niihla08

I'm a student ambassador at Berkeley's SPH so I work closely with the admissions committee. I know their criteria is that if the GPA is low, then they want to see a high GRE. But if the GPA is high, then GRE isn't as much of a factor. They look at this before even getting into the nitty gritty about work experience. Since you can't control your GPA, definitely retake the GRE. There's no harm in working a little longer and applying next year with a higher GRE score. Experiences are essential of course, but they won't admit you if they don't think you can keep up with the academic rigor of their curriculums. Though most of the schools you listed aren't top schools, so I'm sure they will be more lax/have a lower academic criteria. Regardless, I think you'd have a better shot if you waited a year to apply with a better GRE score.

hmm I applied and got an offer last year for MPH (though I didn't end up taking it) but I thought they were nice and helpful. When I got my offer, I received a personal phone call from the director congratulating me and asking if I had any questions, which she followed up on in later emails. Maybe they are a little understaffed or something right now but I don't think it's a good measure of how the program will be.

I agree with other posters, no chance. Grad school isn't for you. You're lucky you weren't expelled from undergrad

Hello, I would say, it doesn't hurt, but I am maybe an overly proactive person. I knew the one school I really wanted to get in and emailed several professors and had the admissions office connect me to current students. Out of the professors the maybe 15 professors I had cold-emailed, I was able to connect with two via phone. I definitely mentioned this in my essay and talked about specific points that we spoke about. My conversations weren't as researched focused since my concentration is Health Policy & Mgt, we talked about resources at the school, professor accessibility etc. I did the same thing with two current students I spoke with. I think it definitely helps show that you are really interested in their school and that you have been proactive to reaching out to determine why it's the best school for you. I didn't do this for all schools I applied to, just my first choice and ended up getting in and a 20k scholarship!

I agree with getting letters from people who can speak about your skills no matter what their position is. I only had one academic letter, but then again I had been out of school for 5 years so professional letters were more relevant to me.

Not sure about the enough research experience part but you definitely need to retake your GREs if you want to get into the top programs. Aim for a 165 in both M and V or higher.

I'm in Berkeley's MPH program right now (not IDV) but I do know all the IDV people. It's a very small concentration, only 8 people per year and all of them have at least 2 years experience post-grad (most in research). In fact, in our entire MPH class, I think there is only 1 or 2 people that came straight from undergrad (none in IDV). So I'm not sure this program is for you if you have no post-grad experience. That being said, there are several MPH-ers that want to continue with their PhD and a couple that want to apply to Med school. So you'll be in fine company if that's what you decide.

You can't get into any schools (MPH or PHD) with those GRE scores. Doesn't matter how great everything else is, those are just atrocious and I don't think they would even proceed with looking at the rest of your app if they see that. Did something happen while taking the exam? Definitely take the GRE again!!! For Phd programs, though most schools don't list an average score, since the programs are super competitive I know people who get in score 165+ on V and Q. Sorry to say but a high GRE won't get you into any school, but a low one will definitely keep you out. It is more of a check on the check list and yours is going to keep you out.

Go with the one you are most interested in pursuing a career in the future. At this point, experience is better than the money. Early in your career it is more important to build relevant experience, skills, and connections.

I have several friends/coworkers who went to UM SPH and were not impressed by the quality of classes. They did say the networking and career opportunities were great, though. I went to UM for my undergrad actually and love the school, but didn't apply for there for my MPH. I saw someone else's post that there were many grads from Columbia who were having trouble finding jobs. if cost is not an issue, then I think the Harvard is the way to go.

I'm sure you won't have a problem getting in with your background! Are you trying to apply for this fall? If so, it's probably past the deadline. I think University of Southern California's deadline isn't until June though. If you wait a year, I'm sure you could get into many of the top programs. I would recommend Johns Hopkins MPH 11-month program. About half of the class is physicians and a third are from overseas. I don't think you'd have a problem getting in. Everything that is going on in Venezuela seems insane, I hope you are safe! I understand you want to leave fast so probably waiting til next fall may not be an option. Look into Tulane and George Washington as well, I think both their deadlines are April 15

Congrats to you too! Berkeley truly seems like an amazing place and I'm sure you'll love it when you're there during the on-campus period

Hi! I'm relocating from Chicago and super excited to move to the bay area. Here are my stats: Undergrad School: University of Michigan Business School Undergrad GPA: 3.3 Major/Minor: Operations Strategy, Minor in Statistics GRE (including date taken): 160 V, 160 Q Experience/Research (please, be brief): 1 yr healthcare consulting, 4 yrs in strategic planning at a large academic medical center, internships at hospitals in India and Peru, volunteer at free clinic Applied: Hopkins (11-month MPH), Harvard, Berkeley, UCLA, UW (all HPM) Accepted: UCLA (2/5), Berkeley (2/5), Hopkins (2/17), UW (2/19) Rejected: Harvard (2/28) Waitlisted: none Attending: Berkeley HPM

It REALLY depends on where you are going. I know getting a TA position is really easy at Michigan and getting RA position is really easy at Berkeley (where I am going). UCLA and UW, not as easy. I talked to a lot of current students while making my decision to get an idea of how easy it is at each of these schools to get this sort of position since i don't want to be in debt when i graduate. That's why I chose Berkeley! My current roommate did hers at Michigan and got both years tuition waived+stipend by being a TA for an undergrad bio class. Email any and all professors with research that you're interested in to see if they have funding for an RA position. Even if they don't at the moment, they will keep you in mind when they do if they know you have interest. In addition, talk to your program director of your interest and they may be able to let you know of any professors/positions coming up.

Good call on getting some work experience! It'll not only help to get you into a better MPH program, but will make you more competitive when looking for jobs afterwards. I think volunteering is helpful if you can talk about the experience in your personal statement. For example, I volunteer at a free clinic in Chicago. If I had just put it on my resume, I don't think it would have done much. But I referred to it in my personal statement and talked about their sustainable model and my interest in making specific processes more efficient. So yes, if you can comment about your work there from a public health perspective, then I think it is certainly helpful!

I'll be starting Berkeley's MPH program this fall (full-time, not online). It is definitely the way to go if you want to live in the bay area

Ah that make sense! I don't know much about the public health research field in Chicago. but glad to see that it's pretty robust. I'm more interested in expanding preventive care and implementing innovative delivery models, and while I love my city, it just seems way behind on these types of initiatives, which is why I have made the decision to move. Hopefully one day our city will prioritize public health and pick up the ball!

Congrats! I actually live in Chicago now and work very close to UIC, but am excited to be moving to the west coast. After working in healthcare for 5ish years in Chicago, I've noticed our city is not the most progressive in terms of public health initiatives compared to other cities like Seattle/SF/Boston/NYC. I've worked with the Chicago dept of public health and it is a tiny understaffed office...not much going on (compared to SF dept of public health which is huge and does a ton of cool health programs/partnerships). Anyways, just wondering if you have any thoughts on this? Seems like if you want to work in healthcare in Chicago you are pretty much restricted to hospitals or private companies.

Do you want to work in the US after your degree? If so go to Emory. If you want to work internationally, go with LSHTM. LSHTM has great connections with global health organizations but not in the US offices.

Harvard is definitely not below hopkins in the public health world. In fact, Harvard is known for it's policy emphasis and Hopkins for it's epi. If you want to get your PhD, a good thing to consider is if you want to do it at Harvard vs Hopkins and choose accordingly. There are many, many more students in the hopkins' programs (MPH +MSPH) than at Harvard, so you'll probably get smaller classes/more personalized attention at Harvard. I'd say, if you can swing the extra cost, go to Harvard.

I'm attending berkeley too!!

If you plan on working in the same city as the school and the tuition is cheaper, then a "not highly" ranked school is definitely a good option! However, if both those things are not true, then I don't really see a benefit... Choosing a "not ranked" school JUST because of the cost is cheaper is a little short-sighted. There are several highly ranked schools (namely the big public ones, Michigan, Berkeley, UCLA, UW) where you can pretty easily find a RA/TA position and get your tuition waived. It is definitely not wise to be in a ton of debt when going into a field such as public health.

I'm sure you can get into a medicare school with you stats. But if you want to get into a top school, I'd suggest getting some work experience...valued way ore than your GPA.

Hope you ended up getting in where you wanted to!

both probably similar in terms of prestige. Go to the cheaper one.