appme11

Yeah I was thinking if I go for the PhD to target mostly the better large public schools. Northwestern doesn't like taking undergrads back into grad and I'm not really interested in any of the the Ivy League schools. I might try U Chicago as a far reach since I like the school but other than that madison, minnesota, and some of the UCs are about as high as I'm aiming. I *might* be able to get up to a 3.6 before applying, and my stats GPA is 3.8 but other than that I'm putting a lot of hope into test scores since I blew a lot of my intro math and science classes.

These answers were pretty helpful, thanks guys. Cyberwulf, thanks for clarifying the separate group for "epi methods." I've looked into the MPH in biostat/epi, but the program advisor told me it's not great if I want to do quant modeling in epi. I guess I'll see where I stand after taking the GRE and decide on either MPH or a PhD in math/biostat, as I've heard biostats is a bit more competitive. Also, nice to hear a 3.5 is fine after consistently being told it isn't good enough the last year.

Should I be focusing on PhD programs specifically in epidemiology? I was considering applied math for the doctorate instead because I'm much more interested in the quantitative side of it and a lot of applied math research is in epidemiology and similar applications. Also, applied math is the only relevant non-application masters degree that I could get at Northwestern, and it would be easier to stay an extra two quarters for that than stay an extra year or two for an MPH (money is also an issue, so going to a different school for a full year or more to get a masters would be problematic as opposed to just paying for two more quarters of tuition). If it's better to specifically get the the PhD in epidemiology, would the applied math masters be worth anything compared to the MPH?

Thanks for the reply. I have been hearing really bad things about masters recently so skipping it seems like a good idea. How far should I go with the bio/chem classes? I took the first year of chem, should I do organic chem as well? I need to take the bio classes at some point, but I think I can fit it.

I'm a third year undergrad at Northwestern in math and statistics. I've tried asking advisors but haven't gotten any solid answers on requirements for the field, what to do to prepare, etc. I realize I'm looking at having to get a PhD, though I'm curious what schools and especially what programs I should be looking at (Math, Statistics, Applied Math, other). For now, I know I need to start looking at the GRE and other logistics, but also I need to make a decision on timeline. My best efforts have given me a 3.5 rounded up, and I'm just now doing my first research position, so I'm not really in great shape for applications, and I don't see it improving in the next year. I'm also don't think I'm emotionally ready for a PhD given some of the issues I've had in undergrad, so I'm considering taking a gap break between or working on a 5 year combined masters in applied math to transition from. Is my best option just applying now and going straight out of undergrad, or would a gap be beneficial to increase success on applications? I'm not shooting for Ivy League, but at least upper tier state schools. If I did gap, would it be beneficial to get the masters degree or to do some sort of global health volunteer work/any quantitative job in a different industry? Thanks for taking the time to answer this.