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

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Undergrad School: Medium Public University
Undergrad GPA/Major GPA: 3.9 summa cum laude
Major/Minor: Bioinformatics, Mathematics, and Chemistry
GRE (including date taken) or Other Test (if applicable): V 155 Q 159 AW 5
Experience/Research (please, be brief):
Currently working at a Health Department in the MCH Division as a strategic planning consultant.
Spent 5 months in Vietnam serving with the South-HIV ATTC.
Spent 3 years in a disease modeling lab. Constructed mathematical models of the Zika virus and was published. Presented models to state House of Reps.
Spent 1 year in a behavioral health collaborative studying addiction and opioids.
Spent 1 summer at Boston University Bioinformatics NSF-REU.
Spent 2 years in a genetics lab studying female meiosis in Drosophila.

Special factors:
Immigrant refugee family, Vietnamese-speaking, fluent in several programming languages (R,C++,Python) and softwares (MATLAB, SPSS, SAS), selected for 30under30, letter of recs from professors at UC-Berkeley, SDSU, and Boston University

***Please include the following whenever possible: specific concentration/track, dates, type of correspondence (phone, email, letter, etc.), scholarships/grants.***

Interested in: Global health, women's empowerment, mHealth technology, sexual reproductive health, randomized controlled trials and impact evaluations

Applied(include the date of application): Johns Hopkins, Harvard, University of Washington, UC-Berkeley, Boston University, George Washington University, Oregon Health & Science, Washington University in St. Louis; all submitted on 11/22 and verified on 12/1.

Accepted: Johns Hopkins, Harvard, University of Washington, UC-Berkeley, Boston University+$$, George Washington University+$$, Oregon Health & Science+$$, Washington University in St. Louis+$$

*please see previous posts for acceptance dates

Rejected: None
Waitlisted: None

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I wanted to post this because some people were curious about my stats and also for future folks scrolling through this thread. Thank you everyone for all of your sage advice!
 
andrew_SH said:
I am an undergrad at JHU. Most grad students actually live around Homewood. East Baltimore is not the safest area to live in. When i worked on the medical campus, most other medical student or PhD student would still live around Homewood. There is JHMI shuttle from Homewood. During rush hour, it departs from Homewood every ten min.

If you want to save money, you could pay as little as 400-500 bucks in a townhouse, or 600-800 for a 2-bedroom apartment. You can also pay as much as 1500 bucks for fancy apartment at the Village Lofts.
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Your take on the 929 building near Bloomberg? As an international student, it feels like the easy option.
 
VAa said:
Your take on the 929 building near Bloomberg? As an international student, it feels like the easy option.
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I am not exactly sure about housing there. I am only an undergrad.
 
TheQueen said:
Hey y'all. So I've received offers at Michigan for a scholarship, and then for a work study/subsidized loan. BUT this package doesn't cover my overall cost of attendance. Are these offers final? I know there are other loan types out there. Does this mean I just didn't get them orr... Asking here before emailing them because I know some of you may be in the same situation.
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What department if you don't mind me asking?
 
Did anyone hear back from Michigan about scholarships? Specifically HBHE. Someone from their office said in the FB group that some of us would be hearing back today (and some next week) if we received a scholarship.
 
Savannah10 said:
Thanks you guys for the quick and helpful responses! This is why this community is so great.

I'm leaning toward Fells Point/Upper Fells/Patterson, but Homewood also sounds promising. What's your take on the areas you have to pass through to get to Bloomberg if you're coming from Fells Point and Homewood, respectively?
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Happy to help 🙂

I would say you need to be sort of strategic about how you navigate your way through any part of Baltimore. My friends in Fells Point have said they feel perfectly safe walking to and from JHSPH during daylight hours, but they do avoid certain streets/blocks. The school provides a free car service that will drive you directly to your house between 4 pm and midnight-ish if you live within a certain distance from the school (this includes some parts of Fells).

Are you asking about driving from Homewood? There are easy and safe routes to get to JHSPH from Homewood by car, but there are definitely some routes that take you through more crime-ridden areas, so you'd want to avoid those. The path the Homewood shuttle takes is perfectly fine and the people who ride the shuttle are almost all students or people on their way to work. The shuttles all have "ID Required" printed on their sides, so I think that deters a lot of people who are not affiliated with Hopkins from riding.
 
Does anyone have insight about Hopkins’ MSPH vs. MPH programs at other schools? Is MSPH considered a lower degree/not as heavily respected as an MPH? Can you pursue a DrPH with an MSPH?

Thanks for all your advice!
 
peachplumpear85 said:
Congratulations!!! Do you mind sharing your stats?

I still haven't heard anything from Harvard.. assuming at this point that I'm going to be rejected.
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Sorry for the late reply - hope this helps next year's applicants too!
Undergrad: Public Ivy, Public Health/Immunology/Human Rights majors & minor
GPA: 3.6
GRE: 169V/166Q/5AW
Experience: Graduated in December.
* 5 years of bench research during high school and undergrad, 1 peer reviewed publication, 5 conference abstracts, 2 CDC reports, 2 poster presentations.
* Thesis for human rights on humanitarian health care access in armed conflict zones.
* Took graduate level courses in infectious disease, global health, immunology and epidemiological methods.
* Worked on an mHealth project focused on improving vaccine coverage data in low-resource areas.
* President of an academic student organization affiliated with the biology department and student representative on the undergraduate advisory council for the biology department.
* Currently an epidemiology research assistant at the state health department.
Interests: infectious disease epidemiology, vaccine-preventable disease
Applied: Harvard SM80 ID Epi (12/1), Berkeley MPH Epi/Biostat (12/1), Emory MPH Epi (1/5), Yale MPH EMD (1/14), Hopkins MSPH-GDEC (1/14), Hopkins MSc ID Epi (1/15)
Accepted: Emory+50%tuition, 10kREAL, 2kpracticum (1/31), JHU MSPH GDEC (2/9), Berkeley+fellowship (2/13), Harvard (2/26)
Waiting: JHU-MSc, Yale
 
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For anyone waiting on Berkeley decisions, I checked TheGradCafe and someone called the admissions department. They got the same news as me: department expects all admissions notifications (acceptance, rejection, waitlist) to be made by mid-March.
 
NardwuarKnowsEverything said:
For anyone waiting on Berkeley decisions, I checked TheGradCafe and someone called the admissions department. They got the same news as me: department expects all admissions notifications (acceptance, rejection, waitlist) to be made by mid-March.
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but when is their visit day?
 
Astaclover said:
but when is their visit day?
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I asked someone on the forum before, and I believe they said 3/19?.. Not sure, but I would hope that they let us know before then so if we were admitted, we could plan to attend. Or at least have a second admit day after then.
 
Hoping someone can give me some advice about financial aid. When will I find out about loans and things like that? Ive filled out the FAFSA. I’ve gotten two scholarships so far. But no information about loans. I’ve never had to take out loans before and was just wondering if someone could enlighten me on the process🙂
 
idepi said:
Sorry for the late reply - hope this helps next year's applicants too!
Undergrad: Public Ivy, Public Health/Immunology/Human Rights majors & minor
GPA: 3.6
GRE: 169V/166Q/5AW
Experience: Graduated in December. 5 years of bench research during high school and undergrad, 1 peer reviewed publication, 5 conference abstracts, 2 CDC reports, 2 poster presentations. Thesis for human rights on humanitarian health care access in armed conflict zones. Took graduate level courses in infectious disease, global health, immunology and epidemiological methods. Worked on an mHealth project focused on improving vaccine coverage data in low-resource areas, President of an academic student organization affiliated with the biology department and student representative on the undergraduate advisory council for the biology department. Currently an epidemiology research assistant at the state health department.
Interests: infectious disease epidemiology, vaccine-preventable disease
Applied: Harvard SM80 ID Epi (12/1), Berkeley MPH Epi/Biostat (12/1), Emory MPH Epi (1/5), Yale MPH EMD (1/14), Hopkins MSPH-GDEC (1/14), Hopkins MSc ID Epi (1/15)
Accepted: Emory+50%tuition, 10kREAL, 2kpracticum (1/31), JHU MSPH GDEC (2/9), Berkeley+fellowship (2/13), Harvard (2/26)
Waiting: JHU-MSc, Yale
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When were you notified about the fellowship for Berkeley? Was it with your acceptance letter?
 
public_healther said:
Does anyone have insight about Hopkins’ MSPH vs. MPH programs at other schools? Is MSPH considered a lower degree/not as heavily respected as an MPH? Can you pursue a DrPH with an MSPH?

Thanks for all your advice!
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I'm curious about this too! I don't have any useful insight to contribute though...
 
Astaclover said:
but when is their visit day?
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NardwuarKnowsEverything said:
I asked someone on the forum before, and I believe they said 3/19?.. Not sure, but I would hope that they let us know before then so if we were admitted, we could plan to attend. Or at least have a second admit day after then.
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Yes, it's 3/19, and I believe there's only one admit day...
 
idepi said:
Yes, it's 3/19, and I believe there's only one admit day...
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Well that is unfortunate. I am local to the area so it wouldn't be hard for me to plan to attend in the event that I get in before their admit day, but pretty unfair for those who would have to travel.
 
Rblay43 said:
Hoping someone can give me some advice about financial aid. When will I find out about loans and things like that? Ive filled out the FAFSA. I’ve gotten two scholarships so far. But no information about loans. I’ve never had to take out loans before and was just wondering if someone could enlighten me on the process🙂
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Some schools have their own financial aid forms in addition to the FAFSA that you have to fill out to officially apply for their financial aid/loans. I would recommend reaching out to the financial aid offices at the schools you were accepted into for more information.
 
Also still waiting for Harvard SM80 for epi....fingers crossed by the end of the week. Honestly, I just want to know whether I need to buy train/plane tickets or not :poke:
 
ThisisReality said:
All my applications were completed very close to the deadlines... Applied for Health Policy.
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Thats a long time! I submitted for the deadline, but my LORs did get in till mid January. I applied for Global Health Epi. Its been almost 6 weeks for me, I'm getting nervous!
 
Hey guys,
I just got into Johns Hopkins Accelerated MPH, but am still thinking Yale makes more sense for me because I could cover the total attendance cost over 2 years with scholarship and direct loans, whereas I could not do that for JHU (mostly because its condensed into 1 year and there is a per year loan limit). What are people's thoughts are on the ability to get a job after Yale's MPH program vs. JHU. Yale is ranked so much lower but their faculty seems much more supportive and easy to work with. How much do the rankings really matter??




P.S. FYI, I emailed Hopkins after getting acceptance the other day inquiring about when we should hear about financial aid and they said I have "already been considered" and not offered anything. So if you're getting accepted now with no fin. aid info, I'd guess your award is $0 too.

P.P.S Columbia taking forever...seems like a lot of policy people having the same problem with them which is a little relieving


GPA: 3.49|| GRE: 167V; 159 Q; 5 W || 5 years global health experience, 2 while living in developing countries
Applied: (health policy concentration for all, applied pretty much at the deadline for all) GW, Columbia, Yale, Harvard 65 credit MPH, Johns Hopkins (1 year MPH), Harvard Kennedy MPP
Accepted: GW+$, Yale+$$$, Johns Hopkins (no $$),
Rejected: Harvard
Waiting: Columbia, HKS MPP program
Attending: Probably Yale
 
Hey all! Need help. I want to extend my deadline for enrollment in Thomas Jefferson’s MPH as I am still waiting to hear back from some schools. Would it hurt to tell them that I am waiting for other schools? How should I approach this? :thinking: Any suggestions?
 
prithak said:
Hey all! Need help. I want to extend my deadline for enrollment in Thomas Jefferson’s MPH as I am still waiting to hear back from some schools. Would it hurt to tell them that I am waiting for other schools? How should I approach this? :thinking: Any suggestions?
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People do this for Ph.D. programs all the time-- I'd just tell them honestly that you'd like to make an informed decision and wait until you have all the information from other programs, so you'd appreciate an extension of the deadline.
 
prithak said:
Hey all! Need help. I want to extend my deadline for enrollment in Thomas Jefferson’s MPH as I am still waiting to hear back from some schools. Would it hurt to tell them that I am waiting for other schools? How should I approach this? :thinking: Any suggestions?
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Hey! So my friend recently had to do this with another school and was super nervous about it. All she did was email them and explain that she needed a few more weeks since she was still waiting to hear from other schools. They immediately emailed her back and extended the deadline! It ended up being super easy 🙂
 
So does Hopkins not give any need based aid? Has anyone tried countering their offer with offers from other schools?
 
graced16 said:
Hey guys,
I just got into Johns Hopkins Accelerated MPH, but am still thinking Yale makes more sense for me because I could cover the total attendance cost over 2 years with scholarship and direct loans, whereas I could not do that for JHU (mostly because its condensed into 1 year and there is a per year loan limit). What are people's thoughts are on the ability to get a job after Yale's MPH program vs. JHU. Yale is ranked so much lower but their faculty seems much more supportive and easy to work with. How much do the rankings really matter??




P.S. FYI, I emailed Hopkins after getting acceptance the other day inquiring about when we should hear about financial aid and they said I have "already been considered" and not offered anything. So if you're getting accepted now with no fin. aid info, I'd guess your award is $0 too.

P.P.S Columbia taking forever...seems like a lot of policy people having the same problem with them which is a little relieving


GPA: 3.49|| GRE: 167V; 159 Q; 5 W || 5 years global health experience, 2 while living in developing countries
Applied: (health policy concentration for all, applied pretty much at the deadline for all) GW, Columbia, Yale, Harvard 65 credit MPH, Johns Hopkins (1 year MPH), Harvard Kennedy MPP
Accepted: GW+$, Yale+$$$, Johns Hopkins (no $$),
Rejected: Harvard
Waiting: Columbia, HKS MPP program
Attending: Probably Yale
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Current Yale student here - we have a great career services office. When I contacted them last year about a similar inquiry, they told me the employment rate within 6 months of graduation is 100%. Current students echoed the same sentiment and told me that nobody has any issues finding jobs or internships. I can attest to this as a first-year student, as my internship was set in January. Most people I know already have theirs set or are close to doing so. It is very easy to make an appointment with the career services office, assuming you need help with cover letters, interview practice, job/internship search, etc. Twice a year, the career services office organizes these career treks to NYC and DC to visit a number of firms (I haven't gone but I believe people who benefit the most are interested in policy/consulting/management). Additionally, they send out a weekly "Career Talk" email in which they will have new job/internship postings, and dates for upcoming recruitment/information sessions. The impression I have is that a degree from here will not limit you to a certain region after graduation. YSPH is well-connected all over, whether it's in NYC, Boston, DC, or California.

The faculty here are incredible. They're so supportive, approachable, and friendly; you can tell that they really want you to succeed. They're also well-connected with the faculty of other professional schools (School of Management, Law School, School of Medicine) so for instance, if they don't have research positions available, they may refer you to people they know who share similar interests.

I wouldn't put much stock into US News rankings, as their rankings heavily favor larger schools. When one of the main metrics is the total # of publications per year, it's no wonder that smaller programs won't be ranked highly. Smaller, strong programs such as those at NYU, Vanderbilt, Brown, Dartmouth, UPenn, USC, and UVA are left off the list. From the Yale students who have interviewed for jobs/internships: employers don't care about rankings. The name itself carries a lot of weight. Even though I didn't apply to Hopkins, it is well-regarded as probably the best PH school in the country. If you go that route, you won't have any issues finding a job. You can't go wrong with either choice.
 
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Hello everyone! This is my first post! I applied to MPH/MS degrees in epi and this forum has been super helpful in the application process 🙂

I am heavily considering attending University of Michigan for the MPH in General Epi. I looked through their employment statistics, but am wondering if anyone knows how easy/hard it would be to get a job around the country with the Michigan name?
 
I think all the schools having their Admit Day on the same day is very strategic. The purpose of the day is to sell the program to the students so they have to show the best that they have to offer. If you go to one that means you won't go to the other meaning that the one that you go to...you'll probably be sold to that school. UPenn is also on March 23rd...
 
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