texasjen

University of Texas Houston Health Science Center, MPH
 
SOPHAS app submitted 2/4, mailed week of 2/18, heard back 3/4 that I was admitted. Just an FYI.
 
Good luck to everyone.

So I'm guessing at this point if we haven't heard anything, assume the worst? If current students are already being tasked with reaching out to admitted applicants....

University of Texas Houston Health Science Center, MPH
 
SOPHAS app submitted 2/4, mailed week of 2/18, heard back 3/4 that I was admitted. Just an FYI.
 
Good luck to everyone.

Just checked my status on the website.... Admitted!!!  I didn't get an email so I'm glad I checked   .  Fingers crossed for $$$, but so excited about the admit!!

I've been lurking here for awhile and I thought I'd share my results.
 
So far I've been accepted to:
Johns Hopkins (MSPH), Duke (MSc), Georgetown (MSc), Brown (MPH), Boston University (MPH), Columbia (MPH), George Washington (MPH), UPenn (MPH), Yale (MPH), Emory (MPH), and Thomas Jefferson (MPH)
 
Waiting on:
Harvard (MSc) and UNC (MPH)
 
Rejected:
None

Completely understandable. SOPHAS dumb and long processing period set me back like at least two weeks. I believe they got mine because I got an email from UT and they gave me a myUTH account and all that so I can monitor my application.

This has been really useful for me as I refresh my email over and over, so I'll share:
 
OSU (MS Epi): Submitted SOPHAS 11/13 or 14, received email to finish supplemental app 11/14, completed app acknowledged by email 11/25, accepted by email 12/4
 
Minnesota (MPH Epi): complete as of 11/19, acknowledged by email 11/20, accepted by email (link to website) 12/19.
 
Minnesota (MS Outcomes Research): complete as of 11/19, acknowledged by email 11/20, accepted by email (link to website) 2/6.
 
UIC (MS Epi): SOPHAS acknowledged 1/18, supplemental app acknowledged 2/4 (I had to email them because the system still said incomplete; it was actually done right away), still waitinggggg
 
Harvard (SM80 Epi): SOPHAS acknowledged 1/6, still waiting
 
Good luck to everyone! I haven't heard of anyone except perhaps PhD/SD applicants hearing from either UIC or Harvard yet.

I'm in the same boat. It doesn't help that my job involves sitting in front of the computer all day, which allows me to continue my psycho-checking of email and the results board.
 
My Cheez-Its addiction helps, but my pants are getting tighter.  I'm going to have to come up with a better coping mechanism.  I was hoping to get some good ideas from everyone else on what I can do to keep myself distracted.

Obsessively checking the Gradcafe result search page and the Spam box in Gmail...

In no particular order:

1. The only clearinghouse that ranks public health programs is USNWR, which is a bit sketchy. I think you should pay attention to the overall reputation of the SPH within the field, but not the rank. Like, don't choose Columbia over Emory just because they're ranked one place higher, if Emory is the better fit for you.

2. Money. MPH graduates don't get paid that much. If you can get a scholarship, an assistantship or anything like that - all other things being equal, follow the money. Also, check if your local public university has a decent school of public health. CUNY Hunter College has an MPH program and for NYS residents, it's a steal. California, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, Texas, Alabama, Illinois, Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, Minnesota, Michigan, and Washington all have top-25 ranked MPH programs at public universities and those are great deals for residents of those states. (Actually, most MPH programs in general are at public schools.) Some of these states also have decent out of state tuition rates, too. Think about what your starting salary will be in the field of your choice and compare that to how much you plan to borrow for an MPH.

3. Research/professional interests. An MPH, despite being a professional degree, has a strong research component. You will learn how to do certain skills but those skills will be related to research, so look at what the faculty are doing in that department. For example, my university (Columbia) is known for sexuality research; we even have a whole track called Sexuality and Health. Michigan has quite a few people doing racial health disparities. Harvard is where it's at for broader social determinants of health and social epi, what with Krieger and Kawachi there. Johns Hopkins has a health communications concentration. Decide what your research and professional interests are, and look for that at these schools. That includes flipping through the course catalog online and seeing what courses are offered on a regular basis.

Prestige can only take you so far, and it's a locality dependent thing too. I mean, virtually anywhere will know about a Harvard degree, but in the Midwest a Michigan degree might take you almost as far - if not farther because of more extensive alumni networks (and Michigan alums are like glitter - they're everywhere!). The same may be true for Washington grads in the Pacific Northwest. I mean, if you want to work in New York a Columbia degree might be ideal, but a degree from Hunter College might work just as well. If you want to work in the South, an Emory degree is going to be where it's at because that school is the holy grail of public health down there. And so forth.