New to MPH. HELP!

[kelseygwynne]

Hi y'all!

 

I am currently deciding where to go for my MSW, and there is about a 99% chance I will be going to Tulane! That being said, a friend suggested I look into their MPH joint degree because I currently work with HIV-positive homeless clients and love it--I want to do something of that nature hopefully internationally for a living.

 

Anyway, the application process is a bit different and I'm nervous about two things. ONE, I have a 3.9 undergraduate GPA and am in my second year of AmeriCorps now. I also spent time in Uganda working on health issues with women--all of these things i think are in my favor. However, my GRE scores in math are abysmal. I am AWFUL. AWFULLLLL. at math. How important do you think these scores are?

 

Additionally, I saw that a statistics class once there is required. UM WHAT? Will I be able to survive this? Has anyone taken a graduate stats class and can tell me how terrible it is?

 

Thanks so much!

[Femtastic]

The work you are doing is very Public Health oriented so I would encourage you to apply to the MPH program. I am an Americorps member as well, I had a undergrad GPA of 2.98 and my GRE scores we pretty low, math at the 50th percent and Verbal below 50; but I've managed to get into 3 schools! Your GPA will make up for your GRE scores, public health schools are not very strict about GRE scores.

 

As for the stats class, I wouldn't know how horrible it is; but with any MPH program, you are required to take stats.

Edited January 25, 2015 by Femtastic

[holykrp]

I don't know very much about Tulane since I didn't apply there, but some schools weight GRE more heavily than others. It also depends on the program. Epi programs want to see decent quant scores, most others aren't really going to care as much about your quant scores. It depends how bad "bad" is.

 

I've never taken grad statistics but I took 3 stats courses in undergrad and I thought they were a breeze. It's a lot easier than calculus and makes intuitive sense, in my opinion. That's going to depend on how comfortable you are with math, though. From my experience, it was a lot more of inputting data into spreadsheets and programs and interpreting the results. Also doing linear regressions and that sort of thing. I think anyone who is decently comfortable with college algebra should have no problem with stats.

[IntriguedStudent]

Hi y'all!

 

I am currently deciding where to go for my MSW, and there is about a 99% chance I will be going to Tulane! That being said, a friend suggested I look into their MPH joint degree because I currently work with HIV-positive homeless clients and love it--I want to do something of that nature hopefully internationally for a living.

 

Anyway, the application process is a bit different and I'm nervous about two things. ONE, I have a 3.9 undergraduate GPA and am in my second year of AmeriCorps now. I also spent time in Uganda working on health issues with women--all of these things i think are in my favor. However, my GRE scores in math are abysmal. I am AWFUL. AWFULLLLL. at math. How important do you think these scores are?

 

Additionally, I saw that a statistics class once there is required. UM WHAT? Will I be able to survive this? Has anyone taken a graduate stats class and can tell me how terrible it is?

 

Thanks so much!

 

You have a great GPA and it sounds like you have very good experience. I don't think you would have too much trouble getting accepted into an MPH program. 

 

All MPH degree programs require that you take at least one semester of biostatistics. Before you apply, I definitely suggest you do a little bit of research on the degree. Is it something you want to invest the time and money into?