My Dilemma

[SnudgeMuffin]

I am currently a junior at Cornell. I expect to get 3.4 Science GPA maybe high 3.3 (with tons and tons of advanced bio courses taken) if I decide to apply right after my junior year like everybody else. I am also very much interested in MPH degree, so I can try to go for MPH before med school. My dilemma is: Should I wait to apply after I graduate with 3.5 GPA/Magna Cum Laude(Hopefully...) and more extracurricular activities or should I apply right after my junior year if I were to have any chance at all at Yale or Columbia. Also, I know couple of you guys do have a MPH degree, can you tell me how competitive it is to get in? Thank you guys in advance for any input.

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[EpiII]

I do not believe it is that competitive to get into an MPH program. I went to UCLA and specialized in Epidemiology. I applied two months after the graduate application deadline and I was accepted. I did have good letters of rec, grades and GRE scores, but still, it is not that difficult. It might be more difficult at some other schools (Johns Hopkins, U of Michigan, etc.)

Some other advice (that you did not ask for), I would not necessarily get an MPH just to make yourself look better for med schools. It does help at some schools, but at others, it gives the impression that you are jumping through hoops. Also, schools of public health do not like to be used as Post Bac schools either.

I got my MPH in 1997 and have worked with it since then. Now I have decided to move on and go back to school. I personally think that an MPH is a great degree and helps you to think about health in new and different ways, but it gains in value when applied, not just used as a spring board into med school. (I am not saying that is what you are planning )

Hope that helps a little.

 

[eagle26]

Hey Epi!

Another epidemiologist..cool. I got my M.S. in Epidemiology from U of Arizona in 99. Glad to see someone else who knows the different between prevalence and incidence