IntriguedStudent

If you're not interested in going into Health Promotion, then don't accept the offer. I'm not sure how easy it is to change concentrations at UTexas, but I wouldn't choose to risk it if I were you.

Pretty much everything that has been said here so far is good advice. An SOP for MPH programs should truly be written "from the heart". They don't really care so much about why you are a strong candidate academically. They want to see that you have a passion for public health. You should be able to demonstrate how you became interested in the field and what you want to be able to contribute. Finally, you should be able to verbalize why you are interested in that school's program, specifically. Unlike many other programs, where you get an MPH can matter. There are a lot of different variables here that you could write about. These include: location, alumni network, course offerings, concentration offerings (you should have already mentioned this), research opportunities, etc. The key to writing an SOP is to really think about what sort of attitude and meaning you are trying to convey. As has been mentioned many times, MPH programs care about the whole person. They may not necessarily care that you have the best GPA or GRE scores. Your SOP is your chance to convince them that you are a good fit because you truly want this and you will be able to not only succeed, but that you'll do something meaningful with your degree.

Well if that's true, then they should hopefully be sending out news soon! Their deadline was the 15th of December for SM programs and (extended to) the 31st of December for the MPH. I was SOPHAS verified on 11/16 and received an acceptance from BU on 12/18. I'd guess you should hear something from them within the next couple of weeks.

Student Doctor Network would be a great place for this. However, some good schools for Global Health are Tulane, UNC, and Johns Hopkins. Other schools you might want to consider are Columbia and Emory. I would look at various school requirements for GPA and GRE to see where you fit in and then try to look at course listings/professor research interests.

You should probably just e-mail SOPHAS and ask them. They have some weird rules that are not stated in their guidelines when it comes to calculating GPA.

I probably wouldn't bother if I was in your position. As @AlphacentauriC said, most jobs don't require it. Even if they offer for you to take the exam free as a first year student, you have to get recertified every two years (which involves obtaining recertification credits and costs roughly $100). The CPH isn't widely required in most public health positions due to the diverse nature of the field.

Do we have any idea when Harvard will be handing out decisions? I was verified 11/13 and received notice from Harvard that they received my application on 11/21. No news yet though.

Thanks! Boston got back very quickly. They originally said we wouldn't hear anything until 2015. Although they have begun to give out acceptances, we won't actually get our admissions packets until early January. That's odd that Emory hasn't received your transcript. I'd call them about that. Everything should have been sent to them through SOPHAS. I'm glad Georgia State has finally confirmed that they received our applications. I was getting worried when I hadn't heard anything from them.

My SOPHAS was verified on 11/13. I have heard back from three schools so far. I was admitted to Mt. Sinai for a MPH and Boston University for an MPH in Epidemiology. I was rejected from George Washington for an MPH in Epidemiology.

Congrats! That's exciting! And yeah, GSU's deadline is so late in the game. I'd really love to hear from them sooner though.

I think it means that you have been "accepted" by the School of Public Health, but the university still needs to accept you as well. Usually, as long as the school accepted you, the university will as well. You'd have to have some major red flags for them to say no. Edit: So a little off topic, but I see that you applied to Georgia State as well. Have you heard any confirmation from them that they have received your application? They are the only school I haven't heard anything from and it's making me a little worried.

If you're talking about an MPH, I believe Stanford doesn't have their own program. Instead, they partner with UC Berkeley for their MPH program. UC Berkeley has an excellent program. As far as their MS in epidemiology is concerned, I believe it's not talked about much because it's mostly comprised of their MD students.

I have a low GPA and an average GRE. I've been accepted to one school so far! As niihla08 said, it'd be great if you could boost your GRE scores. However, MPH programs are notorious for accepting lower GPA and GRE applicants, as it is not a major factor in their decision. I wouldn't worry too much. It sounds like you have quite a bit of public health experience.

Without research experience, I feel that it will be difficult to get accepted into a PhD program straight from undergrad. However, with your grades and experiences, you would have a very good shot at an MS or MPH program. By going into one of those first, you would be able to gain some research experience and begin to get an idea of what interests you specifically within epidemiology (something that a PhD program is going to want you to know).

As long as they are submitted to SOPHAS before Dec. 1st, they are considered in by the priority deadline. It's ok if they are not verified by then.

If you're applying MPH, you should go ahead and get your application in ASAP. Most deadlines are at the beginning of December. Having a strong SoP and submitting early is your best chance for getting in with your stats.

That academic dishonesty is going to be a major red flag on any grad school application. If you needed to plagiarize a paper twice for the same online class, then you need to decide whether grad school is even something you can handle. Sure, the first offense may have been a true accident, but the second was blatant plagiarism.

You can upload multiple personal statements to SOPHAS. Once you place your designations, you choose which personal statement to attach to the specific school.

Almost every school I've looked at only cares that the application is submitted to SOPHAS before the deadline. It does not have to be verified before the deadline.

I think that since SOPHAS does electronic submits to the schools now, schools can actually access your application before it is officially "verified". Not all of the schools care about what the SOPHAS GPA is, as it is rarely the same as your actual GPA.