mpheels

Everything zabius said. I'd also ask if you advisor is willing to proof read your personal statement when the time comes. My boss proofread mine, and it helped a lot. Reading it also helped her when she wrote my letters of recommendation.

Hopkins is #1 in public health, but the others you mentioned are consistently top ranked as well. UNC is currently #2, and Michigan is #4. The name recognition/prestige difference within the field is negligible. Once you graduate, having real work experience will be a greated advantage than the name on your diploma, especially considering the professional network you will build through research

Short term, I want to be on faculty somewhere so I can pursue research and teaching activities. Long term, I want to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services. You should have seen the look on my undergrad career counselor's face when that came out of my 19 year old mouth

I'm planning to go without a car. I'm looking at apartments near the JHU shuttle, and will use that for day-to-day travel to/from school. I did the math, and even if I get a ZipCar for half a day every weekend, it's still cheaper than parking, insurance, gas and maintenance. My car is currently on its last leg anyway, I'd rather sell it for scrap and put that money in savings. If I find I really do need a car, I'll find a cheap used one.

Yes, you should be able to get loans to cover living expenses. The federal government will loan you up to the cost of attendance, minus any other aid. Cost of attendance is defined as tuition/fees required by the institution as well as the cost of living while in school. Your school should have some documentation for cost of attendance, including rent, travel, and misc living expenses. If you Google your school + "cost of attendance" and you'll probably find it. There are annual and lifetime limits for Stafford loans. If you exceed either limit, you can try for a PLUS loan, which has a higher interest rate and is dependent on you credit history. You can also borrow from a private lender, but I wouldn't recommend it. Private lenders are likely going to have a higher interest rate, and are not as helpful when it comes to repayment. With federal loans, there are a lot of options for income-based repayment or forbearance, and several loan repayment/forgiveness programs. The biggest disadvantage for federal loans is that you cannot discharge the loans through bankruptcy.

I have an MPH in Health Behavior and Health Education (the department is now just Health Behavior). I think Public Health Practice, Community Health, Health Behavior, and Health Ed are all pretty similar, and a good generalist MPH option. I've been working as a research manager/associate in a medical school for 6 years now, and my MPH definitely has helped. It wasn't required for the job, but definitely opened the door a little wider. I actually use a lot of concrete skills from the program on a regular basis. Most of the other health affairs research managers at my institution also have generalist MPH's. I know several physicians who have MPH's, and I think they are better providers for it. They are more apt to use evidence based medicine, and take a more holistic approach towards overall health.

It is almost unheard of for students at UNC to drive to campus on a day-to-day basis. Staff members can barely get parking, much less students. There is limited parking for students living on campus, and a few precious spaces for off-campus and graduate students with demonstrated need. The vast majority of graduate students at UNC take the bus to/from campus. They either live in town on a bus line (routes are designed to serve apartment complexes), or use park and ride lots on the edge of town (free right now, but fees for park and ride start this fall). Some students choose to live close enough to walk, but sacrifice space and amenities for that convenience. Some bike, but bikes seem to be better for getting around campus rather than to/from campus.

I attended UNC for both undergrad (not SPH), then an MPH from the School of Public Health. I've been on staff at the UNC school of medicine since I graduated, and have been taking courses at the SPH as a continuing ed students at least once a year since I graduated. What do you want to know? Chapel Hill and neighboring Carrboro are a great places to live. They have a small town feel most of the time, but with almost all of the amenities you would ever want in a larger city. If it isn't available in town, it's easy to get in Durham (or Raleigh). The transit system is the best in the state and one of the best in the South. Buses are fare free, and the routes are well designed to get people from where they live to where they need to be. The cost of living is higher than average for the region, but quality of life is higher as well. The School of Public Health itself is a great facility, with one building that opened within the last 10 year and the other buildings somewhat newly renovated. There is a lot of collaboration between faculty at SPH and in other health affairs programs at UNC (medicine, nursing, dentistry), so you can find experts from other programs to flesh out your committee if needed. I completed my MPH before the Gillings made their donation, and before the school became a "global school." I have mixed feelings about the new(ish) global focus, but that is because I'm a North Carolina native and feel strongly that the school's primary mission is serve the people of NC, and I feel the global health focus has weakened that mission to some extent. On the other hand, if you are looking for more international health exposure (or at least not NC-centric), then it's great.

Have you had a statistics class? How did you do? I think statistics ability would have far more bearing that pre-calc or calculus. I also think a strong GRE could make up for less than stellar undergraduate math. Epi is a quantitative science, but the math you do by hand is pretty basic. Any advanced math goes through a statistic program.

Mamma D, I would email. They aren't going to change their decision because you emailed to ask. They will either say yes, no, or still considering. And you will at least get an answer. When I emailed UNC HPM I went with a generic "I have heard from all other programs and need to make a decision" statement. I heard back within minutes.

I received all of my decisions by email. My official UNC rejection was through an email directing me to their applicaiton website (received about a week after I emailed to ask, and recieved an immediate reply from a human). Both JHSPH and South Carolina sent acceptances via email. The program directors for both schools emailed me directly to let me know I was accepted. I received an applyyourself notification from JHSPH the next day. Both programs sent hard copies in the mail, which I received a few days after the email notice. Oddly, I received a hard copy of my JHSPH waitlist notice the day after receiving the acceptance letter. From my experience and the notice board, I think acceptances tend to come through as either phone calls or personal emails followed by "official" emails/hard copies.

I'm not a cyclist but... I would not recommend commuting by bike between Carrboro and Duke. It's about 15 miles, and the routes are either 4-6 lane/congested or narrow/winding with very impatient motorists (says the regular pedestrian). If you're planning to live in Carrboro and commute to Duke without driving, I'd recommend a combo of biking and bus (Triangle Transit Authority). If you're a Duke affiliate, you should be able to get a free TTA bus pass, and I believe the buses all have bike racks.

As far as I can tell, it will hit current fellows. Federal agencies are required to apply the budget cut equally across all of their accounts and obligations, so they can't impose heavy cost saving measures in one area to spare another. We just received year two of funding for an NCI grant, and it was cut by 10% (plus they are only distributing 6 months of funds at a time). I assume the same is going to happen with training grants and fellowships - they can cut the budget for future awards by funding fewer people, but they also have to cut funding to awards that have already been granted. Edited to add - So far, the NCI really doesn't care how we handle the reduced budget on our end. We can load the budget cut in one area to spare others, or we can spread it out. I assume universities can do the same for graduate funding - reduce everyone by a small amount, or maintain funding for current students by reducing funding for incoming students.

I'm in the same boat - offered admission with funding under the AHRQ training grant pending renewal of the grant. They've been pretty upfront that the grant scored very well, has been funded for 25 years already, and they are optomistic that it will be funded again. But all of that assumes AHRQ continues to exist. So the sequestration may be pretty good for AHRQ, and the longer the "real" budget takes, the better. When I spoke with faculty last week, they told me (completely off the record) that they expected the department would at least offer tuition support at the same level as the training grant, even if they can't still offer the stipend.

This morning I received an email from the director of the PhD program informing me that I've been accepted! Yesterday I received an email to confirm the campus tour at Hopkins this Friday. I requested the tour months ago, but never heard anything. Fortunately, I was already planning to be in the area visiting family, and can just hop on the train for a day trip. I emailed the admissions coordinator and asked if I could meet with faculty as well, even though I was still on the waitlist (not for long...). She was very helpful and set up a half day of meetings. Then I got the acceptance emial this morning. They congratulated me on my perfect timing in requesting the tour. There is an admitted students day in March, but it's the day before I'm scheduled to run in an 8K (I've been training for months, not missing it!), so I don't think I can make the official visit day. Instead I'm going to have my own private/makeshift visit day. I'll get to meet my future advisor and at least one current student. So excited! I will not be fully funded, but close to it - 75% tuition, a stipend (independent of working), and I can work 15-20 hours/week.

I don't understand the lag time either, but yes, it's good to know. I already knew given the acceptances posted last week, so I've already had my little breakdown last weekend Now I'm having fun looking a apartments!

I assume they are checking the application website. That's how I initially found out about my JHSPH waitlist status. I randomly checked the applyyourself page, and the notificaiton was there.

So I finally broke down and emailed UNC to ask about my application. That tiny sliver of hope was driving me nuts, and I really just needed to move on and make plans to visit South Carolina (and hopefully Hopkins) in the next 4-6 weeks. The admissions coordinator replied within 5 minutes and I now officially know that I did not get in to UNC.

$700 for a one bedroom is doable in CH/Carrboro. I can recommend Ashbrook and Rock Creek from personal experience. I can also recommend Poplar Place, The Bridges, The Villages, and Laurel Ridge based on friends experiences. You might have to negotiate rent, or ask if they have any specials coming up. As far as I know, all of the apartment complexes allow pets, though you will have to pay a one-time pet fee around $200 (not refundable), plus $10-$15/month for "pet rent." Pets are generally limited to 2 per apartment, and they can't weight more than 100 pound combined. There are also usually breed restrictions based on insurance requirements. The property managers I have worked with over the years have all been pet friendly, including checking in on my cat when I had to go out of town for a family emergency.

I would not recommend Royal Park or any other complex owned/operated by GSC. They are the bottom of the barrell for apartment management in the area. Royal Park is also not especially walkable, and a large stretch of the walking route is about to be closed for construction (which will ultimately make it more walkable, but for the next 18-24 months, no). We don't really have apartment locators/brokers here. It just isn't part of the culture. Do you have a sense of budget? If you can share how much you're will to spend on an apartment and the number of rooms you need, I can recommend some complexes. The CH bus system is laid out to serve apartment complexes, and it's free/clean/safe. So even if an apartment isn't walkable, it will be an easy transit ride. You should not have trouble finding Kosher groceries for day-to-day use anywhere in the Triangle area. There is a significant concentration of Orthodox (Lubavitch) Jews in North Raleigh (mostly in the North Ridge neighborhood that is walking distance to the Synagogue), and a Kroger grocery store in the same area that caters to that community. A lot of people from the Triangle visit that store for specialty/specific items, especially as Passover. You will not have as many options for restaurants, depending on how observant you are (i.e. we have vegetarian restaurants, it that is enough, but they are not certified Kosher).

Yeah, it really depends on the school if they tie admissions to funding. I know UNC does not tie the two. They admit you and might offer a scholarship or fellowship. Students are more or less on their own when it comes to finding a research assistantship (which by definition covers tuition at UNC). On the other hand. JHSPH made it pretty clear that they only admit as many people as they can fund. We just received the second year of funding for an R01, and it was cut by 10% (on top of the 17% cut at the time of the funding decision). We also only received the first 6 months of funds because the NIH can't be sure they'll have the money for the second half of the year. That grant does pay tuiton/fees, health insurance, and a stipend for a graduate student. If we don't get the second 6 months of funding, her assistantship won't exist anymore. So I'm pretty sure the sequestration is behind some of the delays in admission decisions, and also may lead some schools to admit fewer students this year. Sigh.

I had an aha moment this morning while watching the news... We're all mostly relying on federal research and/or training grants to pay for our tuition and stipends. Most of that funding is currently on the chopping block with the sequestration. Next Friday is the deadline for sorting out the federal budget. I have a feeling some programs are trying to delay some decisions until they have a better sense of funding (which is pretty much what JHSPH told me about my spot on the waitlist). I really don't know why my brain is just now processing that. We've been on edge about grant funding in my research group for months, and have been worried about the sequestration.

I only applied to three schools - UNC, JHSPH, and South Carolina. I did not make any contact with South Carolina before applying, and have been accepted. I spoke with the JHSPH health services research program director at APHA last fall, but nothing formal and I doubt she remembers me. I've been waitlisted at JHSPH (mostly due to funding, I think). I work for UNC, have worked with several health policy faculty members, and have taken health policy classes here. I asked an HPM professor to write a letter for me (she politely declined b/c she didn't rate me in the top 10% in the class, even though I ultimately received the UNC graduate equivalent of an A+). I did not speak with anyone else about my application. I haven't heard anything official from UNC, but I'm pretty sure I did not get in.

It's a university wide grant, and I get the impression they are using it to encourage higer scoring students to enroll so they can increase their statistics. The overall impression I got during the interview was that they recognize the program in still developing, and they are making an huge effort to attract more competitive students by offering a more personal/structured program.

Just received an acceptance letter (via email) from South Carolina. I wasn't really worried about them, but it's still a huge relief to have the actual letter. I still don't have specifics on funding, but the professor I interviewed with basically offered an assistanceship on one of her projects, which would give me in-state designation, 75% or tuition/fees paid, and $6000/semester stipend. She also mentioned a one time $8000 award that I could qualify for. There is a different $8000 grant awarded based on GRE percentile, and I'll miss that by one percentile on my math GRE.