ridgey

Don't try to convert them in your actual application. For your own information though, WES (lots of schools use or even require applicants to use these guys to evaluate international applicants backgrounds) has buried somewhere in their website a tool for converting international grades to the US 4.0 system. Have one of your letter writers talk about your performance relative to the rest of the class. If you're applying to a big school that receives lots of applications, the admit committee is probably already aware that different systems grade differently. But it is important to highlight the difference if you think there will be confusion - a UK 80% is a remarkably rare achievement, but would be considered average or worse by an American with no idea how things work elsewhere.

Not exactly what you're after, but the members of the applyingtograd community at livejournal often post their SoPs and other people make suggestions as to how they can improve. So you can see lots of examples. And you'll quickly get an idea of what is considered a good and a bad SoP for different fields - make sure you read the comments too! I think there is an example essay on the website of Berkeley's grad school. It is super intimidating to read though- don't feel liek yours has to be that good - it's clearly up there because it's excceptional.

I've deferred enrolment till next year, and will be reapplying to try to get into a better programme. I also plan to be wandering aimlessly around the world from February till when I start school. This could obviously be hampered by having to give my passport to the US consulate for an unknown length of time. There is information on the web for each consular branch worldwide, saying X days for an appointment and Y days to process applications, but it also says to allow for admininstrative procedures, and for this there is no estimate of timing. How long did it take you to get your visa, from your appointment to when you got your passport back? How did that compare with advertised times?

I'm going to be reapplying to PhD programmes later this year, and one of the major changes I'm making from my previous applications is to talk about my ideas for doctoral research in some detail in my SoP. I'm having second thoughts about this approach, though, because - don't laugh - I'm worried somebody who reads my application might be intrigued by my research ideas, but not my application as a whole, and decide to do the research him/herself. So not only will I be rejected, but I'll have been "scooped". How much detail are you going into in your applications?

I don't know much about your field, but it seems to me that outside of engineering and the like, your GRE should be fine. Of course, I'm going to be a re-applicant, so my insight may be completely off :wink:

If I were on an admissions committee, I would be impressed that someone was willing to work in the field for free. It demonstrates commitment to the field, which is absolutely essential. Keep your ears open inthe department you're working in, and make sure you make small talk with the people from other groups over morning tea and lunch. It's very likely that someone has some (paid) short-term work - data entry/cleaning, recruiting for a study, etc. Don't quit your main project to do it - it sounds like your genuinely involved and contributing which will be valuable for your apps - but it might be a nice break from waitressing and will give you more exposure to the field as a whole. Good luck!

It is a bit of a blow to my ego to have to be reapplying - asking for rec's again etc. I know what was wrong with my SoP and my writing sample; my GREs and GPA were fine. So I'm feeling pretty confident - overly so, in fact. Last time I was very optimistic, but not so confident. A big part of it is knowing the process, and knowing that the world won't end if I don't get the results I'm after. At this point, there is only one school that is getting a second round. So what about you?

Backpacking through South America, volunteering in Central America, job hunting in London, and back to the application process. Stupid lack of stupid funding for stupid visa requirements at stupid schools...

And do you also happen to know how the applicants are distributed?

I think the conditions where you get the "two year" rule exist so that people who get their training paid for with the intention that it will benefit their country actually do repay that investment. Another difference: $20 US SEVIS fee. I figure that if F-1 is the default, and I don't have any particular reason for wanting the J, I'll probably go for the F.

On the paperwork I received from the university, it seems they generally issue F-1 visas, but if I'd prefer I can tick a box and have a J-1instead. The only major difference I've found is that J dependents can work while F dependents can't, but that's not an issue for me. Are there any other reasons to go for the J over the F?

Scopus claims to have 100% medline (i.e. pubmed) coverage - surely they couldn't claim it if it weren't the case. At a job I had a couple of years ago, whenever we did SRs, we generally searched medline, embase, and depending on the topic - psychmed. I couldn't tell you whether we searched both embase and medline purely for methodological rigour or they brought up (substanitally) different articles, because I just used OVID and de-duped. It surprises me that you have to worry about this though - surely your library will have already chosen which databases you have access to through your institution?

After not getting a respone from emailing the programme co-ordinator, I emailed an admin assistant. I got a reply back saying that she thought results would be sent out a few days later. She must not have been sure, because she forwarded my email to someone in admissions at Steinhardt. I got an email back with a PDF of my rejection letter attached that had supposedly been sent a MONTH previously. The letter finally turned up at my house, having gone from NY to New Zealand via Zurich, according to the postmark. Classy.

Yeah, and I do feel ready for it. I had a few years between undergrad and my MPH. I absolutely know I want to do a PhD. Just a matter of whether this is my best option. But congratualtions to all of us - applications are behind us, and we are fortunate that Public Health is actually the best academic discipline in existence!

I've been reading up on Amherst and surrounds, and getting more and more excited. Possibly because it's my only admission, but I'd rather think it's because the area is so darn cool. I'm not ready to burst my bubble with the mundanity of finding somewhere to live just yet. I'll be the one running around frantically the day before classes start, screaming "does anyone need a roommate?"

I got 5/6 rejections. One of those rejections (NYU) annoys me - the school barely even has a Public Health pogramme, and they consider me beneath them?!?! I think that I shot myself in the foot with the majority of my applications. I wrote my SoPs and writing samples in the last couple of days bfore my application deadlines. One of my recommenders told me straight up that he'd be able to write a stronger letter in a year when I had finished chapters of my thesis he could base his comments on. Finishing my MPH thesis would also have upped my GPA. My acceptance is at UMass. Not particularly prestigous; fortunately, I couldn't care less about rankings. The programme requires a minor in a non-PH department, which is perfect for me. They'll get back to me about funding in a couple of weeks. I'm excited, but uncertain whether to take it. Part of me wonders what would happen if I reapplied to my favourite programmes, Hopkins and Columbia, in a year. The application would be stronger for the reasons above, but my interests would still be weird and I'd still be an international student. And I have seen a few jobs advertised recently that would be PERFECT for me, not to mention I have an actual job offer, albeit not so exciting. The thought of choosing to be poor for 5 or so more years is not pleasant. On the other hand, it would be harder to do after a few years with an actual income.

Wouldn't that be nice! I emailed the head of the programme I applied to about a week ago, and received... ...no answer. I told him I have a job offer that needs a response ASAP. I'm taking that as rejection - if they were even mildly interested in me they would have ANSWERED MY EMAIL! The website says all communication is via snail mail. If that's true, and they haven't already mailed my decision, I won't receive it in time to make a decision before April 15th (international + Easter weekend). The other programme I'm waiting for answered my email and was honest that the decisions would be another couple of weeks. Fortunately my prespective employer has allowed me to take until I hear from that programme before I respond.

That sucks! Has your status in AppyYourself changed at all? Do they definitely have your correct postal and email addresses? Unfortunately, you are probably going to have to wait until they deign to tell you something.

I'm still waiting on two, but at this stage of the game it can't be good news. I knew, going in, that I'd be a stronger applicant if I waited a year. But I managed to convince myself that my brilliance would be apparent anyway. Plus, I'm generally impatient. Certainly wasn't expecting 100% rejection.

Assuming, of course, thhat they tell us straight away...

Not the bringer of bad news at all; I got my rejection from Yale near the start of the month. I wish Columbia would get around to it - it doesn't matter in the scheme of things, I guess, since I can infer rejection from their silence. But I do like to have all my loose ends tied up.

Grrr, I can't test the NetID thing because I'm an international and don't have an SS number. I'm not good at waiting patiently. To the person who mentioned their friend got admitted to Public Health a few pages back, do you happen to know what degree that was for - MPH or PhD? Ta!

It's not the embarassment per se that gets me, but the fact that I'll be asking at least a couple of them again in a year or two.

Just wondering whether I'm the only one who flinches when reading comments about how useless adcoms must be for taking so long to notify, or schools are for their bureacracy, or whatever? Yes, I understand the frustration, having heard back from only half the programmes I applied to. Yes, I too paid the outrageous application fees (outrageous because application to PhD programmes is free in most of the world). Sure, there is probably room for more efficiency and transparency in the process. But, seriously, life lesson: the world does NOT revolve around you. Shockingly, university departments have other things going on than just doing grad apps.

Is your app still within Mailman? Or did it go to another non- public health department? Not that it's any of my business, at all, but others' good news is a welcome distraction!