salome

Hi XOwlfan, I was accepted to JHU's health policy & mgmt dept. with no funding the first two years (75% tuition remission years 3-5). I also asked about RA/TA-ing and they said that while there are plenty of opportunities, they don't recommend doing it the first year given the intensity of the curriculum. I'm also not sure how much of a dent that would put in the tuition anyway. I was given all this info when notified of the acceptance. If they haven't give you any information on funding yet, I would definitely ask. I'm planning to call the financial aid office week to get additional details on my options--I'll let you know if I hear anything interesting. Good luck!

Thank you all so much for posting. I am considering whether or not to start a PhD program this fall. My husband and I would like to have a child in the near future, so school and baby would inevitably overlap. He also might be going back to school within this time frame as well. How do you get a sense of whether or not having a baby would be frowned upon by the dept without raising any eyebrows? I don't want to get off on the wrong foot and it seems a little awkward to bring up the topic with professors/an advisor/current students/etc. that I haven't even met yet...

I don't think you should be worrying at all. You applied the programs in January so you're probably not in the first batch they looked at...for example, I heard from GPPI already but I also applied Dec. 1st so I was probably in the first group they considered. Don't worry--I'm sure you're fine!

Thanks for the input!

I think you're right that it'll depend a lot on the program and applicant. However, I think that particularly relevant work experience (work specifically in the field of policy you're interested in) may stand out more to admission committees than great GRE scores, GPA, LORs. An MPP is a professional degree so having that professional experience is important. It would demonstrate that you know specifically how you would use this degree post-graduation.

I'm curious what people think about the marketability of a PhD in health policy as opposed to an MS or MPH. There has been a lot in the news lately about humanities PhD graduates having a hard time post-doc with few academic positions available. I'm not interested in academia...more interested in working for the fed gov't but a search of USAjobs seems to indicate there's not much out there. Is this because most of these health policy research/analyst positions are in the private sector as this work is contracted out more and more often? If that's the case, do you think this trend will continue? I applied to all Master's degree programs and one PhD program (sort of a whim) and surprised myself by getting into the PhD program. I love the program and would like to attend but I want to make sure I'm not putting myself in a bad position post-graduation for jobs. Thoughts? Thanks for any advice!

I haven't heard anything either and I submitted in early Dec...maybe we'll hear this week!!

Anyone have any idea of when we should be hearing back from GPPI? Their website says 4-6 weeks after submission of application but I've been waiting for longer than that now. Anyone else in the same boat?

I think if your score is the average of the last year's incoming class, you're probably fine. I'm in sort of a similar boat. I took econ classes my freshman year and did not do well. My GRE quant score is only 10 pts above the median of one of the schools I'm applying to and the admissions officer I spoke with seemed to think that this would still demonstrate that I was capable quantitatively. If you're worried though, one way you could strengthen evidence of your quantitative abilities is by taking an econ or stat class at a local community college or online. Then, you can include supplementary information in your application that you're taking this class and can send an update of your grade once you complete the course. I was also told that sometimes schools accept applicants contingent on them completed a certain course (i.e., micro econ) prior to september. It sounds like you've taken at least one course though since you say "without a substantial number." If you did ok in it, that would also demonstrate quantitative ability. Anyway, good luck!

Sorry for that blank reply--apparently, I don't know how to use this system! I'm applying to MPH, MPP/MPA and one PhD program this fall, with a focus on health policy. My background/stats are pretty similar to yours. I have no idea if we have a shot at the top PhD programs, but my impression is that research experience will really help. One of my former coworkers applied directly to a PhD program in public health, with her work/research experience substituting for a Master's, and is currently a grad student at WUSTL. So I figure we might as well go for it. I'm curious about your publications--are these in peer-reviewed journals? Mine are policy briefs printed and distributed by the research organization at which I worked, so I'm not sure if they "count." Thoughts? As background, all were produced with funding from an agency under the US Dept. of Health and Human Services and this agency has them posted to its website. In terms of how competitive these programs are, I'm in the same boat of not really knowing. From what I've read on other message boards, MPH programs aren't as selective as other professional degrees programs (i.e. law school), but besides Columbia, most schools don't seem to post much information on who they accept from the standpoint of GPA, GRE scores, etc. Anyway, good luck!!!! Just wanted to let you know someone else is out there, although I don't know if my comments really answered your questions...

I'm applying for Master's degree programs. At this point, I have a former professor (from the area in which I majored, which isn't totally related to the degree) and a former employer who've agreed to write letters of recommendation. The former employer is from a research organization that is directly relevant to the degree programs to which I'm applying. For my third recommendation, I'm torn between asking another person from my former job at the research organization (because it's so relevant to the graduate programs) or my current supervisor here in the Peace Corps. I feel like the latter would give the letters a more well-rounded feel and I don't want to be repetitive with two letters from the same job. However, I'm not sure how my supervisor in the Peace Corps program can really speak to my academic ability to perform in this type of graduate program. Oh, and another professor is an option but she would be from an unrelated discipline (again, from my major). Suggestions? Thanks!

I found the Barron's book really helpful. Its quantitative section helped me to divide my study time (I was also working full-time while studying for the GREs) into doable increments. I ended up working around 30 min a few nights a week using this book and felt very prepared when I took the exam.

My second post of the day--I have a lot of questions! I'm curious what people's opinions are about how specific you need to be in a SOP for Master's degree programs. Most of the previous posts here seem to be PhD-focused so I didn't find quite the answer I was looking for while browsing. I, for example, am applying to policy programs with a focus in health. Within the realm of health policy, I have a variety of interests ranging from health IT and chronic disease management to health disparities and access to care. I planned to discuss my experience with 2 or 3 of these topics in the SOP. However, I get the sense from the posts I'm seeing (although maybe these are more for PhD apps) that I'm supposed to develop a very specific research question, regardless of whether or not I end up pursuing that topic in a Master's thesis. So, my question is: how specific does one really need to be in a Master's SOPs? Thanks!

Thanks for the advice and encouragement!

This is a sort of a me-specific question but hopefully, it'll help someone else out as well who happens to be in a similar predicament. I want to get a Master's degree that'll help me improve my skills in health policy research and program evaluation. The best schools in my region (I'm limiting myself geographically bc I'm married) offer MPP programs in which you can focus on health; the MPH programs just aren't that great. I have 3 years of work experience in health policy and will soon have another 2 in the Peace Corps (so not totally relevant) but my undergrad grades in key classes relevant to policy work (economics and other quantitatively-based courses) are the worst I received in college. Should I reconsider applying to MPP programs given their emphasis on quantitative skills (my GRE quant score was 740)? Are B- grades in intro micro and macro economics my freshmen year going to ruin my chances of getting into a good program? Since most of my undergrad courses were in anthropology, public health and Spanish, I don't give the MPP admissions committees much else to look at for a sense of my quantitative ability. Thanks for your suggestions!