kng229

I'll be starting their PhD program in Health Services Research in the fall.. If you don't mind a litthe grit, parts of Dorchester and Jamaica Plain are up and coming and generally less expensive.

Everywhere I applied, 5 was usually the norm. Some 4, some 6, but most students took 5.

A tip in case you hadn't noticed - if you use the results search above, you can look at who got accepted or rejected to the programs that you are interested in. If there is a small read diamond on an entry, you can hover over it to see their GPA and GRE scores.

I applied to Health Policy PhD programs, so I'm not very familiar with the MPH side of things. But you're in for some disappointment moving from California. I moved here from the SF bay area and it's been tough to adjust. Bostonians are rude, the worst and most aggressive drivers I've seen outside of a third-world country, the food is so-so, housing is expensive (4th most expensive market in the US), and they are proud of it. They smoke a lot. The big controversy right now is that an LGBT group gets to march in the Saint Patrick's Day parade for the first time. So there's that. And it's not just my opinion... http://alumni.media.mit.edu/~guy/bostonboring.html

Some relevant links on living in Boston: http://gawker.com/5989131/in-search-of-self-deprecation-boston-is-confronted-with-the-reality-that-boston-sucks http://alumni.media.mit.edu/~guy/bostonboring.html

First, congrats! Second, go to Harvard. I learned with my master's that it doesn't matter what program ranks are, employers mostly just look at the name of the school. JHU has an amazing program MPH, but the degree doesn't say Harvard.

FYI, I didn't chat with the others, but Dr. Bradley Herring at JHU & Dr. Ann Keller at Berkeley were wonderful - I was very impressed both with them and their programs.

Pretty much any new laptop will be able to handle it nowadays. I'd recommend going to slickdeals.net, finding a laptop deal within your price range that has a lot of "thumbs up," and getting one. The site is populated by techies, so if they like it you know it's an excellent deal.

Acceptance from Boston University

Having lived in both cities, I can say they are nothing alike, Boston is very different from Berkeley. In Boston, people are much less friendly, more intense vs. west coast, food is good but doesn't match the Bay Area. Far fewer festivals/cultural events (can't keep track of them all in the Bay Area!), unless you're Irish. Boston has better history, great walking tours and architecture. My wife grew up in the bay area and absolutely hates it here. I grew up in Ohio, so I appreciate it for not being Ohio

Meant to say Berkeley in this earlier post. Just got an on-site interview request for Harvard next week!

Congrats! What concentration did you apply to? In my interviews with 3 schools (BU, Penn, Harvard), and generally they seemed to have about 2x as many people as they planned to accept.

Alright let me try this again... After interviewing with 5 different PhD programs, here's my advice: I wouldn't worry about general methods or skills to brush up on, none of my interviews were really technical. Definitely no textbook questions. Do everything you can to find out who you will be interviewing with, and familiarize yourself with their most recent research - at least read the abstracts. Have some intelligent questions about it that you can ask if you have time. Also come up with your story. They'll all ask who you are, how you got interested... this should not just be a rehash of your resume. It should be compelling - this isn't about how much you need them to further your career, its how they need you to further the reputation of the school. They'll want to hear how you got interested in the field (and don't make it too cheesy, no stories about how you hiked a mountain and realized your love of public health...), how you got interested in research, and how your experiences made you decide to go for the PhD/MPH. One question that came up really commonly was what I planned to do after school. You can choose to answer honestly or not, but the correct answer here is academia or a major health research organization (Kaiser Permanente, TRICARE, etc.). As an academic you are going to mentor young students, publish more widely, and bring credit to the program. If you disappear into industry afterwards, that does almost nothing for the school's reputation. You will also be asked about your research/policy interests. Again, there is a correct answer here - whatever the professors tend to be interested in! Fit is the #1 thing the interviews are looking for, so if your interests don't line up with the faculty you are a lot less likely to get accepted. I got accepted to better schools and rejected from lesser schools, almost certainly due to a bad fit. You should look through the faculty interests in their CVs/webpages, note the overlap with your own interests, and highlight them during the interview. I would point out how I'd love to work with this professor on this research, this professor on this other research, etc. It shows a good fit and that you've done your homework on the program. As far as your questions, save the programmatic questions for staff such as funding, requirements, attrition rates, etc. For professors, I liked to ask them about the process of finding an advisor - how does that process work, are they assigned or do they arise organically, do students have issues finding an advisor.. or questions about their research. Just make sure the questions are insightful and intelligent, and that you are actually interested because it shows! For dress, dress professionally but something you are comfortable with. Don't go overboard, because you'll look out-of-place and uncomfortable. When I went to Penn, they told us business casual but all the men had jackets, including myself. Any other specific questions, let me know!

Ahh damn, I'd typed up a few paragraphs based upon my experience last year. It posted, but now it's gone. If I have time later I may try to rehash it... I guess that's what I get for trying to post from my phone.

I wouldn't worry about general methods or skills to brush up on, none of my interviews were really technical. Do everything you can to find out who you will be interviewing with, and familiarize yourself with their most recent research - at least read the abstracts. Have some intelligent questions about it that you can ask if you have time. Also come up with your story. They'll all ask who you are, how you got interestesed... this should not just be a rehash of your resume. It should be compelling - this isn't about