PhD / DrPh Fall 2022

[RMSK]

5 hours ago, Ehphd said:

Seeking for advice on the PhD no-funding offer from a UC school.

I did my interview with the PI and she said that there will be two projects with generous fundings from next year, so she asked if I can bring in an external package to survive for the 1st year. She said she could offer 20hr TA/RA jobs in the meantime (she was confident about next year's funding), but that wouldn't be enough to cover all my expenses in CA (international tuition fee+living). She said applying next year is also an option, but I am in the older range and would like to start my PhD as soon as possible.

I think this will be my only offer for this cycle, so I am swaying if it is worth loaning $40~50K and survive for the 1st year or if I should re-try next year. For now, I really don't want to go through this hellish application process again. I had problems with WES, home GRE, and paid a huge amount of application fee this cycle. 

Could somebody give advice about life in LA with a $40~50K loan, if it's worth it? (+ little attention from PI as she already has 12 students supervising: 3 post docs, 4 PhD students, 4 PhD candidates). I need to give her a response by Monday.

Just to add in my two cents, I received an offer from a Canadian school and they gave me a month to decide as they “expect I’m waiting to hear from other schools” and they offered to let me speak to current students to get an idea of the lab and program. If a prof isn’t giving you this courtesy then it also speaks volumes of them as an advisor. 

[Ehphd]

T

8 hours ago, greenteaicesea said:

Hiya, first of all, congratulations! I'm not much help in the details of living in CA, and if you should take out loans. To me, this seems like a really personal decision that is guided by your priorities are. If I had to pay for a PhD, it would only be in a case where it was worth the debt (this includes the long term perspective, because graduate loans usually accrue interest immediately). 

What I did want to touch on, however, are the two things that stuck out to me in your post. 1) Needing to respond by Monday and 2) this being your only acceptance. 

 

1) This seems a little suspicious to me. Why would you need to confirm if you're willing to accept such an offer in such a time period? To me, this signals something about the PI will [edit: you] would be working with if you were to accept this offer. People are the nicest when you first meet them and they are trying to make a good impression on you, so you would attend their program. To me, it sounds like it would only get worse. If that's not important to you, then that's fine but I do know that everyone I have spoken to has always said to prioritize your PI e.g. how you get along/if they seem like a good mentor. 

2) Quite frankly, it's only the beginning of February. If you have programs you still haven't heard from, I would not count yourself out yet from those programs. While we're waiting, it can seem like things are moving slowly and that denial of admission is a forgone conclusion. But that simply isn't true. Most placed have a timeline of communication of mid Feb to early March. And each program is different with timelines, especially given the increase in applicants over the past few years. If I were to give a suggestion here, I would suggest to the PI you interviewed with that you have more time to consider the offer. To seem generous, you could suggest that given the National Acceptance Deadline in April 15th, a fair timeline for an answer from you would be sometime the week of Feb 14th - perhaps the 18th. 

 

Overall, I hope this was a little helpful. I wish you all the luck in your endeavors. And congrats, again! 

Thank you so much for your considerate answers! I carefully read them all. 

1) Actually this is because my application has to be transferred. She is a professor affiliated with two departments but her funding source seems to be tied to one dept. She said the faculty will vote on Thursday, so they need time to read my application. Tbh, I was a bit surprised to hear about such flimsy(?) process. But it is not like my acceptance on Monday is a binding acception. She needs an agreement to push my application forward.

2) I guess I lost hope cuz I didn't get any invites to interviews so far. And after reading back my SOP again + talking to 1 PI, I think I get why. Research fit seems key, but my research interest displayed on the SOP seems a bit too broad. But you are right, I might say yes on Monday, but us both knowing that this is not a conventional offer, I would be able to communicate later IF I get a better offer or if I can't find external source.

I got the impression that it doesn't matter to her if I come in this year or next year. It seemed like she wasn't planning on receiving one this year. But thank you all again, I should really think about it today. 

Edited February 6, 2022 by Ehphd

[medception]

On 2/1/2022 at 2:38 PM, medception said:

Update: Received official admission to University of Minnesota Health Services Research, Policy and Administration Ph.D a few minutes ago.

Rejections: UPenn Wharton Health Econ Ph.D

Interviews: JHU Health Econ Ph.D, Brown HSR Ph.D, BU HSR Ph.D, GWU Health Policy Ph.D

Acceptances: UMN HSR Ph.D, GWU Health Policy Ph.D

Silence: Harvard, Yale, Michigan

Rejections, Confirmed: UPenn Wharton Health Econ Ph.D

Rejections, Silent: Harvard Health Policy Ph.D, Yale Health Policy Ph.D, Michigan Health Policy Ph.D

Interviews, In Running: JHU Health Econ Ph.D

Interviews, Withdrew: Brown HSR Ph.D, BU HSR Ph.D

Acceptances, Withdrew: GWU Health Policy Ph.D

Acceptances: UMN HSR Ph.D

Down to two programs: UMN and JHU. Confirmed I'll likely hear about JHU sometime this week.

*Crosses fingers*

Edited February 6, 2022 by medception

[bbrwin]

35 minutes ago, medception said:

Rejections, Confirmed: UPenn Wharton Health Econ Ph.D

Rejections, Silent: Harvard Health Policy Ph.D, Yale Health Policy Ph.D, Michigan Health Policy Ph.D

Interviews, In Running: JHU Health Econ Ph.D

Interviews, Withdrew: Brown HSR Ph.D, BU HSR Ph.D

Acceptances: UMN HSR Ph.D, GWU Health Policy Ph.D

Down to three programs: UMN, GWU, and JHU. Confirmed I'll likely hear about JHU sometime this week.

*Crosses fingers*

Congrats on the acceptances!!

I also interviewed at GWU but haven't heard anything back yet. Can you elaborate on your offer? How did you hear back? They also spoke of very limited funding for this upcoming year - were you offered funding, or are you still waiting to hear back on funding info?

[medception]

18 minutes ago, bbrwin said:

Congrats on the acceptances!!

I also interviewed at GWU but haven't heard anything back yet. Can you elaborate on your offer? How did you hear back? They also spoke of very limited funding for this upcoming year - were you offered funding, or are you still waiting to hear back on funding info?

I just followed up with them and asked what the status was, and they shared an unofficial acceptance with me. I actually just withdrew due to the funding issue and the fact that I'm not a fan of DC's cost of living (I've lived here for many years but on a six-figure salary haha). I can't imagine doing it on 1/5th of my salary.

Edited February 6, 2022 by medception

[FuturePhDPls]

Has anyone heard back from UC Irvine, disease prevention track? They've historically sent out the prospective visits day invites by the first week of Feb and hosted them the second week. Trying to convince myself that programs may be running late this year due to covid, etc. ? 

[healtheconphd]

2 hours ago, medception said:

Rejections, Confirmed: UPenn Wharton Health Econ Ph.D

Rejections, Silent: Harvard Health Policy Ph.D, Yale Health Policy Ph.D, Michigan Health Policy Ph.D

Interviews, In Running: JHU Health Econ Ph.D

Interviews, Withdrew: Brown HSR Ph.D, BU HSR Ph.D

Acceptances, Withdrew: GWU Health Policy Ph.D

Acceptances: UMN HSR Ph.D

Down to two programs: UMN and JHU. Confirmed I'll likely hear about JHU sometime this week.

*Crosses fingers*

Also waiting to hear form JHU this week - good luck!

I know Harvard interviews have already occurred, but has anyone heard anything from Yale? Are they doing interviews?

[NervousPotato]

4 hours ago, medception said:

I just followed up with them and asked what the status was, and they shared an unofficial acceptance with me. I actually just withdrew due to the funding issue and the fact that I'm not a fan of DC's cost of living (I've lived here for many years but on a six-figure salary haha). I can't imagine doing it on 1/5th of my salary.

Hi, thanks for sharing about GW. Also got interviewed and the two interviewers were quite frank about the funding issue. I'm international, so they were concerned a bit more. They also told me that they referred my app to another better-funded center that aligned with my other research areas (but still with the prospect of being enrolled in the Health Policy program), which was very kind of them. But let's see; I haven't received a formal offer either.

Best of luck at the U (or at Hopkins)!

Edited February 6, 2022 by NervousPotato

[kati2195]

20 hours ago, medception said:

Rejections, Confirmed: UPenn Wharton Health Econ Ph.D

Rejections, Silent: Harvard Health Policy Ph.D, Yale Health Policy Ph.D, Michigan Health Policy Ph.D

Interviews, In Running: JHU Health Econ Ph.D

Interviews, Withdrew: Brown HSR Ph.D, BU HSR Ph.D

Acceptances, Withdrew: GWU Health Policy Ph.D

Acceptances: UMN HSR Ph.D

Down to two programs: UMN and JHU. Confirmed I'll likely hear about JHU sometime this week.

*Crosses fingers*

I am curious why you withdrew from Brown and BU during the interview process? But no need to respond if you don't want to! I am also interviewing on Friday for BU.

[medception]

18 hours ago, healtheconphd said:

Also waiting to hear form JHU this week - good luck!

I know Harvard interviews have already occurred, but has anyone heard anything from Yale? Are they doing interviews?

Best of luck!

[medception]

15 hours ago, NervousPotato said:

Hi, thanks for sharing about GW. Also got interviewed and the two interviewers were quite frank about the funding issue. I'm international, so they were concerned a bit more. They also told me that they referred my app to another better-funded center that aligned with my other research areas (but still with the prospect of being enrolled in the Health Policy program), which was very kind of them. But let's see; I haven't received a formal offer either.

Best of luck at the U (or at Hopkins)!

Yea its honestly pretty frustrating that they don't advertise this info on their website or on SOPHAS before people apply, because they know if they did post the bit about limited funding, very few people would apply and thus they wouldn't get their app fees. Dishonest AF. It just rubbed me the wrong way.

Edited February 7, 2022 by medception

[Mr. Jameson]

Brown HSR decision posted

[medception]

37 minutes ago, kati2195 said:

I am curious why you withdrew from Brown and BU during the interview process? But no need to respond if you don't want to! I am also interviewing on Friday for BU.

I realized that my top two choices are Minnesota and Hopkins - Minnesota because of ResDAC and their strong health econ / biostats departments, and Hopkins because its in my backyard (would allow me to stay close to my family), and because I did my MPH at Hopkins and enjoyed it.

As for why I withdrew - BU's process is super drawn out for the caliber of the school and didn't seem worth it to continue, and I didn't feel like I vibed with Brown during interview day at all. Add to that I felt like they wasted our time selling us on the school when they were planning to reject 80% of us anyway haha.

[aca105]

3 minutes ago, Mr. Jameson said:

Brown HSR decision posted

Confirmed!

[publichealth22]

2 minutes ago, aca105 said:

Confirmed!

Congratulations! Did they send an official email or did a specific POI contact you?

[aca105]

3 minutes ago, publichealth22 said:

Congratulations! Did they send an official email or did a specific POI contact you?

They sent an email where you go to a web portal and they have a decision letter posted.

[Mr. Jameson]

3 minutes ago, publichealth22 said:

Congratulations! Did they send an official email or did a specific POI contact you?

It was an email with a link to check portal update

[AishaB]

Hello everyone! Can anyone advise me if Harvard PHS PhD program requires WES evaluation for international students?

[futureepiphd28]

Hi everyone, this is my first post to this forum. I am getting anxious about this application szn being that I have heard nothing from any school. Here are the schools I have applied to:

Harvard PHD-Epi

Boston Uni PHD-Epi

CUNY PHD-Epi

NYU GPH PHD- Epi

Columbia PHD-Epi

UIC PHD-MCH Epi

UTHealth PHD Epi

Has anyone heard from these schools and should I email them? Thanks

Edited February 7, 2022 by futureepiphd28

[Photo Light]

14 minutes ago, futureepiphd28 said:

Hi everyone, this is my first post to this forum. I am getting anxious about this application szn being that I have heard nothing from any school. Here are the schools I have applied to:

Harvard PHD-Epi

Boston Uni PHD-Epi

CUNY PHD-Epi

NYU GPH PHD- Epi

Columbia PHD-Epi

UIC PHD-MCH Epi

UTHealth PHD Epi

Has anyone heard from these schools and should I email them? Thanks

Hi! I have some schools in common with you (all for epi as well); BU, NYU GPH, Columbia, and UTHealth and I haven't heard anything from the first three. I got accepted to UTHealth though 

[Anupam Sharma]

35 minutes ago, AishaB said:

Hello everyone! Can anyone advise me if Harvard PHS PhD program requires WES evaluation for international students?

I don't think it was required for the application. I applied with just scanned copy of my official transcripts.

 

PS: I am from India.

[futureepiphd28]

3 minutes ago, Photo Light said:

Hi! I have some schools in common with you (all for epi as well); BU, NYU GPH, Columbia, and UTHealth and I haven't heard anything from the first three. I got accepted to UTHealth though 

Congratuations! I applied to UTHealth last month so I don't expect to hear from them yet but the rest I applied the Dec 1 deadline. Thanks for your reply!

[0411]

19 minutes ago, futureepiphd28 said:

Hi everyone, this is my first post to this forum. I am getting anxious about this application szn being that I have heard nothing from any school. Here are the schools I have applied to:

Harvard PHD-Epi

Boston Uni PHD-Epi

CUNY PHD-Epi

NYU GPH PHD- Epi

Columbia PHD-Epi

UIC PHD-MCH Epi

UTHealth PHD Epi

Has anyone heard from these schools and should I email them? Thanks

I think Harvard Epi has already conducted interviews. If I'm not wrong, a couple of people got their acceptances as well. You can check the results page for more updates.

[GenoTheCat]

On 2/4/2022 at 5:03 PM, healthphd said:

Hi, any funding information from UTHealth so far? It seems this school doesn't provide full funding for its incoming Ph.D students.

Sorry for delayed reply, I typed this up but apparently didn't submit. I didn't get any info, and have not been able to find any either, either in their website or the accepted student portal. I have heard that about them as well (after applying) which is unfortunate. 

[Photo Light]

Just now, futureepiphd28 said:

Congratuations! I applied to UTHealth last month so I don't expect to hear from them yet but the rest I applied the Dec 1 deadline. Thanks for your reply!

Thanks! Yeah, I applied Dec 1 and heard back 3rd week of Jan so you might not hear back just yet- soon though! Good luck to you