FDawg
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Posts posted by FDawg
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4 hours ago, phdepihopeful said:
Hi all. Long time lurker, first time poster here. Just got my final application result so here's my record for Epidemiology PhD programs:
- UC Davis - Accepted, 2 years of guaranteed funding before needing to find a TA/RA position
- UCSF - Rejected
- Stanford - Rejected after interviews
- Berkeley - Rejected
I'm grateful to have one acceptance during this crazy application year, but like many folks I'm bummed to have been rejected from my top choices. That said, is anyone else thinking about attending UC Davis in the Fall? Or do you have any insight into the program?
Also is anyone thinking about deferring for a year to reapply? Again, I'm not trying to be ungrateful, but I want to make sure I get a good fit for my interests too.
I'd really appreciate any insight!
Hey - congrats on Davis!!! I feel you though. I lived in Davis for a year and actually RAed for an infectious diseases PhD student there. I still keep in touch with her loosely and she's currently working at the CDC. From what I remember, she loved her program and her advisor was incredibly supportive. Sorry I don't have more info on the program, BUT I do have a lot of info on Davis.
First of all, I have to say I ABSOLUTELY LOVE DAVIS. It is a gorgeous little town. So chilled out and beautiful. Summers are HOT but you'll just have to take refuge in Tahoe (1.5 hrs away) and Yosemite (3 hrs away). I've had some of the most positive experiences of my life in Davis, and I was only there for a year.
My brother did his PhD at Davis in Econ. When he first applied, it wasn't his top choice either but 6 years later he is a fancy professor at a liberal arts college and has never looked back. The community he built at Davis are now some of his closest friends (and mine). Also, super fun events that happen during the year (picnic day, tour, farmer's markets). AND Davis is super duper safe.
Hope this helps a bit and let me know if you want more info!
Edit: how could I forget? Davis is the bike capital of the world. Super flat and loads of bike lanes. You should see the bike racks in UC Davis during the semester. Pretty crazy
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3 hours ago, EJ_PhD said:
Congrats on your acceptance! Dr. Jiang He is the department chair so it's nice to be able to work/match with him? I guess the silver lining here is there are several other faculty that may take students (with other interests), unless you have inside knowledge on whether all students have already been accepted to put us out of our misery ?
Thank you! I can't say for sure but my sense is acceptances have already been sent out. I know that admitted students weekend is happening on March 14-16.
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2 hours ago, EJ_PhD said:
Congrats to everyone that has recently heard back from the influx of program notifications (acceptances, interviews, and even rejections to at least bring peace of mind). But has anyone heard back from Tulane's Epi PhD program? They've been radio silent and based on one of their Open Houses, it appears they select a small number of candidates and have a 1-on-1 match with faculty, so curious to see if anyone has matched, and with whom!
Sorry meant to quote you! See reply above.
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1 hour ago, EpiPhD7 said:
Yep, same for me. I do not know why they wait so long to let us know!
2 hours ago, 2021fall phd said:Same... I guess I'm waiting for a rejection.
Hey guys, sorry to be the bearer of bad news - I got my official acceptance letter to Tulane epi on Friday the 5th.
Also, I matched with Dr. Jiang He for the program. It definitely was a very based on fit with faculty as you start your dissertation research like the first week in.
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Just got my official letter of acceptance to Tulane Epi. My only acceptance/13 applications. So excited and relieved. Full funding and stipend email package followed. Accepting the offer now. Other Tulane epis, let's connect!
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Folks, I wanted to share my experience this application cycle so people really know how difficult it was to apply this year. I applied to mostly epi PhDs. Here goes:
Stats: Undergrad GPA 3.8 (well-known foreign school), MPH epidemiology and biostatistics from top 5 PH program (GPA 3.93), GRE: 170V 165Q, 2 years full-time research experience at top 5 PH school, 2 co-author publications, 1 first-author publication. Worked on my personal statement for months and got a lot of feedback. Looking at it now, I still think it was a good one and checked all the boxes you're supposed to check for a statement.
I did all my due diligence with contacting PIs before applying. I must have done 20 meetings. In each meeting, I'd specifically ask the PI if they are accepting PhD students next year, and if they'd feel comfortable with my including their name in my application. I always asked if they had any questions for me, and usually got interview-type questions. I had incredibly positive meetings with almost all the PIs I met with. 2 PIs at Harvard told me they highly anticipate my being accepted into the epi program. One PI at Hopkins who's on the admissions committee said she'd be very surprised if I didn't get at least an interview to the program.
Results season comes around - my first rejection was from Hopkins. What followed was a stream of rejections from "safety" schools and everything in between. My anxiety was through the roof as getting a PhD offer was literally the only way I could stay in the US. I applied to 13 programs in total and finally got one acceptance. The irony was that I hadn't spoken with the PI at all before, and his research has nothing at all to do with my research interests or experience. Don't get me wrong, I'm super grateful to have the offer and will definitely take it. Just wanted to illustrate how odd/difficult of a cycle this was to apply.
Anyway, hope this helps a bit. Congrats to all the folks with acceptances and for the folks with none, you'll come back fucking stronger next year.
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Woooo Columbia epi rejection club!
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7 hours ago, moosepup said:
This is sooooo helpful! Updating the list based on @ASA15's notes and adding Columbia's from their program handbook and what I can remember about NYU. Please feel free to copy this list and add info on other programs!!!
- Brown: 36K guaranteed for 5 years, TA required all semesters
- BU: 36k guaranteed for 4 years, no TA required
- Columbia (Mailman): 35k guaranteed for 5 years, TA required for 1 semester
- Emory: >30k stipend for an unknown duration, (TA requirements unknown)
- Harvard: 36k guaranteed for 4 years, TA required for 1 semester (@hopeful2020PhD please correct me)
- JHU (Hopkins): just tuition guaranteed~24k stipend for 4 years but NOT guaranteed, (TA requirements unknown)
- NYU: 25k??? for 5 years but only for 9 months/year, no TA required (@teabunny do you or anyone else remember the exact amount from the NYU interview day?)
- Penn State Uni: 31k for an unknown duration, (TA requirements unknown)
- Tulane: 25k for an unknown duration, (TA requirements unknown)
- UCSF: ~40k guaranteed for 4 years, (TA requirements unknown)
- U Minnesota: 24-25k for unknown duration, (TA requirements unknown)
- U Penn: 34k stipend for an unknown duration, (TA requirements unknown)
- Yale: 38k guaranteed for 5 years, TA required for 2 semesters
Updating Tulane info:
- Brown: 36K guaranteed for 5 years, TA required all semesters
- BU: 36k guaranteed for 4 years, no TA required
- Columbia (Mailman): 35k guaranteed for 5 years, TA required for 1 semester
- Emory: >30k stipend for an unknown duration, (TA requirements unknown)
- Harvard: 36k guaranteed for 4 years, TA required for 1 semester (@hopeful2020PhD please correct me)
- JHU (Hopkins): just tuition guaranteed~24k stipend for 4 years but NOT guaranteed, (TA requirements unknown)
- NYU: 25k??? for 5 years but only for 9 months/year, no TA required (@teabunny do you or anyone else remember the exact amount from the NYU interview day?)
- Penn State Uni: 31k for an unknown duration, (TA requirements unknown)
- Tulane: 28k for 4 years through RA-ing with advisor, no TA required, tuition, health insurance, fees guaranteed for 4 years
- UCSF: ~40k guaranteed for 4 years, (TA requirements unknown)
- U Minnesota: 24-25k for unknown duration, (TA requirements unknown)
- U Penn: 34k stipend for an unknown duration, (TA requirements unknown)
- Yale: 38k guaranteed for 5 years, TA required for 2 semesters
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3 minutes ago, Going4DrPH said:
I recently spoke to the program director at a school I was admitted to and asked if she had some interesting insights as to why application numbers were so high across programs.
She shared that in her 10+ years on the admin side of the program, anytime the economy is not stable applications go up bc people tend to see it as a good time for skill building. This year it was further reinforced by covid putting the spotlight on public health, and it may have motivated more people to seek out advanced ph training. She said it wasn't just volume that made it so competitive, but that so many applicants were really, really good.
Thought they were interesting insights!
My economist brother said the same! Apparently after 2008, econ admissions went BANANAS for a few years. Other fields experienced a big uptick too. Looks like this year is the start of the same.
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1 minute ago, PhDAPP2021 said:
Hi everyone! The round this year seems so competitive with increased applicants and limited spots. And I was wondering if the next round would be better or be same situation as this year. Any thoughts on it?
I was thinking about this as well. I really don't know if next year is going to be all that different. I can anticipate that all the great applicants from this year that didn't get in will apply again next year along with other great applications. I almost think it could the same or even more competitive next year. What are other people's thoughts?
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On 2/23/2021 at 2:29 PM, EJ_PhD said:
Did you have interviews for the respective programs? I'm still waiting on the Epi program and it's been radio silent
Hi! I've been in contact with my PI from Tulane's epi program. He let me know they recommended me for admission but I haven't received an official offer letter yet. He just updated me that these will be sent out in 1-2 weeks.
PS I didn't interview.
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1 hour ago, HP_2021 said:
Thanks for the info! My email was actually from Tulane HPM. I interviewed about a month ago. This weekend the PI sent me a link with a project I would be working on if I joined their research group. So nothing officially saying acceptance, but sounds promising. I love the research at Tulane so really hoping for official notice from the school soon.
That definitely sounds promising!! Tulane is my only offer right now but glad it is as their program sounds great. Hey maybe we'll meet in person if we both join the program!
- Alexywanna and HP_2021
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17 hours ago, HP_2021 said:
Has anyone received unofficial acceptances from PIs and if so were they clearly unofficial acceptances or did you have to read into it...
Hey! I got an email from a Tulane epi PI after some back and forth saying "we accepted you into our program", but haven't received an official acceptance yet. I wasn't interviewed. I talked to the PI and some of his students and feel excited about accepting the offer, but don't really know where to go from here since I haven't gotten official notice from the school yet...
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I just want to say folks: it seems like we applied to public health PhD programs in the worst year to apply in a long time. That said, if you haven't/don't receive acceptances this year, this is not an accurate reflection of you or your application - it's an accurate reflection of how shitty this year was to apply. And if you've only received 1 acceptance, you should be so fucking proud of yourself. Take care everyone.
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14 hours ago, Rka said:
Not sure. I saw invites were sent around jan 12. Do they send interview invites in bursts?
Hey! I got an interview to Drexel epi PhD yesterday, which would indicate they probably do bursts?
- CatMeow1234, drunkenduck and Joel12
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Hi folks,
I got word over the weekend that Tulane faculty are meeting today to make decisions about epidemiology PhD applications.
- ♀HealthMatters and drunkenduck
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Just wanted to let folks know I got my first rejection from UPenn (epi PhD). I've also applied to Harvard, Brown, Yale, BU, Tulane, NYU, Columbia, Rutgers, Hopkins, Emory and haven't heard back from any. Hang in there!
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Hi!
Looking to apply to epi PhDs for Fall 2021 as well.
Stats: undergrad GPA: 3.8. MPH GPA: 3.93. 2 publications (2nd author) and working on another now as first author. GRE: 164 Q 161 V - thinking of repeating because I'm applying to highly competitive programs (Harvard, Columbia etc) and absolutely need funding. Speaking of funding, is there a list of epi PhD programs that are fully funded?
Thanks everyone and best of luck on our journey!!
- CatMeow1234 and ca_hoya
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PhD/DrPH Applicants: Fall 2021
in Public Health Forum
Posted
Hahaha you got it! Davis will always have a special place in my heart. The advisor was Dr. Christopher Barker. I think his appointment is technically in the vet school but his work is largely in mosquito-transmitted diseases. I also remember he was exceedingly kind to me - at the time a wee undergrad wondering what the heck epidemiology was. Would definitely reach out if you're into ID stuff!