MPH Job prospects if I don't attend a top 10 school?

[tankgirl]

Hey guys,

 

I am 25 years old and planning to go into Public Health. I tried to get into a Speech Therapy Masters program but it's so competitive and I'm looking at this field now as Plan B. My question is would it be career suicide if I don't attend a top 10 school? I have 2 degrees - a BA in English with low GPA and a second degree in speech language sciences with a 3.9 GPA. I plan to take a couple of courses and get A's and score a high GRE score. Also, I plan to volunteer for 6 months. 

 

I was looking at a couple of top 10 schools but if It's impossible for me to get in due to my first GPA then I was thinking of some top 20s,

 

Hope to hear from you guys!

 

Thanks!

[waverlymike]

I'm interested in responses to this question as well....

[susanbe]

i am as well...

[UndecidedMan]

i wish to know too......

[mpheels]

What field within public health interests you? What kind of work do you want to do? Public health is a huge area with a lot of different specialties and career prospects.

 

Also, it's probably best to avoid calling it your plan B. Applications will suffer if committees get any sense that you aren't 100% excited and committed.

[Lola1233]

What field within public health interests you? What kind of work do you want to do? Public health is a huge area with a lot of different specialties and career prospects.

 

Also, it's probably best to avoid calling it your plan B. Applications will suffer if committees get any sense that you aren't 100% excited and committed.

 

International public health.

[ZeroFlux]

No, I don't think it would be "career suicide." You might benefit from browsing the Public Health Employment Connection. You can check out some open positions, what skills they request, what sounds interesting to you, etc. It would be wise to become familiar with interesting jobs titles / descriptions and their related skill sets so that you can better prepare yourself in any program you attend.

 

I really don't know much about the merits of top-ten schools and institutional prestige, though I attended a supposedly "top" school myself. In my experience, building useful skills, networking, and persistence have been the most important tools for success. Attending a well known school may have its advantages, but I don't think it's necessary for professional viability. Just realize that the economy and job market are still on the mend. With the sequester, many government-funded public health gigs are in short supply. Hopefully the situation will be better when you emerge from your grad program.

 

Ultimately, don't overthink this. Top 30 vs. top 20 vs. top 10 probably doesn't matter all that much, at least in my estimations. Having Johns Hopkins on your resume will indeed get you a few initial brownie points compared with University of South Florida, but it's so rare to get a job from a resume alone (at least starting out). If you want to work in public health, then pursue an MPH (hopefully without accumulating massive debt), work hard, focus on marketable skills, and make sure to network with everyone you can. Fortunately, public health isn't like a field like investment banking, where computerized application systems will automatically sift out applicants from less prestigious schools.

 

On a side note, one of my best friends received his Master's in speech therapy and has enjoyed his work in that field immensely. But public health is a heck of a field too.

Edited August 23, 2013 by ZeroFlux