Jane Reacher

Thanks! I don't actually know much about CUNY's program. I did not end up visiting there. I was mainly just applying because they are in NY and I thought there was a good chance I would end up going to law school there. Also, I know a lot of grads end up working for the NYC Dept of Health so that was a plus.

Congrats on your acceptances JanayAlexis! I hope more good news has come in since you posted! And, you are right, perseverance and faith are key. I really didn't think I had a chance at the type of success I've had with MPH programs. Congrats on BU, academicbirb! Harvard is a total mystery. I still have not heard back from them. I applied to a lot of schools due to also applying to law schools and have gotten accepted to Hopkins, Columbia, Univ of Washington, Berkeley, UCLA, Tulane, UIC, CUNY, NYU, GWU, Michigan, BU, and Emory. I start visiting schools in 2 weeks.

Thanks for the positive words! I had been feeling more optimistic as I did a bit better on the GRE than I thought I would (159 Q) and this week, I got my first acceptance -- Tulane. I don't think most MPH programs do interviews. I read something about the UW liking applicants to seek out faculty for "discussions" but that's not the same as a formal interview. Sorry about your SOPHAS woes. I had like 10 transcripts and I was sure something like that would happen to me. I think it will be fine. I can't imagine a school holding it against you when it was totally out of your hands.

Hi academicbirb and stothmonster! Good to see this thread here. I also feel good to see that other students with nontraditional backgrounds are going for it. I've become quite pessimistic about my chances, but I guess all I need is one school willing to take a chance. My overall GPA is average (3.4), but that's only because of failing to withdraw in time a couple of semesters (once from community college) when I had a great deal of family responsibility and a major death in the family. My last 2 years GPA is almost 4.0 from a well-regarded public university. I'm a social science major but with some public health coursework (i.e. introductory epidemiology). I've done qualitative health research for an honors thesis, and I've been published (but not for a health related topic). I'm also much older than the typical college student and I've worked almost full-time throughout my academic career. On the other hand, I take the GRE tomorrow and my Quantitative diagnostics are mediocre (155 average). So what I see as the good: Last two years GPA ~4.0 Strong recommendation letters Strong personal statement with personal background marking me as atypical in a positive way Undergraduate research experience/Honors thesis GRE verbal score Good grades (mostly As, one A-) in public health and math/stats courses Dean's list for equivalent of 3 years (including last two) Research scholarship recipient Meh: Recent non-public health publication 2-3 years spent abroad (though not doing health work), which influenced my career goals Working for public health department (though admin work rather than research) History of untreated mental health issues, which I will mention but not over-emphasize in my statement Bad: GRE quantitative score GPA prior to last two years Too many course withdrawals over academic career Not enough math/science courses academicbirb: I don't have any sense about Harvard (they are also one my reach schools) as I don't know anyone who applied there. However, BU is also on my list and I do know someone who got in there who had much less experience than you do, no publications and a not nearly as strong GPA. His GREs were a bit higher than yours as he cracked 150 on the quantitative. He didn't get a great financial offer but my guess is that you will get into BU with a good financial package. stothmonster: I also worry about experience given that I've had to work to support myself so I haven't been able to look for other types of experiences and, honestly, when I first looking for a job at the university, I didn't wait around for a research job and took the first one I got. Looking at other sites, it seems somewhat unpredictable who gets in where. Obviously, perfect stats keep you in the running, but it also seems possible to overcome the less than perfect stats and less experience than other candidates. And, like I said, it just takes one school! Good luck to you both!