<p>I graduated high school in 2007 and attended Rutgers University for my freshman year of school. I didn't really participate in any activities consistently (I was trying out everything I suppose) but I did finish out the year with a 3.7 GPA in pre-business.
I got sick after my freshman year and had to take a leave from school, and two years later I have decided to transfer into Northeastern University for their Health Management degree with a minor in Organizational Communication. This is going to be a distance learning program and I'll be taking the courses both online and on-campus to avoid over exerting myself (I'm still recovering).
I'm really interested in eventually going for either a Masters in Public Health or Health Administration and I was wondering...how important is research experience for me? I don't think I'm going to be able to get that opportunity because of the way that I'm taking my classes.
Can it make or break my application if I keep up my grades, gain volunteer experience, work for a couple of years after undergrad?
Thank you.</p>
<p>Research experience is probably the most important thing in your application, because although GPA and test scores will surely help you, only real research experience and recommendations from authorities who can comment on your potential and strength as a researcher can truly prove to the admissions committee that you are capable for graduate school.</p>
<p>Usually, only experience which is somewhat related to the field you want to go into is important. Being a member of the animal rights group at your school isn’t very important… however volunteering in something more relevant is definitely helpful. As for work experience, it works the same way. Being a janitor at a restaurant won’t get you far, you get the idea. </p>
<p>I think you are on a great start since you have a solid GPA and probably will do well on the GRE. Try the best you can to get some experience if possible!</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply. Would I be able to gain research experience in a job? I’m thinking about volunteering in a hospital and then getting my first job as an administrative assistant at that hospital. After that, do you think I could find a job as a research assistant? Since I’ll be doing most of my classes online, I’m not quite sure that I’ll be able to conduct research with a professor.</p>
<p>What exactly do you want to do within public health and how high are you aiming for schools? I don’t think all of the areas within that branch necessarily focus on research, though it is always beneficial to have independent projects and such. I have a friend who recently graduated with one and though she didn’t have any research, she had a TON of relevant work experience. She probably also had projects through coursework that involved “research.” </p>
<p>I would look at the webpages of schools you are interested in and see their requirements. You can also contact the schools and see if you get anyone to tell you how important research is versus work experience for your subfield within public health.</p>
<p>Okay thanks I’ll do that. I’m not sure what exactly I’d like to do-maybe work my way up to a director position in a hospital. Or maybe something like running public health clinics. I think I would be interested in an MPH with a concentration on policy/management. </p>
<p>School-wise…I just want to know that I’ll be okay. And that I’ll be able to get into a good program. I took two years off of school and am now in Northeastern’s professional school, which worries me because I feel that I am at a disadvantage as far as lacking research experience and the traditional education that I was getting at Rutgers. </p>
<p>If I graduate at 24 with good grades, good GRE scores, volunteer experience at my local hospital, get my first job as an administrative assistant at that hospital (these jobs are clerical and require an associates degree and no experience so I know I’ll be okay), and then move on to get more experience at a job with more responsibility at 25, could I be okay?
I’m sorry if I’m rambling. I just feel so worried right now. I will go ahead and call a few schools to ask about research experience. I’ll be happy going to schools like GW, BU, Maryland, or UMDNJ, but I would really like to go to better schools like UMichigan, Columbia, or Johns Hopkins.</p>
<p>I’m a smart and motivated girl who is struggling with my health right now and scared that it will impact my future :/</p>
<p>Would research still be necessary if you only mainly want a graduate degree (Masters) for a better career? I guess what I’m saying is if you want more a professional degree rather than an academic degree?</p>
<p>That’s a good question.</p>
<p>I would email first, songbird25, and see if any reply. It might be a bit strange to call directors with questions like this if you are far away from actually applying. Just say that you are interested in the program and wanted to know what they look for in work/research experience. Also, you listed some very good schools and thus you might become out-competed by the quality of the other students. So even if research isn’t a requirement, if other candidates have it, you would be at a disadvantage. </p>
<p>I think if getting research experience is really going to be very difficult for you, your CV really needs to show your interest in public health. It will require more than 1 or two experiences to really get into the top schools you listed. </p>
<p>As for the professional versus academic thing, I think certain field within public health lend themselves more to the professional side and others to the academic. Thus it might be OK to have great work experience in one field but research in another. Overall, it seems like they want to see a real dedication to the field and extensive work experience would fit that.</p>
<p>I think the biggest help will be to type in ‘admissions requirement MPH’ into google and just go through every school’s webpage that you can to get a better gauge of what you need. I did that quickly and most seemed to list work experience rather than research experience, though I wasn’t looking at the very top schools.</p>
<p>I am not in public health so I can’t say much more than this, but good luck:)</p>
<p>Thanks so much! Your replies were super helpful.</p>
<p>If you are going for a degree in health policy and management research is helpful but not necessary like it would be in a more research-oriented area. Health policy scholars still do research on service delivery and policy impact, but if you want to be a hospital administrator then research experience is not going to be paramount for your admission.</p>
<p>It’d be much more useful to have some management experience (in any sector, even if it’s not health), some health care experience, or perhaps an internship in health policy or healthcare management. Your work experience after undergrad is going to be really important in this regard.</p>
<p>I’m at a school of public health myself, although I’m not in the HPM program. It’s my experience that the HPM students were rarely interested in research and they didn’t have the research backgrounds that some of the students in other tracks had.</p>
<p>Okay that makes a lot of sense to me. I was asked to forward my resume to the department of the public advocate in NJ so I think I’ll consider doing that (sort of a policy-type internship). Thank you :)</p>
<p>I don’t know about the other schools you listed, but Hopkins is very research oriented. I personally don’t have experience in its MPH program, but I knew of a lot of undergraduate premeds who went to get their MPH to boost their med school resume. These undergrads themselves are of course from Hopkins also, and have had at least SOME experience working in a lab (and by some, I mean at least a year). If I were you, I wouldn’t just aim for the name of the university- but more so of what the program is geared at. Sure, graduating from Columbia or Hopkins sounds nice, but if you want to do administrative things, coming from a research-heavy background won’t help much.</p>
<p>I guess I’m kind of saying this from experience. I graduated from Hopkins with a science/research-oriented background, and was looking for administrative jobs (just to hold me over till I go back to school). I was rejected across the board. They were impressed at my credentials, but I simply didn’t have the skills needed. I applied to be a front-desk receptionist at a chiropractor’s office, and he flat out looked at my resume and said “You’re over qualified education wise, but under qualified in experience.” Of course, he didn’t hire me. So, choose wisely so you won’t fall into that situation when you graduate.</p>