: 90%; Q: 75%; A: 5.5
Experience/Research (please, be brief): Worked in psych research during undergrad, employed for last few years at a program evaluation firm working as a research assistant.

So far I've been accepted to GWU, BU, Columbia, UCLA, and UCI (just now!) and am waiting to hear back from Claremont (dual MPH/MA) and Berkeley. Given my interests and history, I've applied to all MPH programs and Health Promotion/Community Health/Social Behavior concentrations.

I currently live in Los Angeles and am definitely planning on attending UCLA's Visit Day. I'm debating whether or not to attend GWU and Columbia's visit days as well. If anyone has any questions about life in LA, I'd be happy to answer!

have you decided which school you will be attending yet? also, I remember seeing you posting on a psyd/phD program in another forum... you seem so familiar..
 
Long-time lurker on these boards last year and finally decided to join in all the support here! I'm coming off of a year applying for psych PhD programs and the welcoming environment of this board makes me even more confident in my choice to pursue public health 🙂

Undergrad School:
Private University in the West
Undergrad GPA: 3.6
Major/Minor: Psychology/Spanish
GradGPA (if applicable):
Grad Studies (if applicable):
GRE (including date taken) or Other Test (if applicable): V: 90%; Q: 75%; A: 5.5
Experience/Research (please, be brief): Worked in psych research during undergrad, employed for last few years at a program evaluation firm working as a research assistant.

So far I've been accepted to GWU, BU, Columbia, UCLA, and UCI (just now!) and am waiting to hear back from Claremont (dual MPH/MA) and Berkeley. Given my interests and history, I've applied to all MPH programs and Health Promotion/Community Health/Social Behavior concentrations.

I currently live in Los Angeles and am definitely planning on attending UCLA's Visit Day. I'm debating whether or not to attend GWU and Columbia's visit days as well. If anyone has any questions about life in LA, I'd be happy to answer!

UCI as in UC Irvine? I still haven't heard back, and my application was turned in pretty early 🙁
 
have you decided which school you will be attending yet? also, I remember seeing you posting on a psyd/phD program in another forum... you seem so familiar..

Haven't decided yet. I'm waiting to hear back about aid and some research opportunities at different schools. I received a merit scholarship at GWU, which is very nice, but I'd also get in-state tuition at UCLA.

And yup! I applied to a few clinical psych programs last year and had a bunch of interviews. Got accepted into a few MA programs but halfway through the interview process realized my heart wasn't in it anymore and rerouted this year.
 
UCI as in UC Irvine? I still haven't heard back, and my application was turned in pretty early 🙁

Yes, UC Irvine. But don't lose hope! I literally just heard back this afternoon, and they said they expect to make decisions from "late January to early March." 🙂

I was verified on 11/11, so I think I was a (fairly?) early applicant too.
 
To those of you still waiting on UNC, the university has been closed a couple days this week due to weather and there's still ice on the ground today, and we're expecting more snow next week. 🙁 🙁

And apparently right now it's colder here in NC than it is in some parts of Alaska! California is looking more and more appealing.
 
To those of you still waiting on UNC, the university has been closed a couple days this week due to weather and there's still ice on the ground today, and we're expecting more snow next week. 🙁 🙁

And apparently right now it's colder here in NC than it is in some parts of Alaska! California is looking more and more appealing.
It's -2 with a -26 windchill in my neck of the woods.
 
I applied for concentrations focused on community health/social and behavioral health. The specific name varied from school to school (i.e. at Columbia I'm in for Sociomedical Sciences, at GWU for Health Promotion) but they're all centered around those issues.

Ahhh, congrats! If I may ask, which certificate were you accepted for? I was accepted at Columbia for SMS with a Social Determinants of Health certificate and one of my concerns is being over-specialized in a very qualitative form of research. I definitely love the social/behavioral focus, but I was a sociology major in undergrad and I don't want to be a sociology grad student, if that makes sense...
 
Ahhh, congrats! If I may ask, which certificate were you accepted for? I was accepted at Columbia for SMS with a Social Determinants of Health certificate and one of my concerns is being over-specialized in a very qualitative form of research. I definitely love the social/behavioral focus, but I was a sociology major in undergrad and I don't want to be a sociology grad student, if that makes sense...

That totally makes sense! I was accepted for the Child, Youth, and Family Health certificate.
 
Long time lurker here. I figured now that I'm done with the application process I'd join in on the fun (i.e. painful waiting period).

Undergrad School: University of Michigan
Undergrad GPA:
3.0
Major/Minor: Biopsychology, Cognition and Neuroscience
GRE
: Q 149, V 150, W 4.0 (eek!) 🙁
Experience/Research (please, be brief):
  • 1+ year as a research assistant in the UMich Veteran's Affairs Hospital studying PTSD on animal subjects
  • 1.5 years as a project assistant for a non-profit researching epidemiology of end stage renal disease (currently still employed)
  • Volunteer Coordinator for Habitat for Humanity via AmeriCorps Vista

Applied (SOPHAS submitted 1/31/15): UT Houston (MPH- HMP), University of Illinois-Chicago
(MPH- HPA), San Diego State (MPH- HMP), Boston U (MPH- HMP), University of South Florida (MPH- Global Health)
Accepted
Rejected


Since I've just submitted not too long ago, I'm still waiting on word back from most of the schools. I think the guidance and support in this thread is great and would like to be a part of it. Although I'm late in the game, I'd like to say congrats to everyone on their acceptances and good luck to those still in waiting!

PS - If anyone applying/accepted into UMich wants the in on campus life, resources, etc. please let me know!
 
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Has anyone else applied to and heard back from Yale's MPH in the SBS department? I applied over 10 weeks ago...
 
Long time lurker here. I figured now that I'm done with the application process I'd join in on the fun (i.e. painful waiting period).

Undergrad School: University of Michigan
Undergrad GPA:
3.0
Major/Minor: Biopsychology, Cognition and Neuroscience
GRE
: Q 149, V 150, W 4.0 (eek!) 🙁
Experience/Research (please, be brief):
  • 1+ year as a research assistant in the UMich Veteran's Affairs Hospital studying PTSD on animal subjects
  • 1.5 years as a project assistant for a non-profit researching epidemiology of end stage renal disease (currently still employed)
  • Volunteer Coordinator for Habitat for Humanity via AmeriCorps Vista

Applied (SOPHAS submitted 1/31/15): UT Houston (MPH- HMP), University of Illinois-Chicago
(MPH- HPA), San Diego State (MPH- HMP), Boston U (MPH- HMP), University of South Florida (MPH- Global Health)
Accepted
Rejected


Since I've just submitted not too long ago, I'm still waiting on word back from most of the schools. I think the guidance and support in this thread is great and would like to be a part of it. Although I'm late in the game, I'd like to say congrats to everyone on their acceptances and good luck to those still in waiting!

PS - If anyone applying/accepted into UMich wants the in on campus life, resources, etc. please let me know!


You submitted just a week after me 🙂
I'm also a UMich-Ann Arbor Alumni but then I continued onto grad school at elsewhere

Just curious why you didn't apply to UMich SPH? They're #4 in SPH and #1 in HPM
 
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For anyone waiting to hear back from Harvard, I called today and they said emails normally go out on Feb. 20th so hopefully we should hear back next week. Also their admitted students day is March 27th (overlaps with Emory).

Has anyone heard from Harvard today?
 
You submitted just a week after me 🙂
I'm also a UMich-Ann Arbor Alumni but then I continued onto grad school at WSU for an MS.

Just curious why you didn't apply to UMich SPH? They're #4 in SPH and #1 in HPM

I seriously thought about it, but with my stats I figured my chances for acceptance were relatively slim. Plus I just really want a change of scenery and preferably to get away from the cold! It's -18 today!
 
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