MPH Needing Guidance

[InfectiousDrive]

Hey everyone!

So some background: I am currently a third-year undergraduate at the University of Virginia. I am double majoring in Biology and Global Public Health (both BAs). I am interested in attending graduate school for epidemiology/global health with especially a concentration in infectious disease or maternal health. Problem is, I feel kind of lost. I'm not sure if where I currently stand is competitive or not, and if not how to improve my future application. Furthermore, I'm confused about whether or not I need to be planning on working 2+ years before attending graduate school.

Some more stats for reference:
Current Cumulative GPA: 3.372
Current Biology GPA: 3.181
Current Global Health GPA: 3.84
(Hopefully all of these will increase by the time I graduate)
Activities/Experience:
- Week-long Alternative Spring Break trip to Guatemala on a Nutrition Initiative
- Research Assistant on antimalarial resistance (3 years by the time I graduate) --> Won a research grant through the NANOstar Research Fund for summer 2017 and will be giving a poster presentation this spring. Name will be published on graduate student's paper.
- Volunteer for the local women's shelter
- Waitress
- Sorority (leadership positions held)
- Dance company (leadership positions held)

I'm looking for potentially a health policy internship for this summer, but I'm feeling pretty lost. Can anyone answer my above questions and let me know if I'm on the right track?

Edit: Also, if it helps, some schools I'm interested in are Berkeley, Tulane, Columbia, and BU.

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[rap15]

Hi! I am in a similar situation as you but I'm one year ahead of you. I graduate from college this upcoming May. You have a solid GPA and great experience through your extracurriculars. Also, having a public health B.A. will be helpful, I imagine.

I also had the dilemma of "do I take some gap years or not" and I have decided to take at least a year or two between graduation and getting my MPH. Here are my main reasons: I would like to be able to have the option to apply to schools like JHU or Harvard, which require at least 2 years of paid work experience. Also, I am not completely sure about what I want to concentrate in and I hope that working for a couple of years will provide me some direction. Finally, I want to have a couple of years to save up for grad school.

I'm not sure if that was at all helpful for you, but that was my perspective on it!

My advice to you, whether you decide to go straight to grad school or not, is to take your GRE right before your senior year starts or take it during the beginning of senior year. It is valid for 5 years and it is so nice to have it out of the way.

I do think you are on the right track though!

 

[Noyce]

Hey there, everything you're writing sounds a little too much like me! (Biology, global health, similar GPAs...) I graduated this past spring, and for a long time, I was afraid of taking a gap year. But here I am, taking a gap year. I'm currently working for people who have written me rec letters and applying to programs for next fall. I personally enjoy it right now since I'm taking a break from school, since I would have felt burnt out if I started right after undergrad.
However, it really is up to you to decide. Just know that working for a bit (something public health related, if you can) can only help you, especially if you are doing work related to your fields of study. I think you are definitely on the right track, but I would look for more research or internship opportunities directly related to your interests. It will help you a lot when writing your personal statement, where you have the chance to connect your experiences to why you are interested in a program.

 

[n3t]

I am a current MPH student at Yale School of Public Health, and my department is the Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, so I also have an infectious disease epi focus (and I also applied to/was accepted into BU and Columbia). I personally came straight from undergrad, but I would say my program is very split between students who came straight from undergrad and students that worked first or received other degrees first. It is great to learn from the experience of others as public health is very collaborative. Overall, either path is perfectly fine; it is all personal preference. It would only make a difference if you have your heart set on a school that requires work experience for acceptance into their program. Your stats seem strong, and I believe you would be able to get into public health programs straight from undergrad if that is what you want to do. Spend some time studying for the GRE before the Fall, start thinking about letters of recommendation, and continue looking into schools/programs that interest you.

I would also check out the MPH Applied, Accepted, Waitlisted, Rejected pages on this site. Other future MPH students post their stats and which schools they are accepted, waitlisted, and denied from. Although every student is different, it can help give you an idea of who is getting in where. It made me feel more confident when I was sending in my applications as students with a variety of stats were being accepted into all different schools! I will add a link for the 2017 page as the current 2018 one is not as developed yet. Hopefully this helps! MPH Fall 2017: Applied, Accepted, Waitlisted, Rejected!