PhD/DrPH Applicants: Fall 2021

[hccgrl]

Has anyone had any luck with initial emails to POIs? 

[CatMeow1234]

I have 2 questions regarding SOPHAS that I could not find online. Thanks in advance!

• For the "Achievements" section, the 2 categories are "Awards" and "Honors." I wanted to list publications here but it does not fall under "Awards" or "Honors," so I thought perhaps they don't belong here. What are others putting in the "Achievements" section?
• For the "Experience" section, it asks for # of weeks worked. Let's say you worked for 1 calendar year but were given 15 work days off (the equivalent of 3 work weeks) for Holidays/Leave combined. Would you put 52 weeks or 49 weeks?

[CatMeow1234]

3 hours ago, hccgrl said:

Has anyone had any luck with initial emails to POIs? 

Yes - 3 for 3 have responded to set up a meeting. I set up meetings with students first, perhaps that helped me. 

[phd_hopeful_2021]

On 10/2/2020 at 1:56 PM, hccgrl said:

Has anyone had any luck with initial emails to POIs? 

I reached out to 4 PIs. Two I had fairly thorough email exchanges with, 1 I had a Zoom call with, and 1 I did not hear from. You? 

[hccgrl]

I emailed one back in may and she got back to me and we had a phone call. Our interests were identical and she was even astonish at the similarities. I reached out again a month ago and she hasn't replied. I just sent another email. Since our last chat, I spoke to students and the program director, to make sure it was a right fit overall. Now I can't get a hold of her. It's the only school I need GREs for and if she's not getting back to me, I don't wanna take my GRE and waste my money. 

I emailed 3 others and no one has gotten back to me. One of them I've worked on research with about 2-3 yrs ago, and the other one I had spoken to last year-again very similar interests and she was even doing research on a similar topic I had done my research project for mph on. 

 

I should mention, I'm looking to apply to public health, health psychology, and demography programs. Unfortunately demography might have to wait until next year because just found out that they are not accepting applications this cycle. 

I'm feeling very discouraged and thinking I should wait until next year to apply.  

[hccgrl]

52 minutes ago, phd_hopeful_2021 said:

I reached out to 4 PIs. Two I had fairly thorough email exchanges with, 1 I had a Zoom call with, and 1 I did not hear from. You? 

 

52 minutes ago, phd_hopeful_2021 said:

I reached out to 4 PIs. Two I had fairly thorough email exchanges with, 1 I had a Zoom call with, and 1 I did not hear from. You? 

Srry!! Meant to quote you! 

[hccgrl]

On 10/2/2020 at 5:28 PM, CatMeow1234 said:

I have 2 questions regarding SOPHAS that I could not find online. Thanks in advance!

• For the "Achievements" section, the 2 categories are "Awards" and "Honors." I wanted to list publications here but it does not fall under "Awards" or "Honors," so I thought perhaps they don't belong here. What are others putting in the "Achievements" section?
• For the "Experience" section, it asks for # of weeks worked. Let's say you worked for 1 calendar year but were given 15 work days off (the equivalent of 3 work weeks) for Holidays/Leave combined. Would you put 52 weeks or 49 weeks?

52 weeks. 

[CatMeow1234]

4 minutes ago, hccgrl said:

52 weeks. 

Thank you so much, hccgrl!

[EpiNYC]

Hi everyone! Can't believe it's application time already. This is my third time applying, and hoping it's my last ? (previously applied for Fall 2016 and Fall 2017).

Some quick stats:

• Undergrad GPA (BA: English and Pre-Med): 3.2
• Grad GPA (MPH): 3.8
• Work experience: ~7 years in clinical and public health research, with a lot of first-hand experience in designing and analyzing both small and large-scale clinical trials in both chronic and communicable diseases
• Related research experience: Zika Virus, HIV, and SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19
• Publications: 19 publications and counting, a few first-author or corresponding author
• Conference Abstracts/Pres: 7 in both major clinical and public health conferences in the US and Europe
• Other activities: Previously co-chaired scientific session for APHA and reviewed abstracts for several APHA conferences; participated in a CSTE/CDC work group
• LORs: Nailing them down, but 2 of them are previous professors. One who taught me most of my epi skills in grad school, and the other with whom I did research. Since it's been a few years now since I graduated from my MPH program (3+ years), thinking I will ask someone from work.

Programs I'm eyeing:

• All PhDs in Infectious Disease Epidemiology or equivalent (i.e. Pop Health Science / ID)
  • Hopkins, Harvard, WashU, U of Mich, UCLA, Columbia, NYU (Maybe)

Hoping this time around my added years of work experience and publications will help. But what i have learned from the past is that it all comes down to sheer dumb luck, right time, right advisor, right place (not to get all hunger games) ?

[hccgrl]

11 hours ago, EpiNYC said:

 ?what i have learned from the past is that it all comes down to sheer dumb luck, right time, right advisor, right place (not to get all hunger games) 

This exactly!!!! This might be my second year applying... If anyone ever gets back to me. Even with great fit, it truly is just dumb luck. 

[phd_hopeful_2021]

On 10/8/2020 at 4:08 PM, EpiNYC said:

Hi everyone! Can't believe it's application time already. This is my third time applying, and hoping it's my last ? (previously applied for Fall 2016 and Fall 2017).

Some quick stats:

• Undergrad GPA (BA: English and Pre-Med): 3.2
• Grad GPA (MPH): 3.8
• Work experience: ~7 years in clinical and public health research, with a lot of first-hand experience in designing and analyzing both small and large-scale clinical trials in both chronic and communicable diseases
• Related research experience: Zika Virus, HIV, and SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19
• Publications: 19 publications and counting, a few first-author or corresponding author
• Conference Abstracts/Pres: 7 in both major clinical and public health conferences in the US and Europe
• Other activities: Previously co-chaired scientific session for APHA and reviewed abstracts for several APHA conferences; participated in a CSTE/CDC work group
• LORs: Nailing them down, but 2 of them are previous professors. One who taught me most of my epi skills in grad school, and the other with whom I did research. Since it's been a few years now since I graduated from my MPH program (3+ years), thinking I will ask someone from work.

Programs I'm eyeing:

• All PhDs in Infectious Disease Epidemiology or equivalent (i.e. Pop Health Science / ID)
  • Hopkins, Harvard, WashU, U of Mich, UCLA, Columbia, NYU (Maybe)

Hoping this time around my added years of work experience and publications will help. But what i have learned from the past is that it all comes down to sheer dumb luck, right time, right advisor, right place (not to get all hunger games) ?

So many publications!! Sounds to me that advisors would be crazy to not accept you!

[ASA15]

18 hours ago, EpiNYC said:

Hi everyone! Can't believe it's application time already. This is my third time applying, and hoping it's my last ? (previously applied for Fall 2016 and Fall 2017).

Some quick stats:

• Undergrad GPA (BA: English and Pre-Med): 3.2
• Grad GPA (MPH): 3.8
• Work experience: ~7 years in clinical and public health research, with a lot of first-hand experience in designing and analyzing both small and large-scale clinical trials in both chronic and communicable diseases
• Related research experience: Zika Virus, HIV, and SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19
• Publications: 19 publications and counting, a few first-author or corresponding author
• Conference Abstracts/Pres: 7 in both major clinical and public health conferences in the US and Europe
• Other activities: Previously co-chaired scientific session for APHA and reviewed abstracts for several APHA conferences; participated in a CSTE/CDC work group
• LORs: Nailing them down, but 2 of them are previous professors. One who taught me most of my epi skills in grad school, and the other with whom I did research. Since it's been a few years now since I graduated from my MPH program (3+ years), thinking I will ask someone from work.

Programs I'm eyeing:

• All PhDs in Infectious Disease Epidemiology or equivalent (i.e. Pop Health Science / ID)
  • Hopkins, Harvard, U of Wash, U of Mich, UCLA, Columbia, NYU (Maybe)

Hoping this time around my added years of work experience and publications will help. But what i have learned from the past is that it all comes down to sheer dumb luck, right time, right advisor, right place (not to get all hunger games) ?

Hiii! Also re-applying, so glad I'm not alone  also will be doing mostly ID or equivalent, but with some self-imposed geographic restrictions.

 

Best of luck!

 

[XXXXXXphd2021]

On 10/2/2020 at 12:56 PM, hccgrl said:

Has anyone had any luck with initial emails to POIs? 

2/2 replied for a zoom call , both of the programs are committee based so POIs have no say in admission decisions. Plan to maybe reach out to another two or three next week. 

Edited October 9, 2020 by xxxxling

[XXXXXXphd2021]

On 9/27/2020 at 11:10 AM, CatMeow1234 said:

Your background looks really strong to me. I think 6th author publication is worth something, too!! If you can work that first author pub into your CV (eg if you submit soon) that’s even better. You got this!

Yeah thanks?! Been revising that one and will get it submitted before the due date. 

[ccyril95]

Hi everyone,

Really happy that I found this site, seems Im not alone on the application. I'm planning on applying for the PhD programs in epi and genetics for 2021 fall.

Undergraduate: 3.3 GPA, MBBS from University outside U.S (yes, international student)

MS in epi: 3.7 GPA, 1 publication, 2 projects with ongoing paper (respectively, radiation&cancer and genetic&CVD)

LoR: 2 from thesis committee, 1 from RA supervisor. Generally I think the reference from RA supervisor and committee chair would be strong, not sure about the rest one since the connection is limited.

I applied for U of Washington last year (from internal application)and got rejected. At that time I was not really prepared for the application because of the heavy load from course/thesis/RA project (got me half month working at Japan). I've noticed that most applicants get admitted would have at least some full time research/working experience on public health field, which used to be what I propose to do this year. But under such circumstance, a lot of research institute I've been favor of seem to freeze their hiring and remaining opportunity tends to be extremely tough to apply. So I decided to have a trial on PhD application again this year.

Primarily I would like to continue my research on the genetic&CVD field among underrepresented population as AA/Asian. Besides epi program, I'm also looking for genetic/biomedical programs. I've been contacting with several senior PhD students about programs and schools and started to reach out for POI this week, hope I will get some updates next one week or two. But really frustrated since I'm not competitive enough for most programs, after checking on previous admitted students.

Targeted programs/schools:

U of Washington (Public health genetics, Epidemiology), Vanderbilt (Epidemiology, Dr. Wei Zheng), UCLA, Umich, Emory, Dartmouth(Quantitative Biomedical).

Sorry about the negative feelings within this reply! Hope everyone would get their favorable result from this year's application!

[epi_2021]

Hi!

Does anyone have any insights regarding applying to both the PhD program and the MS program within the same department?  My long term goal is PhD. But, if not accepted anywhere, I would consider doing the MS with the hopes of continuing on to the PhD. 
 

Is it a bad idea to apply to both? Could it weaken your application? 

Thanks!! 

[hopeful2020PhD]

6 hours ago, epi_2021 said:

Hi!

Does anyone have any insights regarding applying to both the PhD program and the MS program within the same department?  My long term goal is PhD. But, if not accepted anywhere, I would consider doing the MS with the hopes of continuing on to the PhD. 
 

Is it a bad idea to apply to both? Could it weaken your application? 

Thanks!! 

Don't stress about it. Years ago I applied to the same schools for masters and doctoral programs. I wanted to go straight into my PhD but understood it was a longshot. In my personal statement, I clearly communicated that I wanted get my PhD at the school and that the masters would prepare me for it. Admissions committees are familiar with this scenario.

[IAAJ]

I'm so glad I found this thread!

My stats are nothing to write home about, but I'm applying to various programs anyway. I will be applying to DrPH programs because I want to develop, implement, and evaluate programs that aim to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in MCH, and do this through a faith-based lens. This sounds VERY specific, but it's what I hope to do.

My undergrad GPA was terrible = 2.6

MPH + MCH Certificate = 3.91 (Health Education Behavioral Science background) (unfortunately, it took me a while to finish my MPH for a myriad of reasons, but hopefully that doesn't come back to bite me in the butt).

I am 2 years post MPH, but have 8 years of work experience in public health - started in adolescent pregnancy prevention, then to coalition coordinator, a small stint at a small consulting company, followed by VA, and now a health educator for a local health department.

I am retaking the GRE (haven't taken it in 10 years) on 11/16 and praying! I only need the GRE for 2 schools I will be applying to, so I'm hoping for the best! When I took the GRE in 2010, my scores were still out of 800! (V: 510, Q:640, AW: 4.5)

Schools I'll be applying to: Tulane, BUSPH, JHSPH, GW, UArizona, Rutgers and (maybe) Colorado). Reaching out to faculty from these schools who work in MCH or use a CBPR approach to designing programs. Some have answered and I've had great conversations, others haven't responded.

LORs: 1 supervisor (expert in risk communications) and 2 former professors (one of which is the chair of a department).

I'm praying a good personal statement helps my case! Good luck everyone!

 

[CatMeow1234]

9 hours ago, IAAJ said:

I'm so glad I found this thread!

My stats are nothing to write home about, but I'm applying to various programs anyway. I will be applying to DrPH programs because I want to develop, implement, and evaluate programs that aim to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in MCH, and do this through a faith-based lens. This sounds VERY specific, but it's what I hope to do.

My undergrad GPA was terrible = 2.6

MPH + MCH Certificate = 3.91 (Health Education Behavioral Science background) (unfortunately, it took me a while to finish my MPH for a myriad of reasons, but hopefully that doesn't come back to bite me in the butt).

I am 2 years post MPH, but have 8 years of work experience in public health - started in adolescent pregnancy prevention, then to coalition coordinator, a small stint at a small consulting company, followed by VA, and now a health educator for a local health department.

I am retaking the GRE (haven't taken it in 10 years) on 11/16 and praying! I only need the GRE for 2 schools I will be applying to, so I'm hoping for the best! When I took the GRE in 2010, my scores were still out of 800! (V: 510, Q:640, AW: 4.5)

Schools I'll be applying to: Tulane, BUSPH, JHSPH, GW, UArizona, Rutgers and (maybe) Colorado). Reaching out to faculty from these schools who work in MCH or use a CBPR approach to designing programs. Some have answered and I've had great conversations, others haven't responded.

LORs: 1 supervisor (expert in risk communications) and 2 former professors (one of which is the chair of a department).

I'm praying a good personal statement helps my case! Good luck everyone!

 

Good luck IAAJ! Your work sounds really interesting and important.

[phd_hopeful_2021]

Hi, everyone!

Hope everything is going smoothly while we all finish up our applications! Is anyone willing to share which schools they applied to and how confident they are feeling about all of them? I’ll start.

I applied to Yale, NYU, U of Arizona and Indiana U.

Yale is a long shot, and all the others I’m thinking could go either way! 

[jzhh96]

Hi everyone!

I know this would probably be the last minute ask since many people have already submitted their application, but is anyone willing to review my SOP? I've been really struggling with it these days. 

I'll be applying to JHU, UNC, Emory and UT Austin this time. 

Best of luck with the process to everyone! Have a great weekend^^

[epi_2021]

Does anyone know if you can submit your SOPHAS application before all of your recommendations are in, or should you wait until they have all been received to officially submit? 
Thanks!

[CatMeow1234]

3 hours ago, epi_2021 said:

Does anyone know if you can submit your SOPHAS application before all of your recommendations are in, or should you wait until they have all been received to officially submit? 
Thanks!

Yes you definitely can submit before - (I wanted to make sure I was giving you correct info so I confirmed this info here too). I would recommend submitting as soon as you can, just in case there are any issues with your transcripts that could hold you up.   

[epi_2021]

3 hours ago, CatMeow1234 said:

Yes you definitely can submit before - (I wanted to make sure I was giving you correct info so I confirmed this info here too). I would recommend submitting as soon as you can, just in case there are any issues with your transcripts that could hold you up.   

I really appreciate this. Thank you!!

[ProspectivePhD]

Hi all! Excited that I found this thread! I'm applying mostly to SBS PhD programs, and one Epid bc my interests lie at the intersection of SBS and social epi.

UG GPA: ~3.3ish (BA from top ranked public school)

Grad GPA: 4.0 (MPH from top ranked school)

GRE: not every strong - I think around 310-315 cumulative range - but i don't have the energy to retake & honestly have never been a good test taker so not sure it'd increase much; only sending them to the schools that require it

Conferences: 3 small scale presentations (2 from my gap year research & 1 in grad school that won a poster presentation award)

Publications: 1 mid-author, working on a few more as mid-author but those won't be submitted before apps are due

LOR: 3 faculty from my MPH - 1 strictly academic letter, 1 both academic/professional, and 1 strictly professional

Other: first gen, POC, worked for 2 years between UG and grad

Interests: neighborhood factors and built environment impact on adolescent health outcomes (mental health & violence prevention) in urban centers, particular interest in racial and ethnic disparities

Applying: Michigan (HBHE), Yale (SBS), Brown (SBSS), Tulane (SBPS), Berkeley (Epid)

I did speak to faculty and students at each school earlier during the cycle, which made me feel more confident but obviously PhDs are competitive in nature and especially right now!