soylatte5

Applying earlier is a good idea but I don't think it is a huge determinant in getting accepted. How you present yourself and your experiences is more important. In terms of EHS programs, I suggest looking at the coursework offered and professors' research interests. Since you only have 1-2 years for the degree, carefully selecting an advisor who can offer you a research project fitting your interests is really important - you really don't have much time to explore. Also, think through courses you that will excite you (I regretted not having known about certain courses in my last semester, part of my reason for going back to school) since many things are only offered once a year so you can easily miss opportunities. Really, time flies! Doing this research will also help you write your personal statement. You might want to even exploring other departments beyond EHS because you can do EHS work without actually getting a degree in it, EHS encompasses a variety of topic areas but the technical knowledge will mostly come from other departments such as epi, biostats, behavioral sci. Good luck!

tips from my current career counselor: if it's relevant to the programs you're applying for, include it. headings should be specific to you and you can label how you wish as long as it highlights your experiences. also, try to focus on your accomplishments or results of your work rather than simply specifying the tasks you completed under each experience. I suggest not creating an entirely separate section for your thesis research, I did and recommend including it under research experiences. since it's a cv, maybe also include an awards section (scholarships/merit), relevant professional organizations you're a part of, and relevant community service. basically, include all things that present the skills/experiences you want your readers to get from reading the cv alone.

there's plenty of school, it all depends on what you're looking for. If you do a google search lots of programs will show up. are you applying for a masters or doctorate? if masters, the likelihood of getting fully funded is rare though not impossible. for masters students at uc berkeley, many take on graduate student instructor (gsi) positions that will pay a small stipend and 50% of tuition. with the current funding situation in the sciences your best bet is to apply for your own research grants/scholarships even for doctorate programs.

Wish I had known earlier... National Science Foundation for PhD and master's (phd students with a master's already cannot apply) http://www.nsfgrfp.org/how_to_apply/eligibility_guide successful apps, i hear, are those with focus on the hard sciences not on social sciences

For those that have received the Boren fellowship, 1. What is your proposed field of study/project idea? Is it to collect data towards your dissertation/thesis? 2. What do you think made your application successful? 3. How long is your projected stay in the foreign country you are going to? How are you using your time there (few months for language/rest of time for research, intensive language before going/all time in country for research, etc)? Thanks and congrats!

if you're planning on tutoring independently, i would highly NOT recommend wyzant! they start with taking 40% of what you charge and read every single correspondence between you and potential tutees - they will immediately flag you if you provide your email (they only want you to use their internal mailing system) and close your account if you try to arrange direct payment from tutees (yes, this was stupid of me to do it online but i wasn't aware that all my exchanges were being read line by line (i googled them after my account was closed and this method was disclosed by a former employee)) i haven't used this website but plan to since they don't take a percentage of what you make: http://www.universitytutor.com/faq/how-does-this-work-2 wherever you decide to advertise yourself for tutoring, i recommend looking up reviews of the company first to avoid getting shortchanged...

What type of policy are you thinking? Seems that a poli sci or public policy would be more versatile than an MPH in health policy/management (HPM). Based on my understanding of HPM at Emory, the focus is more on improving health systems and quality of care. As themasses mentioned, epi/biostats are marketable if you are interested in doing analysis work, more so than policy because those concentrations don't really focus on translating data into policy (at least based on my experience). As for prereqs, they will vary by department and, maybe schools. For enviro health, the focus is on the hard sciences so most of the prereqs are several years of bio/chem and lab experience. I suggest browsing websites of schools you're potentially interested in to get a full list.

Best suitable for anyone on the east coast since most (or all) offices are located there... ORISE fellowships are pretty prestigious and there are quite a few positions open right now (not so much 2 years ago...) across various govt entities including CDC. You might be able to do it while in school since there are several different types of opportunities like internships, jobs, etc. Go here for more details. Good luck!

For any recent grads in PH, my past academic advisor forwarded us all these opportunities for an ORISE fellowship through CDC and other govt entities. Good luck to anyone applying!

Most helpful for me were likely the SOP, strong LORs, and research experience. I found this guide (posted elsewhere here) to be super helpful for the SOP, especially since i found it hard to get started and had a little less than a month to get it together. Have as many people as you can review your SOP because often (at least for me) my thoughts got muddled in too many words even though I thought I was being clear and concise. My reviewers also had various backgrounds so they were able to offer me various perspectives and help me revise ideas/grammar in multiple ways. Transitions are one of the most important elements since everything in your essay should flow together. Looking at online examples won't be too helpful since the best ones (likely) aren't posted online, don't waste your time and start with your own clean slate. DO NOT list out all of your experiences or try to squeeze in as many as possible. FOCUS on 1-2 at most and show how they exemplify your qualifications/shaped your reasons for going to grad school/research interest. Hook readers at the beginning with an interesting anecdote (seemed to work for me). Experience is invaluable and will put you ahead of the game. Just because you don't have actual work experience and are coming directly from undergrad/master's, you can still gain experience while in school whether it be working with a professor on campus or getting an internship, etc elsewhere. Most of my experience actually came from my activities while in school and I worked on diverse projects so I was able to show in my CV different skills gained/applied for each. Diversifying seemed to have helped me a lot. Good luck to future applicants!

go for the phd if you are genuinely interested in getting it whether you plan on staying in academia or not. in my field, school counts towards work experience depending on how you present the skills you've gained whether though class projects or thesis. i labeled my experience section as research experience rather than work since i wasn't paid to do most of them and organized them by projects. if you do end up going for the phd, it's highly likely you'll be working on various research projects throughout your time so you should be able to put all that on paper. i suggest getting an internship or 2 (free/paid) while completing your masters, whether you're doing a thesis project or not. it could potentially help you decide whether you really want or need to go for the phd (in my case, i realized i need the doctorate to get where i want to be professionally after interning/working post-masters).

maybe give him benefit of the doubt, but if you meet him and he's still like that, ask yourself if this is the type of person you can truly work with. personally, his behavior would be red flags to me and i would immediately seek out a different primary advisor. maybe he's an expert that can advise in certain regards but he can simply be on your committee rather than your primary advisor. sure, words can be misinterpreted vibes you get from someone since you can't see/hear the emotions expressed in their words but the exchanges I had with POIs clearly indicated that they were very kind, interested in working with me and willing to answer any questions before i had decided even though i didn't speak with them live. personalities don't change so if you don't immediately hit it off with someone, it's a clear sign that you shouldn't work with them because you're not going to have much fun while doing it. not sure if you're doing a masters or phd but, regardless, having a healthy/good relationship with an advisor is key to success in your career. my master's advisor had and continues to support me in many ways (especially with my rec letter which was likely solid because we genuinely liked each other). i've also developed a great network because of him. if you're ok with dealing with certain personality types, do as you like. just my 2 cents, good luck!

the berkeley housing website is a good place to start looking for housing ($20/3 mo if want to use services like looking for roommates): http://www.housing.berkeley.edu/livingatcal/graduatestudents.html still have yet to receive my funding offer but at least i've been able to officially accept the offer go bears!! ^^

yes/no to the above posters comment.. it really depends on where you want to end up..if you're aiming to go to any school as opposed to a particular, maybe higher ranking, school then gpa does matter because it's part of your first pass through the process. this is the reality. as long as you plan on doing well, it shouldn't matter too much where you plan to gain those credits. taking more credits isn't going to vastly improve your gpa because the credits are all summed up on SOHPAS. i suggest doing it at your home school because SOPHAS will report your overall gpa from your home school. https://portal.sophas.org/sophasHelpPages/frequently-asked-questions/the-application-process/verificatio/

Just when I almost gave up hope, I heard back early Apr from one of my top choices and had to make a super tough decision within about a week... in the end I selected the best fit overall and I'll be heading to Berkeley this fall!!

totally agree with everything already said.. if that university happens to be a part of the council of graduate schools, i might even add this to your email (extracted for here: https://grad.berkeley.edu/policies/guides/b1-7-informing-applicants/) Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) policy, “Resolution Regarding Graduate Scholars, Fellows, Trainees, and Assistants,” which states: “Students are under no obligation to respond to offers of financial support prior to April 15; earlier deadlines for acceptance of such offers violate the intent of this Resolution.” Detailed information on the Resolution can be found on the CGS website. Therefore, if a student is offered admission and financial support, the department may not set a deadline earlier than April 15 by which a student must respond.

Epi is more marketable in the long run. I can't help but agree with and reference this blogger again: http://www.bdkeller.com/2014/02/is-there-a-global-health-bubble-or-should-you-get-an-mph/ What are your top priorities? funding? research interest? ranking? technical or programmatic skills? which best aligns with your ultimate future goals? You've listed out all the pros/cons of each school, now rank them. Go with the school that meets most of your top priorities. It sounds like both schools have lots to offer you and you already have established connections at both, so neither one seems like it would be a bad choice. Funding is my top priority followed by research fit. I personally don't think it's worth paying for a PhD because I'll be paying off my masters degree for 10+ years down the road unless I hit jackpot. I don't want to be miserable for the next 4-5 yrs so research/advisor fit are my also top priorities.

Having already been through an MPH program, I highly recommend a thesis. Beyond an "ego boost," you should gain more applied skills on top of course work for the long run regardless of the type of work you plan on doing. I personally didn't find most of my course work fulfilling because most of them didn't provide me with any solid technical skills, I gained all of these by taking electives and research experience. My thesis work was definitely my greatest accomplishment in grad school as I was able to travel to a developing country, manage my own project, design my own survey, collect data, analyze data, and publish. These experiences combined have made me a well qualified candidate for many jobs - qualifications/experiences that many of my colleagues lacked. In this economy, the more experience you gain, the greater chances you have at landing a job. Public health is particularly focused on applied work so the more experiences you can gain the better whether it's research, programmatic, or policy. This often times means seeking these opportunities out whether you write a thesis or not. [Previously shared in another thread] This blogger sums up my thoughts perfectly and most of his suggestions apply to any health topic area, not just global health (at least imo): http://www.bdkeller.com/2014/02/is-there-a-global-health-bubble-or-should-you-get-an-mph/

anyone know whether DrPH programs usually get funding (tuition/stipend/health insurance) like in the PhD programs? if not, what are your plans for funding your education?

if the broth is flavorless, then it wasn't made properly. a lot of spices should go into the beef one and the beef bones should have been simmered for a long time... anywho, my list: drinking till drunk (why drink to the point when you start puking?? your body is clearly telling you it doesn't want to be intoxicated and hard liquor tastes terrible) phrases: YOLO, hella, you know (no, I DON'T know what you're referring to actually) blue cheese rainbow flip flops (overpriced!) many trends amongst the tweens

^second this! public health is interdisciplinary in nature and it's really up to individuals how they want to take advantage of this. more importantly, as a student you should really go for where you want to take your career because you are paying for your education. aim to find advocates within your department/school who would be willing to help you gain the experience you aim to achieve.

For anyone that has yet to hear back from Harvard, apparently they are sending out notifications till the end of this month. I guess if you haven't heard, it probably means waitlisted or rejection...based on past years, it seems that most acceptances go out in Feb and this year they're particularly slow on the rejections.

I'm not familiar with your research area of interest so I don't have any specific suggestions on schools. I suggest making a list of your priorities and go from there. For me, one of my top priorities was resources - which larger and higher ranking schools have. Additional were location and program fit. If you try to fit yourself into a program (faculty, research focus, philosophy), it will show - at least I think it did for me. I was probably rejected from one because I wasn't particularly excited about their program/faculty and it was likely apparent thru my essay that I was trying to fit in with their faculty. If you've been keen on recognizing authors from papers you've read/referenced, that could be a good starting point. I didn't realize that I had read papers of professors I was interested in working with until after starting my search on faculty. This wasn't a very common occurrence in my situation but I do think it's a good starting point because you will be able to show genuine interest when you make contact with professors and show how you're connected to them. You might also want to ask current professors for suggestions as they are your greatest resource and having their connection to faculty elsewhere might give you an advantage when you actually apply. I suggest starting your search on programs this summer (unless you aren't too busy now) prior to settling on schools to apply to and get a sense of what a department focuses on (application (intervention/evaluation/programmatic-based) vs hard science research (wet lab/epi/methods-based)), their general philosophy about the field, and programs being offered within the department. Some schools will require you to apply to specific programs within their department e.g. within EHS at Harvard there's enviro epi/occup epi/risk assessment/toxicology/etc. I made the mistake of thinking I'd be applying to general EHS and didn't really understand each program within the dept until later in the process. Some schools might even have your specific research interest area as a program in itself, so definitely look out for that. Also browse through all the professors within departments you're interested in (you might fit in more than one) to see if anyone at the school does what you're interested in - this is key whether you decide to contact them or not because you should still include one or two in your essay and it will help you determine whether you should even apply to a school. There are varying opinions about how much of an impact contacting professors prior to applying has on your chance of admission. Not having contacted any professor (literally none) didn’t seem to reduce my chances by much – I was selected for interviews based on merit/essay. However, it would have likely given me an additional edge (esp at the institute I am currently waitlisted at). If you decide to contact them, I suggest a few months ahead to submitting so that they will remember you. Do keep in mind that not all professors are on the admissions committee and might not see your app unless you make it to the next round(s). There's no definitive answer to "what programs are looking for". My approach to the requirements established by each school was to meet at least the minimum. Things like GPA, GRE score, and years of research experience likely help the committee weed out applicants not meeting the bare minimum reqs., leaving behind those to interview or further discuss with other faculty/staff. So as long as these factors are solid, I wouldn't worry too much about them. Again, publications are a plus but not required. The breadth of research projects will depend on your field and your own motivations. My approach during my masters was to participate in projects I was interested in and pick up various skills from each project (going in from undergrad, I had zero public health experiences except wet lab techniques). Beyond numbers and skill set, the essay component is super important. You’ll likely be as competitive as other candidates but what will set you apart is how you actually present yourself and tell your story. Like mentioned elsewhere, your essay should not be a list of everything you’ve ever done but, rather, focus on certain experiences and your goals for graduate school.

Funding: this is more specific to Emory but I applied for FAFSA by the Mar deadline and I don't recall filling out any additional financial app specific to the school. The funding opportunities were pretty similar regardless of your financial situation going in. They no longer offered work study when I entered in 2010 and only had a similar program that was nearly offered to all incoming students. Unfortunately, somehow my FAFSA wasn't sent or processed by some deadline at the school so I wasn't offered that work-study type opportunity until my 2nd year. In their program, the school pays half and the organization you work for pays the other half. It was capped at $12/hr my year, which really meant some pocket money that didn't put a huge dent in my loans. I also was given a small traineeship grant during my 1st yr, 2nd semester and that was the extent of what my program had to offer. Not sure if this is the case for other schools. I, as well as most of my classmates, had to take loans (sub/unsub) to finance the masters. Was it worth it? Not 100% but at least my PhD will be fully funded so I look at the loans as paying for both degrees. In a way, I wish I had applied for PhD progams and taken a chance with that route so I wouldn't have so much loans. But the past is the past now. The req for a masters will depend on the institution. Most of the ones I applied to did require a masters but it doesn't matter whether its an MS or MPH. I graduated with a MPH but my experiences were mostly research based. Any experience puts you ahead of other applicants regardless if they are actual job based experiences. During and after undergrad, I conducted lab-based research for ~2 yrs total. During grad school, I was involved in 4 research projects within 2 yrs (my thesis was one of my greatest accomplishments!). By the time I applied, I had worked for ~1.5 yrs post-graduating since I didn't decide to pursue the PhD until a year later. I do know classmates who applied and started their doctorates right after their masters so it's possible even without work experience (DrPHs do require actual work experience though). Publications also help but definitely not required. Contacting professors also helps but also not required (I personally didn't because I wasn't fully committed to the idea of pursuing the PhD until a few months before the apps were due and by that time it seemed a little pointless). Personal contact does help since interviewing gave me the opportunity to get to know some professors and them to know me beyond my app/CV - I've been accepted to both institutes I interviewed with. Experiences are important but more important is how you present them (my essay was pretty decent after multiple drafts).

Berkeley (nothing, their admitted students day is Mar 17!), Harvard (supposedly this week) - EHS