MPH Fall 2018: Applied, Accepted, Waitlisted, Rejected!

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Ebb55 said:
So I just got an email from Umichigan HMP department about their merit aid policy.... but I haven’t heard about admissions yet ugh. Did anyone else get the same email?
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Here! I got admitted on Feb 10 and also received their scholarship email. I was really thrilling when I saw the title but was suddenly turned down when knowing that they are sending out the scholarship decision in the following weeks and only 1/3 of the incoming class can get some.:dead:
 
outdoorsyaznmph said:
Is there anyone else planning to go to the Admitted Students Day at Hopkins on March 9th? And if there is, would you be willing to travel with me to see GWU on March 8th?

I am arriving to Baltimore a day early and was thinking I could go see the Milken Institute at GWU. It's about an hour drive from Baltimore but I was curious if someone(s) wanted to split the cost of this drive! Let me know!!
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There is also the marc train which might be a better option since parking near GW will be challenging and $.
 
x0n said:
Omg that’s amazing! 🙂 And well haha you see, I’m amongst one of those people that are still waiting. 🙁 I only heard back from NYU which waitlisted me, so I’m kinda back to square one. I literally applied to 2 more schools just because of this anxiety.
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Glad to hear that NYU has started sending out notifications. **sits and waits some more**
 
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123PHP123 said:
Has anyone heard back from Harvard yet?
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From what I gathered from last year and the year before, Harvard sent most of their decisions starting Feb 23. My best bet is that people will start to hear back the end of next week. But it also depends on what department you applied for since they send waves of decisions based on what concentration you applied for. Eagerly waiting to hear back from Harvard too ^^ Good luck!
 
Ebb55 said:
So I just got an email from Umichigan HMP department about their merit aid policy.... but I haven’t heard about admissions yet ugh. Did anyone else get the same email?
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Yes, I got this email too. Haven't heard back yet. Nerves, gah.

123PHP123 said:
Has anyone heard back from Harvard yet?
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No, unfortunately. But they did mention that they would start sending their results out from only mid to late Feb. If you look through the last couple of pages on this thread, I'm sure you'll find the expected dates and such based on previous years' trends.
 
flash17 said:
Just found out late yesterday (yeah, on a Sunday for some reason so there’s still hope everybody!) that I was offered a full tuition scholarship to GW! I’m super excited but it makes the decision between going there with less debt and going somewhere like Johns Hopkins with a killer program (but also debt) that much harder. If anyone has any insight about GW’s reputation or if it’d be worth it to go and be more or less debt free I’d be happy to hear it!
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I was offered the same scholarship and I'm also torn, since it's not quite the best fit academically for me. That said, if you are only concerned about their reputation, I wouldn't be too worried. They're still highly respected and they're known for providing a strong methodological background. My sister works for the federal government in DC and she told me that everyone she knows who works at the Department of Health and Human Services went to GW for their MPH. The agencies in DC like hiring people who already live there, so if you want to work for the government, they're a good option.

Does that help?
 
Lady MacBeth said:
I was offered the same scholarship and I'm also torn, since it's not quite the best fit academically for me. That said, if you are only concerned about their reputation, I wouldn't be too worried. They're still highly respected and they're known for providing a strong methodological background. My sister works for the federal government in DC and she told me that everyone she knows who works at the Department of Health and Human Services went to GW for their MPH. The agencies in DC like hiring people who already live there, so if you want to work for the government, they're a good option.

Does that help?
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Definitely, thanks so much. I’m definitely more oriented towards professional rather than academic work so JHU’s MSPH is a near-perfect fit, so I’m trying to balance having job experience through JHU’s second year of full time work but probably a sizeable chunk of debt versus being more or less debt-free but without work experience at a school that’s not as good of a fit (and less prestigious).
 
MarcusAureliusAntoninus said:
For those considering Emory, the Visit Emory registration email was sent out earlier today. Signed up but my attendance is heavily dependent on my finnacial aid package. Does anyone know when Emory will be sending them out?
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They say early March on their website.
Side note: I can't decide whether to attend for Thursday and Friday or just Thursday. Any thoughts on this?
 
flash17 said:
Definitely, thanks so much. I’m definitely more oriented towards professional rather than academic work so JHU’s MSPH is a near-perfect fit, so I’m trying to balance having job experience through JHU’s second year of full time work but probably a sizeable chunk of debt versus being more or less debt-free but without work experience at a school that’s not as good of a fit (and less prestigious).
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Just my 2 cents but I don't think you should discount GWU too much just because of the practicum length. While GWs official practicum isn't as long as Hopkins there's nothing stopping you from interning/working part time during your studies. Especially with GWs location in DC, the amount of internship opportunities is huge. I think the debt is something you should really think about, im not sure what specific part of PH you're looking to get into or your finnacial situation but most public health, especially global health, generally doesn't pay that well and having no debt hanging over you can give you more freedom and flexibility to do the type of jobs you really want regardless of how well they pay.
 
Lady MacBeth said:
They say early March on their website.
Side note: I can't decide whether to attend for Thursday and Friday or just Thursday. Any thoughts on this?
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I ended up signing up for both, but I'm sure you could find out a lot of the info they'll be giving us through other means. Friday is supposedly the main day were we'll get to meet faculty and their departments etc. I think it really depends what's important to you info wise. Also even if you sign up for both and decide not to go to the other, I believe you can simply email them and cancel (last day to do so is March 19th).
 
How are you all going to make your decision? My current issue is that I don't have a strong preference towards any of the schools I've gotten into, and in any case want to give all schools a fair consideration.

Obviously, isiting is one of the best ways to gather information, but I unfortunately can't go everywhere. In the case of Emory and UPitt, for instance, even if travel ends up being feasible, their revisit days are the same day. So I should really do my research before hand. But I feel like I don't really even know where to start!

I guess I'll start by reviewing my SOPs for each of the schools. I also know I'm going to do a cost comparison. I feel like I already scoured the website clean when I was writing my statements, but it won't hurt to check again. But what are you doing? I know different people value different things, but I'd love to hear what you're all taking into account. I figure in any case, the more information I can gather, the better informed my decision will be.
 
MarcusAureliusAntoninus said:
Just my 2 cents but I don't think you should discount GWU too much just because of the practicum length. While GWs official practicum isn't as long as Hopkins there's nothing stopping you from interning/working part time during your studies. Especially with GWs location in DC, the amount of internship opportunities is huge. I think the debt is something you should really think about, im not sure what specific part of PH you're looking to get into or your finnacial situation but most public health, especially global health, generally doesn't pay that well and having no debt hanging over you can give you more freedom and flexibility to do the type of jobs you really want regardless of how well they pay.
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This nicely summarizes my thoughts on those people here with amazing scholarships. I have acquaintances with MSPHs from Hopkins who still can’t crack $50K salary but are $90K in debt. Of course interest will push it to $100K+. If this was law school or even MBA, I’d tell everyone to go with prestige. But public health? Mhm.

Ultimately it’s a personal decision and there’s no judgement if anyone chooses prestige over debt (or vice versa). Some people do get nice salary offers after their masters.
 
sploosh said:
How are you all going to make your decision? My current issue is that I don't have a strong preference towards any of the schools I've gotten into, and in any case want to give all schools a fair consideration.

Obviously, isiting is one of the best ways to gather information, but I unfortunately can't go everywhere. In the case of Emory and UPitt, for instance, even if travel ends up being feasible, their revisit days are the same day. So I should really do my research before hand. But I feel like I don't really even know where to start!

I guess I'll start by reviewing my SOPs for each of the schools. I also know I'm going to do a cost comparison. I feel like I already scoured the website clean when I was writing my statements, but it won't hurt to check again. But what are you doing? I know different people value different things, but I'd love to hear what you're all taking into account. I figure in any case, the more information I can gather, the better informed my decision will be.
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I’ve only heard back from one school. If I get into more schools, $$ will be the determining factor. Luckily, I only applied to schools I’m very enthusiastic about. Literally all of them are my “top choice” haha. So I won’t feel like I’m “settling” no matter where I end up.
 
MarcusAureliusAntoninus said:
Just my 2 cents but I don't think you should discount GWU too much just because of the practicum length. While GWs official practicum isn't as long as Hopkins there's nothing stopping you from interning/working part time during your studies. Especially with GWs location in DC, the amount of internship opportunities is huge. I think the debt is something you should really think about, im not sure what specific part of PH you're looking to get into or your finnacial situation but most public health, especially global health, generally doesn't pay that well and having no debt hanging over you can give you more freedom and flexibility to do the type of jobs you really want regardless of how well they pay.
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That’s definitely true, something to think about. I just like the security of having actual full time experience before I graduate, but I guess internships would probably accomplish a similar goal, with a less crunched class schedule.
Also I just received an email from UMich HPM awarding a 50% tuition scholarship, so it was a super quick turnaround (and I applied right at the deadline). Excited, but super anxious about all these options
 
MarcusAureliusAntoninus said:
For those considering Emory, the Visit Emory registration email was sent out earlier today. Signed up but my attendance is heavily dependent on my finnacial aid package. Does anyone know when Emory will be sending them out?
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I was told that they'll be sent in March prior to Visit Emory. Hope that helps.
 
MarcusAureliusAntoninus said:
For those considering Emory, the Visit Emory registration email was sent out earlier today. Signed up but my attendance is heavily dependent on my finnacial aid package. Does anyone know when Emory will be sending them out?
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omg i'm thinking about going but i don't know yetttttt. but i would love to meet up with anyone going to emory's visit day! i'm not creepy at all i'm a very small asian american woman
 
Hey everyone! I recently got accepted to UMich HBHE and have been thinking about cutting down the cost of attendance. My parents live fairly close to Ann Arbor (35 minutes) so I'm thinking about possibly commuting. Does anyone have any advice for this?
 
grapesandstrawberries said:
omg i'm thinking about going but i don't know yetttttt. but i would love to meet up with anyone going to emory's visit day! i'm not creepy at all i'm a very small asian american woman
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Haha I'm definitely going for Friday at least, and I'd love to meet up. I'm not creepy either, I'm just a very small native american woman
 
Has anyone else applied to Johns Hopkins for their MSPH in Health Policy & Management? I got an email from the assistant director to schedule an informal interview and he offered to give me a tour of the Public Health buildings as well as let me sit in on a class. No official acceptance so I'm a little confused on this whole process since normal MPH just got acceptance or rejection emails?
 
tmalho1 said:
Has anyone else applied to Johns Hopkins for their MSPH in Health Policy & Management? I got an email from the assistant director to schedule an informal interview and he offered to give me a tour of the Public Health buildings as well as let me sit in on a class. No official acceptance so I'm a little confused on this whole process since normal MPH just got acceptance or rejection emails?
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I had the same interview like 2 weeks ago. I haven’t heard back on whether I’ve been accepted/rejected. He’s very easy to talk to. Make sure you have plenty of questions to ask and you’ll be fine.
 
How is everyone calculated living costs? I was offered scholarships to BU and GW that make them the cheapest tuition-wise, but Boston and DC much more expensive than Atlanta, NOLA, etc. I’m thinking with cost of living they’ll still end up being more expensive.
 
Plainusername1 said:
How is everyone calculated living costs? I was offered scholarships to BU and GW that make them the cheapest tuition-wise, but Boston and DC much more expensive than Atlanta, NOLA, etc. I’m thinking with cost of living they’ll still end up being more expensive.
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I've lived in DC area my entire life and if the scholarship you got is large enough and your willing to live maybe 20 min from campus there are a TON of cheaper areas that are easily accessible by metro. Most students I know who go to DC graduate schools dont usually live in DC but slightly outside
 
Ebb55 said:
This nicely summarizes my thoughts on those people here with amazing scholarships. I have acquaintances with MSPHs from Hopkins who still can’t crack $50K salary but are $90K in debt. Of course interest will push it to $100K+. If this was law school or even MBA, I’d tell everyone to go with prestige. But public health? Mhm.

Ultimately it’s a personal decision and there’s no judgement if anyone chooses prestige over debt (or vice versa). Some people do get nice salary offers after their masters.
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My problem is that I don't know whether it's a good idea for me to give up on studying psychiatric epidemiology in order to get less debt. I mean, GW doesn't have any classes in psychiatric epidemiology. So the question for me is, should I give up studying what I really want to study in order to have 1/4 the amount of debt that I would have if I went to Emory?
 
Lady MacBeth said:
My problem is that I don't know whether it's a good idea for me to give up on studying psychiatric epidemiology in order to get less debt. I mean, GW doesn't have any classes in psychiatric epidemiology. So the question for me is, should I give up studying what I really want to study in order to have 1/4 the amount of debt that I would have if I went to Emory
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Not studying what you really want is something you might end up regretting one day. Especially since Emory and epidemiology research at CDC can really help your career goals. If you decide on Emory, get a part-time job so that loans go towards tuition only.
 
Ebb55 said:
Not studying what you really want is something you might end up regretting one day. Especially since Emory and epidemiology research at CDC can really help your career goals. If you decide on Emory, get a part-time job so that loans go towards tuition only.
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That's kind of what I'm thinking at this point. But I guess I'll see what kind of financial aid I get from other institutions.
 
This forum has been extremely helpful - so glad I found it!

I'm going the global health route since i knew this would be my strongest bet into getting into most programs due to my strong international/research/internship experience. However, I'm more interested in Health Behavior but looking at many curricula and certificates, I know I can easily incorporate both into my education. Tulane and NYU were my #1 for the longest time but then I decided to apply to Columbia and JHU, which are now my top 2. I have to, reluctantly, turn down NYU's Cross-Continental MPH because after reading and hearing from people, the program is still super new and has many flaws. Has anyone else heard this? It's also not ranked for some reason. Also, is anyone strongly considering Tulane as of now?

GPA: 3.58, GRE scores: 152V 150Q 4.5AW
Applied: GW, BU, Emory, Tulane, NYU 2-yr, NYU Cross Continental, Drexel, Yale, UNC, Columbia, JHU (MSPH Int'l Health), JHU (MSPH Health Ed & Comm)
Accepted: GW (1/18), BU (1/31), Emory (1/27), Tulane (2/2) , NYU 2-yr (1/15), NYU Cross Continental (2/2), Drexel (2/2)
 
Lady MacBeth said:
My problem is that I don't know whether it's a good idea for me to give up on studying psychiatric epidemiology in order to get less debt. I mean, GW doesn't have any classes in psychiatric epidemiology. So the question for me is, should I give up studying what I really want to study in order to have 1/4 the amount of debt that I would have if I went to Emory?
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I think you should also consider that not everyone in the field of psychiatric epidemiology started in that field either. With public health being as comprehensive as it is, I don't think not earning your degree in a certain concentration will bar you from never getting into the psychiatric epi field. Just my two cents but wishing you the best of luck in your decision making process!
 
Plainusername1 said:
How is everyone calculated living costs? I was offered scholarships to BU and GW that make them the cheapest tuition-wise, but Boston and DC much more expensive than Atlanta, NOLA, etc. I’m thinking with cost of living they’ll still end up being more expensive.
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tmalho1 said:
I've lived in DC area my entire life and if the scholarship you got is large enough and your willing to live maybe 20 min from campus there are a TON of cheaper areas that are easily accessible by metro. Most students I know who go to DC graduate schools dont usually live in DC but slightly outside
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Boston is the same - it's not going to be cheap anywhere but there is a lot of cheaper housing in Boston's surrounding towns. A lot of it depends too on what your specifications are. Are you okay with living with roommates? It's much cheaper if you are. How far are you willing to commute every day?

If you want to check out rent prices, I can provide you some areas and names! Alternately, you could ask a current student where the majority of BU students live. Let me know!
 
grapesandstrawberries said:
Has anyone heard back from UC Berkeley MPH Epi/Bio program?????
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Perhaps they have began to release admissions decisions, but I haven't seen anything and am also still waiting. I was so convinced that they would begin releasing decisions last week based on previous years' patterns too...
 
ladybug55 said:
Perhaps they have began to release admissions decisions, but I haven't seen anything and am also still waiting. I was so convinced that they would begin releasing decisions last week based on previous years' patterns too...
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you've heard back from ucla tho. when did you apply? i applied like 11/30 ish... the application process honestly was so tricky for me, same with uc berkeley (having to apply to both SOPHAS and their own application). not sure if i did it right so i wouldn't be surprised if i don't hear back 😱
 
Ebb55 said:
I’ve only heard back from one school. If I get into more schools, $$ will be the determining factor. Luckily, I only applied to schools I’m very enthusiastic about. Literally all of them are my “top choice” haha. So I won’t feel like I’m “settling” no matter where I end up.
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That's so awesome! :happy:

I'm lucky enough to feel the same way right now - I like all of my choices equally! That's why I need to start differentiating my options fast, so I don't have major FOMO about the places I don't go, haha.
 
grapesandstrawberries said:
you've heard back from ucla tho. when did you apply? i applied like 11/30 ish... the application process honestly was so tricky for me, same with uc berkeley (having to apply to both SOPHAS and their own application). not sure if i did it right so i wouldn't be surprised if i don't hear back 😱
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I applied to UCLA in mid-October but I don't believe my SOPHAS app was verified until early November. I also found the process to be a bit tricky so hopefully they would have notified you if something went wrong!
 
Detgirl95 said:
Hey everyone! I recently got accepted to UMich HBHE and have been thinking about cutting down the cost of attendance. My parents live fairly close to Ann Arbor (35 minutes) so I'm thinking about possibly commuting. Does anyone have any advice for this?
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I'd consider what you want - are you just interested in the academics or do you want the social aspect too? I did my first masters at Michigan and we all practically lived at school. I cannot fathom having to drive 35 minutes each way, every day. It seems silly now, but we thought the people living 3 miles away was way too far. The few people I knew from Michigan did not live with parents. Also remember if you do want the social aspect if there are events on the weekends you would have to drive back and forth and you won't be able to run home in the middle of the day. Also, I know it's Michigan and all but the snow can make driving annoying. Lastly, rent is really not that expensive (at least wasn't when I was there) and this is even more true if you have roommates. In summary, I'd consider living in A2 if you can.
 
andrew_SH said:
I still have not heard from Columbia. This is so concerning. Is there anybody else in my boat?
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Same...it seems they're releasing a wave of rejections today. I guess if we don't hear from today's batch there's hope. Last year Columbia also had a similar pattern of releasing decisions.
 
Lady MacBeth said:
My problem is that I don't know whether it's a good idea for me to give up on studying psychiatric epidemiology in order to get less debt. I mean, GW doesn't have any classes in psychiatric epidemiology. So the question for me is, should I give up studying what I really want to study in order to have 1/4 the amount of debt that I would have if I went to Emory?
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This is an interesting circumstance. I will say that it's not something I've really had to think about as most of my interest is in infectious disease and most (if not all) schools of public health offer at some infectious disease courses. However I would say if I had to go to a school that didn't offer the subdiscipline I wanted to study would definitely make me take a long pause and think things through, so I can understand your hesitation.

Ultimately I would think that one would be best off studying for what they wanna study rather than settling for something else. You'll most likely get farther and be better at a subject you enjoy and what's the point of an education if not to allow you to pursue what interests you?

However, I will say that while perhaps GW doesn't have courses in specifically in psychiatric epidemiology, there are other ways to aquire the special subdiscipline experience you would like, such as working with a psychiatry minded professor or at an organization that focuses on psychiatric epi. Sometimes professors focused on interdisciplinary subjects such psych epi maybe be actually found in a department of psychology or medicine. Some schools are very friendly to inter-school/departmental collaboration like this.

Just something for you to keep in mind. If you find a professor at say GW that works in the psychology or psychiatry (if they have one?) departments that could be a potential route for you to save some money and still get the experience you would like. For example, there is a professor at my undergrad institution working in social epidemiology. He however is under the sociology department.

At the end of the day the thing that unites all epidemiologists is our shared methodology. Our epidemiological tool kit. Many of the methods you learn for one discipline of epi are often not that different from that of other disciplines. After all, epidemiology originally was only really focused on infectious diseases, but as other health issues have taken more priority the methods have been applied to them, to good results if I might add (ex Richard Doll's work on smoking). I feel like the course you take at any public health school will set you up well for any subdiscipline.

Heck there are even examples of epidemiologists that constantly move from discipline to discipline (perhaps less common in academia). My advisor has a colleague that used to work at the state health department, and he'd be working on a food borne disease outbreak one week and then doing a study on diabetes prevalence the next week. The methods are flexible.
 
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