Hi everyone!
I’m currently an undergrad public health science major at a large state school (graduating this December!) and am beginning to look into masters programs for public health as SOPHAS applications open up in the coming weeks.
Here’s a breakdown of my stats:
Major: Public Health, Minor: Global Poverty
GPA: 3.1 (changed my major after my freshmen year)
GRE: will take in late August (Expected: ~ 152 VR 160 QR, conservative amount based on practice test scores)
Interned within my school’s environmental health department for 2 years and co-authored 2 publications, gained valuable technical experience using airbeam sensors for air quality sampling and GIS mapping
*Presented a poster at Undergraduate Research Day, Public Health Research Day, and Social Justice Day on campus. This poster was recognized by Delta Omega (national public health honorary society) and won first place within the public health department and third place within my schools environmental health department
*Current president and former Co-Director of Education for an Indian social and economical activism group on campus
*Former VP of Philanthropy for my fraternity (spearheaded our marquee philanthropy event and organized community service events as well)
*Former Residence Hall Representative: worked with the Residence Hall team to organize events to bring campus residents together and burgeon campus spirit
*17 for Peace and Justice Member: look into environmental justice issues surrounding the county and participate in outreach efforts.
Schools I am thinking to apply to: Harvard (MS), University of Maryland College Park (MPH), GWU (MPH), UNC (MPH), Michigan (MPH)
I apologize in advance for any typos! And thanks for any input! Best of luck to everyone else too!
^Also received my citation from my school’s 2-year Scholars Living Learning Program, which focused on environmental issues
For top schools, they might want to know what stats background you have. Also your GPA is low compared to the others who will be applying.
Your ECs are likely to be irrelevant for a graduate program. More important is your GPA, GRE and research experience. As mentioned in the previous post, your GPA is on the low side for highly selective programs. Make sure you apply to a range of programs.
Your gpa is low for these programs, and research will be important. At least one of the schools on your list requires a research mentor in the program ( depends on which program within PH) before applying… somebody whose interests connect with yours.
I think you should also apply to a range of schools that are less competitive than the schools on your list.
ECs are normally irrelevant for graduate programs. For public health programs, though, they tend to matter more if they are public health- or social sciences- or community activism-related. This is especially true if you are applying straight out of undergrad - they don’t have any work experience to look at, so they will look at your in-school internships, part-time work, and extracurricular activities to see what kind of experience you have in the field. MS programs tend to be more research-oriented, so your ECs won’t matter as much for Harvard perhaps, but they may matter a little bit. The social and economic activism group and the 17 for Peace and Justice group will enhance your application; the philanthropy VP position may slightly enhance it.
Your GPA is a bit low even for MPH programs. The low estimate of your GRE scores won’t help much; you should try to study and practice to see if you can bring your GRE scores up into the 160s, particularly with a lower GPA. The 2 years of research/internship with the publications are a big plus.
I think in addition to applying to these schools, your Plan B should be to find some employment in the field for 1-2 years after college, maybe take a graduate course or two (or find a job that will pay for you to take graduate courses).
Thank you all for your wonderful honest feedback! It does appear that the schools I’m applying for are reach schools so I will be expanding my scope to other less competitive ones as well. I plan on studying intensively for my GRE to try and bolster my application