jmillar

I originally looked into an MSPH degree thinking that would be a better fit as MSPH is in general more research focused. However, for the Hospital and Molecular Epidemiology track at UMich, the MPH ends up encompassing this. The track is very different from the rest of the EPID department and we have our own set of research and seminar classes just for our cohort. We take general lab classes and join a lab for our "thesis" project. There is help to find a lab that fits well for you, and doesn't need to be in the EPID department. My project is with someone in Microbiology & Immunology at the medical school, but collaborates with people in EPID. You also write a paper and a presentation, with lower stakes than a full on thesis defense. All the other EPID tracks do internships and posters. UM had been on my radar for a decade as I was impressed by their molecular epidemiology program, with researchers having large labs and resources. And many of the labs collaborate with other schools, such as the medical school. You are welcome to message me if you would like more specifics of the program, professors, or experience.

The program at University of Michigan has several professors in Molecular Epidemiology with extensive labs. It's even a concentration for their MPH. At UM SPH, students usually get their MPH first, and then do a 3 year PhD right after.

Right now is fine. Most of my conversations with PIs were in September and October. I did interview over Skype with one PI in early November, but the majority were in October. Only one of these was a direct admit to a particular lab, the rest required rotations.

Absolutely. I came from a combined math/stats department, and the difference in TA appointments was great. For incoming masters students, there would be around 10-15 appoints for math students, and 1-3 for statistics.

You would also likely have a decent chance at UMich for the Bioinformatics MS. Many people use that to transfer over into PhD when they've found a lab. The Bioinformatics program is flexible with allowing mentors from other departments if their work is related to computational biology. That's how I got a Mathematics professor for my advisor. Quite a few Biostats people collaborate with UMich Bioinformatics.

I had a similar approach. Most of my professors told me to work backwards by looking for faculty to work with based on their publications and then consider the programs they are in. All the departments I applied to were different, but the projects that were being worked on by the PIs were very similar. This is true to a point, but it depends if the program is class heavy. Several of the programs I applied to had very few required classes. But this is still an important consideration, especially how it might affect your advancement to candidacy. There was one program where I liked the PI, but I knew I wouldn't be happy in the classes or the advancement to candidacy.

I just looked up the program and it's a one year applied program in data science: http://www.stat.cmu.edu/academics/graduate/the-masters-in-statistical-practice-program

If they were interested in applied programs, I think they wouldn't have too much of a problem getting in. There still might be somewhere you can get in with C's in Calc for a more traditional program, it just might be harder to find. Would still be good to be more comfortable with Calc as even Michigan's Biostats MS program has a year of Casella and Berger, but it's considered 600 level instead of 500 level.

I think it varies by program. Mine was a bit more strict, but that was likely because our department was a combined Math/Stat department and tended to focus more of theory and less on application. Calc, Linear Algebra, and upper level Probability and Statistics are all pretty standard requirements. Usually this means it's not listed in USNews. That doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad program, though.

I would echo retaking Calc at the very least. To put this in greater context, I went to an unranked Statistics program (but more traditional with plenty of theory), and we were required to have at minimum B's in Calc I-III, Intro to Real Analysis, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, and upper level Probability and Statistics. If you were missing one or two, they would allow a conditional acceptance as long as you made up the classes within the first year. You will really want to be comfortable with Calc, or else you're going to struggle with first year Mathematical Statistics.

That is correct, unless something changed this year. I went on reserve status the first two years to use other university funding sources.

Does your university participate in cost sharing? Here is an example of what that can look like: https://rackham.umich.edu/funding/funding-types/cost-sharing-by-rackham/

They're talking about this: https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2018/nsf18573/nsf18573.htm It said 1,500 for this year, but perhaps they decided to honor the previous solicitation. Next year will likely have 1,500 awards.

You also cannot yet be enrolled in a new graduate program when applying after a two year gap. The only way this works is if you are applying to start a PhD program in Fall 2020.

Maybe it's only for newer awardees? I got it in 2016 as a MS student and have only been required to send yearly updates. This sounds maybe like something extra the department/university has requested? We turn ours in every May 1st. (Except for this year, it's been pushed back until May 15th. That likely means students will have until then to accept new awards as well.)