PhD/DrPH Applicants: Fall 2021

[IAAJ]

Rejected from Rutgers. So most likely my decision will be Tulane SPHTM. Im just holding out to see it I can get off of Boston's waitlist 

[Jungle345]

42 minutes ago, IAAJ said:

Rejected from Rutgers. So most likely my decision will be Tulane SPHTM. Im just holding out to see it I can get off of Boston's waitlist 

I'm in a similar situation ( acceptance somewhere but still on waitlists elsewhere) my deadline for my one program is april 16th. Do you plan to check-in with your waitlist school at any point or just sort of wait and see up until the deadline? 

[MCH_Hopeful_2021]

1 hour ago, PHPhDApplicant said:

Absolutely right -- I'm currently in an evaluation role in a large non profit that is primarily an implementing organization. With a PhD I would like to transition to a leadership role in a non-profit that focuses more exclusively on research or conducts more rigorous research more regularly. Think the PopCouncil's of the world... Part of me is certainly scared to make the full time leap! 

Wouldn’t hesitate to go part time if that were an option and I were in your shoes. 
 

Edit: Funding needs to involve 0 debt or near that or I’d likely go full time. 

Edited March 24, 2021 by MCH_Hopeful_2021

[PHPhDApplicant]

11 minutes ago, MCH_Hopeful_2021 said:

Wouldn’t hesitate to go part time if that were an option and I were in your shoes. 
 

Edit: Funding needs to involve 0 debt or near that or I’d likely go full time. 

That's helpful! Both wouldn't involve taking on debt. The part time program doesn't offer funding but it's a public institution so in-state costs are very affordable and because I would be working and pulling my salary it would be an investment for me but not one I would need to go in debt with. The FT program is a private institution with tuition covered and stipend but obviously a big cut from FT salary as a mid-ish career professional. Thanks for being so generous with your thoughts and time. Good luck to all making these types of decisions as April 15th approaches!

[DrPH21]

has anyone heard from Drexel DrPH? i haven't received any info since i submitted back in Oct. i'm not expecting an acceptance, it would just be nice to know the final decision haha. thank you!

[MNCH Hopeful]

3 hours ago, PHPhDApplicant said:

Absolutely right -- I'm currently in an evaluation role in a large non profit that is primarily an implementing organization. With a PhD I would like to transition to a leadership role in a non-profit that focuses more exclusively on research or conducts more rigorous research more regularly. Think the PopCouncil's of the world... Part of me is certainly scared to make the full time leap! 

I’m in a similar situation. I love my job and the pay. Going completely full time would be a significant pay cut for me. I have no desire to go into academia after my PhD. I also want to use my PhD to transition into a leadership position focused on research and program development. I’m currently in a position where I can get an hourly RA position (about 10hrs) for tuition remission but not sure if I can keep my full time job AND devote time as an RA lol while managing coursework. Although, I have a colleague that’s full time, full time phd student and a TA. No idea how he does it. Especially while traveling to another continent for work lol! 

[PhDEpixxx]

On 3/18/2021 at 7:00 PM, teabunny said:

Adding my two cents:

The funding situation within the IH department at Hopkins is much more precarious than the Epi/Health Policy departments (at least that's what I gathered from chats with current students) since they don't guarantee stipends. For Human Nutrition within IH, they have made nice-ish strides to implement a TA requirement that pays a small (tiny) stipend at the start of year 1 and year 2. You do have to TA 4 classes through that requirement before you can TA for full pay, though... There are other opportunities to get larger awards, but they're crazy competitive so most students cobble together RA hours. 

I ended up declining my offer because of this. Many students I talked to said that funding was the number one stressor they had, especially during the first year when they were swamped with coursework (so unless you had someone else supporting you to cover living expenses, be prepared to squeeze in 20 hrs/wk of RA work). The Center for a Livable Future, which I was hoping to be a funding mechanism during years 2-4, unfortunately has frozen its funds to new fellow applicants. Only one cohort has been eligible for re-funding for the past 3 years, and it's still unclear if they can re-open applications to new students even in 2022. 

At the end of the day, students agreed that they had awesome research opportunities and it was worth the burden. Personally for me, I didn't want to burn out in year 1 in addition to the dissertation years. Plus with better financial support at other schools with equally compelling research landscapes, I felt that the overall PhD experience would be better elsewhere if I at least had peace of mind about funding. It's a little sad, since I definitely went into this cycle expecting to accept an offer from Hopkins if I got one. But my interests and values don't quite align as well as I thought they did, so here we are ?

 

This insight was so helpful! Did you end up accepting an offer somewhere else instead?  

[PHPhDApplicant]

1 hour ago, MNCH Hopeful said:

I’m in a similar situation. I love my job and the pay. Going completely full time would be a significant pay cut for me. I have no desire to go into academia after my PhD. I also want to use my PhD to transition into a leadership position focused on research and program development. I’m currently in a position where I can get an hourly RA position (about 10hrs) for tuition remission but not sure if I can keep my full time job AND devote time as an RA lol while managing coursework. Although, I have a colleague that’s full time, full time phd student and a TA. No idea how he does it. Especially while traveling to another continent for work lol! 

Is he a magician? Sounds like you and I are in a similar position. I've found that most FT programs actually prohibit students from working, at least at anything near full time, elsewhere. At least in writing that's what they say

[IAAJ]

13 hours ago, Jungle345 said:

I'm in a similar situation ( acceptance somewhere but still on waitlists elsewhere) my deadline for my one program is april 16th. Do you plan to check-in with your waitlist school at any point or just sort of wait and see up until the deadline? 

Right now I am in the wait and see category, but I'll have more time to think about it next week (my job is supporting a COVID vaccination clinic and I literally have not had time to think about anything but that - outside of checking my email today and seeing a rejection from Rutgers lol)

[GlobalDrPH]

15 hours ago, DrPH21 said:

has anyone heard from Drexel DrPH? i haven't received any info since i submitted back in Oct. i'm not expecting an acceptance, it would just be nice to know the final decision haha. thank you!

I'm in the same boat- haven't heard anything since the "your application is complete" email. Would definitely be nice to get a decision! Fingers crossed it comes very soon! 

[HPM21]

Anyone heard from Colorado HSR PhD?

[DrPH21]

3 hours ago, GlobalDrPH said:

I'm in the same boat- haven't heard anything since the "your application is complete" email. Would definitely be nice to get a decision! Fingers crossed it comes very soon! 

Yes, fingers crossed! This is the last one I'm waiting for haha. How about you?

[GlobalDrPH]

1 hour ago, DrPH21 said:

Yes, fingers crossed! This is the last one I'm waiting for haha. How about you?

Yup, me too! 

[teabunny]

19 hours ago, PhDEpixxx said:

This insight was so helpful! Did you end up accepting an offer somewhere else instead?  

Not yet! My plan is to keep narrowing things down one school at a time, and hopefully when April rolls around I'll have a decision!

[spatial_epi]

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.

[ALLSPH]

Has anyone heard from USC Epi after the visit day in Feb?

[liz2019drph]

On 3/14/2021 at 10:10 AM, linda_jhsph said:

Congrats! were you on the waiting list? 

Thanks! I was waitlisted last year (2019-2020 cycle) and was offered admission this year. No interviews, only through SOPHAS application. Good luck! Let me know if any application-related info might be of help. 

[EJ_PhD]

Has anyone heard from Maryland Environmental Health PhD?

[MNCH Hopeful]

4 hours ago, EJ_PhD said:

Has anyone heard from Maryland Environmental Health PhD?

UMD is having the admitted students day event next week. I would reach out if you haven’t done so already. Good luck!! 

[havanna]

Could anyone help me choose between Tulane and Rutgers for Health Policy Ph.D.?  They both are giving same funding and have similar advisors.  Any help will be appreciated. Thanks

 

[MCH_Hopeful_2021]

7 hours ago, havanna said:

Could anyone help me choose between Tulane and Rutgers for Health Policy Ph.D.?  They both are giving same funding and have similar advisors.  Any help will be appreciated. Thanks

 

I am not familiar with those schools (although I’m partial to Tulane because I went to school next door) but I’d look at current students’ CVs and see if the experiences, pubs (and their impact factors), and external funding match what you envision for your own CV. I’d also look to see what graduates do in the 1-2 years thereafter. If you’re seeing more on the tenure track than are postdocs, that’s a strong indicator of connections and preparedness than anything else. If you’re seeing more folks in industry, I’d assess whether you’d be interested in similar roles and if they’re in more senior/leadership positions or if they’re entry level. The former is a great sign and says to me that graduates are prepared for and trusted with high level work. 
 

This is how I’d approach things if all things were equal. 

[Public_health_and_cats]

Hi all! As I am starting to think about applying again in the future (for a third round), I am dreading the thought of having to ask my recommenders to submit letters for a third time. I am especially worried about the two professors from my MPH, since it seems like a bigger ask the further out from it I get from completing the program. Any thoughts on this? Should I ask a whole new set of recommenders that are professional and not academic? Thanks!

(also super bummed that the 5 years on my GRE are up so I'll have to do that again?)

[MCH_Hopeful_2021]

43 minutes ago, Public_health_and_cats said:

Hi all! As I am starting to think about applying again in the future (for a third round), I am dreading the thought of having to ask my recommenders to submit letters for a third time. I am especially worried about the two professors from my MPH, since it seems like a bigger ask the further out from it I get from completing the program. Any thoughts on this? Should I ask a whole new set of recommenders that are professional and not academic? Thanks!

(also super bummed that the 5 years on my GRE are up so I'll have to do that again?)

Honestly, I think the "fresher" the recommendations, the better. If you're in industry and those people can speak better to your skillset, are able to demonstrate the real-world implications of the work you engage in (lives saved, programs streamlined, children fed, etc.), and can honestly say the field is better with you in it, I say go for it. It's rare that a professor, especially one from years out, could give that much color to a letter. 

Good luck to you!

PS. Many schools will be doing away with or re-evaluating the role that the GRE should have in graduate studies. I, for one, am more of a fan of subject tests for entry vs. more generic skills. 

[MCH_Hopeful_2021]

On another note, here's my obligatory weekly ask: Has anyone heard from the University of Arizona? 

Edited March 29, 2021 by MCH_Hopeful_2021

[Public_health_and_cats]

24 minutes ago, MCH_Hopeful_2021 said:

Honestly, I think the "fresher" the recommendations, the better. If you're in industry and those people can speak better to your skillset, are able to demonstrate the real-world implications of the work you engage in (lives saved, programs streamlined, children fed, etc.), and can honestly say the field is better with you in it, I say go for it. It's rare that a professor, especially one from years out, could give that much color to a letter. 

Good luck to you!

PS. Many schools will be doing away with or re-evaluating the role that the GRE should have in graduate studies. I, for one, am more of a fan of subject tests for entry vs. more generic skills. 

This is very helpful, thank you! I thought I had heard at some point that some programs prefer that one or two of the recommenders be professors when you are within X years of your master's but I honestly forget where I heard that and hopefully that is outdated advice. I think it makes way more sense to have folks that are more recent and can speak to the work better. 

I was hoping that might be the case with the GRE after this cycle! Thanks!