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

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Hey! Did anyone who applied to Columbia popfam hear back last week? I'm getting super stressed about hearing back this week (submitted on sophas on Dec 1 deadline although my application says some materials weren't received until later?) I'm not confident about my application and debating emailing the department.. but no idea what to say. Grateful for any/all advice! Here's stats BTW

Undergraduate School/School type: Small private school in NY
Undergrad GPA/Major GPA/SOPHAS GPA: 3.1/3.6/3.2
Major/minor: Double in International Political Economy/Communications
Grad GPA (if applicable): N/A
Grad studies (if applicable): N/A
GRE(including date taken): N/A

Experience/research:
- Americorps volunteer working at an education program for low-income youth from immigrant and refugee families
- On executive board as an editor for my schools undergraduate research journal
- a lot of internship experience at various (environmental) non-profits throughout NYC
- a ton of volunteering with people of all ages, backgrounds/experiences, some of it international


Letters of Rec:
- Americorps supervisor
- Non-profit internship supervisor
- undergrad ethics professor

Interests:
- Should note that for most schools I applied to dual Social Work/Public Health programs - have a stronger application/experiences for SW than PH
- Most likely staying in the non-profit realm, definitely see myself tying in these two degrees if I'm admitted to both


Applied: UCLA, USC, Columbia, NYU, Brown, Drexel
Accepted:
Rejected:
Waitlisted:
Attending:
 
Emailed Columbia's financial aid office asking about the timeline for financial aid/scholarship award decisions. I'm an international student so I don't qualify for need-based aid, and they said merit scholarship consideration is only for those with GPA of 3.75 or above. Guess I'm not going to Columbia 🙃
 
oatmilkluvr said:
Emailed Columbia's financial aid office asking about the timeline for financial aid/scholarship award decisions. I'm an international student so I don't qualify for need-based aid, and they said merit scholarship consideration is only for those with GPA of 3.75 or above. Guess I'm not going to Columbia 🙃
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what
 
orangejuice14 said:
Hey! Did anyone who applied to Columbia popfam hear back last week? I'm getting super stressed about hearing back this week (submitted on sophas on Dec 1 deadline although my application says some materials weren't received until later?) I'm not confident about my application and debating emailing the department.. but no idea what to say. Grateful for any/all advice! Here's stats BTW

Undergraduate School/School type: Small private school in NY
Undergrad GPA/Major GPA/SOPHAS GPA: 3.1/3.6/3.2
Major/minor: Double in International Political Economy/Communications
Grad GPA (if applicable): N/A
Grad studies (if applicable): N/A
GRE(including date taken): N/A

Experience/research:
- Americorps volunteer working at an education program for low-income youth from immigrant and refugee families
- On executive board as an editor for my schools undergraduate research journal
- a lot of internship experience at various (environmental) non-profits throughout NYC
- a ton of volunteering with people of all ages, backgrounds/experiences, some of it international


Letters of Rec:
- Americorps supervisor
- Non-profit internship supervisor
- undergrad ethics professor

Interests:
- Should note that for most schools I applied to dual Social Work/Public Health programs - have a stronger application/experiences for SW than PH
- Most likely staying in the non-profit realm, definitely see myself tying in these two degrees if I'm admitted to both


Applied: UCLA, USC, Columbia, NYU, Brown, Drexel
Accepted:
Rejected:
Waitlisted:
Attending:
Click to expand...
I heard back from columbia popfam on the 20th! Your stats and experience look great - fingers crossed for you!
 
oatmilkluvr said:
Emailed Columbia's financial aid office asking about the timeline for financial aid/scholarship award decisions. I'm an international student so I don't qualify for need-based aid, and they said merit scholarship consideration is only for those with GPA of 3.75 or above. Guess I'm not going to Columbia 🙃
Click to expand...
Did they give a timeline at all? In general, I've heard they have the GPA cutoff you mentioned and a GRE cutoff of 80% (though that may be moot this year), but I have also seen some people get scholarships who are below these thresholds. So don't lose hope entirely!
 
aev20 said:
Did they give a timeline at all? In general, I've heard they have the GPA cutoff you mentioned and a GRE cutoff of 80% (though that may be moot this year), but I have also seen some people get scholarships who are below these thresholds. So don't lose hope entirely!
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From what I was reading on their website, they aren’t taking GRE into account this year for merit scholarships, even if you submit them. They’re using the rest of your transcripts and application to determine merit aid
 
Did anyone else apply to UNC's MSPH in HPM? I think interviews were just completed
 
When's the usual time to expect the admission letters?
Seems most of you all are waiting to hear back soon, but my understanding was they give out the decisions around March... 🙄
 
naomirutherfold said:
When's the usual time to expect the admission letters?
Seems most of you all are waiting to hear back soon, but my understanding was they give out the decisions around March... 🙄
Click to expand...
I heard back from 3 of the 5 schools I applied to already, starting Dec 1
 
naomirutherfold said:
When's the usual time to expect the admission letters?
Seems most of you all are waiting to hear back soon, but my understanding was they give out the decisions around March... 🙄
Click to expand...
It varies for each school but most do some kind of modified rolling admissions. So if you submit your application earlier you hear back a bit earlier (most schools say 4-6 weeks from when you application goes under review). I think every school send out all decisions related to applications received by the deadline in March to give some time to make a decision and submit a deposit by the deadline (April 15th for most)
 
Do schools still send physical acceptance letters? Haha I understand that physical mail is being cut down these days, but for something important (like admissions) I still relish a paper copy.
 
doctorinwanting said:
Do schools still send physical acceptance letters? Haha I understand that physical mail is being cut down these days, but for something important (like admissions) I still relish a paper copy.
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Michigan emailed me to verify my address on the portal because they planned on sending a welcome package, so a letter may be included in that!
 
thompson0803 said:
Any insight on Columbia decisions? Is it going to be a once a week pattern like Yale or just sporadic? This wait is really making me nervous 🙃
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I emailed admissions last week and they said decisions would be sent out on a rolling basis in the coming weeks. Obviously not a very detailed answer, but I would assume that means decisions will be sporadic.
 
orangejuice14 said:
Hey! Did anyone who applied to Columbia popfam hear back last week? I'm getting super stressed about hearing back this week (submitted on sophas on Dec 1 deadline although my application says some materials weren't received until later?) I'm not confident about my application and debating emailing the department.. but no idea what to say. Grateful for any/all advice! Here's stats BTW

Undergraduate School/School type: Small private school in NY
Undergrad GPA/Major GPA/SOPHAS GPA: 3.1/3.6/3.2
Major/minor: Double in International Political Economy/Communications
Grad GPA (if applicable): N/A
Grad studies (if applicable): N/A
GRE(including date taken): N/A

Experience/research:
- Americorps volunteer working at an education program for low-income youth from immigrant and refugee families
- On executive board as an editor for my schools undergraduate research journal
- a lot of internship experience at various (environmental) non-profits throughout NYC
- a ton of volunteering with people of all ages, backgrounds/experiences, some of it international


Letters of Rec:
- Americorps supervisor
- Non-profit internship supervisor
- undergrad ethics professor

Interests:
- Should note that for most schools I applied to dual Social Work/Public Health programs - have a stronger application/experiences for SW than PH
- Most likely staying in the non-profit realm, definitely see myself tying in these two degrees if I'm admitted to both


Applied: UCLA, USC, Columbia, NYU, Brown, Drexel
Accepted:
Rejected:
Waitlisted:
Attending:
Click to expand...
I submitted my application on 12/1, some materials took awhile so it wasn’t submitted for review until 12/15. Heard back on Wednesday that I was accepted to the SMS program. Here are my stats:
Undergraduate degree: University of Washington, Public Health BA
GPA: 3.5
Experience: working in a ptsd research lab for the last year and a half at the university’s trauma hospital after I graduated in 2019, patient facing role. Had some prior data entry research and health admin/volunteer roles during school (cumulative 2 years of experience). Capstone project worked with foster care youths.
Letters of Rec: current boss (PI on study and professor of psychiatry at UW), academic advisor, and capstone professor
Interests: social justice, health inequity, community intervention development, population health, dream role is to work as a Publix health advisor. I also definitely named dropped specific Columbia professors and research centers/projects and specific public health companies in New York to show them im serious lol, I think it helped! Did that with all my essays

Applied: Columbia 12/1, Boston U 12/18, University of Washington 11/30, Emory 12/18
Accepted: Columbia
Rejected:
Waitlisted:

honestly surprised I got in! im sure they’re just doing batches of applications, Columbia is rolling admissions so hopefully you’ll hear soon! i think you have a good chance!
 
Does financial packet comes after the acceptance letter?
I've been accepted to JHU online/part-time on 1/14, had no information about $$$$
 
has anyone gotten a decision from Vanderbilt yet? I got an email a couple weeks ago saying they would notify by Feb 1st...still nothing yet!
 
mphwannabe123 said:
has anyone gotten a decision from Vanderbilt yet? I got an email a couple weeks ago saying they would notify by Feb 1st...still nothing yet!
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for those who applied by December 15th? i haven’t received any emails from them lol, not even an “app complete” email😭
 
lil.beanieee said:
for those who applied by December 15th? i haven’t received any emails from them lol, not even an “app complete” email😭
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I sent in my app Dec. 1st and the email saying I would be hearing from them by Feb. 1st was the first communication I had gotten since I sent in the application
 
natalieminaa said:
I submitted my application on 12/1, some materials took awhile so it wasn’t submitted for review until 12/15. Heard back on Wednesday that I was accepted to the SMS program. Here are my stats:
Undergraduate degree: University of Washington, Public Health BA
GPA: 3.5
Experience: working in a ptsd research lab for the last year and a half at the university’s trauma hospital after I graduated in 2019, patient facing role. Had some prior data entry research and health admin/volunteer roles during school (cumulative 2 years of experience). Capstone project worked with foster care youths.
Letters of Rec: current boss (PI on study and professor of psychiatry at UW), academic advisor, and capstone professor
Interests: social justice, health inequity, community intervention development, population health, dream role is to work as a Publix health advisor. I also definitely named dropped specific Columbia professors and research centers/projects and specific public health companies in New York to show them im serious lol, I think it helped! Did that with all my essays

Applied: Columbia 12/1, Boston U 12/18, University of Washington 11/30, Emory 12/18
Accepted: Columbia
Rejected:
Waitlisted:

honestly surprised I got in! im sure they’re just doing batches of applications, Columbia is rolling admissions so hopefully you’ll hear soon! i think you have a good chance!
Click to expand...
No way, your stats are awesome, makes total sense you got in- congrats!!! I'm hoping it differs by department as I've only heard of/seen a few popfam acceptances.. but we'll see! Our interests definitely overlap. I also did some name dropping, so I hope that does end up being helpful. Thanks for the feedback!!
 
exkt2754 said:
Hi everyone!! Love seeing all of these acceptance posts and hopefully this will bring us all some good luck in the coming weeks. I’ve been constantly checking my email like a crazy person! My apps weren’t officially in until late last week because of one last letter of rec (I was SOPHAS verified by the end of December though!) wish I got everything in a little earlier because the waiting is agony!


Undergraduate School/School type: Moderately sized East coast (mid Atlantic region) public university - has a good health sciences program
Undergrad GPA/Major GPA: 3.92 (SOPHAS)
Undergrad Major/minor: Health Behavior Science with Minors in Public Health and Business Administration
Grad GPA (if applicable):
Grad studies (if applicable):
GRE(including date taken): didn’t take! Thank goodness because I truthfully wasn’t confident in my abilities in this area especially with all of the COVID stress this year

Experience/research:
- 2.5 years as clinical research coordinator at university/hospital (primarily liver disease), had an opportunity to work on COVID research from spring-summer 2020 as well which was a plus! (Right out of undergrad - current). Authorship on a few papers/poster presentations over this time period
- internship at state dept of public health in infectious disease division (senior year undergrad)
-undergrad research assistant on nutrition initiative project (school lunch program for elementary/day care facilities) for professor of one of my research stats classes (senior year of undergrad)
- volunteer program through my major: traveled to teach nutrition curriculum to middle/elementary school students throughout the state (senior year of undergrad)
- internship at large nonprofit (summer after junior year of undergrad)
- volunteer position at clinic in my hometown focused on providing care for people in community with lack of access to insurance, opportunity to somewhat brush up on my Spanish skills (summer after soph year of undergrad)
- member of alpha phi omega service fraternity from soph-senior year

Letters of Rec:
- professor of 2 of my undergrad Public Heath courses and supervisor for my undergrad research (one of the directors of the Public Health minor at my school)
- supervisor of my internship at the state dept of Public health in the infectious disease division
- PI/supervisor for my current research job(director of the division so I’m hoping this will be a strong one!)

Interests: epidemiology/biostats (I’d be interested in focusing on chronic disease and maybe eventually cancer Epi, as I truly enjoy the work I do now with chronic liver disease. But my COVID work and my past internship with infectious disease has sparked my interest in that realm as well), global health/health disparities

Applied: Columbia (epi MPH-1/12), Tufts (epi/biostats MPH-1/12), BU (MPH in chronic/non communicable disease but want to add on the epi concentration/certificate as well-1/14), Penn (MPH generalist- 1/15)

Accepted: Pitt- Epi MPH with $1k scholarship/semester (app sent for review 1/5-accepted 1/13. Only required 2 LoR), Icahn (Epi MPH-app sent for review 1/15, accepted 1/19), Drexel (Epi-MPH with $15k deans scholarship- app sent for review 1/13, accepted 1/21), Temple (Epi MPH- app sent for review 1/13, accepted 1/22)
Rejected:
Waitlisted:
Attending:

I’m super excited to have a few acceptances at this point, a little bit of weight off my shoulders. I know Columbia is sort of a long shot especially because their priority deadline was in December, but that would be really cool to get in. A lot of friends live in NYC and I’m very interested in their program, but I know how competitive it can be (and not sure how this year affects app volumes) I have family in Boston and the public health scene up there interests me, but I’ve heard conflicting things about BU (if it comes down to tufts and BU I’m not sure what I’d do). My permanent address and current job is in PA so one of the Philly schools would be the most convenient and probably cheaper, but we will have to see what happens! Anyway, any input would be great- I think my letters of rec and GPA are strong but honestly looking at this forum has stressed me out a little, y’all are so accomplished! Good luck everyone!
Click to expand...
I’m starting to FREAK OUT about Columbia, it seems like a lot of people are already accepted to Epi. Do I have a good chance with my stats? Ahhhhhh
 
natalieminaa said:
I submitted my application on 12/1, some materials took awhile so it wasn’t submitted for review until 12/15. Heard back on Wednesday that I was accepted to the SMS program. Here are my stats:
Undergraduate degree: University of Washington, Public Health BA
GPA: 3.5
Experience: working in a ptsd research lab for the last year and a half at the university’s trauma hospital after I graduated in 2019, patient facing role. Had some prior data entry research and health admin/volunteer roles during school (cumulative 2 years of experience). Capstone project worked with foster care youths.
Letters of Rec: current boss (PI on study and professor of psychiatry at UW), academic advisor, and capstone professor
Interests: social justice, health inequity, community intervention development, population health, dream role is to work as a Publix health advisor. I also definitely named dropped specific Columbia professors and research centers/projects and specific public health companies in New York to show them im serious lol, I think it helped! Did that with all my essays

Applied: Columbia 12/1, Boston U 12/18, University of Washington 11/30, Emory 12/18
Accepted: Columbia
Rejected:
Waitlisted:

honestly surprised I got in! im sure they’re just doing batches of applications, Columbia is rolling admissions so hopefully you’ll hear soon! i think you have a good chance!
Click to expand...
Does anyone have any insight on how Columbia sends acceptances? I also applied to SMS with very similar stats to these but was verified on October 28th. It seems like a lot of people who applied way after me have been accepted but not many people who were verified earlier have been. Congrats to all who have been accepted though!

Undergrad major/GPA: neuroscience, 3.5 (currently a senior in undergrad)
Experience: 4 years in a cancer neuroimmunology research lab, 1/2 year interning for maternal/child health dept in my state department of health, 1 year clinical employment experience (worked with younger individuals on the autism spectrum), co-founded an educational equity tutoring organization, leadership role in a suicide prevention cohort at my university, volunteered 300+ hours at various nonprofits/hospitals (addiction agency, homeless shelter, city children's hospital, crisis text line, plus more), traveled internationally on a social work trip for 21 days
Letters of rec: PI in lab, social work professor I traveled internationally with, and director of suicide prevention at my university (who I believe all wrote me great LOR's as I was very close to all of them)
I also wrote about specific work and professors I'd like to engage with in NYC/at Columbia. I am very passionate about healthcare disparities and I believed my personal statement was powerful and really emphasized my passion for public health!

Applied: Columbia, Yale, Emory, NYU (all verified by end of October)
Accepted: Yale (and received 60k Hortsmann scholarship), NYU
Rejected:
Waitlisted:

Any advice/insight would be helpful! Thank you!
 
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titoincali said:
Did you get an email or a letter? Just curious.
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I got the same offer in an email a little over a week after my acceptance. I think they give out all scholarship information within 10 days of offering an acceptance. For my acceptance, I got an email and a letter.
 
jo2000 said:
Has anyone heard from Boston yet?! 🙂
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Nope! I don’t understand what is happening this year with BU. They seem very disorganized and did not eve
KaramazovB said:
They sent an annoying email saying my application is finally "complete for review" like wth for reals? Lolllll SMH
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I submitted my application really early and finished my supplemental application before Nov 4th. My application is still not being reviewed lol 😒 Not sure what's happening!
 
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I'm not sure if anyone else applied to any dual degrees at NYU but I figured I would mention that they told me they wait to send dual degree decisions until both programs have decided. I'm not sure about the other dual degrees, but for the MPA/MPH I had to submit separate applications so I assumed I would be getting separate decisions. Alas, I was mistaken!
 
Do y'all know what amount the average MPH student will take out in loans? What is the maximum amount you all are willing to take out in loans, worst case scenario? I'm trying to figure out what is manageable/feasible given the pay for MPH grads if I don't get any more scholarships/financial aid.
 
mdtrisha said:
Nope! I don’t understand what is happening this year with BU. They seem very disorganized and did not eve

I submitted my application really early and finished my supplemental application before Nov 4th. My application is still being review lol 😒 Not sure what's happening!
Click to expand...
Same! I had everything submitted in October and just got the confirmation a few days ago..
 
I emailed BU about my low gpa and they said the average comp GPA is 3.3 but on their website the average incoming Masters gpa is a 3.06. So I dont know who the believe lol.
 
Spartacous1 said:
I emailed BU about my low gpa and they said the average comp GPA is 3.3 but on their website the average incoming Masters gpa is a 3.06. So I dont know who the believe lol.
Click to expand...

When the mph admissions office emailed you about the average gpa being 3.3, it is specific for mph programs.

The reported gpa on the website being 3.06 might be all inclusive of all masters' degrees at the school, not just mph.

That is my 2 cents.
 
jimin_ said:
wait do we get another email after the first "you app is complete email" ?
Click to expand...
No I reached out to them first about my application and they responded. The associate director told me that they couldn't ready one of my LORs so I had to email the professor to send it to them directly. I'm a special case lol.
 
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