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

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desNuages said:
I did on Friday. I knew it would be all loans, but the loan I was given doesn't even cover the tuition! The fees are another 10K. Not sure why they think I can contribute 1/3 of my current salary.
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You could always apply for a PLUS loan
 
Just got into BU + $! Deciding between BU and Colorado now for Epi. I want to pursue a PhD after my MPH and I'm thinking BU might be better in that respect, but wondering if anyone has insight as to how BU looks when applying to PhD programs.
 
NardwuarKnowsEverything said:
Just got my provisional award letter from UCLA and it consists of straight loans -.-... What is a bit annoying is the "student contribution" portion. They projected me to contribute up to ~$19k, but that is based off my income now when I am working. I have money saved up, but there is no way in hell I will be able to contribute thaaaat much when I am in school since I won't have the same job...
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Does your financial aid basically just cover financial aid and then the 19K is based off the cost of living/books/etc? I'm still impatiently waiting to receive my financial aid package lol..I have money saved up to pay living expenses but not tuition
 
Does anyone have an opinion on what is better, Emory or GWU? I know this is a subjective question but I wanted some opinions to help assist my decision making process. I absolutely love DC and all the global opportunities but I have also heard great things about the academics at Rollins. I am unsure what concentration/career I ultimately want to pursue so I can't use that to help me. Any thoughts?
 
Hi! Just finished my visit with BU!

Sat in an intro class on individual and population health taught by Professor Dolan. It was a 3 hour class (each class meets about once a week) but I only stayed for half of it. The students were semi-engaged but a lot of them weren’t that into it to be honest.

They seem to have a pretty great career center (9 full time staff just for this department). I really liked that you start out as a general MPH and then go on to choose your functional and context certificates because it gives you an opportunity to explore more than just one field. I’m interested in health policy but am open to other fields as well. I know that BU recently overhauled their program so this whole certificate thing is new but has anyone else heard about BU’s program? Is it more of a disadvantage or have other students heard differently?
 
runsdmph said:
Just got into BU + $! Deciding between BU and Colorado now for Epi. I want to pursue a PhD after my MPH and I'm thinking BU might be better in that respect, but wondering if anyone has insight as to how BU looks when applying to PhD programs.
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From talking with my mentors this entire cycle regarding earning a PhD, the one point they continued to emphasize was to attend a Research focused institution that is active in the field you are interested in. BU is a more established and well known academic institution, especially in the field of public health, but also think about how cohort size and student to faculty ratio will affect the opportunity for you to find and work with a PI as well as the project being in an area of interest that you may want to pursue/support a thesis you will further explore as a PhD candidate. The most important thing is for there to be a coherent story for what you have done and what you are hoping to explore in the future. If both Colorado and BU offer this, then your decision can be more focused on aspects you are looking for (financial burden, campus community, surrounding area, etc.). Hope this helps a little!
 
confusedstudent19 said:
Hi! Just finished my visit with BU!

Sat in an intro class on individual and population health taught by Professor Dolan. It was a 3 hour class (each class meets about once a week) but I only stayed for half of it. The students were semi-engaged but a lot of them weren’t that into it to be honest.

They seem to have a pretty great career center (9 full time staff just for this department). I really liked that you start out as a general MPH and then go on to choose your functional and context certificates because it gives you an opportunity to explore more than just one field. I’m interested in health policy but am open to other fields as well. I know that BU recently overhauled their program so this whole certificate thing is new but has anyone else heard about BU’s program? Is it more of a disadvantage or have other students heard differently?
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I visited there last November. I toured, spoke with an admissions representative, sat in on an information session, and I got lucky to sit in on one of the bi-weekly meetings that the Health, Human Rights, and Social Justice certificate has. From that, I felt that BU has plenty of opportunities. One person I spoke was working on cancer epidemiology at one of the hospitals for his internship and was continuing with that through the school year. People at the social justice and human rights meeting seemed to be focused on more community-health stuff. BU definitely seemed like it was on top of it when it came to career services and internship placement. I didn't really hear much about the thoughts on the certificate system because it seems to be relatively new, but I am leaning towards it because I am specifically interested in program/policy research, evaluation, and monitoring and they were one of the only places that a program exactly for that.
 
Hi All! I just discovered this thread and would love to participate in the discussion! Here are my stats:

Undergrad School: UC Davis
Undergrad GPA/Major GPA: 3.563
Major/Minor: Psychology, Minors: Music, History
GradGPA (if applicable): N/A
Grad Studies (if applicable): N/A
GRE (including date taken) or Other Test (if applicable): Oct 2014, 157 quant, 160 verbal, 4 written
Experience/Research (please, be brief):
-2 years AmeriCorps working with after school programs
-2 years volunteering as an RA in the UC Davis Creativity Lab
-volunteer at the Women’s Resource & Research center for 1 year
-member of Best Buddies, Active Minds, Psi Chi, Gurls on the Run coach
-Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault counselor (certified in CA) since 2014
-3 years volunteering for a nonprofit assisting with domestic violence / sexual assault services / prevention
-3 years working at a CA state hospital as a Research Associate studying aggression, malingering, and competency issues
-conference presentation at a national convention
Special factors: I applied to joint Masters in Social Welfare & Masters of Public Health programs only and would *LOVE* to talk with someone experienced with them!!!

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

Interested in: community mental health
Applied(include the date of application): UC Berkeley, UCLA, SDSU
Accepted: UCLA
Rejected: UC Berkeley
Waitlisted:
 
MHAorMPH said:
Hey everyone I've got a hopefully quick question for you. I've been accepted and given equal scholarships to Harvard and Yale for MPH health management. I am thinking about hospital fellowship or consulting after graduation. Which do y'all think would be best for me?
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I would highly recommend going to admitted students days and talking to current students to see what you feel is a better fit. They are both great programs, and, if the price evens out, you really can't go wrong with either one. I do not know anything about this program at Harvard, but I know the HCM program at Yale is about half in the School of Public Health and half in the School of Management. My peers who chose the program really liked the diverse skills they felt they would gain from working with faculty and students in the two different schools through their coursework. I believe there was recently a post about HCM at Yale in the admitted students Facebook page if you want to read more about why current students chose Yale.
 
Does anyone have any insight regarding what to say or ask during a phone conversation with my assigned advisor? It's for the MSPH-to-PhD in Epi program at UNC. I already know to ask about RA positions with them, but anyone else have any other ideas? I really want to get a feel for the program, advisor, and funding opportunities. Thanks!
 
Is there anyone still waiting on Emory's financial aid? I'm in HPM if that matters. I've been checking my email and opus constantly and still nothing. I emailed the associate director of financial aid and I'm waiting for a response. Its weird how waiting on a financial aid package is more stressful than waiting for the admission decisions, at least for me. 😛
 
confusedstudent19 said:
Hi! Just finished my visit with BU!

Sat in an intro class on individual and population health taught by Professor Dolan. It was a 3 hour class (each class meets about once a week) but I only stayed for half of it. The students were semi-engaged but a lot of them weren’t that into it to be honest.

They seem to have a pretty great career center (9 full time staff just for this department). I really liked that you start out as a general MPH and then go on to choose your functional and context certificates because it gives you an opportunity to explore more than just one field. I’m interested in health policy but am open to other fields as well. I know that BU recently overhauled their program so this whole certificate thing is new but has anyone else heard about BU’s program? Is it more of a disadvantage or have other students heard differently?
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When you say you are open to other fields, that makes me think that the certificate program is a good idea. Although the certificate program may be relatively new at BU, it was brought in by their new dean. The BU dean was previously faculty at Columbia, and he brought the certificate program over from them. Overall, it appears to work well at both schools and is great for making your own MPH degree that fits your specific interests rather than staying in one specific department for the majority of your degree. I have a few close friends studying at BUSPH, and they truly seem to enjoy the program and the way it is set up!

I also wanted to comment on your class visit since I have seen a lot of similar comments from others who attended classes at various schools. I know everyone is super excited to start their MPH, but school is still school and class is still class. Like every class we have attended in prior schooling, we are more excited about some lectures than others and some classes than others. I don't necessarily believe that it reflects poorly on the program if students are not completely excited for every lecture. In the end, some topics are simply dry no matter how and where they are presented. I wouldn't let that discourage you. There are some classes I have been super engaged in and some that I may zone out in from time to time, but we are all just tired grad students who often still love our programs! Every lecture won't grab everybody's attention, and that's ok. I'm sure this can be a negative indication in some situations, but my friends, as well as their friends at BU, seem to genuinely be enjoying BU's program.
 
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If anyone is wondering about SDSU asking for my decision by March 26-- it is my mistake. they just want me to "accept" my recommendation for admission or something like that so they can send my official decision...called today to understand clearly. Just a little weird!
 
JDGBruin1317 said:
Is there anyone still waiting on Emory's financial aid? I'm in HPM if that matters. I've been checking my email and opus constantly and still nothing. I emailed the associate director of financial aid and I'm waiting for a response. Its weird how waiting on a financial aid package is more stressful than waiting for the admission decisions, at least for me. 😛
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I’m still waiting as well!
 
Does anyone know your chances of getting funding after you’ve accepted your seat? For example, if I accept my offer at UIC, and someone declines their seat and I am next in line for their scholarship, will I get it if I’ve accepted? Or will I get it only if they haven’t received a reply (in order to “recruit” me)? Similarly, are any scholarships turned down on April 15th redistributed to incoming students?
 
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pusheen323 said:
Does anyone have any insight regarding what to say or ask during a phone conversation with my assigned advisor? It's for the MSPH-to-PhD in Epi program at UNC. I already know to ask about RA positions with them, but anyone else have any other ideas? I really want to get a feel for the program, advisor, and funding opportunities. Thanks!
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I would inquire about specific faculty members and their research to demonstrate an interest in and curiosity about specific project areas - maybe that will help you ease into the question of RA positions?
 
I've see some talk about schools being "research focused". Can someone expand on what that really means? Does that mean that you don't learn certain things or gain experience/skills that you'd get at schools that aren't "research focused"? When I think of research careers, I think of working at an University performing research, writing grants, and publishing. Are "research focused" schools focused on preparing students for that career path? Or, are there other careers outside of that that would be considered research based?

I'm sorry if these are stupid questions but I want to really understand what the long term impact is of attending a research focused school if I don't think I want to do research.

I'm a late applicant (2/27) that was recently accepted at U of Mich for epi and am waiting to hear from other schools (Emory, U of MN, Tulane). Someone's notes from the U of Mich admitted student day said U of Mich was very research focused.
 
Rejected from Harvard (expected) for SM-80 Biostatistics. Anybody still waiting for Columbia (my dream school) MPH Biostatistics? I feel like that’s gonna be another rejection 🙁
 
tak1234 said:
I've see some talk about schools being "research focused". Can someone expand on what that really means? Does that mean that you don't learn certain things or gain experience/skills that you'd get at schools that aren't "research focused"? When I think of research careers, I think of working at an University performing research, writing grants, and publishing. Are "research focused" schools focused on preparing students for that career path? Or, are there other careers outside of that that would be considered research based?

I'm sorry if these are stupid questions but I want to really understand what the long term impact is of attending a research focused school if I don't think I want to do research.
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This is a really good question, actually. I'm curious as to what others have to say.

I'm at Brown, which I would say is definitely research focused. The 6 classes I have taken so far have all been research focused in that they have either taught (a) how to critically evaluate the quality of other's research by reading and analyzing scientific articles or (b) how to do specific research related skills like using statistical programming packages, designing studies, writing systematic reviews, etc. Of course, many of those research skills are transferable to other types of public health work, but academic research is the context in which they are taught. The program also requires a thesis that is essentially a publishable quality, original research paper with another component (a second paper, a lit review, a policy analysis, etc.). Non-research focused programs tends to be more flexible in their graduation requirements and use practical experiences like internships or products made for specific public health settings as capstone projects.

There are some more practical things I think I am not learning because I am at a research focused school, though I am picking up some through an internship at a health department. For the most part, these are things that don't interest me much anyway-- health economics, intricacies of health insurance systems, community organizing, program evaluation, policy development, etc. I feel like I *could* learn all of these things at Brown if I had different interests, but they're covered in elective courses that I probably won't choose to take.

There are research careers outside of academia. Think tanks, research foundations, and some government jobs (CDC, NIH) come to mind, and I'm sure there are more. I'm personally hoping to continue onto a PhD and stay in academia, but I do feel prepared for other research careers. But if you have a career in mind that isn't research focused, I wouldn't choose a school that bills itself that way unless they could explain very clearly how their program could help you meet your goals.
 
spacewitch said:
Does your financial aid basically just cover financial aid and then the 19K is based off the cost of living/books/etc? I'm still impatiently waiting to receive my financial aid package lol..I have money saved up to pay living expenses but not tuition
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They've projected the living expenses, tuition, and books/supplies in my provisional aid offer. As a heads up, they projected living expenses per year for me to be about ~$23k. They provided me with a federal direct unsubsidized loan and a direct grad student PLUS loan to cover all of the fees. I have money saved up, but barely enough to cover living for a year..

I'll likely have to take some of the loans out and really search hard for TA or grad student research positions to cover tuition/health insurance..
 
maph said:
Curious what made you decide Michigan over others...I'm struggling between Michigan, JHU, and Columbia...
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Tbh, Michigan gave me a very generous scholarship that I could not turn down. However, I also really like Ann Arbor as it is a picturesque college town with great restaurants, bars, and plenty to do. At Michigan you can also take classes and pursue research in other departments fairly easily so, thats kind of how I made my decision.

I turned down Columbia because of their terrible financial aid package and cost of living in NYC. After some number crunching I realized that the enormous amount of debt I would be in wasn't going to be worth it for me. Also, Columbia is a huge program and I couldn't really see myself fitting in there.

I really wanted to like JHU, but their quarter system was intimidating. I wanted a more traditional two-year MPH program and was worried about how I could cope in their fast-paced MSPH program. I also was unsure of the entire second year being an internship and again I wasn't granted any scholarships to help with the cost.

As for Yale, I really liked the school and program. It will break my heart when I turn down the offer but, at the end of the day they didn't offer enough money to make it worth it.

With that said, I am excited to move to Ann Arbor and start studying at Michigan. If anybody else is committing to Michigan, specifically for HBHE, don't hesitate to PM me and maybe we can meet up in the fall! Go Blue!
 
I need some advice please. I’ve been admitted to UNC for the PhD and would really like to go. However, I would like to know where I stand for funding, but the program manager and faculty members say that the funding isn’t figured out until the summer, but that it’s almost certain that I’ll get funding, either through an RA/TA, training grant, or something. This makes me hesitant and uncomfortable because I basically have to trust what they say and make my decision based on what they say. What do you all suggest I do? I’ve tried calling and pushing for something more concrete or “in paper”, but they say they can’t do that.
 
pusheen323 said:
I need some advice please. I’ve been admitted to UNC for the PhD and would really like to go. However, I would like to know where I stand for funding, but the program manager and faculty members say that the funding isn’t figured out until the summer, but that it’s almost certain that I’ll get funding, either through an RA/TA, training grant, or something. This makes me hesitant and uncomfortable because I basically have to trust what they say and make my decision based on what they say. What do you all suggest I do? I’ve tried calling and pushing for something more concrete or “in paper”, but they say they can’t do that.
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That makes me really uncomfortable too. I would never commit to a PhD program without full funding. When they say you'll get funded, are they saying for all or for part?
 
pusheen323 said:
I need some advice please. I’ve been admitted to UNC for the PhD and would really like to go. However, I would like to know where I stand for funding, but the program manager and faculty members say that the funding isn’t figured out until the summer, but that it’s almost certain that I’ll get funding, either through an RA/TA, training grant, or something. This makes me hesitant and uncomfortable because I basically have to trust what they say and make my decision based on what they say. What do you all suggest I do? I’ve tried calling and pushing for something more concrete or “in paper”, but they say they can’t do that.
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I would commit to your #2 choice. I wouldn't recommend committing to a PhD that doesn't offer full funding on paper. If UNC ends up offering full funding after April 15th, you can give up your deposit in school #2 and go to UNC. Yes that tactic is frowned upon, but for a fully funded PhD that would be understandable. What's your second choice?
 
pusheen323 said:
I need some advice please. I’ve been admitted to UNC for the PhD and would really like to go. However, I would like to know where I stand for funding, but the program manager and faculty members say that the funding isn’t figured out until the summer, but that it’s almost certain that I’ll get funding, either through an RA/TA, training grant, or something. This makes me hesitant and uncomfortable because I basically have to trust what they say and make my decision based on what they say. What do you all suggest I do? I’ve tried calling and pushing for something more concrete or “in paper”, but they say they can’t do that.
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Have you tried reaching out to any current students? They've probably experienced this same issue, so they may be able to give you advice as to why they still made the decision to go to UNC even without the guaranteed funding.
 
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Dmohr21 said:
That makes me really uncomfortable too. I would never commit to a PhD program without full funding. When they say you'll get funded, are they saying for all or for part?
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They say that at minimum, it would be an RA that covers tuition and comes with a $16K/year stipend and at maximum it would be a training grant with tuition coverage and a $24K/year stipend.
 
Ebb55 said:
I would commit to your #2 choice. I wouldn't recommend committing to a PhD that doesn't offer full funding on paper. If UNC ends up offering full funding after April 15th, you can give up your deposit in school #2 and go to UNC. Yes that tactic is frowned upon, but for a fully funded PhD that would be understandable. What's your second choice?
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In regards to what you said about it being “on paper”, how should I go about asking for that? Should I just call the program manager in a couple of weeks and say that I need a written document guaranteeing my funding or something? I just don’t know what to do because they keep saying they can’t do that, but that in years past, they’ve always been able to secure funding. I think it has to do with their budgets and stuff not being finalized until the summer.
My second choice is UMich for the MPH in Epi, but that would end up being more expensive than my whole PhD at UNC cuz I got zero funding and I’m out-of-state.
 
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pusheen323 said:
In regards to what you said about it being “on paper”, how should I go about asking for that? Should I just call the program manager in a couple of weeks and say that I need a written document guaranteeing my funding or something? I just don’t know what to do because they keep saying they can’t do that, but that in years past, they’ve always been able to secure funding. I think it has to do with their budgets and stuff not being finalized until the summer.
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By "on paper" I mean an official confirmation of full funding from the school's financial aid office. Unfortunately, from what you've said, it seems they won't be able to give you this official confirmation until their budgeting is finalized over the summer.
 
pusheen323 said:
They say that at minimum, it would be an RA that covers tuition and comes with a $16K/year stipend and at maximum it would be a training grant with tuition coverage and a $24K/year stipend.
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So they do guarantee full funding, but they won't give you a breakdown yet? This situation is weird. I'd recommend asking for advice on the GradCafe public health forums too. It seems there are more PhD students and applicants there than here.
 
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