Hi! I'm a foreign medical graduate working as a RN (premed is BSN) here in the US. What are my chances of being accepted into a MPH program? Do I need to take the GRE? Could you please enlighten me on how I should go about the application process? Thanks
What are my chances of being accepted into a MPH program?
- Thread starter altap
- Start date
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2009
- Messages
- 1,700
- Reaction score
- 114
You didn't give specifics so it's hard to say.
Admissions across the board tend to require at least a 3.0 GPA in undergrad, 50% percentile on all GRE sections, and an expressed interest in public health. Obviously, these minimums won't guarantee acceptance at the more selective schools (or even most schools). These guidelines apply to all graduate schools, not just public health.
Admissions across the board tend to require at least a 3.0 GPA in undergrad, 50% percentile on all GRE sections, and an expressed interest in public health. Obviously, these minimums won't guarantee acceptance at the more selective schools (or even most schools). These guidelines apply to all graduate schools, not just public health.
I have a 3.5 undergrad GPA. I was a rural physician in my home country for a number of years before coming here in the US and working as a RN. I'm very interested in public health. After the MPH (possibly a doctorate degree in public health too), I'm planning to apply for a residency in Family Medicine and be a rural physician here in the US. Thanks.
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2009
- Messages
- 496
- Reaction score
- 8
You will find that many foreign medical graduates go through the public health education system here in the states while they take their boards and get certified to practice stateside. That said you will need some type of standardized entrance exam - such as GRE or MCAT - prior to acceptance and matriculation.
Well John hopkins and Berkeley have a gre waiver if you have an advanced degree like an M.D (M.B.B.S in case of a foreign graduate). Texas A&M used to have it till last year as two of my friends went there but from this year a gre or mcat is required. University of Medicine & Dentistry will give you a waiver if you are ECFMG certified. Besides these every single one is going to ask for an mcat if a gre waiver is requested and as a foreign medical graduate you did not have to take that. So gre is pretty much the only option.
I am also a foreign medical graduate and got admitted into JH this year but have deffered my admission to the next year. Also applied to Berkeley but got rejected. Medical residency is altogether a different aspect and other things are much more important like board scores, USCE and specifically in your case the time since your graduation which i interpret from your poSt to be quite long. As far as i know many programs have a 5 yr cut off. IMHO if you are just pursuing MPH for the sake of a medical residency, i do not see how it is going to be of any help.
I am also a foreign medical graduate and got admitted into JH this year but have deffered my admission to the next year. Also applied to Berkeley but got rejected. Medical residency is altogether a different aspect and other things are much more important like board scores, USCE and specifically in your case the time since your graduation which i interpret from your poSt to be quite long. As far as i know many programs have a 5 yr cut off. IMHO if you are just pursuing MPH for the sake of a medical residency, i do not see how it is going to be of any help.
Hi All,
I am new to this forum. I am aspiring to get into MPH this fall (2009). But i donot have a clue how to apply or even dont know if i can still make it this year. Can anyone please explain the application process. I am a foreign trained Dentist with 1 year experience in my home country and 1 month exp in US as DA. I have 3.08 GPA, GRE 1080, TOEFL 104. Do you think i can get accepted into any school in fall 2009 with this stats. Any help in this regard will be greatly appreciated.
Thank in advance!
I am new to this forum. I am aspiring to get into MPH this fall (2009). But i donot have a clue how to apply or even dont know if i can still make it this year. Can anyone please explain the application process. I am a foreign trained Dentist with 1 year experience in my home country and 1 month exp in US as DA. I have 3.08 GPA, GRE 1080, TOEFL 104. Do you think i can get accepted into any school in fall 2009 with this stats. Any help in this regard will be greatly appreciated.
Thank in advance!
your GRE is at a level that may hold you back from many different programs
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2009
- Messages
- 1,700
- Reaction score
- 114
You're referring to University of California Berkeley. Not Berkeley University.
They don't require MPH applicants to submit a GRE score if you never studied in a country where English is the primary language. I don't know anything about TOEFL scores to tell you what a good score is. Students planning to apply to the MS or PhD for Biostatistics or PhD Health Policy must submit the GRE, regardless of language/TOEFL per the requirements page http://sph.berkeley.edu/students/admissions/standard.php. I'm not too sure if this is common among other schools, however.
UCB is a very competitive school, especially for non-Californians. If you have a "decent" TOEFL score, I'm going to assume the other parts of your application will need to be stellar to gain acceptance to UCB.
You want to start the MPH this fall? If that's the case, you're very late in the game, and I'm not even sure who's still accepting applications, if anyone. Most schools already have their incoming classes set up.
My advice would be to spend the summer researching programs and their respective eligibility/application requirements. I don't get from your posts that you have a solid idea of what you want to do. If you find that programs that interest you require the GRE, you should retake it. Apply this fall for admission in fall 2010 (or spring 2010, depending on the program).
Many schools (but not all) use www.sophas.org to take applications. Look at that website for more info. Bear in mind, though, that even schools that use SOPHAS will have their own requirements over and above the SOPHAS app, so research what those may be.
Last edited:
UC- Berkeley waives the GRE for foreign students who have advance degrees like M.B.B.S (foreign equivalent of a M.D). I applied there. Did not take the GRE. Had 110 in toefl. Did volunteer public health community work and had community medicine as a course during medical college. Participated in the local W.H.O health campaigns. Had 2 submitted research papers. Etc. And i was denied admission for this fall. I applied for Epi as a concentration. In UC-Berkeley, one actually has to identify the concentration/department the student is applying to. Maybe i did not have much Epi experience. This is the only reason i can think of.
John Hopkins also has a similar waiver for GRE. I got accepted there. At John Hopkins you do not have to choose the concentration at the time of admission but at the end of the first term.
I only applied to these two universities. Maybe your degree also qualifies for the waiver. The best way is to email the admissions office. Texas A&M had a waiver till last year. My friend told me that now they require the Gre or Mcat. University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey waives it for foreign medical Graduates if they are ECFMG certified.
And you are late for this fall. For international students the admission deadline is much earlier. It is Dec 1 for JH and UC- Berkeley. March 1 for Texas A&M.
