Questions....Read on!

[CechYourself]

I'm considering applying to some MPH programs and the like with matriculation in Fall 2015, and I have a few questions. Want to discourage, "It depends on your program" answers. I know it depends, however, would just like to know if someone has personal experiences or a certain question hits a nerve.

1. Is it too late this year? I'm familiar with med school apps, if you didn't have the primary in by July, don't even bother, or so they say. Are there similar rules of thumb here?

2. If you took the GRE more than three years ago, but you took the MCAT recently and it is a good score: Is that good enough, or is it worth it to "better" your application by taking the GRE again?

3. If you're 5 years out of undergraduate & had a sub 3.0 GPA, yet took 1.5 years of postbac classes w/ a decent GPA (3.7/3.8), would they look favorably upon the latter and ignore the former? (Not ignore, but not immediately reject you because it's under 3.0)

4. I see a lot of people on here with ample Public Health experience. Good for them, but most of my experience is just generalized science/health care. I could definitely make the argument that it fits into Public Health more broadly, but I am not a Public Health undergrad major, nor do I have the specific "I went to Mozambique and set up a clinic and treated people with infectious diseases" or "I did 2 years research in epidemiology of malaria" type of experience. More broadly, am I taking an appropriate path? More specifically, can I realistically get in to a program with just my generalized kind of research?

I know that's a lot. Will extrapolate on specifics, if there are questions.

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[BPW1088]

Hi @CechYourself,

1. No, you still have plenty of time to submit your applications. Most public health programs manage their applications through a universal applicant system controlled by SOPHAS. However, there are a few programs that have their own application system and/ or require supplemental forms; this can vary by program within a certain public health school or even within departments. Most deadlines linger around Dec-Feb. Programs like Johns Hopkins have priority deadlines, which is a good option if you're set on Johns Hopkins, or other programs that offer similar early application seasons. ** THIS IS NOT LIKE EARLY DECISION in undergrad. You are not under any contractual agreement to attend if admitted.

2. If you're happy with your GRE scores from three years ago, then I see no problem with using them in your application. GRE scores stay active for 5 years, and then they become irrelevant. In regards to using your MCAT in place of GRE, I think it is dependent on the public health school, and possibly even the program. Many MDs come back to get their MPH degree, so I'm fairly certain that most public health schools would consider it if you opted that you'd be evaluated on your MCAT score versus your GRE scores.

3. I think you're fine. One of the biggest misconceptions among recent graduates from undergraduates and others wanting to return to school for their MPH, is that GPA is seen as a big factor in one's application, which is certainly not the case. Since an MPH is a professional degree program, work experience and expressed interest in a certain area of public health are taken into deeper consideration than your statistics. Of course it is important that you have a solid academic record, from the standpoint to show admission counselors that you can handle graduate level coursework and not fall behind in the coursework of their program. If you feel that your GPA is not a good indicator or reflection of your intellectual capabilities, then performing well on the MCAT/GRE can settle any doubts that admission counselors may have. The average GPA for most public health programs is about a 3.2-3.3. Ivy league and top 10 programs, including Harvard and Johns Hopkins, are just a little higher with an average GPA of 3.5+. For public health programs, admissions really do use a holistic approach when evaluating applicants and selecting their class profile.

4.The beauty of professional degree programs like the MPH is that the demographic profile of the class is absolutely diverse in every facet. While there are many MPH candidates who specialized in public health or related majors in their undergraduate career, there are also students who majored in everything from the social sciences to education. There's a reason you're coming back to school. As long as you're able to present yourself in a positive light, and show admission committee that you have a reason for coming back to school, then your undergrad GPA has very little relevance when it comes to them selecting their class. From your experiences in science and health-care, I'm sure you definitely have a lot of knowledge that you can impart in a classroom setting, and truly be an asset to the public health programs. In addition, I'm sure you've developed and honed in on certain skill sets that could be transferred to your future role in the public health arena.

I hope this helps!

I'm considering applying to some MPH programs and the like with matriculation in Fall 2015, and I have a few questions. Want to discourage, "It depends on your program" answers. I know it depends, however, would just like to know if someone has personal experiences or a certain question hits a nerve.

1. Is it too late this year? I'm familiar with med school apps, if you didn't have the primary in by July, don't even bother, or so they say. Are there similar rules of thumb here?

2. If you took the GRE more than three years ago, but you took the MCAT recently and it is a good score: Is that good enough, or is it worth it to "better" your application by taking the GRE again?

3. If you're 5 years out of undergraduate & had a sub 3.0 GPA, yet took 1.5 years of postbac classes w/ a decent GPA (3.7/3.8), would they look favorably upon the latter and ignore the former? (Not ignore, but not immediately reject you because it's under 3.0)

4. I see a lot of people on here with ample Public Health experience. Good for them, but most of my experience is just generalized science/health care. I could definitely make the argument that it fits into Public Health more broadly, but I am not a Public Health undergrad major, nor do I have the specific "I went to Mozambique and set up a clinic and treated people with infectious diseases" or "I did 2 years research in epidemiology of malaria" type of experience. More broadly, am I taking an appropriate path? More specifically, can I realistically get in to a program with just my generalized kind of research?

I know that's a lot. Will extrapolate on specifics, if there are questions.

 

[IntriguedStudent]

I'm considering applying to some MPH programs and the like with matriculation in Fall 2015, and I have a few questions. Want to discourage, "It depends on your program" answers. I know it depends, however, would just like to know if someone has personal experiences or a certain question hits a nerve.

1. Is it too late this year? I'm familiar with med school apps, if you didn't have the primary in by July, don't even bother, or so they say. Are there similar rules of thumb here?

2. If you took the GRE more than three years ago, but you took the MCAT recently and it is a good score: Is that good enough, or is it worth it to "better" your application by taking the GRE again?

3. If you're 5 years out of undergraduate & had a sub 3.0 GPA, yet took 1.5 years of postbac classes w/ a decent GPA (3.7/3.8), would they look favorably upon the latter and ignore the former? (Not ignore, but not immediately reject you because it's under 3.0)

4. I see a lot of people on here with ample Public Health experience. Good for them, but most of my experience is just generalized science/health care. I could definitely make the argument that it fits into Public Health more broadly, but I am not a Public Health undergrad major, nor do I have the specific "I went to Mozambique and set up a clinic and treated people with infectious diseases" or "I did 2 years research in epidemiology of malaria" type of experience. More broadly, am I taking an appropriate path? More specifically, can I realistically get in to a program with just my generalized kind of research?

I know that's a lot. Will extrapolate on specifics, if there are questions.

I did not read the post above mine so these may have been answered, but I figured I would go ahead and give my input as well.

1. It is definitely NOT too late to apply for Fall 2015 entrance (most Spring 2015 deadlines are Oct. 15). In fact, if you submit now, you would probably be considered early. Most deadlines, if they exist (some schools are on a rolling basis), are in December or January.
2. I believe that most schools except the GRE if it is taken within 5 years, so even if it was more than 3 years ago you could still use that. However, if you took the MCAT and scored well on it, I don't see the problem in using that rather than the GRE. I don't believe most schools have a preference one way or the other. They just want to make sure that you have good quantitative/qualitative capabilities.
3. The great thing about an MPH is that it is a professional degree. Meaning, your GPA is not a significant factor when ADCOMS are determining whether or not you are a good fit for the program. Of course it is still taken into consideration, but it is not the only factor they look at. I'm not sure what concentration you are interested in, but if you took any quantitative classes in your postbacc and did well in them, that will definitely be looked favorably upon. However, ADCOMS are definitely going to look at your application as a whole, so just make sure to stress your ECs and put in a strong SOP and good LORs. If you can do well on those, you should be fine.
4. I don't know what your experiences are in general, but it is definitely possible to link health care to public health. I am was not a public health undergrad and have not had many of the experiences that people on here have had, but I have spent a lot of time in healthcare. There are ways to link it and I don't think ADCOMS will automatically look down upon our applications if we haven't spent years doing international work (given, I haven't actually finished applying yet, so this is just my view based upon the research I have done).

In conclusion, definitely apply. I think that you will be fine. Good luck during the application process!

 

[themmases]

1 - It's not too late. I applied to my programs more or less in the order their applications were due, meaning most of my applications were in closer to the deadline than to the application opening. It didn't affect anything-- I still got into most of them. There are two things you should be aware of though: some schools have earlier deadlines if you want full consideration for fellowships, etc. (I applied to Ohio State which had a deadline like this in November.) It's a long shot as a professional degree student, but there's no reason to disqualify yourself if you can make the earlier deadline. Also, many schools will use SOPHAS or their graduate college's application or a combination, meaning you're trying to hit submit at the same time as a lot of other people. Try and do it a couple of days early if you can, but at a minimum leave yourself a few hours in case the site is slow.

2 - The GRE is good for 5 years, so there's no reason not to use 3 year old scores unless they're bad. SOPHAS and probably individual schools will also allow you to submit both. I don't think you have time this cycle to study adequately, take the test (slots fill up), find out if your results are good enough to send, and send them to every school by their individual deadline. Even with SOPHAS scores have to be sent for each school, so it gets expensive too.

3 - Your GPA is fine. SOPHAS will recalculate your GPA for one thing, and they count everything you took as a freshman/sophomore as lower division classes and everything later as upper division so most people's GPAs come out a bit different. Also MPH is a professional degree, work/volunteer experience is more important than your GPA.

4 - You don't necessarily need public health specific experience, but it helps if you can demonstrate success at something you want to do in the future, and connect your experience conceptually to public health. I worked in medical research for 4 years, not in a public health field at all (it was radiology in a specialty hospital, not screening type stuff) but got really good responses to my work experience. I'm in epidemiology, so I talked about good experiences I had designing studies, managing data, and finding people data. I'm interested in health disparities-- not something I dealt with directly in my job at all-- but I had a lot of patient contact so I talked about the issues I observed impeding my patients' access to health care. You should definitely understand how public health and medicine are different, but they do complement each other and your experience in science and medicine is definitely relevant. I think it's more important to show you're bringing a public health type of thinking to the work that you did.