MPH / MSPH 2021: Applied, Accepted, Waitlisted, Rejected, Attending

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does anyone know if Columbia's waitlist is ranked?
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KingofMaskedSinger said:
does anyone know if Columbia's waitlist is ranked?
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Hey! I've Google searched that for you. So apparently in general "Columbia places extremely compelling candidates on a waitlist to be considered for admission if spots in the entering class become available. ... We do not rank our waiting list, and all candidates are re-considered for admission if spaces do become available." This is pertaining to Columbia's undergrad admission but hopefully it's true for the graduate programs as well?
 
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epihopeful627 said:
Just read that Yale SPH does not give grades - they have an Honors, High Pass, Pass, and Fail system. No GPA. Does anyone know how this would be interpreted for jobs, etc. after grad school? I can imagine that it doesn’t make too much of a difference for PhD programs making their selections, but I wonder how you would report your performance in grad school on a resume for jobs...
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The b-school that I went to does very similar thing and does not use the traditional A,B,C,F grading. But the transcript still has the GPA calculated and listed using the conversion: SP-4.0, HP-3.5, P-3.0, LP-2.5, F-0.0. We do not list our GPAs on the resume and I think the school does not encourage us from putting that either nor do they report it to companies during on-campus interviews when asked.
 
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Just received a rejection from UArizona Epi. I’m deeply saddened...I got into UW Milwaukee, ETSU, and CSPH Fort Collins. I’m not into the ivy like most of you all.. I was considering mostly location and cost. Does anyone have any insight? I need to leave Milwaukee... Should I attempt to apply to a different concentration at UArizona? I was set on it. I imagine they had many applicants.
 
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LittleLizard said:
Just received a rejection from UArizona Epi. I’m deeply saddened...I got into UW Milwaukee, ETSU, and CSPH Fort Collins. I’m not into the ivy like most of you all.. I was considering mostly location and cost. Does anyone have any insight? I need to leave Milwaukee... Should I attempt to apply to a different concentration at UArizona? I was set on it. I imagine they had many applicants.
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Hey! First of all, Im so sorry for the rejection from Arizona, their loss! I looked at your stats and experience, and I am not sure why you didn't get in, because your experience is definitely better than mines! I also applied Epidemiology. I suppose you could apply to another concentration, if you are truly passionate in that area, because it will reflect in your work. :)
 
LittleLizard said:
Just received a rejection from UArizona Epi. I’m deeply saddened...I got into UW Milwaukee, ETSU, and CSPH Fort Collins. I’m not into the ivy like most of you all.. I was considering mostly location and cost. Does anyone have any insight? I need to leave Milwaukee... Should I attempt to apply to a different concentration at UArizona? I was set on it. I imagine they had many applicants.
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If you are truly set on the school, and are willing to compromise on your concentration, I think there would be no harm in reaching out to admissions and asking if your app can be forwarded to a different department. You might want to rewrite your SOP though :/
I'm really sorry to hear you didn't get in 💙 It doesn't define your worth as a person, or even a student. This cycle is weird.
I'd also suggest taking a minute to reflect on your acceptances and achievements. You did get into some great programs outside of Milwaukee! I know in the moment this doesn't help, but the universe may be calling you to one of these other locations for a reason yet to be revealed 💙

Well wishes to you, I know no matter where you go you'll do great things!
 
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Hi everyone! I am in need of some insight. I applied to Umich HMP and was rejected. I was left absolutely heartbroken. I decided to apply to a different department on 1/27(HBHE) and am still waiting to hear back and getting a bit worried. Is it worth it to apply to another department or does that make me look desperate/unconfident? We’re getting really close to April and I’m becoming increasingly more anxious about making a decision. After receiving my aid offer my GW which was my original first choice, I am absolutely ready to commit to UofM if they offer me admission. But if I don’t get in, I am not sure what I am going to do. I am really lucky to have other admissions offers, but none of them offer the same balance of what I want from a school and cost like UofM does.🥺
 
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She-Hulk said:
I think that schools look holistically at applicants to gauge whether they are going to admit them or not, MPH programs seem to be pretty lenient when it comes to looking at GPA and everything else. The pot that financial aid and merit scholarships and awards comes out of is the same pot really, though I think why they have a gpa cut-off for some of these awards is:

1. Some schools require you to maintain a minimum graduate gpa.
2. A lot can affect the gpa, but in general probably higher gpa reflects more interest with academic coursework and intellectual curiosity than not, so they are kind of using a big fishing net type approach.
3. They want to encourage people to do well in college.
4. Some concentrations might require more math skills and better critical thinking and reading skills so they want students who have demonstrated ability to handle this stuff.
5. They want to attract students who, like you said, are more academically accomplished and so perhaps more likely to do the school good later on and do good work for public health.

I get what OnePotatoTwoBobs is saying, that people can be accomplished more with the "life" extracurricular stuff than with the academic stuff and it sucks to not be on an even plane with everybody with regards to having some merit award. I'm thinking this is sort of along the lines of a "Lifetime Achievement" merit award for public health school, maybe one day they'll do something like that, makes sense, though it would be hard to tell the difference between students who have many similar experiences, though it would go a long way to have other awards, maybe slightly less than academic merit awards, but something that could be given to other students who faced certain difficulties.

Probably important extracurriculars for public health (which isn't just pure science) would be:

1. Volunteer/service oriented work, public health needs people that want to work with diverse groups of people.
2. Variety/difficulty of coursework.
3. Public health related work experience, makes sense they want people who are sure they are interested in public health.
4. Research experience, many of the areas of public health require people to be able to interpret research.
5. Diverse backgrounds.

HOWEVER if public health is your dream then definitely applying yourself in graduate school will pay off big time, work and study hard and network. Go to a good school with student support and work hard, but have a great time as well, a lot of students who go to LSHTM say it was the best two years of their life, definitely worth it to make the most of everything and meet people and learn public health. Graduate school is a fresh slate opportunity so take advantage of it, you wouldn't be admitted if the school didn't think you could do a great job! Get a good gpa in graduate school and focus on developing contacts and work on good extracurricular projects.
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While I don't entirely disagree with anything you're saying here (you clearly thought this out thoroughly!), I think you may have missed the full breadth of the point that OnePotatoTwoBobs made about people having more life experience that should be weighed for scholarships. The diversity of the applicant pool is huge, and it's in my (and I believe other on this thread's) belief that undergraduate performance shouldn't be weighed so heavily for those of us who aren't recently out of college or still in college because GPA simply does not predict current ability for most people other than 22 and 23 year olds. Some of us are many, many years out of undergrad and have contributed towards public health in ways greater than we would have accomplished even with 4.0 GPAs as seniors in college. For those of us approaching this as a professional degree after several years of career building, it's very unfortunate to have scholarship cutoffs based purely on undergrad GPA -- something that reflects on a person who may be the length of time it took for them do their undergrad away from when they actually graduated. (Wouldn't that be kind of like trying to get a job post college graduation based on your high school stats?) I'm not trying to be preachy or rude or tell anyone what to think at all, but the reality is that loads of us aren't in our early twenties, and we don't want to be looked at like we are because we've planned our graduate school applications to reflect on who we are now. Especially for graduate programs that require minimum 2 years work experience, why shouldn't those two years be weighed more? Anyway, best of luck everyone! I'm so thankful for the programs who are more holistic in their considerations so that we can all put our best selves forward :)
 
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jo2000 said:
Hi everyone! I am in need of some insight. I applied to Umich HMP and was rejected. I was left absolutely heartbroken. I decided to apply to a different department on 1/27(HBHE) and am still waiting to hear back and getting a bit worried. Is it worth it to apply to another department or does that make me look desperate/unconfident? We’re getting really close to April and I’m becoming increasingly more anxious about making a decision. After receiving my aid offer my GW which was my original first choice, I am absolutely ready to commit to UofM if they offer me admission. But if I don’t get in, I am not sure what I am going to do. I am really lucky to have other admissions offers, but none of them offer the same balance of what I want from a school and cost like UofM does.🥺
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Personally, what I would do is write Umich and tell them exactly what you said here. I don't think it would hurt to follow up about the application status and add an extra paragraph asking to see what the process would be to apply to a different concentration and that you would be ready to commit if they offered you admission. If 2020 has taught us anything, it is that you need to shoot your shot. I'd feel so much better going out knowing I had at least tried.
 
UCLA sent me a second rejection :rofl: in case I didn't realize I was rejected the first time, I guess!
 
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I really hope i get switched into HPM at columbia bc i’m ready to commit if they do
 
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jo2000 said:
Hi everyone! I am in need of some insight. I applied to Umich HMP and was rejected. I was left absolutely heartbroken. I decided to apply to a different department on 1/27(HBHE) and am still waiting to hear back and getting a bit worried. Is it worth it to apply to another department or does that make me look desperate/unconfident? We’re getting really close to April and I’m becoming increasingly more anxious about making a decision. After receiving my aid offer my GW which was my original first choice, I am absolutely ready to commit to UofM if they offer me admission. But if I don’t get in, I am not sure what I am going to do. I am really lucky to have other admissions offers, but none of them offer the same balance of what I want from a school and cost like UofM does.🥺
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Hi! I know the U very well from previous experience, so I don't think it would make you look desperate. I applied to 3 programs at UM (HMP, HBHE & Online) and was accepted to 2 of the 3 programs. If you are absolutely set on UM regardless of the concentration, I would say apply, but think of your end goal. Would the other department fit into what you want to do in your career? There is the possibility of switching once you matriculate (Very rare that you are able to though). You can always reach out the department and/or admissions if you want to talk through the possibility of applying to another concentration. Good luck!
 
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PriFromThePNW said:
While I don't entirely disagree with anything you're saying here (you clearly thought this out thoroughly!), I think you may have missed the full breadth of the point that OnePotatoTwoBobs made about people having more life experience that should be weighed for scholarships. The diversity of the applicant pool is huge, and it's in my (and I believe other on this thread's) belief that undergraduate performance shouldn't be weighed so heavily for those of us who aren't recently out of college or still in college because GPA simply does not predict current ability for most people other than 22 and 23 year olds. Some of us are many, many years out of undergrad and have contributed towards public health in ways greater than we would have accomplished even with 4.0 GPAs as seniors in college. For those of us approaching this as a professional degree after several years of career building, it's very unfortunate to have scholarship cutoffs based purely on undergrad GPA -- something that reflects on a person who may be the length of time it took for them do their undergrad away from when they actually graduated. (Wouldn't that be kind of like trying to get a job post college graduation based on your high school stats?) I'm not trying to be preachy or rude or tell anyone what to think at all, but the reality is that loads of us aren't in our early twenties, and we don't want to be looked at like we are because we've planned our graduate school applications to reflect on who we are now. Especially for graduate programs that require minimum 2 years work experience, why shouldn't those two years be weighed more? Anyway, best of luck everyone! I'm so thankful for the programs who are more holistic in their considerations so that we can all put our best selves forward :)
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Hear, Hear
 
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Is it a negative that the JHU MPH program is a general MPH? I wanted to go into Epi. I know you can obtain an Epi certificate as well from JHU for specialization but you do think this is enough compared to a "concentration" with more specialized course work? I am considering the program but that was the only thing that concerned me. Your opinion would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
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Mlm1986 said:
Is it a negative that the JHU MPH program is a general MPH? I wanted to go into Epi. I know you can obtain an Epi certificate as well from JHU for specialization but you do think this is enough compared to a "concentration" with more specialized course work? I am considering the program but that was the only thing that concerned me. Your opinion would be appreciated. Thanks!
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Are you doing the part time/online or the fulltime one year? For the full time program you can do a concentration. You can still do a concentration for part time as well but you would have to be willing to take the on site courses for it. You cannot pick a concentration if you plan to do it entirely online, from my understanding.
 
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Mlm1986 said:
Is it a negative that the JHU MPH program is a general MPH? I wanted to go into Epi. I know you can obtain an Epi certificate as well from JHU for specialization but you do think this is enough compared to a "concentration" with more specialized course work? I am considering the program but that was the only thing that concerned me. Your opinion would be appreciated. Thanks!
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From my understanding, you can do a formal concentration OR create your own specialized curriculum (IE a mix of Epi & Policy). You will have to look at the course requirements for the concentration and if you are ok with taking all of the courses, choose the concentration. If not, create your own specialty.
 
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ColdSore200 said:
At this hour on a Saturday? Damn wtffffff, don’t let it ruin your weekend!
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it won’t !! i know people say this after they get rejected but i honestly didn’t want to go there lol i’m tired of socal
 
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I hope I hear from HSPH this week, good or bad. I want to commit somewhere already
 
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Long time lurker finally posting to get some advice!

I was admitted to one of my top choices to JHU MPH program, but was rejected to my other top choice to Harvard SM program. Getting a rejection from Harvard felt more devastated than I had anticipated that I'm even considering re-applying next year (and work for 1 more year to save up some $). I'm thinking of applying to PhD afterwards too, and that is also one of the reasons I'm considering re-applying to Harvard, since starting from Masters there will give me a higher chance to get into their PhD program...On the other hand, I do think I can make the most out of my time at JHU as well...If anyone can give some advice to this lost soul, I would really appreciate it! :')
 
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heyimhere said:
Most people are still waiting on Brown, right?
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I'm still waiting! I think I remember someone mentioning that they attended an online session and the moderator said decisions would be coming around this time.
 
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KingofMaskedSinger said:
I'm still waiting! I think I remember someone mentioning that they attended an online session and the moderator said decisions would be coming around this time.
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still waiting too! :) by “around this time” do you mean on a Sunday (i saw some decisions came out last Sunday evening) or just generally this week?
 
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does anyone know what tulane's mph acceptance rate actually is?

i have a 2.8 gpa but its halfway thru the last semester of college and I have all As this semester so far (and I am pretty sure its gonna stay that way).. does anyone think i have a shot or is in the same boat?
 
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MPH0420 said:
Long time lurker finally posting to get some advice!

I was admitted to one of my top choices to JHU MPH program, but was rejected to my other top choice to Harvard SM-80 program. Getting a rejection from Harvard felt more devastated than I had anticipated that I'm even considering re-applying next year (and work for 1 more year to save up some $). I'm thinking of applying to PhD afterwards too, and that is also one of the reasons I'm considering re-applying to Harvard, since starting from Masters there will give me a higher chance to get into their PhD program...On the other hand, I do think I can make the most out of my time at JHU as well...If anyone can give some advice to this lost soul, I would really appreciate it! :')
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1) Having a Harvard SM doesn't guarantee a Harvard Ph.D., likewise, a Masters's from a different school will never prevent you from Harvard Ph.D. (especially from another good MPH program). The "increased chance" of a Harvard Ph.D. by going to a Harvard Masters program is very subjective, is there a measured % that substantially increases ur chances by you going to Harvard?

2) What if your interests change? If you go to a Harvard SM solely for the reason of obtaining a Ph.D. from Harvard, you may potentially be missing out on other paths you may unexpectedly take, people you'll meet, etc so I would personally give other programs chances - you never know what you're missing out on!

3) What if you re-apply next year and still don't get in? Would you regret deferring one year just to arrive at the same outcome? Your choice :)

4) Why exactly do you want Harvard? Does Harvard have something that other schools (like JHU) don't have? Try to listen to yourself and what you REALLY want. I totally get it, I'd LOVE to go to Harvard as well - it's Harvard after all! But why is that? Can you get the same thing at JHU?


Overall, my personal philosophy is to take the opportunities that are thrown at me - I strongly believe in not being too tough on myself in controlling the direction of my life, what's meant for me will come to me :)

Only you know what's right for you though if you feel in your heart that Harvard is for you, you should reapply if you think you will regret not "trying more" at this stage in your life. Otherwise, I think you will do amazing anywhere else. Good luck!!
 
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lil.beanieee said:
still waiting too! :) by “around this time” do you mean on a Sunday (i saw some decisions came out last Sunday evening) or just generally this week?
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I believe they said 4-6 weeks from the application deadline (2/1)? and that they were still starting to come out the beginning of march. I could be misremembering some information but i think that was the gist of it
 
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shawarmasharma said:
does anyone know what tulane's mph acceptance rate actually is?

i have a 2.8 gpa but its halfway thru the last semester of college and I have all As this semester so far (and I am pretty sure its gonna stay that way).. does anyone think i have a shot or is in the same boat?
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I was accepted with a 2.95 and had an upward trend my junior year.
 
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I turned down my Brown offer today and am crossing my fingers for someone to get in who was waitlisted! I'll be turning down GW soon as well and then doing a ton of thinking about whether I should go to UNC or Yale. I have been so thankful for this forum and all the suggestions and resources you all have provided. 2020 was a wild year and pretty lonely too, so I very much appreciated the sense of community this forum provided and loved getting to read about all of your amazing experiences! I know everyone is going to achieve incredible things and it's amazing to know I will be peers with some of the amazing people on this thread :')
 
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Anyone else waiting on USC MHA? I applied 12/10/2020.
 
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MPH0420 said:
Long time lurker finally posting to get some advice!

I was admitted to one of my top choices to JHU MPH program, but was rejected to my other top choice to Harvard SM-80 program. Getting a rejection from Harvard felt more devastated than I had anticipated that I'm even considering re-applying next year (and work for 1 more year to save up some $). I'm thinking of applying to PhD afterwards too, and that is also one of the reasons I'm considering re-applying to Harvard, since starting from Masters there will give me a higher chance to get into their PhD program...On the other hand, I do think I can make the most out of my time at JHU as well...If anyone can give some advice to this lost soul, I would really appreciate it! :')
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Harvard has a general reputation that boosts their public health school, but they're not the top public health school for most in the US, or the world for that matter, JHU is a really great school and I know people who went there over Harvard. For many people their own top school might be a local school with a great local reputation, or a school that offers personalized student experience like Brown and others. It probably helps to do the MPH different from where you do the PhD as you get to expand your network and exposure to different ideas.

You just don't hear much about Harvard in terms of it's public health school, with everything happening at Harvard it doesn't seem to stand out among a lot of other schools. If you have a clear research focus that you can only get at Harvard or some other special reason then that what would make sense, but I don't think it would be worth it on reputation alone unless you do global health then the Harvard name helps in countries where people don't have any idea about a lot of other schools, even so there are a lot of JHU grads doing excellent work abroad. In public health I don't think Harvard stands out more than a lot of other schools in the US, which might seem counterintuitive.

For a PhD, going to schools that are legit with research helps, and that includes places like Yale and JHU for sure.
 
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Hey! Haven't been on for a while...
Anybody still waiting for brown?
Updates on Columbia financial aid (merit)?
 
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jimin_ said:
I really hope i get switched into HPM at columbia bc i’m ready to commit if they do
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lowkey keep us posted cuz that means another spot will open up in popfam lols :))) but seriously, hope it works out for you
 
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rtr2020 said:
Hey! Haven't been on for a while...
Anybody still waiting for brown?
Updates on Columbia financial aid (merit)?
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Still waiting on Brown. Haven't heard anything from Columbia aside from the 4k that everyone gets.
 
epihopeful627 said:
Just read that Yale SPH does not give grades - they have an Honors, High Pass, Pass, and Fail system. No GPA. Does anyone know how this would be interpreted for jobs, etc. after grad school? I can imagine that it doesn’t make too much of a difference for PhD programs making their selections, but I wonder how you would report your performance in grad school on a resume for jobs...
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I wouldn't worry about it! Several well ranked law programs (Harvard, Yale, University of Toronto) use an H HP, P system and I've never seen it stop anyone - I think it can actually be quite helpful. I think in general the point of these grading systems is to signal that you're coming from a high quality institution and that all of the students are extremely capable - it takes out some of the noise and comparison!
 
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Accepted to Emory for HPM!! I can’t believe it I’m so happy 😭😭

(Note: I actually reached out to the program director herself and she replied notifying me of my acceptance directly. She says that the system should be updated this week!)
 
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Will harvard release its decisions today?
I hope so🥺🥺 I am tired of waiting😂
 
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CandidlyPip said:
Personally, what I would do is write Umich and tell them exactly what you said here. I don't think it would hurt to follow up about the application status and add an extra paragraph asking to see what the process would be to apply to a different concentration and that you would be ready to commit if they offered you admission. If 2020 has taught us anything, it is that you need to shoot your shot. I'd feel so much better going out knowing I had at least tried.
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Thank you so much for the advice! I think I'm gonna reach out as you said!!:)
 
10:30ish and the forum is so quiet in anticipation of an HSPH email....
 
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Will be declining Brown this week! I hope that frees up some scholarship money to others that will hear back soon!
 
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