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

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buddyyyyyy said:
Has anyone heard back from U Washington for Health Services?
I’m also waiting on Harvard but obviously they haven’t sent anything out yet.
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Yes, accepted to the Community Oriented Public Health Practice program on the 11th.
 
I looked in the 2020 group (the posts and the spreadsheet) and it doesn’t sound like anyone got a scholarship to UNC. Does anyone know someone who got a UNC scholarship in previous years (I heard 2021 decisions not coming out until mid March), and if yes, how much and what dept?
 
aev20 said:
Accepted last night to Berkeley MPH epi/biostats!! (applied early November) Has anyone accepted to Berkeley heard anything about financial aid/scholarships? I received an email this morning saying if we are awarded any merit aid we would receive an email from our respective departments...
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Congrats to you!! I was accepted to Berkeley's MPH in Infectious Diseases & Vaccinology on 1/22. About a week later on 1/29, I got a generic email from the financial aid office also congratulating me and giving some info about tuition, COA, residency, scholarships/aid, etc. But it didn't say when they would notify about merit awards so I emailed them and they replied saying:

"Students who are selected for scholarships will be contacted directly via email by the end of this month or early March. Federal financial aid offers become available to eligible students in May via Cal Student Central after they submit their Statement of Intent to register. Financial aid packages will only be created for students who submit their FAFSA and will only include a combination of federal students loans."

So looks like we just gotta keep waiting for an email if we get one. Hope that helps!!
 
Kroy_Wen said:
I looked in the 2020 group (the posts and the spreadsheet) and it doesn’t sound like anyone got a scholarship to UNC. Does anyone know someone who got a UNC scholarship in previous years (I heard 2021 decisions not coming out until mid March), and if yes, how much and what dept?
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There are a few scholarships that are offered and there's not much information on it. I was emailed notifying me that I was nominated for a scholarship that's a Gilling's wide school scholarship (not department specific, but you need to be nominated by your department).

Won't find out for a few weeks.
 
Wa
aev20 said:
Accepted last night to Berkeley MPH epi/biostats!! (applied early November) Has anyone accepted to Berkeley heard anything about financial aid/scholarships? I received an email this morning saying if we are awarded any merit aid we would receive an email from our respective departments...
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Hey, was there any update on the portal along with the email?
 
justagirlwithwords said:
I interviewed 1/4 and heard back on the portal with my acceptance/scholarship 1/21! (I've seen faster turnaround for some people on here though)
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Hi! Do you mind if I pm you? I have my interview in a couple weeks and would love some details about it 🙂
 
OnePotatoTwoBobs said:
Did you just get the Yale email today or did you just make your decision today?
I'm so happy for you while being super jealous too 😢
Did Yale forget about me 😭
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If you're wondering when you'll hear back from Yale, I would email [email protected]! She's super nice and got back to me within a couple of hours that I should be hearing back this week or early next week!
 
ka786 said:
Was the scholarship essay for Harvard? I completed the supplemental financial aid app on myfinaid but I don't think I saw a scholarship essay anywhere?
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I think the essay she mentioned might be the Louis & Ida Tatelman Statement
"The Tatelman award requires that students submit a statement demonstrating how they have shown exceptional personal courage in surmounting physical, social or economic difficulties.
Please upload a statement by March 5th of no more than 2 pages if you would like to apply. Our office does not have any further information than stated above.
Only full-time students are eligible for this award. It is a small, extremely competitive award. There is one $10,000-15,000 award made per year to one student across ALL Harvard graduate schools. The statement, if selected for nomination, will be read by the Directors of all the Harvard Financial Aid Offices."

I just found out it was updated on 12/14 after I submitted my FA docs. There wasn't any email or notification that told me about this update.
Check your MYFINAID portal.
 
OnePotatoTwoBobs said:
I think the essay she mentioned might be the Louis & Ida Tatelman Statement
"The Tatelman award requires that students submit a statement demonstrating how they have shown exceptional personal courage in surmounting physical, social or economic difficulties.
Please upload a statement by March 5th of no more than 2 pages if you would like to apply. Our office does not have any further information than stated above.
Only full-time students are eligible for this award. It is a small, extremely competitive award. There is one $10,000-15,000 award made per year to one student across ALL Harvard graduate schools. The statement, if selected for nomination, will be read by the Directors of all the Harvard Financial Aid Offices."

I just found out it was updated on 12/14 after I submitted my FA docs. There wasn't any email or notification that told me about this update.
Check your MYFINAID portal.
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Thank you!
 
Out of curiosity, what did y’all put in your statement of purpose as the thing that made you want to pursue public health? Interested to hear people’s stories 🙂
 
does anyone know if umich sends scholarships along with acceptance letters? or do those come a few weeks later? (HMP specifically if that changes anything)
 
Anya230 said:
Has anyone else still not heard from UNC yet?
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i applied around 11/15 and just heard back on friday (2/19). i was accepted to my second choice concentration (which was indicated in sophas) so i think that's what took longer for me!
 
Anyone have advice on how to appeal for more financial aid? I'm grateful for what I've received so far, but still really can't afford tuition at its current price. Is it better to reach out to the financial aid department or epi departments at the schools I applied? Should I send my offer letters from other schools, or just give the number and see if they ask for proof?
 
noneedtoworry said:
i applied around 11/15 and just heard back on friday (2/19). i was accepted to my second choice concentration (which was indicated in sophas) so i think that's what took longer for me!
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I applied a little after you and I think my app was sent to my second choice 1-2 weeks ago so thats probably the same for me then!
 
serendipitious27 said:
For those of you accepted to UNC for your MPH, was your award listed on your admissions page or is it similar to Columbia where we have to wait three to four weeks to hear what our funding looks like?

also side note: how do you all have that banner with ur stats under it? is that a setting that sdn users can toggle?
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Hi! I was accepted to UNC on 1/13. I have read that funding notifications are usually sent in March. And I am not sure if this is what you mean, but you can put your stats in a signature in SDN! It’s a setting
 
westonsided said:
Out of curiosity, what did y’all put in your statement of purpose as the thing that made you want to pursue public health? Interested to hear people’s stories 🙂
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I love this question! I have wanted to work in healthcare in some capacity since I was 15! Then at 18, when I was diagnosed with cancer, I was even more sure I wanted to be in the field. I am in remission now and originally pursued the pre-med track in undergrad. But during the first semester of my junior year, I took a course about research methods in psychology and was beginning to pursue a medical anthropology minor. I realized I could combine how much I loved research with my interest in healthcare and that’s when I realized I wanted to work in public health research!
 
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westonsided said:
Out of curiosity, what did y’all put in your statement of purpose as the thing that made you want to pursue public health? Interested to hear people’s stories 🙂
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Suffering from an eating disorder, which made me realised how much progress we need to do as a society to help reduce mental health problems and help those who suffer from them. I completely recovered but I know that so many people out there are dealing with a variety of mental health issues that we don't really talk about or do much for. I want to live in a world where mental illness is de-stigmatised and where people can ask for and receive the support they need, and I want to help with creating that!
 
westonsided said:
Out of curiosity, what did y’all put in your statement of purpose as the thing that made you want to pursue public health? Interested to hear people’s stories 🙂
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Mainly, being premed and just seeing how common health disparities are. I was premed until I started to work more with marginalized groups and saw how our perceptions of communities impacted our motivations to help them, perpetuating health disparities. I wanted to work more directly with these communities and figure out how to prevent their health issues, especially since many can't access adequate healthcare.
 
westonsided said:
Out of curiosity, what did y’all put in your statement of purpose as the thing that made you want to pursue public health? Interested to hear people’s stories 🙂
Click to expand...
being the child of immigrants from a very poor area of a third world country (and visiting frequently) and also the child of someone suffering from schizophrenia-- seeing health disparities dictated by region/race/ethnicity/mental health status was a big reason I wanted to be pre-med, and I still am pre-med, but I also want to learn how I can help improve and institute policies to help people who can't advocate for themselves!
 
westonsided said:
Out of curiosity, what did y’all put in your statement of purpose as the thing that made you want to pursue public health? Interested to hear people’s stories 🙂
Click to expand...
Grew up in a hometown filled with some of the worst public health crises. Never saw public health interventions but when I got to college, professors kept talking about interventions and research. Realized large gap between doing science and applying science.
 
westonsided said:
Out of curiosity, what did y’all put in your statement of purpose as the thing that made you want to pursue public health? Interested to hear people’s stories 🙂
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I’m loving all of your stories, thank you for sharing! As for me, I wrote about my personal experience with homelessness, helping to start an LGBTQ homeless shelter, and the health disparities I saw while working at the shelter.
 
westonsided said:
Out of curiosity, what did y’all put in your statement of purpose as the thing that made you want to pursue public health? Interested to hear people’s stories 🙂
Click to expand...
My parents saw many of their close friends die of the AIDS crises and I grew up around survivors and going to World AIDS Day events my entire life. Seeing that it was still an epidemic to this day and that it was tied to a bigger issue of how communities talk about sexual and reproductive health pushed me.
 
I had a juicy conversation with a group of very financially aware people about school choices.
I'll skip the common ''schools don't matter, skills matter'' part:
- A health science department director from one of the top schools many of us might go to: depends on where you want to end up being, school names do matter (a lot). Having gone to any of the UC schools, Yale, or above does make a difference on certain job market.
- If you are just aiming for a regular but decent-paying job, consider your in-state school instead. All the data skill classes can be helpful. No need for big loans. Most HRs for jobs paying $50k to $70k don't really care where you went.
- There are supposedly ''free MPH programs'' if you look. (I think they mentioned UAB Birmingham?)
- People who have gone to top schools (that I talked to) don't tend to regret their decisions even when they took out big loans. They were happy and passionate about what they do now, despite that they need to make financial sacrifices.
- High cost of living areas are not as scary as they sound like. Most people get TA/RA jobs and can find affordable housing. People who make $30k can study at Columbia and live in NYC, too.
- Defer, invest, house-flipping, make repayments as quickly as possible, are some ways to lessen the burdens. As long as your investment profit margin is more than the interest rate you're good. Big loans are not all that scary if you budget and plan well. They can be horrible if you don't work on your finance.
- Check not just the school's influence areas but also your advisers' networks. Personal connections weigh more than the general reputation of the school.
- some other stuff I can't remember atm. 😂
Hope this could be helpful and more tips from you all please!!! We need to hold each other up to make the field of public health pay what MPHs are worth.
 
westonsided said:
Out of curiosity, what did y’all put in your statement of purpose as the thing that made you want to pursue public health? Interested to hear people’s stories 🙂
Click to expand...

I actually put that: when growing up and throughout undergrad I didn't want to do anything related to humans because I felt we were doing more for ourselves than for anything else. (I had a full blown environmentalists mindset back then). I then talked about how a Health and Environment class broadened my way of thinking on how the harms we cause to the environment, comes back around to harm us.
 
westonsided said:
Out of curiosity, what did y’all put in your statement of purpose as the thing that made you want to pursue public health? Interested to hear people’s stories 🙂
Click to expand...
After spending 2 years visiting early childhood education settings conducting research, I measured how policies, systems, and environments affect nutritional outcomes in early childhood, and the impact that has on them later on in life. I want to have a role that directly improves the nutritional status of our population with more equitable policies, systems, and environments that are rooted in anti-racism.
 
OnePotatoTwoBobs said:
I had a juicy conversation with a group of very financially aware people about school choices.
I'll skip the common ''schools don't matter, skills matter'' part:
- A health science department director from one of the top schools many of us might go to: depends on where you want to end up being, school names do matter (a lot). Having gone to any of the UC schools, Yale, or above does make a difference on certain job market.
- If you are just aiming for a regular but decent-paying job, consider your in-state school instead. All the data skill classes can be helpful. No need for big loans. Most HRs for jobs paying $50k to $70k don't really care where you went.
- There are supposedly ''free MPH programs'' if you look. (I think they mentioned UAB Birmingham?)
- People who have gone to top schools (that I talked to) don't tend to regret their decisions even when they took out big loans. They were happy and passionate about what they do now, despite that they need to make financial sacrifices.
- High cost of living areas are not as scary as they sound like. Most people get TA/RA jobs and can find affordable housing. People who make $30k can study at Columbia and live in NYC, too.
- Defer, invest, house-flipping, make repayments as quickly as possible, are some ways to lessen the burdens. As long as your investment profit margin is more than the interest rate you're good. Big loans are not all that scary if you budget and plan well. They can be horrible if you don't work on your finance.
- Check not just the school's influence areas but also your advisers' networks. Personal connections weigh more than the general reputation of the school.
- some other stuff I can't remember atm. 😂
Hope this could be helpful and more tips from you all please!!! We need to hold each other up to make the field of public health pay what MPHs are worth.
Click to expand...
I have questions on investing if anyone wants to pm me because i’m confused on what direction to take
 
westonsided said:
Out of curiosity, what did y’all put in your statement of purpose as the thing that made you want to pursue public health? Interested to hear people’s stories 🙂
Click to expand...
I talked about starting a food bank in my city as food insecurity worsened due to the pandemic; it was a rewarding experience. Still, I felt inadequate and helpless about merely handing out food every week for people to get by without solving the core of the problem. I talked about some systematic changes that I'm hoping to see and programs I'm hoping to start in the future to make an impact (no longer at the individual level) but at the population level.
 
westonsided said:
Out of curiosity, what did y’all put in your statement of purpose as the thing that made you want to pursue public health? Interested to hear people’s stories 🙂
Click to expand...
Hearing everyone's stories on here makes me feel so honored to get to know you all here, excited to be peers in the classroom, and hopeful regarding our collective future.

As for me, I'm from poor, rural parts of the US and a descendant of Spanish immigrants. A lot of my family died quite young, as did a friend of mine during undergrad, so I wrote about how I came to realize that their deaths were connected to their identities and reflective of how the social determinants of health play out on a larger scale. From there I just talked about how I want to give back and fight alongside marginalized communities to truly create an equitable world. Specifically, I mentioned wanting to work with LGBTQ+ and Latinx populations as a member of those groups myself and do work at the grassroots level all the way up to non-profits/federal policy with an ending teaching at a community college!
 
I'm trying to fill out a CSS profile for GW, and it keeps asking me for my parent's info- am I doing something wrong? I'm not a dependent, and see no way to only provide my info
 
westonsided said:
Out of curiosity, what did y’all put in your statement of purpose as the thing that made you want to pursue public health? Interested to hear people’s stories 🙂
Click to expand...
A lot of things, really. Writing my SOP was so hard because I didn't even know where to start. I am a descendant of immigrants from a country that is basically a public health nightmare (healthcare inaccessible, food insecurity, constant natural disasters/humanitarian crises, stigmas against mental health, road accidents, lack of clean water, lack of proper family planning/sex education, literally EVERY public health problem you can think of). I also grew up low income so it was very hard for me and my family to afford healthcare here in the US, or just healthy food and a lot of other basic necessities. I discussed a lot about health disparities and how I felt like public health was just a very significant theme throughout my life. Also, losing a family member to COVID-19 and the racial and economic injustices that the pandemic brought to light. It was kinda painful to write but I'm glad I have the chance to make a difference now.
 
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westonsided said:
Out of curiosity, what did y’all put in your statement of purpose as the thing that made you want to pursue public health? Interested to hear people’s stories 🙂
Click to expand...
It was an interesting process for sure! Being a first generation immigrant from a third world country exposed me to the atrocities of the healthcare system (both back home and in the US). I was always very passionate about healthcare, so I pursued a science degree in undergrad with the hopes of pursuing dentistry and dental school post graduation. I was actually all set to apply to dental school (completed letters of rec, DAT etc) but I lost the passion for the field (and I hadn't even started my journey! Big yikes!!). I spent 4 summers either interning or working for a healthcare organization and/or hospital. I was exposed the the field of hospital administration and was assigned as a project manager, coordinator and analyst for projects that improved access to healthcare. I was more excited for executive board meetings rather than shadowing time in the dental clinic (at one point, I couldn't even step foot at the clinic..). That's how I knew! Healthcare administration/management fell on my lap at the most perfect time and I am finally excited to pursue a degree I align with!
 
has anyone NOT heard back from schools (michigan, emory, jhu, gwu) regarding financial aid? ive been admitted to these schools and havent heard about aid or scholarships yet (besides michigan loans). starting to panic a bit!

the only school that i've received aid from is bu (35% off tuition) and am also wondering if bu has department scholarships on top of this?

note: i applied a few days before the priority deadline for all my schools.
 
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calmhysteria said:
has anyone NOT heard back from schools (michigan, emory, jhu, gwu) regarding financial aid? ive been admitted to these schools and havent heard about aid or scholarships yet (besides michigan loans). starting to panic a bit!

the only school that i've received aid from is bu (35% off tuition) and am also wondering if bu has department scholarships on top of this?
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I still haven't heard back from Emory regarding financial aid :/
 
calmhysteria said:
has anyone NOT heard back from schools (michigan, emory, jhu, gwu) regarding financial aid? ive been admitted to these schools and havent heard about aid or scholarships yet (besides michigan loans). starting to panic a bit!

the only school that i've received aid from is bu (35% off tuition) and am also wondering if bu has department scholarships on top of this?
Click to expand...
Emory has given out scholarships (scholarships for grad school from what I've been seeing is mostly based on merit) already, however I think they may still be sending out offers for REAL through early or mid March! I think I read that they consider you based on when you submitted FAFSA.
 
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