erikw

Crap! I haven't processed anything yet. I am quite worried now. I need to get my act together.

This is a great post. Both my parents are very academic types and they've been great with the admission process, in terms of understanding the difficulties and anxieties inherent. However, money is a bit of an issue and while my parents always try to help out as much as they can, we're not as loaded as some of my other friends are. I go to a university with fairly wealthy kids, but thankfully most of my friends, even the uber rich ones, are very pragmatic and not spoiled. They're great in terms of being ok with not spending 60 bucks on sushi in a week or going to two concerts each month. I've never not had at least two jobs on campus. I earn my own spending money and ergo, have to be a bit frugal. My summer plans differ a lot from those of some of my friends. While my friends are busy planning euro trips, I have to work hard at finding great internships that pay as well. Last year I had to send out over 100 cvs to get a well paying internship at a great university . I have no problems dealing with the fact that I have to work harder than my other friends managing my finances and such. I have learnt great life lessons, have met wonderful ppl on the way,and my resume reflects the fact that I've managed to do my extra-curriculars/research/school work all fairly decently. I have worked hard to get to this stage and that makes me very proud.

I'll be going to Harvard for a MS in Population and Intl Health.

It's a bitch to turn down offers that come loaded with money. My top choice is so much more expensive but hopefully now that they have a better idea of the composition of the class, hoepfully they'll be able to dig into their coffers for me! One of the schools just gave me another scholarship but sadly it is not to be...

University of Calgary while a good school is not particularly known for its comp sci program, not even within Canada itself. In Canada Waterloo is the place to be at for the non life sciences.

I had far worse typos in my apps. In one of my essays the word hitch ended up as b**** and makeshift became makeshit. Needless to say I am still deeply mortified.

If you study from the Barron's Guide you should be fine. The practise exams in the book are way harder than on the actual exam; it helps to go over the word lists as well. Grad schools usually regard low quant scores with a certain amount of skepticism since it's possible to do very well on that section fairly easily. Good luck!

I think relevant anecdotes can be wonderful things but yes, be cautious. I started off with an anecdote and had one more in the body of my essays. I am not sure if they were super cheesy but my friends and profs who read over my essays liked them. It always help to have people in the field read over your essays. They make critical, astute observations which can swing things. Relevance and simplicity are key. The shortest ones are always the hardest to write. Columbia with 500 words and Harvard with 600 words were the hardest to write. Brown has a ridiculous limit of 75 pages Good luck!

Thanks a lot for your advice; it's much appreciated. I sent you an email.

Hi jaw14, Thanks for all your advice. It is most helpful and a bit confusing as well. You know what? I am seriously rethinking saying yes to Hopkins. Harvard might be more expensive but it might just be better in terms of what my interests are. I spoke with Harley Feldbaum and he did concede that Hopkins wasn't the strongest for Policy stuff, but for Epi very much so. I can't apply to the join program -- it's too late. Funding is an issue, they can only fund 2-4 ppl each year. He however encouraged me to look into/apply to the program if I ended up at Bloomberg. It's been done in the past by students. The allure of the practicum requirement is that I get to write my master's thesis on a one year project and might even be hired by the same folks being that I have been around for a year. Also, Hopkins gives students a scholarship to cover their tuition while they do the practicum.For ppl like me doing a year long practicum while still in school definitely bolsters our chances at getting jobs after graduating and gives us a better idea of what we want to do in the field later on. At Harvard, the internship component is just spans the summer so am not sure if that'll help me as much with getting a better idea of my interests. I get the feeling the Harvard program is better for ppl who already have some public health experience while the Hopkins program is for newbies like me and gives us adequate exposure to fieldwork that we lack. I am really not sure if I want a PhD. I am not very academic. Maybe I'll get a MBA after. Who knows? I want to work in the field, be on the front lines, and lead a peripatetic lifestyle at that. I am thinking of going into consultancy at least for the first little while to pay off my debt. The big 5 are definitely in my sights. McKinsey and ilk have been increasingly doing global health stuff which is a heartening development. I also want to get an experience work for the WHO or PAHO. I am curious about the glass ceiling in your specialty that you talk about . Could you please elaborate? What aspect of policy are you explicitly going to focus on during your PhD? Could you also please elaborate a bit about your experiences after college and how they influenced your current choice? (I might as well jusk ask for your personal statement! jk!) If you are on AIM it would be nice if I could chat with you a bit. Thanks.

Hi jaw17, I am just a measely college senior and don't have half as much experience as some of you guys on this board.So I am even more confused. I have been toying with this decision since the end of February and I am still vacillating. Even though PIH is in a state of transition I realize that the dept is very strong in the sort of quantitative stuff I wish to pursue. Jim Yong Kim, Bloom, Mahal and some of the other folks at HSPH and PIH are a definite draw (thank you for providing me with some more names). Last summer I interned at HSPH and became acquainted with their star faculty. I feel more comfortable with even just the idea of HSPH, I really enjoyed my time last summer there.Hence I had a strong Harvard bias to begin with. I have tried really hard to get to know JHSPH better. The program from a purely practical pov combines both my interests at least for the masters level. Plus I get to work for an entire year which is a bonus and very helpful for making contacts and getting useful field experience for young uns like me! What have you heard about the following folks:Hugh Waters, Damian Walker, Tim Baker, David Bishai, Adnan Hyder, Kevin Frick? I have talked to students at both schools and I seem to be getting the image of a happier JHSPH student in the Intl Health Program.However the kids at HSPH who grumbled were unhappy with the focus on quantitative demogrpahic stuff at PIH.But I like quantitative stuff. Finances are quite a bit of an issue. HSPH has offered me nothing. JHSPH is offering me 25 k at the very least and I have been nominated for a full scholarship as well. As far as cities go, I am not a big fan of Baltimore. I have friends who attend JHSPH and while they have been trying to sell me on the idea of Baltimore they have, so far, only succeeded in making me more apprehensive about the city! I definitely want to focus on equity issues, issues of access to medication and to health care in general.I know I sound like a sell out but after I graduate I want to work for the private sector, pay off my student debt and then maybe work for NGOs, think tanks and such.So two years down the line I will be searching for a job and I need contacts. I briefly looked at LSE and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine but I didn't want to make the move across the Atlantic (lame excuse). Thank you for your help. Cheers!

Thanks for your input jaw 17. After having talked to quite a few people I am still confused. It seems to me that Hopkins is stronger for Intl Health stuff while PIH is in a period of transition. And as of now I am not sure I want to pursue a life in academia hence the practical trappings of Hopkins's program in Intl Health Systems appeals to me more. Moreover it combines Intl Health and Health Policy and Management into one while at Harvard I couldn't even apply to their Health Policy and Management program. However the prospect of taking classes at KSG,HBS and FAS is definitely a big draw. I have also heard that Harvard's program is quite academic and right now I want to get my Masters and work in the field wrt to Health care delivery and access issues and then maybe a PhD later or a MBA.Bloomberg is a much larger school with more faculty and operations in the field while on the pther hand Harvard has its strong connections as well. But Hopkins is funding me more than Harvard and expenses are an issue. I do realize that for a PhD Harvard prolly is stronger but do you think I might be disadvantaged in anway in the job market after my MHS from Hopkins instead of my MS from HSPH? Thanks!

I am deciding btw the Intl Health Programs at the two schools. Anyone have any ideas how the two programs stack up? "I am deciding between the Intl Health Programs at both these schools. Ideally I'd like to do something in Health Econ/Policy and then get into Public Health consultancy with a focus on intl projects. Any ideas how the two programs stack up? April 15th not very far away."

For any canadian university McGill has the most no. of American students and also the most no. of intl students. McGill has a way better reputation globally than York or Western or UofT. I had never heard of any Canadian school except for McGill in Asia.Brand names are funny things. There are ppl in Texas I know who have never heard of Dartmouth or Brown McGill punches above its weight especially in the sciences,medicine, law, and music.So entirely depends on your program.

I am most likely going to enroll at JHU's Bloomberg School of Public Health in their Intl Health Systems program. Anybody have any thoughts on housing?