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spatial_epi

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Everything posted by spatial_epi

  1. For those in the decision-making process, I got what I thought was good advice today: Spend a day pretending that you have made your decision and accepted School A. The next day, pretend that you've made your decision for School B. Etc, etc. See how you feel each time.
  2. I know right...the decision process feels even more involved than the application process! Then again maybe I've blocked the trauma of applications from my mind.
  3. I'm struggling with this too, and I have fewer choices than you haha. From everything I hear from others/scouring the internet, it really comes down to what's important to you. Wherever you choose will determine a lot of things about your life for the next 4-5 years. That means location (climate, city), people (faculty, students), stress level (how supportive is the program, how good is the funding, is the environment collaborative or competitive), and probably lots of other things. I found this one article recommending a weighted grading rubric to help decide, which might at least be helpful in terms of organizing your thoughts: https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-simple-tool-that-will-help-you-pick-the-right-grad-school A big thing that I hear from people who have gone through a PhD is that advisor match is REALLY important. You want to have an advisor who you mesh with, in terms of communication and mentorship style as well as research interests. Communication and mentorship style might even be more important, because that will determine how you work together day-to-day. If you can, try to talk to current students who work with your advisor match - they can tell you what working with this person is like. I also think it's fair to ask your advisor how they like to work with students (cadence of check-in meetings, hands-on vs. hands-off approach, etc.). Definitely try to have some face time with them if you haven't already, even if it's over zoom. Also, I think it's important to keep top of mind WHY you are doing a PhD, and how well each program will help you meet your goals. If your goal is academia, does the program have a good track record of postdoc or faculty placements? If your goal is to work for the CDC, is the program supportive of going into that kind of work? How important is reputation for what you want to do afterwards? You have lots of great options so in some ways, you can't go wrong here. At this point, it's just a matter of optimizing your happiness and what you want to get out of a PhD!
  4. Would love to talk about UNC HB! Just messaged you
  5. Oh weird! I did get an email (yesterday) but it was SUPER generic, just that I should check the portal. And it looks like the update to the portal was also made yesterday. Weirdly, what happened to you also happened to me with Johns Hopkins (wait-listed there), and I similarly felt weird about it until the program director reached out lol. Maybe the email doesn't get sent if you happen to check the portal first? Not sure how technically advanced these portal systems are ?
  6. I got into UNC Health Behavior too!! Over the moon, but I didn't get any funding or advisor info...just a generic email and acceptance letter. Assuming those details will be sent soonish?
  7. First acceptance y'all! University of Minnesota Epi PhD program, social/behavioral epidemiology track
  8. Hi all, I've been lurking for about a month and finally decided to say hello. Here's what I've got so far: Rejected: Harvard PHS-SBS (did not interview), UW-Health Services (interviewed, but not surprised at the rejection as I don't think it was actually the best fit) Wait-listed: Johns Hopkins-SBS Interviewed and waiting: UCLA-CHS, UNC Chapel Hill-Health Behavior, CUNY-Epi No word: Columbia-Epi, Berkeley-Epi, NYU-SBS, Yale-SBS And then I sort of have good news from the University of Minnesota Epi program. They don't seem to do interviews, but they're being really transparent about the process, which I love! They were the first school to contact me in January; they told me that I had moved on to the second stage and would now attempt to find an advisor and funding for me. They said they would let me know exactly what stage my application was in if/when I was curious. I reached out the other day and they told me I had an advisor match who was currently awaiting but optimistic about a grant decision. It's nice to be able to see into the process because I imagine similar things are happening with lots of folks on here at other schools - we just don't see it. Given that things could break down at any step of that process, it's good to remember that often these decisions are at the mercy of external factors. Just thought I'd share.
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