PhD applicants: Fall 2018

[hccgrl]

6 minutes ago, linnbear said:

Anyone have a SOPHAS applications that is still just "COMPLETE" (not verified)? I am getting really annoyed with SOPHAS as to why it's taking them so long since I submitted in late November. I already reached out multiple times. All the programs I applied to sent me an email saying that my application is considered complete and has been forwarded to the dept for review. I am still concerned that not being verified will hurt my chances of admission.

I would reach out to one of the programs and explain your situation and that you would like to know if they received your sophas application. 

[linnbear]

5 minutes ago, hccgrl said:

I would reach out to one of the programs and explain your situation and that you would like to know if they received your sophas application. 

They all have confirmed that they received my application and have started reviewing, but I guess I'm paranoid that not having the "Verified" status is looked down upon. 

[MarylandGirl]

2 hours ago, hccgrl said:

This makes me nervous!!! Thanks for the update! ?

Edit: I sure as heck hope that the fact that I don't have a rejection in the portal is a good sign!

Does yours also say "Under Departmental/Program review"? Also very nervous! (I was expecting to have received a rejection by now, honestly!)

[MarylandGirl]

2 hours ago, boisdejasmin said:

I'm interviewing with UMD's Department of Behavioral and Community Health on Tuesday; the coordinator said other invitations to interview for other departments will be coming shortly.

Thanks for the update! How did you get the request for interview--e-mail or phone call? And who did it come from? (Just making sure if it's in e-mail it doesn't end up in spam...) Good luck!

[Rasb91]

On 1/10/2018 at 5:25 PM, jjj02027 said:

To those who applied to UCLA, did you send 2 separate GRE scores to SOPHAS and to UCLA's own application form?

It was a bit confusing having to do 2 separate applications, one via SOPHAS and one via the UCLA website... My GRE scores were received in my SOPHAS application, but not in the UCLA mainframe application (i'm not sure if they will have 2 different college codes?). I recently got an email saying that there was a minor discrepancy in my application which was preventing it from loading onto the mainframe database... I wonder if it's because I didn't send the GRE score to both portals

 

For the Epi Ph.D., it explicitly states that test scores should be sent to SOPHAS only. I would assume the same applies to your program. 

[hccgrl]

8 minutes ago, MarylandGirl said:

Does yours also say "Under Departmental/Program review"? Also very nervous! (I was expecting to have received a rejection by now, honestly!)

Mine has been under departmental/program review for ever!! The latest date I have is 12/18 @ 7:44am. (Dr. King-Marshall has emailed me that early multiple times before, so I'm guessing that's when she sent it to the department). 

[hccgrl]

1 hour ago, linnbear said:

They all have confirmed that they received my application and have started reviewing, but I guess I'm paranoid that not having the "Verified" status is looked down upon. 

I think you're good! No worries.

[MarylandGirl]

2 minutes ago, hccgrl said:

Mine has been under departmental/program review for ever!! The latest date I have is 12/18 @ 7:44am. (Dr. King-Marshall has emailed me that early multiple times before, so I'm guessing that's when she sent it to the department). 

Mine lists the same date--maybe that's when she passed them all along to the actual department?

[hccgrl]

5 minutes ago, MarylandGirl said:

Mine lists the same date--maybe that's when she passed them all along to the actual department?

Per Dr. Kevin Roy, when I spoke to him on the phone, they grab all applications after the deadline and look at them (family science/MCH program). Early deadlines didn't matter, everyone is being looked at the same time. That's why I didn't complete mine until Dec. 1st instead of rushing. 

[MarylandGirl]

3 minutes ago, hccgrl said:

Per Dr. Kevin Roy, when I spoke to him on the phone, they grab all applications after the deadline and look at them (family science/MCH program). Early deadlines didn't matter, everyone is being looked at the same time. That's why I didn't complete mine until Dec. 1st instead of rushing. 

That's basically what he told me, too :-) I ended up submitting mine by 11/15 because I think the deadlines listed on SOPHAS conflicted with those on UMd's site, plus I was concerned about how long it would take SOPHAS to verify it (ended up taking only a day!) I hope we hear something soon... Do you remember what he said about interviews? I thought he said something about it being a group thing rather than individual, but maybe that's just part of it?

[epi_aspire]

19 hours ago, marval13 said:

For which area of specialization? Because the professor with whom I talked to told me that each area of specialization of the epidemiology field of study has his own committee, and I am wondering if they are sending invitations at different times. 

Hi @marval13 congrats on the interview! I  was wondering if you could provide some additional information on what the interview entailed? Was it similar to a job interview or more focused on research interests? I'm trying to gain a grasp on how to prepare for these PhD interviews. Also, were you interviewed by your potential advisor?

 

Thank you!

[marval13]

45 minutes ago, epi_aspire said:

Hi @marval13 congrats on the interview! I  was wondering if you could provide some additional information on what the interview entailed? Was it similar to a job interview or more focused on research interests? I'm trying to gain a grasp on how to prepare for these PhD interviews. Also, were you interviewed by your potential advisor?

 

Thank you!

2

Oh no, maybe I did not explain myself very well.

I contacted the professor I am interested in working with before sending my application, and he is the one who told me about different committees.
Sorry for the misunderstanding, until now I have only been invited to Emory's interview day. 

Edited January 11, 2018 by marval13

[west_k]

For those who applied to the Health Behavior program at UNC- I got an email that their admissions committee is meeting tomorrow to review applications. 

Hopefully we get news soon!

[eeeeerin89]

On 1/9/2018 at 12:46 PM, CatDog1122 said:

Got a generic rejection from Pittsburgh last week.  this is frustrating!

Sorry about the rejection.  Did they contact you via email? I am worried I am missing something on the Pitt platform   And when did you apply? I am waiting nervously for any news! 

[CatDog1122]

12 minutes ago, eeeeerin89 said:

Sorry about the rejection.  Did they contact you via email? I am worried I am missing something on the Pitt platform   And when did you apply? I am waiting nervously for any news! 

I applied through SOPHAS so never used the Pitt platform, so can’t help you there. I think I applied mid-November give or take. 

[hccgrl]

5 hours ago, MarylandGirl said:

That's basically what he told me, too :-) I ended up submitting mine by 11/15 because I think the deadlines listed on SOPHAS conflicted with those on UMd's site, plus I was concerned about how long it would take SOPHAS to verify it (ended up taking only a day!) I hope we hear something soon... Do you remember what he said about interviews? I thought he said something about it being a group thing rather than individual, but maybe that's just part of it?

I don't remember him telling me the type of interview it will be, but he did tell me it would be in jan-feb. I have been in contact with a few students and one of them said, "hopefully I will see you next semester during the application/interview cycle." 

Seems as though it might be a group interview with faculty and current students. 

 

[FrozenFreshMeat]

This week is crazy to me (both at work and with my application?). I'll update my data to the results search once I get my computer back?

General rejection email from JHU-Environmental Sciences and Epidemiology tack; Skype interview invitation from my professor of interest as indicated on application (Harvard PHS-EH track)

This is juuuust the beginning of January… I've got two rejections in pocket?

Anyway, good luck to those who applied to JHU. I believe no news is a good news.

 

[FrozenFreshMeat]

8 hours ago, linnbear said:

Anyone have a SOPHAS applications that is still just "COMPLETE" (not verified)? I am getting really annoyed with SOPHAS as to why it's taking them so long since I submitted in late November. I already reached out multiple times. All the programs I applied to sent me an email saying that my application is considered complete and has been forwarded to the dept for review. I am still concerned that not being verified will hurt my chances of admission. 

So far as I've heard from information sessions of those programs, once SOPHAS is complete, they can access to your data. Don't be worry. It took two weeks (in my case) for SOPHAS to verify…

[FrozenFreshMeat]

On 1/10/2018 at 12:58 PM, beepboopbeepboop said:

Congrats!! I'm not in Epi, but seems like Epi departments in general are really moving things along.

Per u/FrozenFreshMeat's post, did you get an automated email from the university/department, or a direct email from a potential advisor?

Mine was from the professor who I indicated as my POI on the online application form.

I guess they are doing *massive* interviews this year?, which may be a good thing, though 

[epi_aspire]

6 hours ago, marval13 said:

Oh no, maybe I did not explain myself very well.

I contacted the professor I am interested in working with before sending my application, and he is the one who told me about different committees.
Sorry for the misunderstanding, until now I have only been invited to Emory's interview day. 

No, that's my bad, I misunderstood. Congrats on Emory!

[beepboopbeepboop]

12 hours ago, FrozenFreshMeat said:

Mine was from the professor who I indicated as my POI on the online application form.

I guess they are doing *massive* interviews this year?, which may be a good thing, though 

Congrats, that's wonderful!! Let us know how it goes!

[mmhealth2018]

Very late to this but figured I would contribute (been silently stalking). Applied to BU Health Services and Brown Behavioral and Social Science. Interviewing with BU today via phone, still haven't heard anything from Brown. It sounds like Epi has sent out emails, has anyone heard from the behavioral and social sciences division? 

[eek_]

Just received invitation for in-person interview at BU. Check your email folks! 

[ceterisparibus9]

3 hours ago, mmhealth2018 said:

Very late to this but figured I would contribute (been silently stalking). Applied to BU Health Services and Brown Behavioral and Social Science. Interviewing with BU today via phone, still haven't heard anything from Brown. It sounds like Epi has sent out emails, has anyone heard from the behavioral and social sciences division? 

While it seems like some have heard for EPI, I would contend that it is not the case for most. I have received no notification from any of my 8 EPI programs, and have seen the same on some subreddits on the topic. (Here's to me hoping it doesn't mean my chances are worse....). But in regards to your main question, might this be in another thread? Would behavioral and social science fall under PH necessarily and not, say, the psychology or sociology forum?

[west_k]

7 minutes ago, ceterisparibus9 said:

 But in regards to your main question, might this be in another thread? Would behavioral and social science fall under PH necessarily and not, say, the psychology or sociology forum?

To respond to this, there are social and behavioral programs within public health departments. Those discussions should be included here. It would be odd to find PH social and behavioral information in a psych or soc graduate degree forums as they're different departments and disciplines. It might be worth a look for those interested, but doesn't make much sense.