VBD

(BTW, you type really fast, in the time for me to do an edit of my previous post, you have another one ) I believe you can get into a position with that route, but from what I understand, that position is something that is wandered into. The president of my university's background was a PhD in secondary education. I know another friend's uni has a President with an MHA (Masters in Health Admin) but her school's more scienc-y, and my undergrad was like liberal art-y. There are probably others, but believe it or not, credentials of uni presidents don't come up often among my friends! I personally am weary of law school since recent reports show that 50% of law school grads cannot find jobs and have a butt-load of debt to handle. I'm probably biased though, so you may want to ask actual law students, ok? They have healthcare law (with bioethics being a subset of that sometimes), environmental law, which may be in your interest. Ah, I don't mind. My story's a bit boring though. So freshman year, I was getting bored of my genetic research (interesting stuff and cool research just not for me) so I started looking around. There was a public health class my school offered for undergrads, so I just randomly enrolled in it sophomore fall and loved it. I still wanted to do research, so I went to an immunology lab that specialized in infectious disease (with public health-y applications), and ended up staying there the rest of UG and did my capstone (Sr year project) in that lab. Later for a bio elective, I took ecology lab and LOVED it so when I did my MPH, I simply made sure I studied under a professor who did environmental field sampling. This lab was perfect for me, I could do the genetic-y part (qpcr, ELISA, westerns, columns, etc.) and then also talk to the people who my research directly/indirectly affects. My crazy path did include a sizable detour in bioethics, and one random pre-law course XD I was a pretty confused UG but I had the best advisor who encouraged me to find other fields and I constantly went to school special seminars, fairs, etc to talk to many people about the field. I lucked out that random classes worked out for me (it does not always!). Let me know if you want me to elaborate on anything, since I'm probably boring people, haha.

So, I was in a similar boat. I was in undergrad as a biology major but really wanted to keep the people person side of me happy. So I looked into other aspects, like bioethics (some law aspects of this program may interest you, esp with your interest in educational law), or public health (and dentistry public health is small but growing). There are probably other options, like counseling or therapy (ie. PT) positions that can also apply to your people side as well. To research my options as a lost freshman (or for you, sophomore), I talked to a lot of professors I like, I visited my universities' career center, etc. I went to many school websites, and I started asking peers' upperclassmen if they have people that I could talk to who for example were getting an MA in bioethics. In regards to getting into a lab, perhaps you could look into doing clinical research? It's definitely not too late to get into research as a sophomore, and to start looking into other biology-related career options. Best of luck to you! Edit: OP, since you posted a few minutes earlier than this post, I'll try to answer some of your new questions EC's look good for tranfers, but i'm not sure if they are really /that/ important for straight biology grad programs. I know some fields may look more favorably to that. Summer research is a great time to dive into it. Have you looked at REU's? They are geared specifically toward people who do not have previous extensive research experience. It's still possible to publish, but I feel like a more time-wise (and less stressful goal) goal would be to present a poster of the research (while simultaneously working on the paper for that project), of course with a willing PI. Professors aren't always nepotistic, but cold contacts are sometimes hard to break through. I got into my first molecular genetics lab though a person I met at a work study fair who said it was ok to use her name in the introduction of a cold-contact email to the PI. Regarding the question about current connections, that varies, and it depends with whom you have current connections. Caveat: I'm a bio major who did straight biology lab work in molecular genetics and immunology before I switch to public health, so take my advice with a grain (or two) of salt.

Officially waitlisted at Columbia. At least it's some news xD Like what everyone's been saying, it's nice to just hear SOMETHING.. Sorry Mmajum, I guess we most likely won't see each other next year in person... Sorry to hear about rejections to our PhD in public health family members.. We were all rooting for you, but remember it's not over until it's over. On a side note, I'm returning from a U-Dub visit/interview, and I really really liked the program, even more so than when I was just reading about it on the websites. They said acceptances/rejections will be out in a week for my program. Thank you, U-dub for not keeping your applicants in extended purgatory

So.. I have no idea about the humanities, feel free to disregard this entire post. Question: How can they KNOW that they'll have money next year..? That just seems odd to me.. Like why couldn't THIS year be prevented? However, to me it seems like they are essentially asking for you to "be" like an unfunded masters student for a year. I know people in Anthro now (both girls one interested in physical and one in cultural) who paid for their masters and are now in good PhD programs on the west coast (I'm not good at the Facebooking). So it's a path others have taken before. Except, you have a high chance of getting funding the next year AND you are in the PhD program. I'm wondering if you apply again next year they'd be like "Oh, it's the same student again! And s/he's trying for exactly the same thing!" Or are you planning to apply to different programs? Alternatively, can you accept and try for external funding during the summer, etc?

Deathmetal, sorry, didn't apply to any of those programs. Duepeak, UIC gave me my acceptance on Valentine's day, but then again, I'm in a difference program. The UIC SPH general admissions guy said that in general they have results out by March. Don't know about the other schools, sorry. Good luck Yeah, I got nothing as well. Perhaps the office was busy with so many students to update on the system. She had said she'll try to by this week, but maybe she'll do it by next week? *shrugs* And we shall await together~

Applyweb sends an email notifying you of a message on the website. Same with Applyyourself. So these websites update with a short paragraph or a pdf of the acceptance or rejection letter (hopefully the former!). So schools like Hopkins, UNC, Yale, Harvard, etc. who opted out of SOPHAS. And feel free to correct me, but I don't think SOPHAS lets you check your status. Also, I know everyone's getting anxious but let's remain our happy little PhD in Public health family, We all believe we're qualified individuals and good researchers, otherwise we wouldn't have applied. For people who have acceptances, let's remain tactful and respectful to those who are waiting mpheels, sorry to hear about that, but now you can move on. *hugs* Are you all done waiting now? (aside from the waitlist -- which is a whole 'nother game..)

artfully displayed here (credit to PhD comics): So if NIH and NSF and FDA, etc. loses money, gone is also the money for external funding/fellowship/traineeships, etc. for grad students? Lovely. The fact that this is in the control of uncaring and (for some) uneducated congress(wo)men in DC, just peachy. (note:sarcasm) Also, mmajum, thanks for the reminder, sometimes that one acceptance seems unreal. XD

If there's other EHE applicants to JHSPH, they plan to have decisions posted on applyyourself hopefully within the end of this week. Thanks to everyone who gave me advice on contacting programs. The other programs I'm waiting for emails/calls back, JHU was just the first to respond (wow, super fast, and extremely nice!). Interviews were held in early Feb though, so I won't hold my breath since I didn't get invited then. *laughs* My anxiety just shot straight up now though >.< Be still you stupid heart.. Epidemiwhat, to answer your question. I sent an email to around one or two or most of the time a third faculty member at each of the schools I applied. If I could not even come up with a second faculty of interest, I did not apply for the program. Most of them were three, except for the two schools I presumed rejected me (invites for interviews already sent out, etc.) and for good reason, I probably wasn't a good fit. At four schools, I engaged in a phone chat with a faculty member (one school had two faculty members double-team call me) of interest (usually at their suggestion too), for one school I exchanged about 4-5 emails back and forth discussing potential projects with a POI (Side note: this particular application ended in a rejection, but the POI gave me best wishes, so I assume he "went to bat for me" as best he could ). My alma mater has no PhD program in the area I want, so I did not apply there. I had no specific tie to any of the schools I applied to, so each contact was what they call a "cold call/email." Also I have to note that I think you should always contact if you are truly interested in the program. You're gonna spend a good chunk of your life in the program, so you better make sure you get all your questions answered, have a likeable enough potential advisor, etc. Then you pray to the grad school gods.

Wait so in this situation, are you saying that I should contact the POI at the other institution AND the admissions people (of the school? of the department? They have two different people). Or just one or the other? I'm simply trying my best to not step on anyone's toes. Mainly because I saw at my alma mater professors literally saying "who does this student think she is?" or insisting that they must do admissions their own timeline (makes sense). Thanks for the advice so far Julia and Mmajum. This certainly does add a new anxiety in the waiting game xD

I don't know how I missed this in my last post. But I'm intrigued how would you go about doing this? "Hi, I have an acceptance I have to reply to by March 8th (my offer has this deadline =_=), I was wondering if you could update me on my status?" Does it seem rude or demanding? Can admissions people even tell you the status over the phone? Or can you just call to ask about whether interview offers are coming, etc?

TA-ships and grants. I also took on 2 related jobs. It's doable, you just have to grab opportunities. Also, to reiterate what many are saying, funded masters exist -- I have a friend right now doing that in sociology. Also, I definitely did not do bachelors' level work. I'm actually not really sure where you could have heard that from -- most masters students I know work really hard in their independent research project.

Things happen for a reason. I truly believe that a rejection IS a blessing in disguise, like your path to a PhD doesn't lie at UT but rather elsewhere. I was glad to have gotten rejections last year (this is round two for me) for so many reasons. I'm sure you'll find one. Plus it isn't the end of the world or application season for that matter. Best of luck for your two remaining applications!

MammaD, I'm sorry to hear about that, but best of luck for MCH! I really hope you get it! mpheels, congrats on the South Carolina acceptance! Can that 1 percentile difference be re-negotiated? Plus there's always hope for other grants... Anyways, just bask in your acceptance *waves to the 6 guests online currently creeping on us.* Come on in and join the conversation, we don't bite

If you are concerned about this, can you fix your schedule so you have less courses to take the semester you TA? Or could you ask if you could TA the second semester? Perhaps there's a graduate advisor who can answer these questions. When I TA'd I was scheduled for 15 hours of work per week. I definitely went over that limit some weels, due to the nature of the course, and I believe that prepping for labs may take longer, but I can't really say since I didn't TA a lab, I only know people who did. It can be exhausting, but some of that can be ameliorated if you schedule your time well/ prepare for potential crazy times during the semester. What I did was get a huge calendar and sort of plan which weeks I know TAing will take more time (if the students have quizzes/tests/major project or presentations coming up, they will demand more time, and grading all those take a lot of time after) and tried to plan out my schedule. This can only be done after you receive the syllabus of all courses, so this might not help you yet.

Could you elaborate? If not, that's ok, I just think I fail at searching the New York Times site. Happy, half of my graduating class in high school attended PennState. (Heck, I even applied there for undergrad) I have multiple family members AND friends who worked/work there. I also went to undergrad with a lot of graduate students currently at PennState. And I agree it's a good institution. And I HAVE done my homework. A lot of the information I've gathered come from them. There is a lot of (circumstantial and hearsay evidence) that JoePa knew about it in 1998. A simple google search gives you that much. Regardless, it's the guiltiness of a dead man (RIP) so it's almost a moot point. The point I was making was that regardless of his guiltiness other high-ups who were involved in covering it up, and those people have abdicated or lost their position or been replaced, so it's almost a whole new place. If you couldn't tell, I was saying a pro for saying yes to PennState. Yes, congratulations on the PennState students for THON, that's a lot of money for charity. Cheers. (Still it speaks to the hugely herdist mentality (for example of said mentality, look up riot and JoePa, some students didn't even know what they were rioting for) that's prevalent on the campus. You MUST know about THON or talk about it if you're a PennState student.. etc., Whatever, it's great for PennState, for the students and great for cancer research!)

I liked TAing and I will probably always talk about it. I came into the course hesitant to TA believing that I was underqualified and that it might be a waste of my time. I was proven wrong within a month. Sure, some of the students get whiny and are stubborn or are trying to find an "easy A." But after a few sessions, they don't be annoyances anymore. Some of them actually get re-engaged in the work when they realize you mean to help them, not do their work, or give out free A's or become their friend (Though I did end up befriending some of my students ), but to legitly help them. Teaching to non-majors is tough, but as long as you make it a class that doesn't put down the non-majors, it's doable. My colleague TA'd for a nonmajors and started out by saying "Since you aren't even majoring in this, I'm sure you won't understand it, but let's try to get through it." and had a rough semester -- and for good reason. So don't do that haha. Also TAing is an interesting challenge. Trying to explain the material to students who don't get it the first time really makes you brush up on your basics. Concepts that you understand from the get-go may be the concepts that your students cannot understand. So now you're gonna have to rethink and approach it from a different point of understanding and explanations -- which will only help you in the long run as a researcher. I mean, if an experiment fails, you go back and try to approach your project in another way, right? Learning how to shift your mind will be a boon in the future. I definitely recommend contacting the previous TA. My friends in biology all created our own little makeshift TA hang-out, so I'm sure your fellow cohorts in the program will lend you moral support, so don't worry about "going at it alone." If you are thinking about how to beat your nervous feelings, maybe practice it with them, something like that. Also, I think you overestimate fellow students, half the time, my students didn't realize I was nervous (I was teaching to some people 5 years older than me) because they were concerned with understanding the class and getting a good grade xD So don't count it again a program if they make you do a TA. See it as a plus thing. Plus it never hurts if you're even seeking that elusive tenure track faculty position in the far future

The whole issue with Penn State was that higher-ups shielded their eyes from it. Some knew about it and chose not follow through on disciplinary action, leading to more preventable actions. The students are blindly in love with the coach JoePa who is one of the higher-ups which evidence DOES prove knew about it. The administrators tolerated it because football brings PennState an INSANE amount of money. That being said.. you are not studying "Football-ology" It doesn't affect you directly. If you are concerned about the administrators being in cahoots with other crime, many administrators have lost their job/power and/or been replaced. However, not all, so that might bother you a bit. I just don't get the results for PennState English PhD where SO MANY mention the scandal. Funding may be an issue, it may not, it really depends on your department. Since it's a public school, a lot of your financial coverage is TA-ship and RA-ships, and I'm not sure how much that ties in with University relations, if even at all. Then again there is outside funding options, right? The bottom line is this. Does it bother you, even a tiny hidden nagging feeling? If so, don't do it. I've had friends who go along with a program despite that tiny nagging feeling and it always ends up bad. That feeling ends up feeding other reasons why they don't like where they are, almost like they start looking for it. If you are absolutely positively in LOVE and that nagging feeling is fleeing by the second, then by all means accept and don't look back! Good luck on your decision

*hugs sophiak* I think you needed that hug. And try to remember you're in distinguished company. Like many others, I had applied and failed last year, and that all turned around this year. It CAN happen. Everyone's above advice are great. In addition.. If you ever feel truly overwhelmed by your feelings, you can turn to confidential helplines. Two of my closest friends have volunteered as crisis counselors, and on the whole the people there want to help you. They DO help. http://www.suicidehotlines.com/ has listings by state, or 1-800-273-8255 - National Suicide Prevention Lifeline are great resources. Also, if your school has a psychology program, they sometimes offer a free psychology clinic, at least my alma mater did. Stay strong.

MammaD, I just kind of go into mini-shock and take like a few minutes to process it. Luckily no vomit and fainting. But perhaps for you, you should start checking your email with a bucket by your side and smelling salts in hand. On the other hand, I like your writing imagery, maybe you can write a short story to take the worry off, I would read it Nice! I left there (Feb 5th) right before the blizzard hit so I guess I lucked out? And yeah, I didn't even think about the idea of geared toward MDs until it was mentioned by MammaD in passing. And when I visited I also did not get that vibe. They really seem to care about developing Researchers, with a capital R, with tons of faculty support (not to mention peers, the cohorts all seemed really close, at least from the interaction at lunch), seminars/journal club to keep up to date on what everyone's doing, and fixing the class schedules for people who want to take classes cross listed in other departments. Plus, I really like how they do their quals (like a funding grant application). It seems much more helpful and practical for the student's long-term benefit. I heard they only take in 1 or 2 Climate and Health people each cohort, so congrats! Also, we applied to the same JHU program. Who knows, there's the chance that we may even see each other at that interview Let's hope they send out invites to us soon! (Please, grad school deities!) Congrats to Gael! (Do your happy dance!) You give hope to others who are waiting for Harvard notifications! What an exciting time!

Most likely no affect: They find that things are missing when your file/application was sent to the department to be reviewed. The adcomm/faculty members can still review it, they just won't have your official transcript. When this happened to me, that's what I was told.

There aren't too many Environmental Health hopefuls around here, nice to meet you two xD Yale EMD's interviews invites were sent out on Jan 26-28th last year were set up around Feb 12th. The interview day was for all five disciplines, not just EMD. So I'm not sure what that means for you..Assuming Yale operates on the same schedule each year, it might be bad news, or it might be that Yale is running late. No idea about Harvard I'm told Hopkins interviews are in March. I just heard this from other students who know students at Hopkins, so nothing official xD Congrats on the Columbia acceptance! You should do a happy dance! I'm still in limbo even though I had an interview the same week you did XD Also, you may want to join the freak-out in the PhD in public health thread, because misery loves company? Haha

Katieliz, I agree, that is probably the best way to phrase it, "a positive letter of recommendation" Margarets, do you have a back-up LOR planned? For just in case?

We had to do this (even though most of the mess was not our doing =_=), and it was terrifying at the time, but we knew it needed to be done. Plus you find INSANE stuff cleaning up, especially if the PI's been around for a long time. My lab tech turned the whole situation into a "fun adventure" so us students could feel a little less stress. (Though we all felt the stress when at the next lab meeting we found out the cost of the removal of some items). Maybe you could do the same? Good luck to your lab and department!!