jren76

I found the core foundational courses in my MPH program to be very similar to an undergrad course, except maybe an added group project or presentation. I found the concentration courses more discussion-oriented and more project-oriented than exams. Despite having fewer exams, I find myself much busier in graduate school.

I took a student government position and I feel that I benefitted a lot from it. I sat in academic committees and had the opportunity to contribute to the student culture of the program. It was an important experience for me because I had never really done anything like that in my undergrad. It really is what you make of it. You can go through the motions or you can make positive contributions. I feel that the faculty appreciated my service. Also, it allows you to develop a relationship with faculty. You are collaborating with them as a colleague.

I am applying to a mid-level biology masters program for the fall (yeah summer applications) at the same university that I am completing my MPH in. My application has some strengths and weaknesses in it. I'll start with the weaknesses. I have a some W's, F's, and repeats of courses. I don't know what it is, I don't like C's so I've taken a few courses to get a better grade. I have a few W's from my junior college before transferring, a D that is repeated (in math), but overall my GPA was 3.4 and I managed to get good grades in my math and science courses (I was transferring and taking some pre-med requirements). I transferred to a top 20 university to complete my BA in philosophy. I started strong, but I ended up having a personal issue that affected my performance. I did real well in some O-chem and biology courses, and I kept up with my philosophy major overall, but I was burned out by my senior year. I bombed an entire quarter, took some incompletes, I tried to play catch up by piling on more work the next semester. Not a good idea. I managed to hold my philosophy major, but my math and biology just went south. I didn't fail anymore classes, but I was squeaking by with C's. Meanwhile in my major, I had a knack for by then and I was getting A's. I end up with a 3.0 overall GPA and 3.3 in my major. At this point, I was not prepared to go into grad school or into a career so I decide to go to a rural school for a post-bacc in biology to get my science grades up. I should have taken a break and worked at this point and address the personal issue that had been affecting me before getting back into school, but I decided to keep going. Again in my post-bacc, I had mixed success. I completely failed a physics class, but I was getting A's in my biology courses (ones I had repeated from my former school). Was here for 2 years but I was working a lot to support myself and my classes were not a priority. I was however, doing some very satisfying professional work in the student advising center. In addition, I was leading Supplemental Instruction courses for biology and chemistry. However, I managed to get a C+ in an upper division biology course and and a C in stats and some B+'s in other bio classes and a couple of A's and a couple of W's in some miscellaneous. I ended up with a 2.3 from the post-bacc experience overall. My transcripts were all over the place, but somehow I was accepted into an MPH- epidemiology program across the country where my family was. I ended up really liking the MPH program and doing well in it. I maintained a 4.0 in my program while taking lower division physics courses (A's), an O-chem lab (A+) and a graduate level microbiology course (B+). I was heavily involved with student government. I've been a lot more interested in my studies in general since grad school and my mind and goals are a lot more clear. I want to do research in molecular epidemiology. Those are my shaky transcripts. But I have a few strengths- Work experience: I have an interesting research job in public health. It's not directly related to biology, but it is research. A lot more of the hypothesis forming qualitative research, but there is a fair amount of data collection and recently have been doing more in protocol design and grant writing. It's focus is poor communities and the PI is well-known in the field of epidemiology. I had a genetics lab job at the previous top 20 school, but I didn't really do much in it. I performed well because it was routine, but I didn't get too involved. I volunteered to an evolutionary biology lab for a quarter or two as well. I lead supplemental instruction courses in biology and chemistry, and I did academic advising for students on academic probation (all while I was neglecting my own classes and getting a couple of W's!) Letters: I have a great letter from my supervisor on this job that I used for this application. She is not known in any field, but we work close and we have a good relationship. The PI of this project is well-known in epidemiology, but I do not get a whole lot of face time with him. I am working on a thesis with him and will be able to get a letter after I complete next semester. My other two letters for this application, I have no idea if they will be good or not. I did well in their classes and they seemed to like me, but I wasn't close to either of them. They seem like decent people, but professors can be a little weird too, so you never know. Both have biology backgrounds. GRE's- Pretty decent. I took them once and had a 600V 620Q 4.0AW. Quant is a little low for competitive biology programs, but it seems to be a little above average for biology majors. I'll retake it again if I do not get in this cycle, but I was comfortable submitting this score. SOP- I spent a lot of time on this. I wrote and revised and had professors in my department edit and give me feedback. It looks solid. I did not focus on my past too much, but did mentioned it lightly. Publications- In process in epidemiology and the qualitative work I am doing, but not yet. I have submitted some grants that are being reviewed, but still have not heard back from them. I plan to keep my position here and just transfer to the other department. I want to finish working on these projects and get a few publications from the data and to complete my thesis. In addition, I am pretty good with the tone of my emails and I have been in correspondence with the graduate coordinators of this program since the start of applications. They have been equally cordial with me. It's mixed- I am hoping for conditional or provisional acceptance at least, but I am also prepared to take extra biology courses and the GRE if I do not get in, but I know that I would do well if I were given the chance. As for the issues I have had in the past, I have been addressing them and I am in a much better position than I was in the past. It's unfortunate that this happened and remained a cloud over me for a few years while I really needed to perform at my best, but I am happy that I have started to work effectively again.

I was rejected to one school that I really wanted to go to for an MPH. They told me that I needed to have more experience in the field and that I should take some extension classes. My transcript wasn't stellar, so I wasn't too surprised. I was accepted to 4 other programs and the one that I ended up going to turned out to be a great experience. I applied myself and got a lot out of the program. In retrospect, the program that I went into afforded me a lot more opportunity than the one that rejected me and was on the upswing as a developing program. The other program seems mediocre at best in comparison now. So if a program rejects you, eff em:) I've heard stories of medschool applicants being rejected numerous cycles and still getting in. Be persistent and improve on your application. I'm currently applying to a MS in biology at the same school I got my MPH and my transcript is full of holes from undergrad (much better in grad school). Will I get in? I don't know. I certainly hope, but at the same time, if I don't, I'm going to be taking a lot of relevant classes to improve my grades and try again next time. I have good research experience, statement of purpose, etc. So it is a possibility that I will be provisionally accepted, but if not, I'll do this again. Yes, rejection hurts, there's no way around it. I was informally rejected a few months ago when I applied to this other biology program. I needed to get a faculty researcher to take me on. She thought we were a good match and we clicked well, but in the end, she did not because the project that I would have worked in wasn't established. I didn't get rejected from the school as I did not send in my app, but it still stung to get that phone call. So, yeah, I can relate. rejections are always valuable in their tendency to cause self-reflection. Good luck!

I am applying to an MS in Biology program for Fall 2013. The application deadline was July 1st. I looked at some old information online and the graduate admissions office mentions that students need to send two copies of each transcript in to the central office. I already had a single copy of each transcript (3), so I requested an extra set of transcripts from each of my preceding universities in mid-June. I walked into the office myself and handed them the first set that I already had and told them that the other set is being sent in the mail. They told me that I only needed to send one. I was a little unhappy that I had read old information, but happy to know that all my transcripts were there on time! I was able to get the rest of the application in before the deadline and I thought it was complete. I get an email today (a week later) from the central graduate application services and they tell me that my application is incomplete. I couldn't figure out what had happened. Did I fill something out wrong? I looked at the link they sent me and it said that my transcripts were missing. I call them and ask them why. It turns out that since I turned in my transcripts before I submitted my online application, that they did not put them together. How two sets of transcripts were lost in the shuffle is beyond me. But they were late in submitting my transcripts. The email the graduate services department sent did mention that the rest of my application was sent earlier and they immediately submitted the rest of my materials to the department. I am wondering how all of this might affect my application. They marked that my transcripts came in on time and I sent an email to the graduate coordinator for the biology department explaining what had happened. I don't mean to worry other posters, I thought for sure that my transcripts were in order, but you may want to check in with the graduate services department. The confusing thing about the graduate admissions here is that they have two separate websites to check the status of your application. I was aware of only one of them, but there was another site that had each of your materials that were submitted and missing. Check to see if your school has this.