sfu4mph
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Posts posted by sfu4mph
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As my name implies, I'm attending SFU's MPH program in the Fall. Anyone else???
Hi there,
Just trying to find others who will be starting SFU's MPH program in the Fall
Cheers
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The biggest factor in finishing a dissertation or thesis is PERSERVERANCE. Yes, writing is definitely a skill, but as you noted there are books and peers to help, and that's what your committee is for. It definitely helps to have had the master's experience of writing a thesis, or writing experience, such as for peer-reviewed publications, and knowing what you would do differently with a PhD, but it's by no means insurmountable.
One thing I would recommend, not from personal experience, but having seen it many times, is if your committee is more trouble than help, change the members (one or more of them) sooner rather than later. And I don't mean they shouldn't challenge you, but if the dynamics aren't there early on, they won't be a few years down the road.
Remember, if it was a piece of cake, everyone would have a PhD.
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To my fellow SFUers:
I finally received the formal offer from the SFU's Director of Graduate Admissions and Records. It had the link to pay the deposit ($250). Just thought I'd post this to alert anyone who hasn't received it that it should be coming soon.
Cheers.
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Congrats on UBC and UVic! It's good (but somewhat stressful) to have choices. When I was trying to decide between UBC and SFU I did up a table too. I have to admit SFU is a bit slooooowww. But as long as we're in the same boat, I'm okay with that.
My advice - go with your heart/gut. Either one (UBC or SFU) is a great choice. And until you have to put your money down, don't rush.
It's too bad there's isn't more funding out there for MPHers. Most universities favour the research students.
All the best to EVERY new MPH student out there! Cheers.
Agreed. I just got off the waitlist at UBC, and now I'm considering it all over again. Part of that is my frustration with SFU's process. I mean... I got into UVic last week and got official forms in the mail this week. After I'd declined the offer.
I'm making loads and loads of pro and con lists to try and figure out what to do. Until I have to sign forms and make a deposit for SFU, I feel like I have the right to change my mind.
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SCHOLARSHIPS for ALL SCHOOLS?
Previously some people on the list have mentioned that they received scholarships (between $3000 - $5,000) from UBC.
Has anyone from other schools received scholarships? And if so, for how much? Just curious.
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Have any of my SFU future colleagues received FORMAL letters from the Dean's office with information about paying the $250 deposit? If not, would you kindly post when you do receive the letters? I will do the same when I receive mine.
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Unfortunately, it's only MPH wannabes who are on here (generally).
I need some perspective from people who are in/have graduated from U of T MPH in health promo or SFU MPH in Global Health. What was your experience like? Where do you plan to go in your career after, and do you think the school has positively impacted your ability to reach your career goals?
I can't decide between the two programs. Any advice would be helpful
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Not a problem. I'm just glad they've started moving on this stuff. I'm in the population health stream too, so I guess I'll be seeing you in September unless SFU changes its mind about me
In which case, I'm in trouble since I've declined UBC. Sorry to worry you! I was accepted to the Population Health stream. I'm sure others will come out soon. It was a totally generic letter. We just need to inform by April 27.
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Uh Oh! Okay. Now, I'm worried. Did anyone else from SFU get their formal offer of admission? What stream were you in? At least, you can rest now/concentrate on other things. I looked at UVic, but the fact that they limited one's CV to a few pages was enough for me not to bother. And it's brand new so that's another major downside.
We did it! Just got mine!
5 minutes before that, I got an email from UVic saying that they still haven't made any decisions. Did anyone else apply there? Did you find their bureaucracy totally insane?
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Try to chill. We're all in the same boat (I'm assuming). We'll bombard them Monday if we haven't heard anything by then.
OKAY I'm officially done checking my email compulsively every 3 seconds to see if I got the email.. UGH. CMON SFU.
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Thanks for the info. Just getting a scholarship for a professional degree (anywhere, including UBC) is quite an accomplishment in Canada. Most go to PhDs or research masters. You must have quite the impressive CV?? Congrats (even if you decline it). Which uni are you leaning towards? I'm assuming you must have accepted or declined UBC's offer by now? They wanted me to let them know a month ago, but extended it a bit.
Hey, I am not the original poster, but am among those accepted to UBC with scholarship. Mine was for just under 5000, so not that much considering living expenses!
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Hi Anastasia HF,
As with the other respondent to your question about why SFU over UBC for me: I, too, went to UBC and actually worked there, so for me it was a bit of the "been there; done that" phenomenon. I'm looking to expand my opportunities and experiences. I think UBC is great; it's one of those big name schools in Canada and is known internationally. It's very strong on the quantitative side which is actually what I'm interested in, but SFU has those courses too. I actually think that sometimes the smaller universities try harder because they don't have the cache that the big ones do. You're less of a number. Also, SFU's FHS currently doesn't have any PhD students, and grad schools are very hierarchical which likely changes next year at SFU. So schools tend to favour, although not on purpose, students at the highest level, so at UBC I'd be competing with PhDs in epi or research-based masters students for 'attention'. Also, under the Western Deans' Agreement you can take courses at UBC if there's really something there, but not at SFU. SFU's program is more established and accredited. It is more work though since SFU requires a project or thesis which is only 3 or 6 credits respectively, but a lot of work. So for that, I would suggest to all students to try and do something publishable. Also, SFU has required seminars on public health practice and practicums which you only get one credit for, but, I'm hoping, are focused on practice and less theoretical than a traditional graduate course tends to be. So that will be, I'm expecting, another couple of hours a week the first year. I'm assuming you know about tuition differences (UBC is cheaper for domestic, but more expensive for international than SFU), and the location of UBC is preferable, but both campuses aren't really close to downtown Vancouver (20 to 40 minutes). It's all a personal choice. It's not as if your career aspirations would be in jeopardy if you chose one over the other. All the MPH schools in Canada are good, and a graduate education is affected much more by the student's initiative than the school itself. They will all have their good points, and their downsides. It was a difficult decision for me too, and it's all depends on the individual. I hope this helps and isn't even more confusing for you. (And thanks for answering my McGill question). Cheers
Hey SFU4MPH,
I have a friend who got accepted to the new MScPH @ McGill, and has taken the offer. I know someone else who got waitlisted there and is waiting to hear back. My friend who chose McGill said that one reason why she made the choice was that she was told that they're applying for accreditation (and once it's approved, it's valid for graduates up to 3 years back).
Also, if you don't mind me asking (I just got an email from UBC saying that I may receive a spot in the next few days), what tipped you towards SFU over UBC? I'm leaning that way as well, but since it's kind of hard to find info about the programs beyond the general FAQs, I'm still a little bit tentative.
Same question, I guess, for anyone else making that choice.
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Thanks for responding. I do know that UBC's SPPH is very strong in epidemiology. I'm not familiar with U of A, but many of the UBC MPH core courses are focused on epi, and they have many more electives (you might want to check out UBC's MSc and PhD in epi). They have to do additional epi courses. You could do those additional courses as electives. Also UBC has a very good international reputation. It's probably better known than U of A. I'd also check out things like tuition. UBC is actually quite a deal (very good quality for the price), and you've got a scholarship there! Even that on the CV is a benefit. I hope that I'm not complicating your thinking. Best of luck to you in your studies.
It's $3000. It's a good offer, which is why I'm really considering going there. Comparing UBC and U of A courses, though, I think U of A gives a better focus in epidemiology.
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That's okay if I didn't get into U of T. It was my third choice anyway (SFU and UBC were 1st and 2nd respectively, and both offered admission to me). I'm a little skeptical of a program that makes students wait so long anyway. And someone else posted on another stream that having to wait so long for U of T, but finally being accepted this time last year, should have been a sign of things to come. Ouch!
hey u of t mphers...
i got into u of t epi this week. so if u haven't gotten it yet, i don't think you will
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Congrats on getting a scholarship and being ranked so high at UBC. May I ask how much the scholarship was for?
Thanks for starting/contributing to this topic! I've had a lot of difficulty finding information on how people feel about MPH programs in Canada. Congrats to all who've gotten accepted so far!
How do you guys feel about the MPH program at UBC? I'm oriented to do epidemiology and have been accepted to an epi specialist. I've been told differently by different people. Some say I should study epidemiology if I want to work as an epidemiologist, while others say it doesn't matter which school I go to (even if it's a general MPH) as long as I take that extra epi/biostat course with my program. I know that UBC does offer epi courses to be taken as electives, but I worry that the general MPH would give me a slight disadvantage when I'm applying for epi jobs. Any thoughts?
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Accepted: UBC (with scholarship) and U of A
Waitlisted: U of T
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I was told by UBC that they offered scholarships to their top 5 students, but I wasn't told how much those scholarships are. Does anyone know?
Did anyone apply/get accepted to McGill? How many students does U of T accept in their epi specialization?
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I'm still waiting to hear from SFU also. I really don't think there's anything to worry about. I've also declined another offer (UBC).
MPH CANADA FALL 2013 APPLICANTS
in Public Health Forum
Posted
SFU MPH's Program - Advice from a Graduating Student
For anyone trying to decide between SFU and another university, I am a current student at SFU (population health stream), and this is my last term. If you have your heart set on going to SFU, or that's your only offer, I do not recommend reading my post.
If you have other offers, I would suggest considering those universities. I've REALLY disliked my graduate education at SFU; in fact, it feels like undergrad. Most of the students would concur that they treat us like children (some would say infants). Even students who did their undergrad at SFU complain about the grad program. The class sizes are huge. 801,802,803,845 (all required courses for all streams) have class sizes over 50 (up to 70). They admit a lot of students because they want the money (i.e., it's become a degree mill). And I've had more classes taught by sessional instructors (most of whom were terrible) than by tenure-track faculty. So getting reference letters for jobs, etc. is very difficult. Most students also complain about the supervision they get (most profs aren't on campus), and everyone has to have a supervisor. Also, courses 900 and 901 are a complete waste of time (and they occupy every Wednesday from noon to 5 p.m., but it's another way they can make some money). Also, most of the core courses have a lecture and a tutorial on separate days, so in your first year, if you only do two core courses, and 900/901, you should expect to be on campus 5 days a week (and SFU is not an easy campus to get to, and yes, it's really, really ugly and dreary in the winter). Also, SFU doesn't have a lot of course offerings. Students often do courses at UBC or UVic (distance) etc. through the Western Deans' Agreement. Some of the sessional instructors this term have been so bad that students have created petitions, etc. The Faculty always has these sit-down meetings with students, but nothing ever comes of it. So previous students have tried to improve things, but the Faculty completely disregards everything we say with excuse after excuse. If you don't believe me, look at some of these reports produced by the SFU's Faculty of Graduate Studies (the FHS - HSCI - was generally rated the lowest of all the faculties by its students). Also, keep in mind that this report was produced before they opened the flood gates to huge classes. My cohort - 2011 - was the first big (50+) cohort. So things have gotten worse. And that whole accreditation thing: that only means that SFU agrees to teach certain courses and to cover certain content in those courses; it has NOTHING to do with quality.
I truly do not enjoy telling you this because it also degrades the value of my degree, but I wish I had someone tell me this before I went there. BTW, UBC does have a great international reputation, and it classes are limited to 25 (many classes actually have class sizes much less), and most classes are taught by tenured faculty. And UBC is cheaper and so are some other universities so don't let a few thousand dollar scholarship sway you into going to SFU. There are TAs opportunities available at SFU, but they are a lot of work for the pay.
If you have other options, please consider them.
https://www.vancouver.sfu.ca/content/dam/sfu/dean-gradstudies/admin/staff/memos/Grad%20Student%20Exit%20Survey-%20Faculty%20Version.pdf
https://www.vancouver.sfu.ca/dean-gradstudies/blog/programprofiles/student-survey-reports.html