ianmleavitt
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Posts posted by ianmleavitt
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5 hours ago, boisdejasmin said:
I had my interview with GW - Health Behavior today and I felt like it went well - my panel was pretty big so those 20 minutes went very quickly. One professor wanted to follow up with me so I'm looking forward to that next step. Overall, GW was very friendly and I'm excited to see where this goes.
Always fun to get it over with, that's for sure! How many people were on the other side of the screen? I'm interviewing for their PhD program on Monday and wondering how many faces to expect...
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2 hours ago, west_k said:
Ugh I had technology issues during my Skype with UNC!
Which schools did you suffer through it with? I'm sure it still went great!
It was my first one with Harvard this afternoon. Apparently, my microphone would just stop transmitting. Had to play the "hang up and call back" game a few times!
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Here's to technology issues during Skype interviews!
Thankfully we worked it out, but never a fun moment (or two, in my case).
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Skype interview request just came through for the Social and Behavioral Sciences in Public Health program at George Washington University. 3 interviews over 5 days should prove fun!
Now just waiting to hear anything at all from UNC's Health Behavior program...
- MarylandGirl, hccgrl and jjj02027
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6 minutes ago, 00ber said:
That's awesome! I applied to this program but a different track and I've had one Skype interview. Just curious, are both of your Skype interviews with POIs? Or faculty in the department that are not your POIs, but likely on the Admissions Committee?
Good luck with your interviews!
One is with a POI I identified in my SOP. The other has research interests that are moderately in line with my own, but is not somebody I had previously identified.
3 minutes ago, pkv said:Same here! Two interviews, one with one of my POIs.
Glad I'm not the only one!
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Just got an email from Harvard's PHS program asking me to do a second Skype interview with a different individual the day after my first interview next week. The way I'm looking at it, it's double the opportunity to impress and find out more in-depth details about the program and individual research interests.
Has anyone else who applied to Harvard's PHS program had a similar request?
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@jjyyg Not who you quoted, but my interview is with my POI that I mentioned in my statement of purpose. For what it's worth, I both emailed and spoke with him over the phone before submitting my application to ensure he would have funding and that I felt the match would be good. Had you spoken to any of your POIs prior to applying? Does the interviewer have any research interests that match up with you at all? Perhaps they are part of the AdComm...
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Are you looking at an MPH, PhD, or DrPH?
There are some programs that are MPH to PhD programs, more specifically designed for people who haven't completed much employment or coursework in public health previously. That may be your best bet.
Having an MA in an unrelated field doesn't reflect poorly, whatsoever...if anything, I would say it is a benefit. You've shown that you are strongly capable of graduate level work (given your GPA and GRE scores), which any admissions committee surely wouldn't be upset about.
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3 hours ago, pkv said:
Yesterday, I received an invitation for a 30-minute phone/Skype interview for the SBS/PHS program at Harvard.
A buddy of mine who applied to the same program was also invited yesterday.
Just received the invitation myself for a Skype interview over the next two weeks for Harvard's PHS program, concentrated in Social and Behavioral Sciences. Already had a half hour phone discussion back in November with my POI, so looking to expand on that more!
Good luck to you!
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1 hour ago, west_k said:
Anyone know what to expect in these interviews? Specific questions to expect or good ways to prepare? This will be my first one!
Congrats! I'm still waiting to hear back from that program at UNC. As for the interview: Sell yourself! Why are you a good match for the program, and why is the program a good match for you? Why do you want to do a PhD? I put a few links below that may help as well...
https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/99845-interview-prep/?tab=comments#comment-1058533641
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vP09ltqHSCJNgqcB0NmIGRsW1LjkM_6W_uVehDYeuBk/edit
1 hour ago, travelmug1Q84 said:Just curious as I'm seeing these posts about interviews--do all PhD programs do interviews with potential graduate students? I'd imagine not, but what do you think the ratio of interviewing to non-interviewing grad programs is?
I would think that the strong majority of programs do interviews of some type, whether it be in person or over the phone/Skype. After all, you can only get so much of a feel for a student from what they wrote down and submitted. Perhaps lesser caliber programs don't do interviews as often, but I'd think even then you might find a 50-50 split.
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6 hours ago, PhMe said:
Same here! got it this morning. Now, i feel stupid for spending so much time recording that video for the application!
Oh goodness, I didn't even record the video; I did the text entry option. I found it a little bit ridiculous they even wanted a video (and also don't have a laptop with a camera). Perhaps why they didn't move on with me...
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Got my first rejection! Emory just emailed it out for the Behavioral Sciences and Health Education program.
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51 minutes ago, ceterisparibus9 said:
Should a longer wait for programs be directly proportional to nervousness?
Anyone know how the adcomms process apps? It seems like they meet for like one person at a time, given the results tab on gradschool cafe. ..
To your first point, I wouldn't say so. Don't go overthinking the process; Historically (from last year's data), Epidemiology programs don't start sending PhD interview notifications until the tail end of this week, at the very earliest. Sure, there are two Epidemiology interview postings in the Results section already this year, but those are the outliers to the norm.
Adcomms have changed over time, seemingly. No longer do they have to meet with stacks of papers to go over each student (though, some still may). As most everything seems to be submitted electronically, packets can be reviewed at each committee member's own pace (should they not meet together for each review process). I've heard of some adcomms that let individual reviewers make decisions, while others still centralize everything.
While the following link is regarding MS programs, the author states that much could be extrapolated to the PhD process as well: https://www-cs.stanford.edu/~rkarthik/DAGAP.pdf
Also, there was a book published within the past few years titled Inside Graduate Admissions: Merit, Diversity and Faculty Gatekeeping...if you really want to dive down the rabbit hole.
Remember a few things: For programs that you applied to with a December 1st deadline, schools need to let you know before April 15th if you've been accepted (at least, I believe this holds true). That's more than 3 months away! Historical data can only predict so much, so sit back, relax, and breathe. For the time being, everything is out of your hands. Also, not everyone who hears from programs posts on the forums/results/visits this website. So, there may be three or four people who have heard from the Harvard Epidemiology program rather than the one individual currently listed, but we'll never know. You'll drive yourself crazy if you try to keep tabs on every single person passing through the gates, so to speak.
- marval13 and ceterisparibus9
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57 minutes ago, tiyapakhi said:
Anybody know when people have heard back from UCLA or Univ. of Southern California? Thanks!
You can search past results here: https://www.thegradcafe.com/survey/
There's a search bar at the top where you can type in both your school and program to find more information on past years.
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12 minutes ago, ceterisparibus9 said:
Anyone else apply to, and hear from, UNC, Brown, or Tulane?
These are my top choices and I am getting antsy despite the earliness
Looks like, based off of results from past years, you'll hear back (potentially) about interviews from UNC in late January/early February, Brown in mid/late January, and Tulane in late January.
I'm paying attention to a slightly different track (health behavior) from UNC, but I'm not expecting anything until late January. They're just getting back from winter break, so their adcomms are starting their sorting process (I would assume).
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1 hour ago, storm_jonas said:
For anyone applying to UNC - are interviews optional and are people planning on doing one? I'm guessing it helps to do an interview if you can find a way down to Chapel Hill?
Not sure how it is for Epi, but I know for Health Behavior that it's possible candidates may be asked to do a Skype interview.
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On 12/24/2017 at 3:49 PM, ceterisparibus9 said:
Hello all!
So as I wait to hear back from PhD programs on admittance/rejection, I am back home twitting my thumbs for 6-8 months. Any advice on things to do (even just quick daily exercises) to stay sharp and prepared to go back into work mode? I am struggling not to be lazy at home and need some direction haha
Thoughts I have already circulated and pursued:
1) Working with local department of health (no response in two weeks).
2) Applied to local research hospital for project work (hard given my timeline).
3) Try to work on manuscripts with old professors, but no one seems up to it and I live in another state now...
HELP!
I would just try to stay on top of current research being published in the field that you are interested, and perhaps take a free online class or two to brush up on topics you may be rusty on. Beyond that, there isn't much you can do aside from what you've already mentioned.
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8 hours ago, ewriad18 said:
Hi all,
I recently was accepted to the University of Gothenburg in Sweden for a joint PhD project between there and UCLA Fielding School. I HIGHLY encourage you all if you are unsuccessful or do not get the stipend you want to consider European/Scandinavian schools. Although the process is a bit different, I'm going to Gothenburg with all tuition and fees paid and $40,000/yr salary. In most Scandinavian schools PhD students are considered more of junior researchers/junior faculty rather than students, so you get a lot more benefits and opportunities for growth, research abroad, etc.
Congratulations on that! I had thought about applying to both European and Canadian programs as well, but ultimately decided that I have a significant number of reasons to stay here in the States.
Just hit the last submit button on my applications this morning. Now, we wait.
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On 10/19/2017 at 11:11 AM, ewriad18 said:
I'm applying to 11 programs with the hope that someone will accept me! I haven't submitted my applications as I was waiting to hear back from professors but think I may submit in the next week or so anyway.
I personally am cautious to this approach, as one of the most important things when you're deciding on your program is faculty match for your future research. I wouldn't want to feel as if I'm applying just "with the hope that someone will accept me."
Do you feel as if you have gotten good feedback from the programs/potential mentors that you have contacted?
I suppose another way to state it is, are there any programs to which you are applying that if you were rejected, you would say "oh well, there wasn't really a good faculty match there?" If so, I wouldn't even bother applying...wasted time/effort/money to do that to yourself!
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1 hour ago, west_k said:
For the statements of purpose that request research topics you may want to pursue, how specific are you all being? I don't want to be too vague and sound like I have no direction nor do I want to be too specific and possibly eliminate myself.... Any guidance?
I broke my research topics down into their five distinct categories, which all relate to one another in some semblance. For each topic, I'm providing 3-4 sentences on why it is important, what direction I'd like to go with the research, and/or what background I already have in the area and how I'd like that to grow further. I then finish it all off with a research narrative (of sorts), demonstrating how the topics are all intertwined and important to one another.
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Delayed response, given you posted back in July, but...I think it's going to be hit or miss depending on the caliber of the program and that of the other students applying. Obviously, having research experience gives a leg up because it shows someone is truly interested and that they are at least moderately capable of handling research work.
You'll just need to justify within your statement of purpose why, without research experience, you are still a great match for their program and that they should want you. Focus on any experience even slightly relatable to research work, or pieces of past jobs that are similar to what you would be doing in your research.
Also, you say you're in your second year of your MPH right now. Use this time to get some research experience...any at all. Maybe your mentor or one of your professors is working on some research right now? See if you can get involved, even minimally. Perhaps you'll be included on the groundwork side, or helping with writing an abstract.
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On 10/9/2017 at 3:18 PM, jjj02027 said:
Just to jump in on this.
I decided to contact professors only 2 weeks ago, and overall, it has been useful. I've chatted informally with a professor regarding research fit, whilst others have replied with short emails saying they'd consider me once I am accepted onto the course. I've also had several replies saying that they do not supervise PhD and directed me to another professor/department with potential research fit. A soft reminder after 2 weeks definitely helped with response rates. All in all, I would say there is no harm in reaching out.
On a separate note, I was wondering what everyone's plans were for funding arrangements? As an international student, I am a little worried about the lack of secure funding opportunities...
Have two phone calls scheduled for further talks myself after some soft reminders, so I'm in agreement with you1 As for funding, I'm not 100% familiar with all of the programs that you're applying to, but I feel as if most would guarantee funding for at least the first two years, if not all four. After all, any program worth its weight won't burden you down with loans or leave you hanging in the breeze. Probably the best way to look at programs (which I've seen elsewhere on these boards) is which of the programs will fully fund you and is the best fit? That's your top choice.
On 10/9/2017 at 3:22 PM, jjj02027 said:Ended up applying to the following:
Harvard, JH, UNC, UCSF, Columbia, NYU (All Epidemiology PhD) & UCLA (HPM PhD)
I'm impressed you've already gotten your applications in! I'm still slogging through mine.
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On 9/28/2017 at 6:59 PM, eek_ said:
Thanks all!
Have you all had much luck reaching out to professors you'd like to work with our department heads? I'm not quite sure what to expect or the etiquette/protocol that it entails. Is this something you HAVE to do? Is it encouraged? Does it not really matter? I hear mixed things!
Typically, most programs will stipulate if you need to reach out beforehand or not. Even if they don't require it, most will still recommend you do so. After all, you don't want to end up at a program where you don't have a good mentor match.
I've gotten a few responses so far, still waiting on some. If you don't hear back, it's okay to send a small note off about 2-3 weeks later. Professors are often busy and miss/forget about some emails.
PhD applicants: Fall 2018
in Public Health Forum
Posted
Had two interviews via Skype last Thursday and Friday. I'm expecting they'll send out acceptances/rejections some time during the week of the 18th-24th. Perhaps sooner though!