PhD Applicants Fall 2017

[mph2phd2017]

7 hours ago, joshre01 said:

Anyone heard from/waiting for decisions re: Colorado PhD in Epidemiology?

Nothing here, either. Waiting.

[Andrew_Y]

On 3/17/2017 at 6:43 AM, melvina said:

Ughh, i'm not a fan of that message from them at all...and it rightfully makes you anxious.  If the last time that you heard from them was last month promising that you would hear mid-march, then i would definitely email them.  Can you find out when the students day was?  (i would wait to email until after that day has passed, and maybe don't use "feeling" words like "curious" and "upset".  You are just asking a question politely because duh, they should be able to give you an answer). 

You could email them something like "I am following up regarding my waitlist status.  Now that the admitted students day has passed, do you have any other information?   Also, it would be helpful if you could tell me my ranking on the waitlist."  

I assume you don't have any other offers....?   If you do, then i would definitely mention it.  Even if their deadline to accept is not imminent.  Let them know that other schools also want you

Would you mind sharing what school this is?  (Im curious :p)

 

Honestly, i find this really bizarre.  If UCLA doesn't even offer DrPH how could you have accidentally chosen it on SOPHAS?  Makes absolutely no sense to me. 

As for reapplying, I hear different advice on this (some profs say they never take re-applicants, but i was accepted to my master's after i re-applied, so if the only difference is $50 and it's your dream school, it's really not a lot to risk, imo (unless the feedback you get is something that cannot be worked in the meantime).  What i did when i re-applied, was submitted all the docs that qualified me the year before (obviously), but i also included a section on what i had done in the one year gap---explaining what made my application better now compared to the year before). 

Since you're first on the waitlist, it's a total coin toss.  At the end of the day, people may reject Hopkins for a whole host of reasons.  Like you said, UCLA was your dream school, so would you have rejected Hopkins for UCLA?  I think you can remain cautiously optimistic, but on the whole, it doesn't really sound like Hopkins is YOUR dream school, and maybe the funding situation plays into your decision.  If you have the time, i would speak to current Hopkins students and find out more about the program, so that you can actually decide whether you even want to be offered Hopkins.  Like you said, it may be too good to refuse even if it's not your cup of tea.  

Thank you for your detailed answer, Melvina. I will send an email to the director tomorrow. If there is any good news I would send a message to you!! Also good luck to your applications! Have you decided where to go?

[SocialPubHealth]

I just declined my offer to CUNY. I'm now left with my acceptance to Pitt (with no idea whether I will get a cent in funding) and my waitlist rank 1 at Hopkins (also no clue about funding, especially given I'm waitlisted, therefore unclear whether a package would be facilitated for me). Considering that the funding situations may be comparable for both schools (as in zilch)...What do folks think I should do?

• Pitt: Decent program, could work if I made it--some faculty seem promising, not my first choice, location and weather both suck, and with a husband and daughter, it might not be our ideal place to live/settle given the aforementioned reasons.
   
• Hopkins: Excellent program, has all the classes I want, not any promising faculty but could maybe make something out of it, not my first choice but the location and better weather are good enough, could be attractive to settle for a few years for my husband who could get a job in DC.

I'm waitlisted at Hopkins and I have no idea whether to expect admission or not. Even though I could potentially get off since I'm the first one on the list, I don't anticipate it being a greater than 30% chance (having read previous posts on this topic). Also if you're curious, my top choice was UCLA (and Harvard/Columbia as tied seconds)--not getting in to UCLA made me seriously question whether I even wanted to do my PhD anymore given that I wouldn't have any decent mentors in the programs I got into/waitlisted at.

I'm planning to wait until mid April to see whether I get accepted to Hopkins, but if I don't, it may be reason enough to either drop my PhD all together or reapply next cycle and hope to get into one of my top choices (because I really was THAT dead set on going to UCLA). I just don't know what to do...What's your vote and why?

Edited March 20, 2017 by SocialPubHealth

[thetemp]

7 hours ago, SocialPubHealth said:

I just declined my offer to CUNY. I'm now left with my acceptance to Pitt (with no idea whether I will get a cent in funding) and my waitlist rank 1 at Hopkins (also no clue about funding, especially given I'm waitlisted, therefore unclear whether a package would be facilitated for me). Considering that the funding situations may be comparable for both schools (as in zilch)...What do folks think I should do?

• Pitt: Decent program, could work if I made it--some faculty seem promising, not my first choice, location and weather both suck, and with a husband and daughter, it might not be our ideal place to live/settle given the aforementioned reasons.
   
• Hopkins: Excellent program, has all the classes I want, not any promising faculty but could maybe make something out of it, not my first choice but the location and better weather are good enough, could be attractive to settle for a few years for my husband who could get a job in DC.

I'm waitlisted at Hopkins and I have no idea whether to expect admission or not. Even though I could potentially get off since I'm the first one on the list, I don't anticipate it being a greater than 30% chance (having read previous posts on this topic). Also if you're curious, my top choice was UCLA (and Harvard/Columbia as tied seconds)--not getting in to UCLA made me seriously question whether I even wanted to do my PhD anymore given that I wouldn't have any decent mentors in the programs I got into/waitlisted at.

I'm planning to wait until mid April to see whether I get accepted to Hopkins, but if I don't, it may be reason enough to either drop my PhD all together or reapply next cycle and hope to get into one of my top choices (because I really was THAT dead set on going to UCLA). I just don't know what to do...What's your vote and why?

That's tough and depends on a number of personal factors. If I was in a similar situation, it would all hinge on funding... if I didn't get funding at either Pitt or Hopkins, I'd reapply next year. Hopefully I'd have a sense of why I didn't get into my top choice and would do everything I can to ameliorate that issue before reapplying (if there is such an issue). On the other hand, if I got funding at Pitt I'd likely attend because there's always the chance that I wouldn't get into my top choice again next year, and the very thought of the stress of going through the process again coupled with my loss aversion would lead me to settle now. I'd also consider that the cost of living is night and day between LA and Pittsburgh so life as a student wouldn't be so bad at Pitt. 

NB: I say this as a life-long Pittsburgher who was also admitted at Pitt (in HPM) but I'm likely going elsewhere. Feel free to shoot me a PM if you have questions about the city. I happen to think it's a fantastic place to live.

Edited March 20, 2017 by thetemp

[melvina]

@SocialPubHealth I agree with @thetemp regarding the funding issue, and that would be compounded by the fact of: will you have to use all your savings or get a loan to attend.  If the answer to that is yes, then I would take my chances next year.  I would only consider it if I felt that the financial hardship was not prohibitive.  That being said, I would also look into the possibility of deferring Pitt or Hopkins for a year, and try again next year with my dream school (though i would definitely also apply to other schools that i didn't apply to this year as well).  This is my vote in your context of applying next year again.  Personally, at the moment, I'm not sure that I would do another application cycle---but that could also change in a few months. 

[mph2phd2017]

Anyone? Radio silence?

[SocialPubHealth]

On 3/20/2017 at 7:50 AM, thetemp said:

That's tough and depends on a number of personal factors. If I was in a similar situation, it would all hinge on funding... if I didn't get funding at either Pitt or Hopkins, I'd reapply next year. Hopefully I'd have a sense of why I didn't get into my top choice and would do everything I can to ameliorate that issue before reapplying (if there is such an issue). On the other hand, if I got funding at Pitt I'd likely attend because there's always the chance that I wouldn't get into my top choice again next year, and the very thought of the stress of going through the process again coupled with my loss aversion would lead me to settle now. I'd also consider that the cost of living is night and day between LA and Pittsburgh so life as a student wouldn't be so bad at Pitt. 

NB: I say this as a life-long Pittsburgher who was also admitted at Pitt (in HPM) but I'm likely going elsewhere. Feel free to shoot me a PM if you have questions about the city. I happen to think it's a fantastic place to live.

 

On 3/20/2017 at 0:56 PM, melvina said:

@SocialPubHealth I agree with @thetemp regarding the funding issue, and that would be compounded by the fact of: will you have to use all your savings or get a loan to attend.  If the answer to that is yes, then I would take my chances next year.  I would only consider it if I felt that the financial hardship was not prohibitive.  That being said, I would also look into the possibility of deferring Pitt or Hopkins for a year, and try again next year with my dream school (though i would definitely also apply to other schools that i didn't apply to this year as well).  This is my vote in your context of applying next year again.  Personally, at the moment, I'm not sure that I would do another application cycle---but that could also change in a few months. 

Thank you both so much for your thoughts and input. You've definitely enriched the thought process for me!!

[SocialPubHealth]

35 minutes ago, light10491 said:

Has this forum slowed down because everyone heard back from all their schools, and more or less made their decisions?

That's what I'm thinking.

[joshre01]

1 minute ago, SocialPubHealth said:

That's what I'm thinking.

Definitely stopped posting here because most decisions have come through. But haven't made my decision yet, so still lurking around 

[melvina]

34 minutes ago, joshre01 said:

Definitely stopped posting here because most decisions have come through. But haven't made my decision yet, so still lurking around 

This made me laugh 

[nycpizza]

Anyone got into Columbia SMS?

[etherealhav0c]

How is everyone going about their decision making process? What factors are you looking for? Criteria? How are you prioritizing? I understand that having the right mentors is really important so I wonder how people are evaluating their advisors/mentors as well... 

[PHNutr]

1 hour ago, etherealhav0c said:

How is everyone going about their decision making process? What factors are you looking for? Criteria? How are you prioritizing? I understand that having the right mentors is really important so I wonder how people are evaluating their advisors/mentors as well... 

 

I have been seriously stressing about how to make a final decision, so I ended up making an Excel sheet with all the factors that matter to me (falling into the categories of research opportunities, program offerings, and geographic location). The ones that I weighted the heaviest were: research opportunities with primary advisor, rigor of methodological training in the social sciences, balance between public health approach and food/nutrition topics, and funding package. I still have not made a final decision, but having it all mapped out on one page has been very helpful in narrowing down my options. My suggestion would be to think carefully about the criteria that matter most to you, and then compare how your options stack up along those lines.

[MCEpi17]

1 hour ago, PHNutr said:

I have been seriously stressing about how to make a final decision, so I ended up making an Excel sheet with all the factors that matter to me (falling into the categories of research opportunities, program offerings, and geographic location). The ones that I weighted the heaviest were: research opportunities with primary advisor, rigor of methodological training in the social sciences, balance between public health approach and food/nutrition topics, and funding package. I still have not made a final decision, but having it all mapped out on one page has been very helpful in narrowing down my options. My suggestion would be to think carefully about the criteria that matter most to you, and then compare how your options stack up along those lines.

This is what I did too. I considered the quality of coursework, funding package, overall school culture, advisor's work, advisor's attitude and willingness to work closely with me, location (I'm moving with a partner, so he had a say), research opportunities, and publication opportunity.

Honestly, I also went with my gut reaction. I have a very good feeling about my working relationship with one of the advisors. Our interests are a good match, she is talented and accomplished, and she is rooting for me! She even increased my stipend to include fees and health insurance (tuition covered by scholarship). An unhelpful advisor is a big fear of mine, having watched friends work on their PhDs in various fields. Plus I already know what research projects I will be working on and I know they interest me. Another fear of mine is committing to a program and having to search for projects I like and maybe not getting them. No, thank you. No surprises, please.

Any other criteria people are using?

Edited March 22, 2017 by MCEpi17

[mph2phd2017]

I literally haven't heard anything from any school I applied to.

Ugh.

[melvina]

16 hours ago, mph2phd2017 said:

I literally haven't heard anything from any school I applied to.

Ugh.

Ouch and UGH, that really sucks.  How many schools did you apply to?  And do you know if they've already sent out rejections?   If you let us know the schools, maybe we can share which ones have sent out rejections.  Are you sure everything is okay with your SOPHAS application, as in, have you had any correspondence with any of the schools?

(I have answers from all my 7 schools, including many rejections, so the fact that you havent heard anything at all is a bit strange).  

[SBS_HB_phds2017]

Hi all! First time posting here! I am curious about the experience of other UNC admits regarding funding... Did you receive offers for RA or TA positions (with tuition waiver/stipend) in your offer letters or at a later point? Have you received concrete/binding (on the University's side) funding offers? I have not been able to get a clear sense of what the norm is for their approach to funding. I have not received a funding offer but only verbal assurances that in nearly all cases students are able to secure funding once they have accepted the offer (but that seems insanely risky!). I wasn't sure if that was their normal approach or if most students are receiving clear funding up front (and I'm just someone that they admitted but weren't impressed enough with my candidacy to invest in me? Or, there just wasn't a clear enough research match to commit to funding but it's possible to identify opportunities if I independently investigate and reach out to faculty until I find someone with resources to commit). Thanks in advance for any feedback! Good luck to all!

[zalidina]

18 hours ago, SBS_HB_phds2017 said:

Hi all! First time posting here! I am curious about the experience of other UNC admits regarding funding... Did you receive offers for RA or TA positions (with tuition waiver/stipend) in your offer letters or at a later point? Have you received concrete/binding (on the University's side) funding offers? I have not been able to get a clear sense of what the norm is for their approach to funding. I have not received a funding offer but only verbal assurances that in nearly all cases students are able to secure funding once they have accepted the offer (but that seems insanely risky!). I wasn't sure if that was their normal approach or if most students are receiving clear funding up front (and I'm just someone that they admitted but weren't impressed enough with my candidacy to invest in me? Or, there just wasn't a clear enough research match to commit to funding but it's possible to identify opportunities if I independently investigate and reach out to faculty until I find someone with resources to commit). Thanks in advance for any feedback! Good luck to all!

What department at UNC? I know the department I'm in currently has offered funding to some of the PhD admitted students but not others and is still looking for funding for those students. Usually they'll guarantee first year and help you apply for grants the second year. But it really depends on the department. You should have some idea about funding from them by now to be honest. Also you'd know by now if you got funding from an award or something. 

[joshre01]

23 hours ago, SBS_HB_phds2017 said:

Hi all! First time posting here! I am curious about the experience of other UNC admits regarding funding... Did you receive offers for RA or TA positions (with tuition waiver/stipend) in your offer letters or at a later point? Have you received concrete/binding (on the University's side) funding offers? I have not been able to get a clear sense of what the norm is for their approach to funding. I have not received a funding offer but only verbal assurances that in nearly all cases students are able to secure funding once they have accepted the offer (but that seems insanely risky!). I wasn't sure if that was their normal approach or if most students are receiving clear funding up front (and I'm just someone that they admitted but weren't impressed enough with my candidacy to invest in me? Or, there just wasn't a clear enough research match to commit to funding but it's possible to identify opportunities if I independently investigate and reach out to faculty until I find someone with resources to commit). Thanks in advance for any feedback! Good luck to all!

I was accepted to the Epi department and was told the same exact thing. I was actually pretty disappointed that UNC did not have a concrete funding package for most students and that you'd have to take a 'leap of faith' that you'd get funding somehow. I'm an international student so that risk is even more for me, since I don't qualify for most of the training grants either. I spoke to my advisor (after some other intl student told me they got their funding through their advisor). But she told me the same thing - that students wouldn't find out about RA positions until April/May and there is no guarantee that they would get this. And even if they did, who knows what happens the year after? It's pretty ridiculous that a PhD program at a program that highly ranked won't guarantee any funding at all. Anyway, I have another great funded offer somewhere else where I have to respond by end of March (ranked much lower than UNC) but there's no way I am going to take a chance and put myself through a PhD program where there's additional stress about trying to find funding. Some current students at UNC told me that they don't regret making that decision, but I just can't do it! Which dept did you apply to?

[JuniusBattius]

23 hours ago, SBS_HB_phds2017 said:

Hi all! First time posting here! I am curious about the experience of other UNC admits regarding funding... Did you receive offers for RA or TA positions (with tuition waiver/stipend) in your offer letters or at a later point? Have you received concrete/binding (on the University's side) funding offers? I have not been able to get a clear sense of what the norm is for their approach to funding. I have not received a funding offer but only verbal assurances that in nearly all cases students are able to secure funding once they have accepted the offer (but that seems insanely risky!). I wasn't sure if that was their normal approach or if most students are receiving clear funding up front (and I'm just someone that they admitted but weren't impressed enough with my candidacy to invest in me? Or, there just wasn't a clear enough research match to commit to funding but it's possible to identify opportunities if I independently investigate and reach out to faculty until I find someone with resources to commit). Thanks in advance for any feedback! Good luck to all!

Not sure how much help it will be, but this is a response email that I received from the head of the program I applied to after inquiring with her about my application status (which has seen absolutely no movement since submission in December - not even a status update of "reviewed"):

"Dear Andrea, 

Apologies for our long silence.  The reason you haven’t heard from us yet, is that we are trying to sort out our funding issues.  We do not accept students into our PhD program without being able to fund them and because we are a state school it often takes us longer than we would like to hear about our budget for the upcoming year. This is the case this year.  We hope to have a sense of what we will be able to do in the next week or so.  I know you have other offers you are considering and decisions you must make, and I apologize that we are complicating this process.   I will let you know as soon as possible."

[melvina]

On 3/26/2017 at 1:25 AM, JuniusBattius said:

Not sure how much help it will be, but this is a response email that I received from the head of the program I applied to after inquiring with her about my application status (which has seen absolutely no movement since submission in December - not even a status update of "reviewed"):

"Dear Andrea, 

Apologies for our long silence.  The reason you haven’t heard from us yet, is that we are trying to sort out our funding issues.  We do not accept students into our PhD program without being able to fund them and because we are a state school it often takes us longer than we would like to hear about our budget for the upcoming year. This is the case this year.  We hope to have a sense of what we will be able to do in the next week or so.  I know you have other offers you are considering and decisions you must make, and I apologize that we are complicating this process.   I will let you know as soon as possible."

Thanks for sharing this email.  At least they are being upfront and detailed about what the reason for the delay is.  I know other schools are in a similar situation, but I don't see many of them officially announcing the same thing, which is frustrating. 

[SocialPubHealth]

On 3/24/2017 at 8:59 PM, SBS_HB_phds2017 said:

Hi all! First time posting here! I am curious about the experience of other UNC admits regarding funding... Did you receive offers for RA or TA positions (with tuition waiver/stipend) in your offer letters or at a later point? Have you received concrete/binding (on the University's side) funding offers? I have not been able to get a clear sense of what the norm is for their approach to funding. I have not received a funding offer but only verbal assurances that in nearly all cases students are able to secure funding once they have accepted the offer (but that seems insanely risky!). I wasn't sure if that was their normal approach or if most students are receiving clear funding up front (and I'm just someone that they admitted but weren't impressed enough with my candidacy to invest in me? Or, there just wasn't a clear enough research match to commit to funding but it's possible to identify opportunities if I independently investigate and reach out to faculty until I find someone with resources to commit). Thanks in advance for any feedback! Good luck to all!

This is EXACTLY what I'm wondering too. Thanks for all the helpful responses. I've even heard of Hopkins not funding their admits. Like, whaaaat?? Top school with no money? Their website says most students get funded. I guess it really IS all a leap of faith. Which could potentially cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yay.

[EnvironmentalHealth17]

2 hours ago, light10491 said:

What schools are people still waiting to hear back from?

Columbia - Environmental Health Sciences

Minnesota - HSRPA

UNC - Environmental Sciences and Engineering

Columbia - Environmental Health Sciences 

[SBS_HB_phds2017]

On 3/25/2017 at 3:28 PM, zalidina said:

What department at UNC? I know the department I'm in currently has offered funding to some of the PhD admitted students but not others and is still looking for funding for those students. Usually they'll guarantee first year and help you apply for grants the second year. But it really depends on the department. You should have some idea about funding from them by now to be honest. Also you'd know by now if you got funding from an award or something. 

Thanks for your reply! My dept is Health Behavior. It sounds like nothing will be guaranteed for us, and any potential funding sources will not be identified before deadlines for decisions. I really love UNC's program but so worried about the cost (out of state tuition). 

[SBS_HB_phds2017]

On 3/25/2017 at 8:14 PM, joshre01 said:

I was accepted to the Epi department and was told the same exact thing. I was actually pretty disappointed that UNC did not have a concrete funding package for most students and that you'd have to take a 'leap of faith' that you'd get funding somehow. I'm an international student so that risk is even more for me, since I don't qualify for most of the training grants either. I spoke to my advisor (after some other intl student told me they got their funding through their advisor). But she told me the same thing - that students wouldn't find out about RA positions until April/May and there is no guarantee that they would get this. And even if they did, who knows what happens the year after? It's pretty ridiculous that a PhD program at a program that highly ranked won't guarantee any funding at all. Anyway, I have another great funded offer somewhere else where I have to respond by end of March (ranked much lower than UNC) but there's no way I am going to take a chance and put myself through a PhD program where there's additional stress about trying to find funding. Some current students at UNC told me that they don't regret making that decision, but I just can't do it! Which dept did you apply to?

I applied to Health Behavior, and they gave the "leap of faith" plug as well! If only that leap weren't so risky. In fact, I wish I had more information on the risk! If somewhere between 1 to 3 students in each cohort do not receive funding (based on stats provided), and most of the cohort has already received funding, then I am almost certain to be someone who will not receive funding. Just looking at the staggering amounts of loans they are offering in my financial aid account is making me queasy. And, that's just for the first year. Considering the talk of NIH and other budget cuts in future, even later years in the program may not be funded. 

Congrats on your funded offer!!