IVY MPH Grad - Rejected by HSR PhD - Accepted to MS

[mghgrad]

I have an MPH from an ivy league school, undergraduate degree in English, and 3 years post MPH degree in community health research. Also, I am in my early 30s.

I applied to 2 programs in Health Services Research in Boston to complete on a part-time basis. I was rejected from one but the other (which accepts 4 PhD students a year), called me and asked me to think about matriculating as a HSR MS student with the intent of matriculating into the PhD program. Has anyone on this board heard about this route and could offer feedback/opinions etc?

Thanks so much in advance.