MPH CANADA FALL 2012 APPLICANTS

[derp]

Hey all, I've been around since last year - I began graduate study in McGill's new MSc. Public health program but was very disappointed with it and consequently have applied to programs that appear a better fit this year. I wanted to say I was just offered a place at UBC's MPH program for fall 2012, with a deadline to reply by March 16, with funding. I know they have a small waitlist since a friend of mine was accepted off of it last year, but offers to top ranked students are now out. Good luck for this cycle to all!

[Lilac]

Hey Dr.P

Just wondering whether you're referring to the MPH program at McGill or something else? Do you think the program is not well done or that it just isn't a good fit for you? I'm curious because I applied to McGill MPH this year.

[kdok]

Wow congrats Dr. P! Whats your background? Is UBC a top pick? Hopefully this mens more of us will start to get some results in the near future...

[hopefulMPH]

Just want to let everyone know that I also just received an email from UBC (around 12 pm PST) with an offer of admission. Looks like the offers are out!

Dr. P, how much did UBC offer you in terms of scholarship?

I also applied to U of T (epid) and SFU (population health).

Anyone have any idea when the offers of admission for these schools come out?

Thanks.

[derp]

Hey Dr.P

Just wondering whether you're referring to the MPH program at McGill or something else? Do you think the program is not well done or that it just isn't a good fit for you? I'm curious because I applied to McGill MPH this year.

Hey Lilac, What McGill calls an MPH is actually an MSc. (in public health) and MSc. is what you'd get on your degree/transcripts. But that wasn't the problem I had with the program. There were only 10 of us in the first cohort, and most were unhappy. For the first year, we take all but 1 of the same courses as the epidemiology (thesis) students, all together. This may seem like an okay idea since McGill's epi program is very well-regarded, but it had several problems:

1. Being the original epi thesis courses, they was geared towards preparing students to conduct their own epi research for their theses. This meant they were very methodology- and biostastics-oriented, with very little practical information for us practicum-based MSPH students. So we'd all be sitting there learning all this information much of which was not relevant to what we would be doing.
   
2. On a more personal note, I am interested in things like health policy, social determinants of health, health ethics, etc... There is a severe paucity of relevant coursework in these subjects because McGill's MScPH is so new, and since they aren't a school of public health they don't have the resources. The courses that were available were actually in other departments like sociology or poli sci. So when we'd get around to taking them in the second year, they wouldn't be through the department, and there was a big risk they wouldn't actually be that relevant.
   
3. The course is so new there really are a lot of kinks. Profs address the class as 'epi' students, there is very little support for practica, McGill's program won't be accredited by CEPH for at least another 3-4 years, etc...
   

There are a lot of other problems, PM me if you have more questions. That said, McGill is the top school in medical sciences, the faculty are great, tuition is very cheap etc... if you have a strong interest in biostats/methodology/epi to the exclusion of the other topics under the aegis of public health, it may be the course for you

Edited March 1, 2012 by dr.p

[derp]

Just want to let everyone know that I also just received an email from UBC (around 12 pm PST) with an offer of admission. Looks like the offers are out!

Dr. P, how much did UBC offer you in terms of scholarship?

I also applied to U of T (epid) and SFU (population health).

Anyone have any idea when the offers of admission for these schools come out?

Just under $5000.00. SFU comes soon, and UofT in mid- to late-April (I know from last year).

Wow congrats Dr. P! Whats your background? Is UBC a top pick?

Thanks! PM me for details about my background, but UBC is an upper midrange pick for me I think. Vancouver is a huge draw but I think I'm just more interested in other places. Problem is I won't hear back from them before mid-March!

Edited March 1, 2012 by dr.p

[slate]

Haven't heard anything

[Rainbowbrite]

Me neither, and I also applied to UVic.

[Burkis]

Hey all, I've been around since last year - I began graduate study in McGill's new MSc. Public health program but was very disappointed with it and consequently have applied to programs that appear a better fit this year. I wanted to say I was just offered a place at UBC's MPH program for fall 2012, with a deadline to reply by March 16, with funding. I know they have a small waitlist since a friend of mine was accepted off of it last year, but offers to top ranked students are now out. Good luck for this cycle to all!

Congrats on UBC. I also received an email from UBC.

Edited March 2, 2012 by Burkis

[waiting2hear]

Hi everyone,

Congrats to you all for hearing back from some programs already! I'm also a first time poster and first time applier to public health programs. UBC MPH is one of the programs I applied for. I'm wondering, does that mean ALL the first-round acceptances have been sent out? Or do they send out acceptance emails over a span of a few days?

Cheers

[hopefulMPH]

Thank you dr.p for your answer.

I am not sure if I should accept UBC. I am leaning more towards Toronto...but offers don't come out typically until mid April. That is not good because I need to accept my offer to UBC and perhaps also SFU (which presumably comes out soon) by mid March.

Any idea what I should do? If I accept UBC, would it look bad for me to reject it later (if I get into Toronto)?

And can someone list the pro/con for each school?

I love Vancouver (I am a native), but I feel like the MPH program at UBC is very general. I like the one in Toronto as it is more geared towards people with a strong interest in epidemiology. SFU, on the other hand, is the only accredited school in Canada. But does this matter?

Any advise/response would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[hopefulMPH]

Hi everyone,

Congrats to you all for hearing back from some programs already! I'm also a first time poster and first time applier to public health programs. UBC MPH is one of the programs I applied for. I'm wondering, does that mean ALL the first-round acceptances have been sent out? Or do they send out acceptance emails over a span of a few days?

Cheers

Hi there, I believe the acceptances for UBC have all been sent out. Did you get an email about a wait list? I think UBC keeps a short wait list.

I think that some people (including myself) may be rejecting it, so if you are on the wait list, then I think chances are, you will get in!

I am not sure if they are sending out rejections yet though.

[derp]

Hi everyone,

Congrats to you all for hearing back from some programs already! I'm also a first time poster and first time applier to public health programs. UBC MPH is one of the programs I applied for. I'm wondering, does that mean ALL the first-round acceptances have been sent out? Or do they send out acceptance emails over a span of a few days?

Cheers

Hey there - last year I was accepted on Feb. 28 to UBC and then I saw some people getting accepted on March 1st on gradcafé's results search page. So it may actually take them a few days to roll them all out.

[derp]

Thank you dr.p for your answer.

I am not sure if I should accept UBC. I am leaning more towards Toronto...but offers don't come out typically until mid April. That is not good because I need to accept my offer to UBC and perhaps also SFU (which presumably comes out soon) by mid March.

Any idea what I should do? If I accept UBC, would it look bad for me to reject it later (if I get into Toronto)?

And can someone list the pro/con for each school?

I love Vancouver (I am a native), but I feel like the MPH program at UBC is very general. I like the one in Toronto as it is more geared towards people with a strong interest in epidemiology. SFU, on the other hand, is the only accredited school in Canada. But does this matter?

Any advise/response would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Last year I just accepted UBC's offer as their deadline to respond was more than a month before I heard back from other schools (although they will give you more time if you ask...but still not enough time), and later very politely rejected them when I got into my preferred schools. It felt shitty but you do what you have to do, and I wrote them a nice letter to explain myself. It doesn't seem to have affected things since they accepted me again this year. Toronto is probably better for epi if that's your thing, and CEPH accrediation may add some value to your degree. Without having graduated from a CEPH accredited program I don't think you can get into a DrPH program later, at least not at Harvard. UdeM's program is also accredited, and I believe UofA's whole school is set to be accredited this fall. That said, Toronto and UBC are way better schools than SFU, and consequently your degree will be more widely recognised. Good luck!

Edited March 2, 2012 by dr.p

[Rainbowbrite]

I also haven't received anything from UBC waiting2hear. I'm curious as to what this means.

Edited March 2, 2012 by Rainbowbrite

[piccku]

I got accepted at UBC as well Yesterday

I am also unsure whether I should accept or not..... since I am still waiting from UofT, SFU, McMaster, and UofA

[hopefulMPH]

Thank you dr.p for your response.

I am going to accept UBC first and then wait on Toronto.

I am wondering also why Toronto and UBC are not accredited? It sees strange to me. I know that they are definitely recognized by the Canadian public health agency. But how do these schools get accredited by the American system? Is there a reason why these schools do not undergo accreditation? Is there something missing from their programs?

[derp]

Thank you dr.p for your response.

I am going to accept UBC first and then wait on Toronto.

I am wondering also why Toronto and UBC are not accredited? It sees strange to me. I know that they are definitely recognized by the Canadian public health agency. But how do these schools get accredited by the American system? Is there a reason why these schools do not undergo accreditation? Is there something missing from their programs?

Accreditation just takes a long time and public health is a fairly new field in Canada. UofT is seeking CEPH accreditation but won't get it before we'd graduate, it takes at least 2 years from the date of submission to CEPH and they haven't yet submitted. In a study they released, their school was still deficient in things like health policy and global health, which they are working on now. I don't know about UBC's status or if they are seeking accreditation.

[hopefulMPH]

dr. p, thanks again.

I see, in that case, I would assume most schools should be accredited some time in the future then?

That definitely mean that I won't be choosing SFU, as the only reason why I am considering it is because it is the only accredited school currently in Canada.

Is there anything else I should consider about SFU? (i.e. positive points)

UBC and Toronto are definitely the more well-known schools. I just hope their programs are just as good as their reputation!

The whole thing about Toronto not notifying students until April really bothers me. It seems to me that they don't really care what sort of students they get. Their admissions office is also horrible at responding. I emailed them twice before getting a response.

[publichealthstudent2012]

HopefulMPH,

Of course U of T cares about the sort of students that they get. It's one of the best schools in the world and their MPH program has an incredibly high acceptance retention rate. It's one of the most (if not the most) well respected MPH programs in the country. If moving to Toronto was a possibility for me (due to my job), I would have definitely applied there. There is obviously a reason to their later notification process.

SFU's program has many positive points. It's program is much more established than many of the other Canadian MPH programs and therefore their longstanding connections with Public Health agencies, NGOs, and IGOs opens a lot of doors for students. Also, the various streams allow for students to be immersed in one specific focus. You come out of the program as less of a generalists, which is very beneficial upon graduation. There are way more elective course work opportunities at SFU. Also, because the program has been around for so long, the administrative kinks have been smoothed out (which, if you've spoken to any current/former students of the more recently established programs, you will know that this is a serious issue).

[Lilac]

I just received an email from UBC today indicating that I've been recommended for admission to their MPH program. They mention that my file has been sent to the School of Graduate Studies for approval. For those others who have received acceptances from UBC have you heard anything from the School of Graduate Studies about offers of admission?

[Globule]

Hi everyone !

I finally decided to suscribe to the forum !

I applied to:

UToronto- MPH EPI

McGill-MscPH

Université de Montréal- Maitrise santé communautaire

I just got an invitation for an interview at UMontréal.

I know there are not a lot of francophones here, but anyone else got an invitation from UMontréal ?

[piccku]

I just received an email from UBC today indicating that I've been recommended for admission to their MPH program. They mention that my file has been sent to the School of Graduate Studies for approval. For those others who have received acceptances from UBC have you heard anything from the School of Graduate Studies about offers of admission?

Hi, I got a "recommended for admission" on march 1st, and just today I got an official admissions email.

[derp]

dr. p, thanks again.

I see, in that case, I would assume most schools should be accredited some time in the future then?

That definitely mean that I won't be choosing SFU, as the only reason why I am considering it is because it is the only accredited school currently in Canada.

Is there anything else I should consider about SFU? (i.e. positive points)

UBC and Toronto are definitely the more well-known schools. I just hope their programs are just as good as their reputation!

The whole thing about Toronto not notifying students until April really bothers me. It seems to me that they don't really care what sort of students they get. Their admissions office is also horrible at responding. I emailed them twice before getting a response.

Most schools or at least programs will probably be accredited in the future, although you should know that if you graduate before this occurs, you can't say you graduated from an accredited program. If it's accredited within 3 years of graduation though, you can still write the public health practitioner test that the US has, if you'd like to work there as a public health practitioner (whatever that is). SFU is much more established, smaller, and will probably give you more personal attention. That said, at the graduate level it matters a lot more what 'brand' of school you attend, for future jobs or more school. Bigger schools like UofT and UBC will certainly also have more professional connections and affiliations.

[derp]

I just received an email from UBC today indicating that I've been recommended for admission to their MPH program. They mention that my file has been sent to the School of Graduate Studies for approval. For those others who have received acceptances from UBC have you heard anything from the School of Graduate Studies about offers of admission?

Yeah that is very typical, SGS has to check that you meet school-wide minimums and that they didn't make a mistake with your application. For such a competitive program you shouldn't have anything to worry about. Last year (and this year) for me at least, the SGS email arrived about 4 days after the departmental one. Official acceptance is the paper letter though, that comes about a week later, depending on where you live.