mpheels Posted February 1, 2013 Posted February 1, 2013 Hi all, I've been lurking for a while, and figured I'd jump in now. I'm waiting to hear from UNC and Hopkins for Health Policy PhD. I had an interview with Hopkins last week (Health Services Research track), but haven't heard anything from UNC. I currently work for the med school at UNC, but get a lot of SPH news through the grad students in my office. I have more ties with the epid department than policy. Word around here is that UNC epid accepted too many PhD students during the last few cycles, and now are having a hard time pairing students with faculty. I think the problem is mostly in cancer epid. As for housing in CH/Carrboro, it really isn't too difficult. The bus system makes it very easy, and if you don't mind driving a few miles to a park and ride lot, you can branch out to the southern Durham area.
BoilerEpi Posted February 1, 2013 Posted February 1, 2013 (edited) Hi all, I've been lurking for a while, and figured I'd jump in now. I'm waiting to hear from UNC and Hopkins for Health Policy PhD. I had an interview with Hopkins last week (Health Services Research track), but haven't heard anything from UNC. I currently work for the med school at UNC, but get a lot of SPH news through the grad students in my office. I have more ties with the epid department than policy. Word around here is that UNC epid accepted too many PhD students during the last few cycles, and now are having a hard time pairing students with faculty. I think the problem is mostly in cancer epid. As for housing in CH/Carrboro, it really isn't too difficult. The bus system makes it very easy, and if you don't mind driving a few miles to a park and ride lot, you can branch out to the southern Durham area. Thanks for the inside info. My interests mainly lie in the international infectious disease epi area, not really interested in non-communicable disease epi, hopefully I left a lasting impact with some of my POIs when I spoke to them on the phone. I'm hoping to live within a reasonable biking distance (even though I have a car, I just enjoy it) so I kind of zeroed in on Carboro since I've read that it's a really great place for young grad students and professionals. Edited February 1, 2013 by BoilerEpi
MammaD Posted February 1, 2013 Posted February 1, 2013 Thanks, mpheels! I'm also not cancer epi, I spent a day with reproductive/pediatric epi folks (and one of my faculty of interest is MCH, and she's wide open for a grad student). Hopefully, decisions will come soon and we can all rest! My housing situation is a little different since I'll be moving there (if I get in) with my 3 school-aged kids. I'm hoping to buy in a neighborhood districted to East Chapel Hill HS. I'm amenable to living in the family/student apartments at Baity Hill for a year (my husband is military and it might be that long before he can join us anyway, but I'm hesitant to move the kids' schools more than once and I can't figure out where kids who live in Baity Hill go to school), then finding a house. All this to say I hope they tell us soon because there's only so much I can justifiably do before I definitely know I'm moving there!
VBD Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 OK, so I'm on UNC for their open house and it is awesome. The department is super friendly, even a dept in the SPH that I didn't apply to (Yes, I started wandering around the building and a super nice professor in Maternal Health(?) asked if I needed help, etc. The campus is beautiful, and the SPH seems to have awesome facilities. I sincerely hope MammaD and Boiler hear at least something from UNC peeps, because the awesome must be shared Carrboro seems to be perfect to bike because of the less hilly area, just from what I see. ^^; Congrats Songsong and elsewhy on your admits! I can't believe someone would do such a lowbrow thing like down a program only to get off the waitlist. I mean, we're all public health, aren't we all supposed to be together work together? Hopefully, I think Harvard does multiple rounds, so don't give up hope just yet! If you feel like you need to find out, you could call them/email them and ask, but again, that's personal preference. I personally don't (unless app issues) because I don't want to bother admissions people who are probably already swamped. Give it a week, then call, perhaps? loganartemis and MammaD 2
MammaD Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 I was there in October, on an idyllic, 72-degree sunny day with a fresh breeze blowing ... other than serious stress finding one of the downtown offices (literally made it with a minute to spare!), I totally fell in love with it there. My family and I were there 6 months prior to that and we checked out neighborhoods and schools, because I just couldn't even face the prospect of applying to a school/moving to a town I couldn't feel comfortable raising my kids in. We are so comfortable here and my kids have everything they need. I think we would be happy in Chapel Hill. Here's hoping! I'm so glad you had a great day there, VBD.
HopefullyGrad Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 I also applied (medical sociology) and have not heard anything, but I am under the impression that invites were already sent out. When I spoke to the admissions director in the fall, she mentioned they send invites to a short list of candidates by the end of January. I'm of course hoping this is not the case, but it's starting to get a bit late. Keep us posted if you hear anything, though! I applied to management track, I am still hoping to hear something, I just saw a post for someone having their interview invite on 28 Jan. Thinking about contacting the director of the program and I will definitely post once I heard back.
loganartemis Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 The more I hear you all talk about UNC the more I find myself wishing they had had a Global Health PhD program to apply to! I hope that BoilerEpi, MammaD, et al. are able to join VBD for what sounds like a great experience in Chapel Hill!
loganartemis Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 hey all! congrats on the admissions news! @ loganartemis: i don't believe UW's GH program has moved through to the acceptance phase yet. I know they just finished the prelim interviews and i'm guessing they will be moving through the final phase this month. however, i wouldn't be surprised if they do another set of interviews. i'm guessing the meta-analysis comment was referring to the metrics track which employs students at IHME (which i hear is a **ton** of statistical work, but obviously an invaluable experience and totally worth it). i did hear that they received over 110 applications, only ~30 of which were for the metrics track, so the implementation science side will be fairly competitive. i think the program has pros and cons -- obviously stellar global health folks, but it's only in its 2nd year which I'm sure brings both challenges and opportunities for the early cohorts. regardless, you really couldn't go wrong if you got in there! good luck!!! Thanks for the input and well wishes, erzi. I'm still highly hopeful!
MammaD Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 Another acceptance got posted ... I wish I could find out which subspecialty and if that's why decisions are coming in spurts? I'm losing hope, I have to admit, but I'm feeling OK and still hopeful about MCH.
BoilerEpi Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 Another acceptance got posted ... I wish I could find out which subspecialty and if that's why decisions are coming in spurts? I'm losing hope, I have to admit, but I'm feeling OK and still hopeful about MCH. Feeling the same way, but then again there hasn't been a big wave of acceptances like last year yet. Still starting to wonder a bit though
MPH(D?) Posted February 3, 2013 Posted February 3, 2013 Losing my mind - got a phone interview invite from Pitt. However, I've heard nothing but crickets since I emailed them my availability...
VBD Posted February 4, 2013 Posted February 4, 2013 The more I hear you all talk about UNC the more I find myself wishing they had had a Global Health PhD program to apply to! I hope that BoilerEpi, MammaD, et al. are able to join VBD for what sounds like a great experience in Chapel Hill! A lot of UNC seems to be global. I mean, it's in the name of their public school.. Environmental health even had students talk about their overseas experience. *shrugs* I dunno I only looked at the kind of research I wanted to do so I don't know much about other programs >.> Blinders were on when I was dying doing all the apps xD They kept talking about funding, so maybe that's why the spurts? Like they are seriously making sure they have enough money..? Pitt LOVE! Go PITT! Not as much love for that program in this thread, so I'll go overboard. Good luck on the phone interview MPHD MPH(D?) 1
MammaD Posted February 4, 2013 Posted February 4, 2013 Another week dawns Will we get our decisions? I'm ready to know! (That's my little haiku gift to you all as we move a little further into February.)
elsewhy Posted February 4, 2013 Posted February 4, 2013 Another week dawns Will we get our decisions? I'm ready to know! (That's my little haiku gift to you all as we move a little further into February.) MamaD, that just made my day!
acdelco Posted February 4, 2013 Posted February 4, 2013 Losing my mind - got a phone interview invite from Pitt. However, I've heard nothing but crickets since I emailed them my availability... Congrats on the interview! Which program at Pitt are you interviewing with
Post-It Poet Posted February 4, 2013 Posted February 4, 2013 I've been lurking on this thread for ages. (Sorry!) I've applied to four PhD programs for Health Promotion/Education/Behavior tracks, which I arrived at from an initial list of 26 programs and after visiting 6 schools. It's really important to me to get a good fit with an advisor/mentor and also with the school in general. Added to that, my husband just finished his PhD, so I'm applying to schools that look like they'd be good places (or other local universities) for him to find a post doc (he is not in public health). Anyway, I applied to UNC, U Pitt, UT Houston and Washington University in St. Louis. WashU is actually a Social Work PhD, but their public health graduate program is housed in the School of Social Work, so their research has strong public health leanings and they tend to accept a few MPH grads each year along with MSWs. Additionally it's ranked #1 and has the best funding of any of these programs! I visited all these schools and met with potential advisors at each place. My personal ranking for where I'd like to go is a first place tie between WashU and UT Houston, followed by U Pitt and then UNC. So far I have heard back from WashU and UT Houston. I got accepted to UT Houston with a scholarship and an offer for a research assistantship with my first choice advisor, which is great! At this point she is my first choice of people to work with at any of the schools. I also just heard on Friday from WashU and am invited to the visitation/interview day at the end of February. I got my application in really late to Pitt (in time for the deadline, but pretty late to SOPHAS for Pitt), so I'm not sure if/when I will hear from them. Haven't heard a word from UNC, but I don't think any of the health behavior applicants have heard from them so far. My understanding is that they kind of work on a one-at-a-time acceptance. I guess it doesn't really matter at this point if I get into Pitt or UNC since I am already in one of my top choices and have good prospects for the other. But I did want to give an update to all of you so you have an idea of other schools that have/have not gotten decisions out. Good luck to all of you! It's such a nerve-wracking and exciting time! Now my husband needs to start looking seriously at post doc opportunities in Houston and (maybe) St. Louis.
acdelco Posted February 4, 2013 Posted February 4, 2013 I've been lurking on this thread for ages. (Sorry!) I've applied to four PhD programs for Health Promotion/Education/Behavior tracks, which I arrived at from an initial list of 26 programs and after visiting 6 schools. It's really important to me to get a good fit with an advisor/mentor and also with the school in general. Added to that, my husband just finished his PhD, so I'm applying to schools that look like they'd be good places (or other local universities) for him to find a post doc (he is not in public health). Anyway, I applied to UNC, U Pitt, UT Houston and Washington University. Wash U is actually a Social Work PhD, but their public health graduate program is housed in the School of Social Work, so their research has strong public health leanings and they tend to accept a few MPH grads each year along with MSWs. Additionally it's ranked #1 and has the best funding of any of these programs! I visited all these schools and met with potential advisors at each place. My personal ranking for where I'd like to go is a first place tie between Washington University and UT Houston, followed by U Pitt and then UNC. So far I have heard back from Wash U and UT Houston. I got accepted to UT Houston with a scholarship and an offer for a research assistantship with my first choice advisor, which is great! At this point she is my first choice of people to work with at any of the schools. I also just heard on Friday from Wash U and am invited to the visitation/interview day at the end of February. I got my application in really late to Pitt (in time for the deadline, but pretty late to SOPHAS for Pitt), so I'm not sure if/when I will hear from them. Haven't heard a word from UNC, but I don't think any of the health behavior applicants have heard from them so far. My understanding is that they kind of work on a one-at-a-time acceptance. I guess it doesn't really matter at this point if I get into Pitt or UNC since I am already in one of my top choices and have good prospects for the other. But I did want to give an update to all of you so you have an idea of other schools that have/have not gotten decisions out. Good luck to all of you! It's such a nerve-wracking and exciting time! Now my husband needs to start looking seriously at post doc opportunities in Houston and (maybe) St. Louis. Congrats on getting into UT!! I haven't seen much from Health Behavior/Community Health type programs so maybe now some of those decisions will start rolling out
Post-It Poet Posted February 4, 2013 Posted February 4, 2013 Congrats on getting into UT!! I haven't seen much from Health Behavior/Community Health type programs so maybe now some of those decisions will start rolling out Thanks! I think the tough part after hearing acceptances is finding the motivation to finish my MPH requirements! I'm finishing up my practice placement and working on my CE (finishing this summer). I just want to be done and move on to the PhD!!!
MammaD Posted February 5, 2013 Posted February 5, 2013 Today's haiku: I gotta say This waiting is for the birds! Please tell me now? Please? :/
BoilerEpi Posted February 5, 2013 Posted February 5, 2013 Gettin pretty grim at this point, but perhaps last year was an anomaly and they got all the decisions out early. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking
MammaD Posted February 5, 2013 Posted February 5, 2013 (edited) I know the MCH program there didn't notify until 2/15 last year, so I'm not calling it over just yet. Edited February 5, 2013 by MammaD
acdelco Posted February 5, 2013 Posted February 5, 2013 There seems to be silence across the board so I'm taking some comfort in that and in the fact that program administrators keep saying "decisions should come out in a couple weeks" in the past I've found administrators have no issues with telling you that you didn't get in. Also if you hear mentions of admit days but still haven't heard it doesn't mean all is lost. Admit days are mostly geared towards Masters students and schools sometimes admit doctoral students after that date for whatever reason.
acdelco Posted February 5, 2013 Posted February 5, 2013 2 new results were posted-- 1 rejection from Pitts DrPH program and 1 interview request that came on the 30th of Jan from UCLA CHS program not my results but I just saw them posted in case anyone was interested
elsewhy Posted February 5, 2013 Posted February 5, 2013 2 new results were posted-- 1 rejection from Pitts DrPH program and 1 interview request that came on the 30th of Jan from UCLA CHS program not my results but I just saw them posted in case anyone was interested So if anything, this just reassures me that I'm not the only one obsessively refreshing the results page
loganartemis Posted February 5, 2013 Posted February 5, 2013 So if anything, this just reassures me that I'm not the only one obsessively refreshing the results page You are absolutely not the only one haha! I even click over to it once or twice during the day at work. Shh.
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