MPH Fall 2016: Applied, Accepted, Waitlisted, Rejected!

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LilHbaby said:
Undergrad School: School in Oregon
Undergrad GPA/Major GPA: 2.56/3.89
Major/Minor😛sychology
GradGPA (if applicable):
Grad Studies (if applicable):
GRE (including date taken) or Other Test (if applicable): 146 q/ 151 v 4 AW
Experience/Research (please, be brief):mostly work at a financial firm, red cross, tutoring on campus for 2 years and working with veterans. I also worked as a translator for a missionary group helping in 3rd world countries with the cholera outbreak

Interested in: public health policy and management
Applied: U of Arizona, UTSPH, Georgia State, Oregon MPH/PSU
Accepted:
Rejected:
Waitlisted:

I'm mostly expecting rejection letters because my first 3 years of college I had to work 2 jobs to support my ppl, my letters of rec are great however my last year and 2 summers my GPA is at a 3.8 but my first 3 years were really really low, I did have a grad adviser at my current university overlook my statement letters and was told it was great but when the inevitable denial comes from these schools, any tips on how to possibly strengthen my app for 2017? thanks
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My advice: Study like mad for the GRE and rock it in September. If you can get score in the high 150s or 160s, it will really help to offset your low GPA. Your experience is awesome though, so don't give up hope for this year yet.
 
mountaineere said:
Anyone else STILL waiting on Yale? I applied to SBS several weeks ago and they told me I should receive the decision by the last week of February or first week of March. It's almost the end of the first week of March and still nothing :/
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I received the "YSPH Application Complete" email on January 12th, still no word from the Health Policy department. They required you to submit a financial aid application by March 1.
 
mountaineere said:
Anyone else STILL waiting on Yale? I applied to SBS several weeks ago and they told me I should receive the decision by the last week of February or first week of March. It's almost the end of the first week of March and still nothing :/
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I called them a week ago and was told to wait 14 days for admissions decisions...I applied for Health Policy. Good luck!!!
 
JayJay1155 said:
Harvard peeps - I just mustered up enough courage to call and was informed that I should hear back in about 5 business days. Applied to the GH-65 credit MPH program. Feeling super nauseous!
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Best of luck!!! I'm also waiting for them for the Health Policy-65 credit MPH program.
 
Thank you to all those who contributed numbers for the tuition spreadsheet! It's amazing just how wide the range is for tuition, from University of South Florida's $38,595 to Johns Hopkins' $97,920 😱

I'm going to leave it up for those of you who want to download the data for personal use. https://goo.gl/et0gRp
 
@asartoretto Thank you! I'm definitely going to visit the two schools, soon. I didn't apply to Rutgers because I grew up in a town right next to it, and I've lived in Central New Jersey my entire life. I want to expand my network to a new school in a bigger city. Also, Rutgers' strengths in Epidemiology are very specific and I'm looking for places that are stronger in epi overall, because I'm still not sure about what research I want to do. If you're set on Cancer Epi, Rutgers has the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, which does amazing research. The same goes for if you definitely want to work in pharma. Johnson and Johnson headquarters is right next to Rutgers, and there are a ton of pharmaceutical companies in New Jersey and New York. They also have very good environmental health research going on, if you are interested in that. In general it's a great program, just was not what I was looking for.
 
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My dilemma is between living on campus and renting an apartment near UNC. However I've heard even though being on campus the graduate halls/ apartments are isolated from the public health school apart from being more expensive. Where do You suggest would be a good place to start searching for (safe) apartments ,Close to the school as well as the city for basic necessities . Also if anyone , preferably female is looking to to share an apartment kindly let me know. Thanks
 
Jro610 said:
@asartoretto Thank you! I'm definitely going to visit the two schools, soon. I didn't apply to Rutgers because I grew up in a town right next to it, and I've lived in Central New Jersey my entire life. I want to expand my network to a new school in a bigger city. Also, Rutgers' strengths in Epidemiology are very specific and I'm looking for places that are stronger in epi overall, because I'm still not sure about what research I want to do. If you're set on Cancer Epi, Rutgers has the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, which does amazing research. The same goes for if you definitely want to work in pharma. Johnson and Johnson headquarters is right next to Rutgers, and there are a ton of pharmaceutical companies in New Jersey and New York. They also have very good environmental health research going on, if you are interested in that. In genera it's a great program, just was not what I was looking for.
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@Jro610 thanks for your response! I applied for the Health Systems and Policy MPH at Rutgers, but I was surprised that no one has said that they applied to Rutgers.
I totally understand you, and I think that it's smart wanting to expand your network. Sometimes it's completely necessary to go out of your comfort zone in order to gain experience and perspective, especially since we all are looking to bolster our professional future. I'm an international applicant and I'm more than excited to have the opportunity to study away from home, with a different people, culture, language, from which I can enrich myself.
And definitely, this big cities give you the opportunity to be surrounded by this big pharma corporations, government agencies or NGOs from which you can get a lot of experienced, but more important, contacts!
Wish you the best and hope you can decide for your best fit!
 
I know we're all struggling with the idea of taking out 50-90k in loans if we include living accommodations. I have the opportunity to attend a university near my house (outside of DC) with an unranked MPH program and leave debt free, but also with less connections and a less challenging education than if I went to GW or Columbia. I applied for epi and I'm just trying to figure out if our degree is actually worth the loans. Any thoughts?
 
ljt913 said:
I know we're all struggling with the idea of taking out 50-90k in loans if we include living accommodations. I have the opportunity to attend a university near my house (outside of DC) with an unranked MPH program and leave debt free, but also with less connections and a less challenging education than if I went to GW or Columbia. I applied for epi and I'm just trying to figure out if our degree is actually worth the loans. Any thoughts?
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I think what matters is what you make of the school you decide to attend. What work opportunities are available near home? If you can leave debt free and with an extraordinary resume with very relevant experiences to your desired field, I would personally find that hard to turn down. Although it may sound silly, make a pro/con list for each school; it might help you make a decision.
 
Question for those more familiar with GW and Columbia:

My interests are in epi, biostats, and SAS/R programming. Any insight into which school/location may offer better work opportunities in those fields?
 
ljt913 said:
I know we're all struggling with the idea of taking out 50-90k in loans if we include living accommodations. I have the opportunity to attend a university near my house (outside of DC) with an unranked MPH program and leave debt free, but also with less connections and a less challenging education than if I went to GW or Columbia. I applied for epi and I'm just trying to figure out if our degree is actually worth the loans. Any thoughts?
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Is GMU's program CEPH accredited? If it is, and you are considering it as an option, then I would take no debt over 80k-90k debt. Keep in mind that you will still be in the DC metro area and have all of the wonderful opportunities and connections that come with it. If it's not accredited, then don't consider it.
 
amm13d said:
Question for those more familiar with GW and Columbia:

My interests are in epi, biostats, and SAS/R programming. Any insight into which school/location may offer better work opportunities in those fields?
Click to expand...

I can't speak for Columbia, but at GW you are actually required to take a statistical packages course that covers the basics of SAS and R, though this is only for epi and biostats concentrators. The department also has many programming electives (Advanced SAS, Intro to R, Intro and Advanced GIS, and advanced topics courses involving data management). There is no shortage of applied statistics courses, and they fill up FAST.

In terms of jobs, I recently got a research assistant position joint between my department and the DC Department of Health. It will involve data cleaning and management of three if their main databases, as well as the opportunity to work on my own project later on. They expect you to know SAS for this position (I was a mid-level SAS programmer in college, now rusty), and I image that there are many other mid-level SAS and R programming positions out there.

Hopefully someone at Columbia can comment on the SAS/R situation there. I imagine it to be similar.
 
montreux said:
Thank you to all those who contributed numbers for the tuition spreadsheet! It's amazing just how wide the range is for tuition, from University of South Florida's $38,595 to Johns Hopkins' $97,920 😱

I'm going to leave it up for those of you who want to download the data for personal use. https://goo.gl/et0gRp
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Indeed! However, the 97k for Hopkins has a serious asterisk, which I added to the notes column at the very end of the sheet 🙂
 
sea123 said:
Indeed! However, the 97k for Hopkins has a serious asterisk, which I added to the notes column at the very end of the sheet 🙂
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I am playing the freak out about debt game as well, but what are people's feelings on the public health loan forgiveness program? I am trying to decide how to rationalize that in with all of the debt!
 
sea123 said:
Indeed! However, the 97k for Hopkins has a serious asterisk, which I added to the notes column at the very end of the sheet 🙂
Click to expand...
I am playing the freak out about debt game as well, but what are people's feelings on the public health loan forgiveness program? I am trying to decide how to rationalize that in with all of the debt!
 
ljt913 said:
I know we're all struggling with the idea of taking out 50-90k in loans if we include living accommodations. I have the opportunity to attend a university near my house (outside of DC) with an unranked MPH program and leave debt free, but also with less connections and a less challenging education than if I went to GW or Columbia. I applied for epi and I'm just trying to figure out if our degree is actually worth the loans. Any thoughts?
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I understand what you're dealing with! You should search (if you haven't) what associations or opportunities the university near home can offer for you, and your professional interests. Also, since you live near DC, you will have great proximity to major institution where you can work and make the professional contacts you'll need for your career.
In the end, you will be able to shape your career even in a no brand university!
 
chap-panther said:
Congratulations! That is the one I am waiting on. Fingers crossed! May I ask when you submitted your application/when it went for review?
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Best wishes! I submitted my application on 1/5, and it was sent to the department for review on 1/7; I received acceptance on 2/12, so took a little more than a month.
 
clearestblue said:
Longtime lurker here, but I made an account since I could answer your question. I applied to UPenn and got an acceptance on 2/9. I also got an acceptance to Columbia HPM today (even though the first visit day is on Friday), so don't be too discouraged if you haven't heard back yet.
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Great thanks so much. This encourages me a lot. I called and they said that mine would be released in mid-March but I'll hopefully hear back soon. I applied pretty late and had an interview 2/13.
 
Laniac16 said:
I am playing the freak out about debt game as well, but what are people's feelings on the public health loan forgiveness program? I am trying to decide how to rationalize that in with all of the debt!
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I am part of it currently for my undergrad debt-- its true and actually does what it says. Just make sure that you never pay extra on your loans... because they wont count those payments as "qualifying"... you can only basically pay your minimum-- dont try and be good citizen like me haha I paid an extra $2-300 every month and never counted those!!
 
Bd01323 said:
I am part of it currently for my undergrad debt-- its true and actually does what it says. Just make sure that you never pay extra on your loans... because they wont count those payments as "qualifying"... you can only basically pay your minimum-- dont try and be good citizen like me haha I paid an extra $2-300 every month and never counted those!!
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Can you explain how that works a little? I always thought you could pay extra or if you suddenly get a chunk of money you could put it toward your loans. Is that not the case?
 
ljt913 said:
Can you explain how that works a little? I always thought you could pay extra or if you suddenly get a chunk of money you could put it toward your loans. Is that not the case?
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You can, but if you want your loans to be forgiven you have to make a certain number of qualifying payments. Paying extra will not count as another qualifying payment, so if you're waiting for them to be forgiven anyway it's a waste of money. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but this is how I interpreted it.
 
Bd01323 said:
I am part of it currently for my undergrad debt-- its true and actually does what it says. Just make sure that you never pay extra on your loans... because they wont count those payments as "qualifying"... you can only basically pay your minimum-- dont try and be good citizen like me haha I paid an extra $2-300 every month and never counted those!!
Click to expand...
Also on this topic, where can I find specific guidelines for what kind of place you must work for this to apply to you?
I know if you work at like a government organization or a nonprofit it will apply, but what if you work at a university?
 
mphiowaco said:
You can, but if you want your loans to be forgiven you have to make a certain number of qualifying payments. Paying extra will not count as another qualifying payment, so if you're waiting for them to be forgiven anyway it's a waste of money. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but this is how I interpreted it.
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You're correct
 
asartoretto said:
Congratulations!!!! That's awesome ...I hope to receive a decision from them soon. Did you receive an email or you checked the portal?
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I received an email stating that a decision had been made -- it then directed me to log into the portal to view the decision letter. I had actually had checked the portal about 30 minutes before receiving the email, and nothing had been posted at that point -- so I think that the timing of the email is pretty simultaneous with the posting of a decision on the portal.
 
Laniac16 said:
I just got into Harvard as well! Does anyone know the timeline on the financial aid package?
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It is not specified by the MyFinAid section on the portal. That section just says those who applied for financial aid would be contacted by the Office of financial aid. I think calling them to ask is one way of finding out.
 
DTBAD said:
It is not specified by the MyFinAid section on the portal. That section just says those who applied for financial aid would be contacted by the Office of financial aid. I think calling them to ask is one way of finding out.
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Congrats! To what department were you admitted?
 
Congratulations to everyone on Harvard acceptances!! I know several people in the program and it seems like a really great one.

I heard rumors in the older threads on this forum that Berkeley tends to have an older student population (late 20s versus early 20s) compared to UCLA. Has anyone else heard that/does anyone have any perspective on that? I'm going to be in my late 20s and want to assess this factor as part of "fit."
 
Pudu2009 said:
I can't speak for Columbia, but at GW you are actually required to take a statistical packages course that covers the basics of SAS and R, though this is only for epi and biostats concentrators. The department also has many programming electives (Advanced SAS, Intro to R, Intro and Advanced GIS, and advanced topics courses involving data management). There is no shortage of applied statistics courses, and they fill up FAST.

In terms of jobs, I recently got a research assistant position joint between my department and the DC Department of Health. It will involve data cleaning and management of three if their main databases, as well as the opportunity to work on my own project later on. They expect you to know SAS for this position (I was a mid-level SAS programmer in college, now rusty), and I image that there are many other mid-level SAS and R programming positions out there.

Hopefully someone at Columbia can comment on the SAS/R situation there. I imagine it to be similar.
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Very helpful, thank you! Also, congratulations on your new position
 
mumbaimedicine said:
My dilemma is between living on campus and renting an apartment near UNC. However I've heard even though being on campus the graduate halls/ apartments are isolated from the public health school apart from being more expensive. Where do You suggest would be a good place to start searching for (safe) apartments ,Close to the school as well as the city for basic necessities . Also if anyone , preferably female is looking to to share an apartment kindly let me know. Thanks
Click to expand...

I've living in the Triangle area for the past year and a half now and I've found the entire area to be pretty safe. It's most expensive to live in Chapel Hill with the areas closer to campus being more expensive. If you want less expensive housing, it's best to look closer to Durham. Durham has a reputation for being more dangerous but I live there and that hasn't been my experience. All housing in the area is pretty expensive for a southern city but you can find deal. It's good you're looking for roommates because they significantly cut costs! If you need any specific help, feel free to inbox me!
 
ec_lc1114 said:
Congratulations to everyone on Harvard acceptances!! I know several people in the program and it seems like a really great one.

I heard rumors in the older threads on this forum that Berkeley tends to have an older student population (late 20s versus early 20s) compared to UCLA. Has anyone else heard that/does anyone have any perspective on that? I'm going to be in my late 20s and want to assess this factor as part of "fit."
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I'd be interested in hearing more about this, too! I'm gonna be smack-dab in the middle of my twenties (25). The population skewing slightly older potentially could equal more experience in life/the field, which I think would make for a more rewarding learning experience. Just my spitballing, though. 🙂
 
Pudu2009 said:
My advice: Study like mad for the GRE and rock it in September. If you can get score in the high 150s or 160s, it will really help to offset your low GPA. Your experience is awesome though, so don't give up hope for this year yet.
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Agreed! As some of us have posted, including myself, many of us had a lot of life circumstances impact having a decent GPA, but it doesn't mean you don't have any chances, OP. I really hope you have some success in your applications! I'm sure that GSU is still accepting applications and considering people so you're not out of the game there.
 
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Got into Harvard's Environmental Health Science 65 credit program! Hopefully schools start releasing financial aide packages so I can better make a decision! :whistle:
 
HPM said:
I've living in the Triangle area for the past year and a half now and I've found the entire area to be pretty safe. It's most expensive to live in Chapel Hill with the areas closer to campus being more expensive. If you want less expensive housing, it's best to look closer to Durham. Durham has a reputation for being more dangerous but I live there and that hasn't been my experience. All housing in the area is pretty expensive for a southern city but you can find deal. It's good you're looking for roommates because they significantly cut costs! If you need any specific help, feel free to inbox me!
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Would you recommend any particular online places to find housing in Chapel Hill? So far I've had a good experience using Zumper (https://www.zumper.com/).
 
montreux said:
Would you recommend any particular online places to find housing in Chapel Hill? So far I've had a good experience using Zumper (https://www.zumper.com/).
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I would check out a few Facebook groups for UNC students. You would need to ask permission to join the group with a unc email address but here they are: https://www.facebook.com/groups/270109869739407/?ref=browser
https://www.facebook.com/groups/270109869739407/?ref=browser
Also, try UNC Uloop and craigslist. Hope that helps!
 
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