PhD Chances of Admissions

[Sydney'sPH]

Hello this is my first post on the board. I would your input on my chances of admissions to programs that are frequently discussed on the board. Hopefully you can offer some advice and thoughts of my chances of admissions to Public Policy/Administration PhD Programs. Thank you!

Program Applying To: Public Policy/Administration PhD – Health Care, Aging, Disaster/Emergency Policy

Schools Thinking of Applying To:

University of Washington - Seattle

University of Texas at Austin

Duke University

University of North Carolina

North Carolina State University

Arizona State University

University of Arizona

University of Colorado at Denver

University of Georgia

Undergraduate institution: Top 20 Public University

Undergraduate GPA: 3.2

Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): 3.8

Undergraduate Major: Psychology/Communications

Graduate institution: Top 10 School of Public Health

GPA: 3.4 – worked full time

Degree: Masters of Public Health – Health Policy

GRE Quantitative Score: 720

GRE Verbal Score: 680

GRE AW Score: 5.5

*Scores older than 5 years; need to retake

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 8

Years of Work Experience: 8

Describe Relevant Work Experience: Entire work experience has been with two Universities either in Schools of Medicine or Public Health. I have managed pediatric clinics, large graduate medical education training programs and large research programs focused on health services research and policy.

Strength of LOR's: Will have strong LORs from prominent professors and researchers with whom I have taken class with and worked with

Please offer any thoughts or suggestions. Thanks!

[narius]

Hello this is my first post on the board. I would your input on my chances of admissions to programs that are frequently discussed on the board. Hopefully you can offer some advice and thoughts of my chances of admissions to Public Policy/Administration PhD Programs. Thank you!

Program Applying To: Public Policy/Administration PhD – Health Care, Aging, Disaster/Emergency Policy

Schools Thinking of Applying To:

University of Washington - Seattle

University of Texas at Austin

Duke University

University of North Carolina

North Carolina State University

Arizona State University

University of Arizona

University of Colorado at Denver

University of Georgia

Undergraduate institution: Top 20 Public University

Undergraduate GPA: 3.2

Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): 3.8

Undergraduate Major: Psychology/Communications

Graduate institution: Top 10 School of Public Health

GPA: 3.4 – worked full time

Degree: Masters of Public Health – Health Policy

GRE Quantitative Score: 720

GRE Verbal Score: 680

GRE AW Score: 5.5

*Scores older than 5 years; need to retake

Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 8

Years of Work Experience: 8

Describe Relevant Work Experience: Entire work experience has been with two Universities either in Schools of Medicine or Public Health. I have managed pediatric clinics, large graduate medical education training programs and large research programs focused on health services research and policy.

Strength of LOR's: Will have strong LORs from prominent professors and researchers with whom I have taken class with and worked with

Please offer any thoughts or suggestions. Thanks!

Hi There.

I think you have a pretty fair shot at any of those school. I'd say Duke is by far the most challenging, but it's definitely worth a try. The only caveat I'd note is that you don't seem to have a lot of direct research experience yourself. You said you helped managed research programs, but did you contribute to any research or take part in any writing or analyses? That kind of stuff will be very useful for padding your application and demonstrating not only your capacity, but your interest in conducting quality research, which is extremely important to a PhD.

Still, I'd say that you certainly have a decent shot. Good luck!

[Sydney'sPH]

Hi There.

I think you have a pretty fair shot at any of those school. I'd say Duke is by far the most challenging, but it's definitely worth a try. The only caveat I'd note is that you don't seem to have a lot of direct research experience yourself. You said you helped managed research programs, but did you contribute to any research or take part in any writing or analyses? That kind of stuff will be very useful for padding your application and demonstrating not only your capacity, but your interest in conducting quality research, which is extremely important to a PhD.

Still, I'd say that you certainly have a decent shot. Good luck!

Thanks! I wasn't clear, but I do have direct research experience in both qualitative and quatitative methods. At this time I don't have any published manuscripts (2 submitted and currently under review) but have presented at national conferences. Thank you for the encouragement!