HSR_PhD Hopeful

Just received my acceptance to Washu! After a rough morning getting my rejection from Brown, this is quite quite quite exciting!

Just received my acceptance to Washu! After a rough morning getting my rejection from Brown, this is quite quite quite exciting!

Just received my acceptance to Washu! After a rough morning getting my rejection from Brown, this is quite quite quite exciting!

Just received my acceptance to Washu! After a rough morning getting my rejection from Brown, this is quite quite quite exciting!

Just received my acceptance to Washu! After a rough morning getting my rejection from Brown, this is quite quite quite exciting!

Just received my acceptance to Washu! After a rough morning getting my rejection from Brown, this is quite quite quite exciting!

Just received my acceptance to Washu! After a rough morning getting my rejection from Brown, this is quite quite quite exciting!

Just received an acceptance to the University of Oxford for a DPhil in Population Health! I'm shook! I was rejected for the past 3 years from numerous schools. KEEP PUSHING GUYS!

Just got my rejection from Brown's HSR program. This was expected as I wasn't interviewed. 3/4 rejections so far. The 4th will come soon, as I haven't been interviewed there. I'm going to need to regroup and re-strategize for next year's cycle.
I've been working in maternal and child health space for 12 years, am a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, I graduated with my MPH from Johns Hopkins where I won an award for my capstone research project. I worked on monitoring and evaluation of global maternal and child health programs for a few years post-MPH, and for the last three years I've been working as a researcher at a Harvard SPH lab. I have first authored 2 papers, second-authored 3 papers, and am a middle author in some others. I did not submit my GREs unless required. I'm interested in the intersection of MCH quality of care and implementation science. My recommenders are well-known in the field.
I'm writing all of this to contribute to the ongoing conversation on this forum to de-stigmatize rejection. I'm trying to view this as an opportunity rather than a failure. I only applied to schools that were geographically close this year due to covid, so next year I'll get to expand my search a bit more. Hopefully that will make it easier to find a better match.  I'm using this year to regroup, gain more experience, and to identify programs that might be a better fit. (And maybe try for a kid pre-PhD!).
This has been a great forum! It's good to know that there are so many up-and-coming, qualified, passionate public health researchers. We need it! Good luck to you all!

*Brown HSR Rejection Email Arrives*
Me: Proceeds to unfollow every single Brown HSR-affiliated account on Twitter
 
???

Yes we are competing with other applicants in terms of there is a review committee or a group of faculty reviewing our applications and pick the ones to interview/accept. No I don't view other applicants as my competitors because of our unique paths. 
For example, as an asian, I would fight for the rights of under representative minorities, although that means it might work against me, against my personal interests, and some one might take the position that I wanted. But this is what I truly believe in and the science community for sure needs more diverse opinions. This is bigger than me. I truly wish everyone a successful career, in regardless of the application results, because we can success together, in regardless of me getting into Harvard or not. Not getting into any PhD programs does not make me a loser.
 
Also, as an international student, I SO appreciate posts sharing background, info., and results, because it helps other applicants dramatically. When I applied to schools in the U.S., other than U.S. News ranking, I had no other references, no other source of information other than these online forums. None of my professor could provide any advice in terms of picking schools and application tips. This goes the same to many other applicants in the U.S. as well. 

This person is a troll of the highest order. Do not feed.

Yes!! I was wondering how long until something crept from under the toll bridge. Guys, our thread must be really HOT to attract such talent. 
 
Upvote for punctuation and bullet points.  ?

This post makes me sad, it sounds like you are in a bad place right now. But instead of trying to bring others down, perhaps the community can help lift you up? How can we support you?
 
We are all going to end up where we are meant to. More importantly, regardless of where we end up, we all are going to be colleagues. Why not help each other along the way? 

Swag

Salam fellow applicants,
I have been viewing this message board for some time now, and have two questions for the general community:
(1) Has absolutely nobody applied to state schools, or is it a matter of only claiming JHU/Harvard/Yale to show off to the other anonymous posters? Posting your “stats” on page 5 didn’t get you enough of a dopamine rush?
(2) What’s with the “we’re in this together” and “good luck” posts? We’re absolutely not, and we’re competing against each other for limited spaces, respectively. I mean, unless it’s a southern-sweet show of force, then that’s sensible. This isn’t tennis. 
 
Alright, have a nice day. 

Accepted into Penn State's DrPH program. Applied 1/5
 
 

Ok... Anyways, wishing you all the best of luck, online community friends! I know we're all applying to relatively the same programs but I'm rooting for you all and hoping you receive exactly what you need in your life. Trust the universe and the process. 

Hey everyone, on Friday I got an offer to Brown Epi. The letter said they accepted 4 students out of 200. Best of luck to everyone! 

Hi all, I hope you are all surviving this intense application cycle! And a huge congrats to everyone who received a good news so far! I'm always impressed by how accomplished this group is and definitely learning a lot through this forum. I'm also joining the JHU-HPM-reject party eyyy  I know there is still a lot of results to be released, but I've been in a reflective mood thinking about the next cycle because as hopeful as I'd like to be, there is a good chance I'll need to try this again. So, for all those who have conducted interviews thus far, is there anything you wish you would have asked or mentioned during an interview to help you stand out more? Or, if you've already been accepted somewhere, is there something you think helped you stand out during an interview? Thanks a bunch!  

Joining the rejected-by-JHU HPM-track and received-the-Columbia "welcome to Columbia Public Health" message-on-my-application-portal gangs  nice to have solidarity through this misery.

Accepted at Harvard PHS in EH today and Michigan Epidemiology yesterday!! Crashing now from the adrenaline high after seeing the Harvard email! So happy to be getting celebration pizza tonight ?
I also have the same message on the Columbia portal (EHS) but agree it's probably a glitch? A mean one though! I didn't have an interview with them and also have not heard anything since I submitted my app.
Also, anyone in Harvard PHS get word about their advisor?

misery loves company ❤️ 

Welcome to the club!

misery loves company ❤️