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Sorry it took so long to respond! School has been a little crazy and I haven't had a chance to check the board (these 1st year MPH courses are no joke, haha...) First and foremost, I would say definitely try to network as much as you can. Taking the time to get to know your professors and your classmates (many of whom already work in the public health domain and are very well networked) can go extremely far. It's a huge one-up to know somebody at the organization you are vying to work at... and this is particularly salient if you want to work in Vancouver - the public health field seems quite small (e.g., many people end up working at the health authorities and somehow know one another). At the very least you will have some insider's knowledge, and best case scenario, you'll be able to bypass the first few rungs of the job application process. In ways, who you know might be even more important than your grades (though needless to say, it's obviously important to do as well as you can in your courses ;)) If you have any more questions feel free to PM me! Happy to help.

It was a tough decision, for sure. I ultimately decided to attend UBC because I had my roots there (I was working there at the time of applying) and because UBC professors are very well connected with the local health authorities - many hold clinical appointments at local hospitals and health organizations. That's not to say that SFU faulty aren't well connected, but my impression is that the strengths in SFU's program is that it's focused on social determinants/community-based health (depending on the stream you applied for), while UBC's program is focused on more of the quantitative aspects of public health (biostats, epidemiology)... and if you take a look at the required coursework in each respective program, they definitely reflect this! Also, the UBC Vancouver campus environment is unparalleled - it's beautiful and I live relatively close by, whereas for the SFU campus, I would have had to commute upwards of an hour to get to school, and I wasn't willing to move. I think both programs are really, really good. As a school, UBC is more prestigious (not that this really matters when finding a job in public health), though I've heard repeatedly that SFU's program is among the best in Canada. It has a really good reputation. It goes without saying, but I think which program is better just hinges on your interests in public health - if you're aiming to become an epidemiologist or researcher then UBC is probably a better bet in terms of the opportunities and connections you'd make, but if you want to work with hands on with community organizations on social justice issues then SFU seems, to me, to offer better value in that respect. Hope this helps!

Current UBC MPH student here! I remember relentlessly browsing this forum last year - it was such a great resource when I was trying to make my decision as to which program to attend (for me, it was between UBC, SFU and the U of T social and behavioural health science MPH programs). So if anyone has questions about UBC's program feel free to shoot me a PM

Around 11 am. I'll be rejecting this offer in favour of UBC's MPH though. Best of luck to those still waiting!

Received the unofficial acceptance email for U of T's MPH Health Promotion stream today Best of luck to everyone!

Accepted to SFU's MPP program this past Friday! Does anybody have info to share about this program? I'm torn between this program and UBC's MPH...

I received a recommendation for acceptance from SFU's MPH program (Population Health Science concentration) last night at midnight. The email was in my junk folder so check your inboxes!

@Mila19 Thank you! It's a fantastic program, but I will likely be declining the spot for UBC or U of T (if I get in) I submitted my application to SFU's MPH program (Population Health Science concentration) about a week before the deadline on Feb 1st. I wasn't provided any scholarship information with the email, but from my understanding very few newly admitted MPH students receive scholarships or funding, since it is a professional (not research) program.

Recommended for admission into SFU's MPH program yesterday!

@mph applicant Canadian resident

Just received an offer for UBC's MPH program today! Also applied to SFU and UofT [Health Promotion] Profile: UBC undergrad 3 years part-time and1.5 years full-time RA work in public health/some volunteer work related to social justice and health promotion 80% average in all upper level courses [I even failed a course towards the end of my degree so there's hope for the rest of you!] Feel free to reach out if you have further questions!

For anyone who applied to the programs at the UBC School of Population and Public Health - I believe MSc and PhD acceptances went out this/last week. MPH admissions meetings were held this week so prospective students should find out in a week or so? Source: I work there but also applied for this the '16 cycle