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

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Teets4Tots said:
I really connect with your statement about social location. One of the big things I'm looking for in a school is how doverse the faculty is. All through my undergrad I have had predominantly white, male professors that gloss over how minority communities are really being affected by health care policy, interventions, etc. Since this is what I'm most interested in, it has been super frustrating not having that and so the faculty's research interest and past project and jobs have been my main focus when looking at schools.
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social location is hugely important. I was so iffy about applying to Vanderbilt and Tulane because they're in the South -- I'm a 22 year old Muslim woman who wears a headscarf and I've literally been around places in the South where I fear for my life. I've lived in safe/tolerant/diverse locations all my life and moving to a completely new place with racist vibes would make me so uncomfortable and tense
 
I got an email response from Harvard's Department of Biostatistics saying the committee is still reviewing applications and hopes to have all their decisions in by March 1, but can't guarantee it. I'm an MS applicant so it might be different for the MPH program but I thought I'd share here.
 
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unexpectedcucumber said:
I work at Hopkins SOM and my PI is on the admissions committee for the master's epi program....and she said they haven't even started finalizing decisions yet 🙁
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Thanks for the info! Do you know if it is the same case for master's biostats program?
 
mixedsumaut said:
Thanks for the info! Do you know if it is the same case for master's biostats program?
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I emailed Mary Argo (Academic Administrator for JHU biostats) today and got a response in 10 minutes. She was unable to give me a definite date I'll hear back by but gave confirmation that my application is currently under review. Apparently it can take anywhere from several weeks to a month or so to review an application.
 
nannams said:
social location is hugely important. I was so iffy about applying to Vanderbilt and Tulane because they're in the South -- I'm a 22 year old Muslim woman who wears a headscarf and I've literally been around places in the South where I fear for my life. I've lived in safe/tolerant/diverse locations all my life and moving to a completely new place with racist vibes would make me so uncomfortable and tense
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For what it’s worth, I’m a queer Nashville native, and we really are a blue city in a sea of red. There’s definitely some casual racism here (along with the more obvious systematic/institutional racism), but most of the blatant islamaphobia in our state begins once you get about 30 minutes outside of Nashville. Rural Tennesseans often bemoan Vanderbilt as a breeding ground for liberal ideas. 🙄 I definitely get your hesitation, though.
 
corndoggedly said:
For what it’s worth, I’m a queer Nashville native, and we really are a blue city in a sea of red. There’s definitely some casual racism here (along with the more obvious systematic/institutional racism), but most of the blatant islamaphobia in our state begins once you get about 30 minutes outside of Nashville. Rural Tennesseans often bemoan Vanderbilt as a breeding ground for liberal ideas. 🙄 I definitely get your hesitation, though.
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oh thats actually super helpful to know!! i love vanderbilt's program from what i see/read about it and actually might make a trip to visit the school
 
Just got my financial aid package from BU and am very disappointed. They didn't even offer loans to cover the entire COA like Columbia did, and I thought Columbia's offer was the worst case scenario.

Does anyone have a good understanding of what factors go into what you're offered? My expected contribution was $0 because I was working abroad for room/board at the time. Is $0 too low to qualify for aid because they assume you're unemployed? Of course I know I'm not entitled to any need-based aid, but to be honest, I was expecting at least a little.
 
Brick05 said:
Sounds great! I'm curious if the majority of students are straight from undergrad or if there are a large number of students with significant work experience in public health? I have 3 years of work experience in global health (Fulbright scholarship + project development and implementation for an organization in East Africa, currently working there still) and want to surround myself with people who have had experience out in the real world. If the majority of the class is fresh from undergraduate that is a turn-off for me.... what vibe did you get?
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Hey, I haven't visited Emory yet, but, if you navigate to the page for your specific program --> jobs & click on pie chart then you can see the average ages of students and years of prior work experience. The vast majority of epi students are 0-1 year out of school (https://www.sph.emory.edu/careers/documents/2015-EPI-Employment.pdf). This has actually been causing me some hesitation too since I've been working in cancer research for 2 years and the majority of my friends are second-year Ph.D. students, most of whom took time off beforehand. Especially since I'm married and used to hanging out with people older than me, I think it would be nice to be surrounded with people in similar life situations-- but that's not necessarily a determining factor.
 
By the way, happy Chinese New Year everyone! The year of the dog will be our year! :hardy:

Enjoy this picture of my cat attacking the stuffed dog my PI gave me yesterday :laugh:
IMG_20180215_223451.jpg
 
megarita said:
Does anyone have a good understanding of what factors go into what you're offered? My expected contribution was $0 because I was working abroad for room/board at the time. Is $0 too low to qualify for aid because they assume you're unemployed? Of course I know I'm not entitled to any need-based aid, but to be honest, I was expecting at least a little.
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I might be wrong about this, but very few programs give straight need based aid to masters students. There are scholarships that take financial need into account at most schools, but they are also merit based. I know that my EFC was also 0 because of low paid employment, and I received either nothing in need-based aid or $500-$1000 depending on the school. This was kind of a shock after going to a loan-free undergrad institution that compensated 100% for everything after EFC, but it unfortunately seems to be the way things work =\

ETA: I realize that schools think of loans as "need based aid" but what I meant here was grants as need based aid.
 
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wwmmkk said:
I might be wrong about this, but very few programs give straight need based aid to masters students. There are scholarships that take financial need into account at most schools, but they are also merit based. I know that my EFC was also 0 because of low paid employment, and I received either nothing in need-based aid or $500-$1000 depending on the school. This was kind of a shock after going to a loan-free undergrad institution that compensated 100% for everything after EFC, but it unfortunately seems to be the way things work =\
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Ah, okay. I must have misremembered - I thought I was seeing a good amount of need-based aid on here (especially from BU :/). I just thought at the very least I'd be offered the full COA in loans, but I guess I need to recalibrate my expectations!
 
Epi_lady_in_training said:
I was admitted to SDSU Epi via snail mail! Earlier than expected. I wonder what everyones thoughts are on SDSU, I still have to contact more people regarding the program however tuition is super cheap! Deciding between Berkeley, SDSU, and Emory.
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Congrats on SDSU! Are you going to Emory's admitted students day?
 
Hey guys, if any of you want to be added to a group message about coordinating plans for Visit Emory, let me know and I will add you!
 
megarita said:
Ah, okay. I must have misremembered - I thought I was seeing a good amount of need-based aid on here (especially from BU :/). I just thought at the very least I'd be offered the full COA in loans, but I guess I need to recalibrate my expectations!
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Yeah, it sucks. I also forgot to say that there's a cap on the amount a school can offer in federal loans. So since BU and most other schools are more expensive than the cap per year, basically no one is getting enough loans to cover the full COA. Most people need to rely on part time jobs, savings, or outside support (private loans, money from family, scholarships) to make it work.
 
Brick05 said:
Sounds great! I'm curious if the majority of students are straight from undergrad or if there are a large number of students with significant work experience in public health? I have 3 years of work experience in global health (Fulbright scholarship + project development and implementation for an organization in East Africa, currently working there still) and want to surround myself with people who have had experience out in the real world. If the majority of the class is fresh from undergraduate that is a turn-off for me.... what vibe did you get?
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A few were college seniors, some had 1-3 years of full-time experience, and this guy was a cardiologist (!). Definitely expect diversity in experience/professional skills. Oh, and students from the Emory school of medicine love to do an MPH halfway into medical school.
 
Brick05 said:
When did you submit your application? I submitted mine way back in December and still haven't heard! I thought I'd hear sooner because of rolling admissions
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I applied beginning of january, but haven't heard back from brown either
 
Just got accepted to Brown! :clap: It also says that I have "been awarded financial support from my program", but I can't figure out where that support is listed. Other admitted students, did you get this also?

Edit: whoops, read more thoroughly and saw it's coming in a different letter-- my bad! I'll leave this up just in case anyone else gets confused!
 
Has anyone heard back from Yale after that odd email they sent out earlier last week?
 
mixedsumaut said:
Happy Chinese New Year! The dog is so cute I wonder if she gets them from China haha!!
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She definitely got it from Amazon hahahahaha but she is actually from China herself. Her and her husband came over for grad school together and now run the lab semi-jointly. It's a pretty small lab so they basically treat me like their child-- I even got a red envelope with $20! :joyful:
 
Just received an informal offer of admission from the director Minnesota's Public Health and Administration (PHAP) program. For those still waiting, the admissions committee will be meeting next week, so official letters should be sent out after that.
 
lala12345 said:
Has anyone heard back from Yale after that odd email they sent out earlier last week?
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Are you talking about value of Yale email? I’m still waiting to hear back! I’m dying from all this waiting :drowning:
 
Cassatrass said:
I love this forum too! And I love how everyone is just talking about their experiences and giving advice, but not judging. Too often people think that a decision is wrong since it isn't what they would do-- but that isn't always the case! As adults, there is SO MUCH to take into consideration, and we all see things a little differently-- which is part of what makes life so interesting!

My husband + my cat (my kitten died from an incurable disease (FIP) earlier this week so now we only have one 😢-- is there such a thing as a cat epidemiologist? This seems like a good disease to eradicate...) are my biggest motivators/supporters, so I'm glad to have them by my side! I'm incredibly lucky to have worked out a solid system for our schooling that we are both happy with-- I know that most of the time that's nearly impossible!
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I’m so so sorry about your kitten! I can’t imagine not having my cat with me (hoping that won’t hurt me when it comes time to look for roommates/housing)
 
mickey24 said:
I’m so so sorry about your kitten! I can’t imagine not having my cat with me (hoping that won’t hurt me when it comes time to look for roommates/housing)
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I'm super cost-conscious about most things, but not my furry friends. They're my babies and they go where I go-- no exceptions. (I need to stop talking in plural but I'll probably get another before moving so it still makes sense)
 
Cassatrass said:
Just got accepted to Brown! :clap: It also says that I have "been awarded financial support from my program", but I can't figure out where that support is listed. Other admitted students, did you get this also?

Edit: whoops, read more thoroughly and saw it's coming in a different letter-- my bad! I'll leave this up just in case anyone else gets confused!
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I got my merit scholarship of 25% off tuition the day after I got accepted via email!
 
Hey everyone!

Since we're coordinating admitted student day meetups and I know messages can get lost on here, I created a google spreadsheet organized by schools with their admitted student days. You can list your username under the dates you plan to attend, and then you may find it easier to reach out to people individually to plan meetups! 🙂 I added schools I will be attending, so feel free to create a new tab/sheet and add dates for other schools.

Admitted Students Day Dates
 
ConfusedAsUsual said:
Hey everyone!

Since we're coordinating admitted student day meetups and I know messages can get lost on here, I created a google spreadsheet organized by schools with their admitted student days. You can list your username under the dates you plan to attend, and then you may find it easier to reach out to people individually to plan meetups! 🙂 I added schools I will be attending, so feel free to create a new tab/sheet and add dates for other schools.

Admitted Students Day Dates
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Thank you for doing this!!
 
Just heard back from Columbia HPM today and I'm in! So excited and nervous to make a final decision! If anybody has gotten merit aid from Columbia would that have come with the acceptance or will it come later?
 
flash17 said:
Just heard back from Columbia HPM today and I'm in! So excited and nervous to make a final decision! If anybody has gotten merit aid from Columbia would that have come with the acceptance or will it come later?
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I got my merit aid letter about two weeks after my admissions letter. Mine was for MPH in Epidemiology. Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.
 
Just registered for Visit Emory 2018 after hearing back from travel grant, but disappointed by the amount. :-( it doesn't even cover half of my flight cost from Seattle... Still thankful but unsure if I will be able to make it due to work obligations.
 
grapesandstrawberries said:
Just registered for Visit Emory 2018 after hearing back from travel grant, but disappointed by the amount. :-( it doesn't even cover half of my flight cost from Seattle... Still thankful but unsure if I will be able to make it due to work obligations.
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When they told you that they recieved your travel grant form, how long did it take for them to end you the amount they're going to give you? I received an email today about them updating my travel grant form (after telling them that I am attending both days) and that they recieved my grant request.
 
JDGBruin1317 said:
When they told you that they recieved your travel grant form, how long did it take for them to end you the amount they're going to give you? I received an email today about them updating my travel grant form (after telling them that I am attending both days) and that they recieved my grant request.
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Just 3-4 days after submitting my grant request. I think I got little grant because I told them I have a full time job but it's still costly to fly to Atlanta from Seattle considering I'll only be there for 2-3 days.
 
grapesandstrawberries said:
Just 3-4 days after submitting my grant request. I think I got little grant because I told them I have a full time job but it's still costly to fly to Atlanta from Seattle considering I'll only be there for 2-3 days.
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The max they offer is also $250, which, flying south in March, doesn't cover everything-- but anything is more than nothing like most schools offer!
 
wwmmkk said:
I might be wrong about this, but very few programs give straight need based aid to masters students. There are scholarships that take financial need into account at most schools, but they are also merit based. I know that my EFC was also 0 because of low paid employment, and I received either nothing in need-based aid or $500-$1000 depending on the school. This was kind of a shock after going to a loan-free undergrad institution that compensated 100% for everything after EFC, but it unfortunately seems to be the way things work =\
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I have a feeling that you're right, and I feel like I might not have known this if I hadn't combed through this forum and noticed patterns (or... lack of patterns) in need-based aid. I also wonder if/how much undergrad debt plays into the need-based aid decision as well. I am sure I'm not alone in having a not-insignificant amount of loans from undergrad hanging around.
 
I got accepted into Columbia SMS! The email with a portal link was sent yesterday but I've been too scared to check it until this morning. I am ecstatic beyond belief! Going to soak this up while I can before reality and tuition cost sets in.
 
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