reddog

"How are you?" is fine to ask, you will likely receive an answer such as "I'm good, thank you", and then get to business. "Thank you for taking the time to talk to me" is also fine, they know that you are American and will accept your "fakeness" as you say it. Really, as long as you are making an effort to be polite, there is not much you can do wrong. Just don't use too many hyperboles One thing I really want to stress again, don't generalize European-ness. The people you will talk to are Austrian first, European second. So try to avoid that during the interview. This goes for the rest of Europe as well btw Good luck!

my dog has a reddish coat.

what the title says... what program are you applying to? I'm also curious to know how you'll deal with decisions, given that most application deadlines are quite late and acceptances will probably come after April 15th?

I would say this statement is conjecture; it is not wise to generalize an entire continent. You could google 'business culture Austria' or 'business etiquette Austria' for useful links. For example, this link (http://businessculture.org/western-europe/business-culture-in-austria/business-communication-in-austria/) seems to contain pretty accurate information at first glance.

you got me hooked on this game! It really got me off obsessively checking the uni websites

I am a big fan of international shows, so here is my list: China - Empresses of the Palace International/US - Crossing Lines even though a hundred things are factually incorrect: the Dutch aren't Dutch, the travel times are imaginary, the budget and mandate of the ICC are imaginary, etc, to my own surprise I still enjoyed it. Swiss - Der Bestatter / The Undertaker UK - River DK - Annika Bengtzon DK/SWE - Broen / The Bridge AUS - Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (glad to see OP mention it, such a good show!) American: Sense8 Homeland Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Gotham Modern family <3 Film Riddick

My top choice has the deadline set for 15 March. I don't know how I am going to handle waiting for that decision when the others have all trickled in already

I don't suffer from stress-eating, however....... stress-shopping. I'm constantly scowering online stores, looking at clothes, jewelry, makeup. I have only ordered twice so far (both for birthdays - ok ok one is my own birthday), but I know I'm playing a dangerous game here

One of my schools requires a motivation letter no longer than 300 words. Additionally, they specifically request an elaborate cv. I have already written a 1000 word letter for another school, and my plan is to break this text down, select the highlights, and rewrite accordingly. Now here is my dilemma: what do I include and what do I leave out? I am thinking I should just stick to purely answering the "Why" questions: Why this topic? And why at this school? And let my cv speak for my merits. However that has become more difficult than expected. For example, I have done 2 highly relevant internships. Each contributed partly to my motivation for my topic. I guess that's always the case, your motivation is largely made up of numerous small experiences and lessons. I also have one experience/anecdote that very strongly contributed to my motivation and has ultimately been the decisive factor. I think I should focus on this one strong experience, and leave out the smaller ones such as the internships because they are in my cv. But my friends are adamant that I mention these two internships, as my POI zoomed in on them on multiple occasions. But I worry it will take up space I could've used better, or worse, that it might seem like i am just listing my accomplishments. In short, I'm conflicted.. any advice?

100% Agreed. It is good for the soul to know what you haven't chosen. What if you have a rough start at School A? You will likely start wondering what it would be like if you had chosen school B, you'll start doubting yourself and you'll end up unhappy. Knowing exactly why you make a certain choice, will strenghten your motivation and in the end increase your success in grad school. I'd say that is worth $300.

I am sorry but I have to politely disagree with this statement. Self-promotion after failure is a way of handling rejection. People post something like that as an outlet, after which you are able to pick yourself up and try again. One post is not enough evidence to make such a bold claim as "you can't handle rejection". Whenever I see posts like that, I want to pat them on the back and say "It will turn out fine". IMO if someone who complains about their own rejection takes away from your acceptance, maybe you should re-evaluate your reaction to these posts.

are you talking about PhD or advanced Master?

Try working full-time, applying to five schools ánd trying to publish as first author... I still don't know I am going to get it all done.

national anthem

Hey, thanks for your answer. I decided to limit my applications this year to the 2-year programs (incl. top choice), and if I don't get in I will include the 1-year programs as well. That puts a lot of the pressure off, especially with working full-time and trying to publish As for prestigiousness, I am still trying to work out my personal outlook on that

So the boss of my top choice program has basically told me I have >90% chance to be admitted. I only ever wanted to go this particular program, the other four schools I chose were all safety options. This program ticks all the boxes, except one: brand/prestigiousness. The teachers are intelligent and kind-hearted, the classes are small and personal (max 15 people), the curriculum addresses both content and research, and I've just fallen in love with the program overall. Funding is not a criterium because the programs all cost the same. But I've read a lot of threads on this forum talk of the prestigiousness of a university. The safety schools I chose all have the 'prestigiousness'-box checked. The idea crossed my mind to drop the rest of my applications and focus all my attention on my top choice so that I can make it perfect. It would save me a lot of time, stress and money. But there is this tiny nagging thought in the back of my head: what if I have got my priorities wrong and I am severely underestimating the importance of prestigiousness? Am I going to miss out? Will employers choose students from the other schools over me, simply because my school is not well-known enough? I am now applying to 5 schools: should I drop the 4 others and focus all my attention on my top choice? Or maybe drop a few and focus on 2-3? What would be the sensible thing to do? Can someone give some nuance to how important prestigiousness really is in the end?

It doesn't have to be repetitive. If you can justify it for yourself, it's perfectly fine to do 2 masters. But I would wait until after you've finished your first so that you are better able to make up your mind WHY you want to do it. There are lots of reasons, you feel there is a gap in your knowledge; the 2 programs complement each other or work cumulatively; you are aiming at a specific career and the 2nd master would place you ahead of the competition, etc etc. All these are good reasons, you just have to find your own.

My guess is that you would be looking for a degree so that your employees feel they can relate to their manager, and that you are able to speak their 'language' right? Then I would say MPH, as I think you would benefit more from applied knowledge rather than core knowledge, especially in health care.

I am assuming this is because you only need two references? So therefore there might only be two slots to enter contact details. I haven't gone through the entire process yet, so I can't say for sure. I wanted to get all my documents together first, so I could do the entire application in one go. But now I found out that one of my refs basically has no time and asked me to write the LOR myself. So now I have to go do that :/ stresssssss

Ok, my 2cts. Coming from an undergrad in biomedical sciences, I was actually frustrated with my MPH degree. Even though anyone with an undergrad can pursue an MPH, the field is still clearly dominated by MDs. I was frequently annoyed with my MD peers, who felt the need to emanate some sort of superiority, even though they were of similar age and more often than not had less experience. I also don't know why people who in the end studied nothing more than ''applied human biology" suddenly think they know everything about political systems, economy, or any other social determinants of health. (Ok, that last part maybe a bit uncalled for,don't worry about me it will heal with time It is one of the many reasons I am pursuing a second degree in development studies.) I guess I am trying to say is that even though sociology and MPH are an excellent match academically, that doesn't mean that you will feel perfectly at home. I would just advise you to pay attention to this when you make up your mind in the end.

Thanks again! I hope to finish my application soon and join you in the waiting game

Thank you so much for that answer! I had already started to panic slightly haha, I thought I was doing ok with my time management so far! I planned on asking my references today (they are my thesis supervisors and I am in regular contact with them). Could I possibly ask you another question? I am wondering about the required documents for my financial aid application: On the webpage for financial aid, I am given to understand that I should upload a tax certificate AND proof of all other sources of funding. However in the application checklist PDF, it says I should only give proof of all other sources of funding in case I cannot provide a tax certificate? What should I upload? I do not want to make any mistake, and end up with an incomplete application by accident.. any advice?

I am still working on my application so not really an early bird.. but I have a question for you guys!! I only just thought of this: Is the deadline for the referees also january 15th?? Because up until now I assumed that I could just fill in the names of my referees and they would get a notification after the 15th.. I am confused now, please help!

You know the GRE test is not required for your IHEID application?

I'm wondering if you could clarify this for me? What is the concrete difference between a 'purely academic' and a 'hybrid' approach?