What are my chances?

[listephen]

Hi all, I'm new to this forum and I am interested in epidemiology, global health and health policy. This is my first time applying to MPH programs and I wonder if you can give me a honest assessment of my application.

Education: UC San Diego 08, BS Biochemistry, BA Economics, minor Psychology
CGPA: 3.1 with upward grade trend especially in upper division and graduate level courses
GRE 12/28/09: Verbal 470 54%, Quantitative 750 83%, Analytical Writing 4 41%

Recommendations:
Biology professor with whom I took 3 classes and developed a friendship
Economics professor with whom I took 4 classes from micro to macro upper division series as well as some electives
Visiting Economics professor with whom I took advanced econometrics and economic policy

Extracurricular activities:
Research assistant to bioinformatics professor and our collaborative work was published in the journal of membrane biology, 1.5 years
Research assistant to endocrinology professor and studied the therapeutic effect of traditional chinese medicine in vitro, awarded grand prize in championship, 2 years
Lab technician and sales representative for local biotech company preparing customized competent cells, oligos and sales and delivery to research labs, 3 months

Volunteer at homeless shelter, found the patient assistance program to help the homeless receive free medications from manufacturers, 1.5 years
Volunteer at VA hospital to provide palliative care to the elderly, 2 years
Volunteer at a hospital in Hong Kong to help develop programs for private nursing homes in conjunction with the department of social welfare, 1 year

Essay: I am confident with my writing skills and I am very happy with my personal statement

Application submitted on 01/15/10, waiting for SOPHAS to process

Applied to:
Boston University - Epidemiology
University of Michigan - Health Policy and Management
UC Davis - Epidemiology

Planning to apply to:
University of Minnesota - Epidemiology
George Washington University - Global Health
University of Pittsburgh - Epidemiology
Dartmouth (?) - Not very confident
UPenn (?) - Extremely NOT confident

Suggestions of schools that will at least consider my application?

To be honest, I am not confident at all because over the past 2 years since my graduation, I've been preparing for pharmacy and I have not seriously researched the MPH field until recently. Now I realize perhaps MPH might be a perfect fit for me. In addition to a borderline CGPA, a mediocre GRE, I think my recommendation is another weakness of my application because not only they were written in 2007, they were geared more towards pharmacy rather than MPH, although I specifically reminded my recommender to make it a general letter.

If I don't make it this year because of recommendation letter, I want to get more exposure to public health. Where can I find entry level employment to get my foot in the door? Will the MPH program that I graduated from matter in the long run when I am looking for epidemiologist/administration positions or fellowships? I am planning to apply to some non-branded programs as a backup, but I wonder if I should start working in public health first and try to get in to a reputable school.

I appreciate your time and comments.

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[MPHNut]

I would definitely consider getting a more current person to write you a rec, especially if you think the ones from 3 years ago are geared towards a different program. Your program choices seem a little scattered, and its possible you need a little more soul searching to hone it down to what you really want to concentrate on, but maybe there's an underlying theme to them i'm not getting. I can't say much about your chances - I'm in the same boat and eagerly awaiting replies as well! Are you applying for matriculation in 2010 or 2011? It's a little late in the game for fall 2010, but some schools do have rolling admissions! You just have to keep in mind the time it takes to get transcripts and GRE scores sent to these schools. Watch those deadlines!

I'm also not sure what you mean by "non-branded" programs.

 

[wiiturtledove]

I'm also not sure what you mean by "non-branded" programs.

He meant no name schools. ~

 

[takins33613]

I think you have a good chance with non-big name schools and rolling admissions schools. I don't think your GRE score is mediocre. Since your GPA is on an upward trend, I think you will be fine (as long as your junior and senior year GPA's are on point i.e > 3.5).

 

[xscpx]

Is there a reason you applied to such totally different programs? Epi, global health, and hpm are not even related! Totally different disciplines that lead to totally different careers. You personal statement must be a mess of ideas. I suggest you not worry about your application, take some time to get some experience in these fields, figure out what you actually want to do, then reapply.

 

[socialepi]

Is there a reason you applied to such totally different programs? Epi, global health, and hpm are not even related! Totally different disciplines that lead to totally different careers. You personal statement must be a mess of ideas. I suggest you not worry about your application, take some time to get some experience in these fields, figure out what you actually want to do, then reapply.

Whoa xscps - a little harsh no? Epi and global health are very much related - it's just too bad that listephen didn't apply to any of the programs that combined the study of these topics (e.g. Hopkins' International Health Global Disease Epidemiology and Control program, Emory's Global Epidemiology program, Michigan's Epi program which has an International Health focus). The only thing that seems a bit out of place is the policy interest unless that is you are interested in looking at global health policy/global health from a structural/economic perspective. A degree in HPM is one way to go about it but those programs tend to be very US focused. A better strategy might be to make epi or global health your home base and focus on policy within that program.

As for your chances, I would say that your verbal GRE score is a little on the low side. Also, it is unfortunate that your rec letters weren't focused more on your interest in public health. If you give this another go, I would suggest drafting a letter for your recommenders that explains how your previous pre-pharmacy training is related to public health and how you have come to realize that public health is where you want to work. Same thing goes for how your econ training will help you in public health. They don't have to use the letter, but at least this gives them something to build on. Also, you’ll probably cover the same thing in your personal statement, but it is good to make sure that this message is consistent. You want to show that you have thought carefully about what area that you want to work in and that while going the pre-pharmacy route may have been a mistake, it also means that you will be bringing something different to the table compared to other students.

A year more of public health related work certainly will help your chances. You could also consider taking a grad level epi or intro public health course to show that you can perform at the graduate level and to show that you are serious about public health. As for name brand versus not, in my opinion, if you're going to shell out upwards of $80k for a masters degree, it's worth taking the extra year to make yourself a competitive applicant for one of the top schools, especially if you are not going on to a PhD. This is not to say that non-top-tier schools aren’t good, just that having a “branded” degree will make the job hunt so much easier down the line and that to me is worth the extra year/few extra thousand dollars.

 

[xscpx]

It was not supposed to sound harsh at all. I was just being honest. Being an epidemiologist and being a global health practitioner are completely different jobs. Yes, some of the courses may overlap, but the perspective is different. The HPM is totally out of left field. I meant that honestly, the best bet for anyone is to figure out what they really want first and then do the appropriate schooling. I wasted quite a bit of time bouncing around degrees. If someone had told me to stop and think and maybe get some experience in my fields of interest, I would have moved through school much more smoothly.


This is from experience by the way. I was an Epi major and switched to Global Health (infectious disease). I can attest to how different they are, not to mention the job aspect.

ETA: A combined program is a great idea if you truly want to master both. It sounds as if the OP really has no idea what they want yet and are just picking what sounds interesting rather than what may be appropriate for their career goals.

 

[socialepi]

It was not supposed to sound harsh at all. I was just being honest. Being an epidemiologist and being a global health practitioner are completely different jobs. Yes, some of the courses may overlap, but the perspective is different. The HPM is totally out of left field. I meant that honestly, the best bet for anyone is to figure out what they really want first and then do the appropriate schooling. I wasted quite a bit of time bouncing around degrees. If someone had told me to stop and think and maybe get some experience in my fields of interest, I would have moved through school much more smoothly.


This is from experience by the way. I was an Epi major and switched to Global Health (infectious disease). I can attest to how different they are, not to mention the job aspect.

ETA: A combined program is a great idea if you truly want to master both. It sounds as if the OP really has no idea what they want yet and are just picking what sounds interesting rather than what may be appropriate for their career goals.

xscpx, you raise some really good points. Having a clear sense of what you want to do and then going out and seeking the appropriate degree is important (rather than using the drgee process to refine your goals).

As someone who is interested in global health and epi (more specifically, practicing epi in a global health context), what would you say are the differences career-wise between the two areas? Does it boil down to whether your primary interest is research (epi) versus practice (GH)?

 

[xscpx]

socialepi:
Going the purely global health route will not give you the tools necessary to work as an epidemiologist unless you do a combined program. My degree (global health - global communicable disease) for example, focuses on infectious disease surveillance, control, prevention, treatment, vaccine development, etc. It does not, in an way, train me as an epidemiologist. My school offers a program that combines my degree with the epi. You need epi methods 1,2,3, categorical data analysis, SAS. SPSS, biostats II, etc to work as an epidemiologist. I would highly suggest you look into a dual epi/global health practice degree if that is where your interests lie. Epi will give you the tools and GH will give you the perspective.