goomba25

My nightmare would be that I submit my apps and hear...nothing. Silence. The apps online all check out, but there's glitch so the app never gets to the right school/department/person/etc, Or, that I get rejected because of something out of my control, like a lack of funding, or profs who are busy, or the whole program being cut in half.

I'd _guess_ Epi has the better outlook. 1) Epi is more quantitative, so people in Epi will be harder to find and harder to replace. 2) There is an oversupply of Health Promo people in the labor market, simply because more PH programs offer health promo than any other concentration and HP becomes the "entry-level" PH track. Note that my views on the labor market do not match what I think is actually needed for staffing. 3) The US Bureau of Labor says Epi has a higher growth rate. Check out what it says for Epidemiologists v. Health Educators. That being said, I'd recommend you focus more on what track comes more naturally to you. The job market for a track in 10 years doesn't help you if you burn out in 3. If you're really split 50/50, then I'd say go for Epi, but try to get some community health promotion experience along the way. There's no reason you can't blend the two, either through an official program or your own path, and I suspect that this blending will be required for future PH practitioners. Feel free to rebut, because I'd like to be wrong. I don't like Epi, but I think I'll have to use a ton of it anyways.

For posterity, clio11 messaged me that "DG" is "Director of Graduate Studies".

Thank you everyone for replying! I've been very busy this past week. Too many things happening at the same time... @runonsentence: Yes, I figured that grad committees wanted to see study potential too. @natsteel: Yes, my internships were either directly or closely related to the program/field I'm applying to. @kitkat: I guess I could ask my letter writers to include their credentials in their letter. Some have masters/doctorates. Also, I didn't know that some schools would be flexible, though my entire application rides on them being flexible about some requirements anyways. @clio11: What's a DG? I can only think of Director-General.

Hello everyone, Most of the programs applying to require 3 LORs from professors. Problem: my strongest letters come from work experience and volunteer/internships. I have strong letters from 1 prof and 1-2 internships/work, probably mediocre from 1 prof and 1 internship. What should I do? Focus on the letters that will make me look the best? Or show that I can follow directions by sending in letters from 3 professors, even if they're not the strongest? P.S.: What are AdComs looking for in a LOR? If they're looking for learning potential, then I may have to use profs anyways. FYI: I'm going for a Master's in Public Health (MPH), though I'm not sure if that matters. Thanks for viewing! Any random thoughts would be appreciated.

@sourpatchkid: Interesting. What was your background that made Anthro more accessible to you? @fumblewhat and pearl421: FYI, Paul Farmer is giving the commencement speech at Georgetown tomorrow. Links: http://ow.ly/4XGL3 Live webcast: http://ow.ly/4OP1l.

Thanks pearl421! I'm really leaning toward Anthro, both because I've never taken a course in it, and also because that's what most people are telling me, both on this board and LinkedIn. It's Anthro 101, but I'll keep an eye out for medical-specific versions later on. How has Anthro helped you at the hospital? I would be afraid of using it because I don't want to guess what a person's culture is and guess wrong.

I've just recently heard about Paul Farmer and his work with PIH. I knew "the man who would cure the world" is a doctor and advocate, but I didn't know he was also a medical anthropologist.

Thanks fumblewhat! You're the second person that's given me good ratings on a medical anthropology course.

Perhaps I should make this more broad. Has anyone taken social science courses before? If so, what would you (not) recommend?

Some of the places I'm applying to require a Social Science course in these areas. As my background is in hard science, I missed out. The ideal choice would give me insight into audience motivations and behaviors, allowing me to better tailor interventions. Assume that all other things are equal besides the course choice. Thanks for all the advice!

It's a mixed bag. On one hand, there are a lot of decent/good programs that aren't CEPH-accredited. Unlike the WASC-accreditation for colleges, not having the CEPH stamp does NOT mean that the school is necessarily a degree mill. On the other hand, if you want to go farther and get into the top positions (e,g, CDC), you need that CEPH stamp. Also, note that your degree is only considered "accredited" if the school was accredited at the moment you got your degree. If it lapsed while you were still in the program or the school was in the process of being reviewed and was accredited the day after you got the degree, it does NOT count. I called CEPH about this. They update their list of schools every July and November, if I remember correctly.

SOPHAS, the public health common app system. 1) Itemize every course you've ever taken at every college and school since freshman year. 2) List months of attendance for every school you've attended. Hmm, I took 2 courses at a local community college during the summer. Did they start in late June or early July? Did they end in late July or early August? Oh no, the course schedules are off line!

Thanks for the advice! I am pretty sure that there are 2 essays required - one for the school-system (CSU Mentor) and one for the common app service (SOPHAS - the equivalent of LSAC, AMCAS, etc). Even if there isn't, I can still use the short one for other things, like job apps.

Here's my question: Would this be a confidential or non-confidential letter? Confidential: You didn't write the whole thing, you wrote the basic outline Non-confidential: You wrote the outline, which may be much like the final product. You saw his evaluation. The issue is whether to be completely honest (non-confidential) or fib (confidential). Since grad schools like confidential letters more, is it wise to write your own letter in the first place?