[PHD Applicants: Fall 2019]

What competition! Helps put things in perspective, thanks for sharing.

[PHD Applicants: Fall 2019]

Has anyone heard from?

1. boston university epidemiology phd
2. george washington epidemiology phd
3. new york university public health phd

[PHD Applicants: Fall 2019]

20 minutes ago, epi_hopeful19 said:

I think a lot of PhD programs actually cover the same coursework people take during a masters- so in that sense, going straight to PhD means you wouldn't be missing out on whatever masters students learn. As for learning the masters skills elsewhere (research job, fellowship, etc) - I think you could learn some, but not all. I think my masters gave me broad background in public health/epi/biostats. I've used/sharpened some of those skills at work, but don't think working would give me the same breadth of knowledge that the masters did. One consideration if you do wind up with debt from a masters and then do a PhD is the NIH loan repayment program: https://www.lrp.nih.gov/  It provides 35k/year for 2 years directly towards your student loans (given that you meet certain criteria)- I absolutely plan to apply for it post-PhD!

Really helpful! Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm definitely bookmarking the NIH loan repayment program. 

[PHD Applicants: Fall 2019]

On 1/10/2019 at 7:26 PM, epi_hopeful19 said:

I have a masters so I can't say I'm in the same situation, but I do have significant student loans from my masters degree. If you can go straight to the PhD without it, more power to you! Wishing you luck, and fingers crossed  

Thanks!! Do you think you could have learned the skills from your masters elsewhere? I did apply to masters and I'm excited to do one when I don't think of the debt.

On 1/10/2019 at 11:29 PM, SONJAHiver said:

Yale does admit students without a master degree (even students without post-bac research experience), but you should be a perfect fit for the program. 

Ah gotcha..that sounds like a very select few. 

[PHD Applicants: Fall 2019]

Is anyone in a similar boat? I'm applying to PhD in Epidemiology programs without a masters. I want to become a psychiatric epidemiologist, but the field is new to me and I am wary of the cost of masters programs. Most of my background is in psychology and neuroscience (4 years of undergraduate research and 3+ years of full-time research), so it's largely relevant, missing some of the epidemiology/population techniques. It seems like this field is, unlike psychology or neuroscience, largely requiring a masters degree. I had several schools tell me they wouldn't consider my application without a masters, which was disheartening but it makes sense if that's where you'll receive the needed training. Of the few that didn't, I was able to connect with POI's and had good conversations so that was encouraging to apply.