Need advice

[environmentalhopeful]

Hi! So I am hoping to eventually go to grad school and get an mph in environmental health. I'm currently finishing up my sophomore year of college and as of right now have a 2.975 gpa which should be slightly above 3.0 by the end of this school year. I am done with the hard science classes and now only have electives/classes for my other major which I've done really well in historically and although it obviously isn't 100% certain I'm very confident I can get at least a 3.7 gpa the remaining semesters of school. This would mean if I am here for four more semesters I can get my gpa up to about a 3.4-5 and if I was here for three about a 3.2-3.

I was looking at study abroad programs and wanted to do a SIT one with a focus on global health. My school does not have any opportunities to take classes related to public health. So far I have somewhat minimal experience in public health (I've shadowed public health vets, microbiologists, and serologists) but I'm hoping to get an internship at the county health department this summer and also do an internship the summer after. In addition I volunteer at a wildlife hospital and I am going to start at a free (human lol) clinic next year.

I am just wondering what the best course of action would be. The study abroad program would give me academic experience as well as a small research experience in public health but would not count towards my gpa (my school would give me credits but not count it in my gpa and sophas would not either). I am not sure if having that experience abroad would be more helpful for my application or if having four more semesters at school and therefore having a .15-.2 higher gpa would help me out more.

Also, if I don't go on the program should I try and take at least one public health related class before applying (I'd probably take it over a summer or after I graduate at Berkeley since it is close to home)? Or do schools not care that much if you have academic experience with public health classes (in which case studying abroad would be pointless for me right)?

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[VV2RB]

Hi! So I am hoping to eventually go to grad school and get an mph in environmental health. I'm currently finishing up my sophomore year of college and as of right now have a 2.975 gpa which should be slightly above 3.0 by the end of this school year. I am done with the hard science classes and now only have electives/classes for my other major which I've done really well in historically and although it obviously isn't 100% certain I'm very confident I can get at least a 3.7 gpa the remaining semesters of school. This would mean if I am here for four more semesters I can get my gpa up to about a 3.4-5 and if I was here for three about a 3.2-3.

I was looking at study abroad programs and wanted to do a SIT one with a focus on global health. My school does not have any opportunities to take classes related to public health. So far I have somewhat minimal experience in public health (I've shadowed public health vets, microbiologists, and serologists) but I'm hoping to get an internship at the county health department this summer and also do an internship the summer after. In addition I volunteer at a wildlife hospital and I am going to start at a free (human lol) clinic next year.

I am just wondering what the best course of action would be. The study abroad program would give me academic experience as well as a small research experience in public health but would not count towards my gpa (my school would give me credits but not count it in my gpa and sophas would not either). I am not sure if having that experience abroad would be more helpful for my application or if having four more semesters at school and therefore having a .15-.2 higher gpa would help me out more.

Also, if I don't go on the program should I try and take at least one public health related class before applying (I'd probably take it over a summer or after I graduate at Berkeley since it is close to home)? Or do schools not care that much if you have academic experience with public health classes (in which case studying abroad would be pointless for me right)?

I've applied to mainly behavioral sciences and policy concentrations, so your area of interest might have different requirements than mine. I will say this, and not to brag, but my GPA was on the high side and my GRE scores were higher than almost everyone who has posted here, BUT there were many applicants who got into many other and better schools than I did. I applied straight out of undergrad, so I think the thing that hurt me most was my relative lack of real-world experience in the public health field. A general trend to note as you move from high school to undergrad to grad and finally to the real world is that numbers and statistics matter less and less and achievements and accomplishments matter more and more. Please feel free to ask me any more questions you may have and I will try to answer them as best I can.

 

[Pdesai8]

Hi! So I am hoping to eventually go to grad school and get an mph in environmental health. I'm currently finishing up my sophomore year of college and as of right now have a 2.975 gpa which should be slightly above 3.0 by the end of this school year. I am done with the hard science classes and now only have electives/classes for my other major which I've done really well in historically and although it obviously isn't 100% certain I'm very confident I can get at least a 3.7 gpa the remaining semesters of school. This would mean if I am here for four more semesters I can get my gpa up to about a 3.4-5 and if I was here for three about a 3.2-3.

I was looking at study abroad programs and wanted to do a SIT one with a focus on global health. My school does not have any opportunities to take classes related to public health. So far I have somewhat minimal experience in public health (I've shadowed public health vets, microbiologists, and serologists) but I'm hoping to get an internship at the county health department this summer and also do an internship the summer after. In addition I volunteer at a wildlife hospital and I am going to start at a free (human lol) clinic next year.

I am just wondering what the best course of action would be. The study abroad program would give me academic experience as well as a small research experience in public health but would not count towards my gpa (my school would give me credits but not count it in my gpa and sophas would not either). I am not sure if having that experience abroad would be more helpful for my application or if having four more semesters at school and therefore having a .15-.2 higher gpa would help me out more.

Also, if I don't go on the program should I try and take at least one public health related class before applying (I'd probably take it over a summer or after I graduate at Berkeley since it is close to home)? Or do schools not care that much if you have academic experience with public health classes (in which case studying abroad would be pointless for me right)?

I highly recommend working a few years after undergrad. Not only will you be able to get into better schools, but it's going to be super helpful when you graduate with an MPH in getting a job - you'll be way more competitive with a few years job experience under your belt. Not to mention, you'd have saved up some money and won't be in as much debt. Of course, if you want to get your Phd, then maybe going right after undergrad is a good option, not really sure.

I worked 5 years after undergrad, got into many top schools (with some sweet scholarships), and won't have to take out any loans. My GPA was just average (3.25) but I have had awesome work experience. I have been told that most in my program (Berkeley MPH) are late-twenties to early-thirties, so I'll be in the perfect age range. I didn't take any health care courses in my undergrad, don't think programs really care about that. They value work experience much more.