orangejulius

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*That being said, you have some great things going for you, including a strong masters GPA which proves you can do the work.

Hi there @Rerun You certainly are not alone in this. In fact, I had a laugh when I read your post because you mentioned the Vanderbilt CRA program. A few weeks ago I thought to myself that I was surely the *only* person that program rejected. This process is equally competitive and stressful and from what I have heard, even more so for international applicants. That being said, you have some great things goes for you, including a strong masters GRE which proves you can do the work. I was glad to see this post, as this year I applied to a few of the programs you are considering, so I am happy to provide a little feedback. However, as others have said, I am by no means an expert, but I have learned a bit from my experience. Community Health Education UMass Amherst, Social and Behavioral Science at Harvard and Brown, Global Public Health NYU, Sociomedicine Mailman Columbia, Mental Health John 1. GRE - while some of the programs you listed may not have an "official" cut off, let me tell you there is a strong evidence for an unofficial cut off. For example, until recent years Vanderbilt's cut off was a 314 and above. Though they used to tell people with a GRE below 314 to "improve their score and then apply" (aka don't bother), I still feel this is an unofficial criteria and may be used as a standard for making admission decisions. Other schools with high applicant pools (Harvard, Brown) may use the GRE as a sorting tool (top applicants, second pool of applicants, etc). 2. There are a few programs you listed that are in schools of public health, coming from a psychology background make sure you have taken both biostatistics (2 semesters if you can, but definitely one) and epidemiology. I also came from a community psych (MS) background and applied to public health programs, I was told to make sure I had those classes completed before I applied and I feel like it was worth the money and time investment. 3. Research - Are you on the SCRA list serv? If so, there's occasionally information about early career or student practicums with the different subcommittees (like the School intervention or policy committee). The practicum is a volunteer position and can be done remotely. The curriculum often includes with the opportunity to collaborate with a mentor on a project, which depending on your advisor, you can work to present or publish. It looks like you are open to expanding your search outside of Boston, which I think will be quite helpful. You may also want to look into: Northwestern- Integrated Health Sciences, Emory - Behavior Science and Health promotion, Georgia State - Community Public Health (MPH + PhD program), University of Toronto - Social Justice studies, UMass Boston - Global Inclusion and Social Development, UMass - Social Justice Education, and the Washington University in St. Louis public health program has a big social justice and community focus. Your dedication to achieve your goal despite the challenges is admirable. I am confident your hard work will be recognized. Best of luck to you!

Aww, nerves are the worst!! Where is it? (if you feel comfortable sharing). It seems like you've really prepped - you've got this! I just received a rejection from Vanderbilt's Community Research and Action program. But, oh well, at least I know

Vanderbilt - I heard first round invites went out for CRA

I'm sorry to hear, I know it's tough. I hope you get some better news soon.

Community Research and Action. Crickets so far ?

My thoughts exactly!!!

Hi all! I hope everyone is managing the stress now that notices are starting to pick up. Has anyone heard from Georgia State - Community Psych or Vanderbilt - CRA? I saw a few invite invitations for GSU clinical, but haven't seen anything for community.

If you don't mind sharing, which program did you apply to?

looks like one result is up on the results page.

Hey - I saw someone posted results for the CRA program on the results section. If you happen to see this, could you please PM me. Thank you I would really appreciate it.

Have you heard anything from Vandy? Did you apply PhD or M.Ed? I applied there as well and haven't heard anything yet.

nada! Based on posts from past cycles, I'm in the "invites sent zone", so my nerves have certainly spiked ?

Hey y'all (greeting seems appropriate for Vandy ?) , Just checking in to see who all has applied to Vanderbilt Peabody this cycle and what you've heard since applying. I applied to the CRA program. Best of luck to everyone!

The UNC-Charlotte program seems awesome! Best of luck to you! Keep us updated

By the way, have you heard anything from Vanderbilt?

Congratulations!! That's wonderful news. Hopefully more good news keeps coming in (for all of us!). Thank you for posting an update, let us know if you hear more

I applied to: Vanderbilt's Community Research and Action program, Georgia State's Community Psychology program, and the University of Cincinnati's Community and Organizational Research for Action program. Not a peep yet, but keeping that hope alive!

Has anyone received an interview invite yet?

I applied to the Georgia State Community program, maybe we will both end up in Atlanta

Hi everyone! Anyone else out there applying to community psych programs this cycle? It's a small field, but there must be a few of us out there

I applied to the Vanderbilt Peabody CRA program (PhD). Happy to see a few other Vandy people on this thread

Hello! I applied to the CRA program (PhD). I reached out to a few faculty prior to applying and received helpful, encouraging responses. Since submitting my app, I've received two mass e-mails from graduate admissions, but that's it. How about you?