Your Opinion - Am I a Fit?

[Coop05]

I'm in need of some advice and guidance...

I've been wanting to pursue an MPH for a while now, but have held back from officially applying for a number of reasons. For the most part, after graduation, I knew that I had some figuring out to do (self discovery or what have you -- I graduated at 21) before officially committing to something that I could regret without proper thought or consideration.

I graduated with a BA in Political Science from a University of California in Summer of 2009 with an overall GPA of 3.4. During my time in undergrad I participated in a slew of extracurricular activities, but those mainly revolved around my participation in politics. I worked for a presidential campaign (while attending school full-time) for two years and had key leadership roles throughout my time there. After the campaign ended, I basically gave up my life in politics because the experience jaded me...and led me to believe that perhaps there was no room for idealists in this world.

January 2009, I signed myself up for an EMT program (while still attending regular classes at my UC) because what I learned from the campaign was that I enjoyed person-to-person contact and was interested in learning the basics of pre-hospital care (especially after a personal traumatic event). I obtained my certificate, but never took the NREMT. I plan to one day return to EMS work temporarily (my clinical experience was spectacular to say the least), but probably not until January 2012 (will probably retake the class, and pass NREMT).

Since then, I've worked in the non-profit education sector -- teaching and mentoring students in low-income communities and have been working internationally in Southeast Asia as an English teacher for the past seven months. Starting in January, I will be working with a renowned international NGO stateside, as a program director for one of their educational programs -- it is a one year contract.

Which brings me to this...

I plan on applying to an MPH program next fall with a planned retake of the GRE this April (the quant. scores aren't as high as I want them; verbal is in the 600s and my AW is 5). As mentioned above, my undergrad GPA is 3.4 with experience in government/politics and education. I want to pursue the MPH because I would like to go into public health education.

I don't have any plans right now of getting my MD and it will probably stay that way.



Am I a fit for the degree program? Is this the right path that I should hope to take? Have I wandered too far experience-wise to fit an MPH program? Are MPHs too research oriented for me? Can I actually get into a decent MPH school?

Advance thanks for reading and your input!

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[ToxMan1]

Your story is quite delightful to read. It is quite remarkable in the way your interests in public health have developed organically, rather than by some peremptory decision to just move on to some profession so that you can add letters to your name. I appreciate the refreshing self-analysis and cautious decision-making approach that you have undertook to determine the adequate nature of public health as a profession, rather than an approach which indicates cursory analysis and judgment based on a need for perpetual self-survival (which tends to indicate uncertainty, mendacity, and lack of personal development).

As such, describing to adcoms your maturation and how you have been able to combine pedagogical experiences with policy making (through political experience (yes...elections are part of this, since their outcome infers a certain approach to making policy / developing infrastructure...a very important component of public health)) with your recent work in health services; to formulate this interest in public health through a unique set of experiences, already puts you ahead of many applicants. Particularly, those applicants who have a dilettante approach to public health, or view it as some brilliant stroke of a career move.

Standing out from the sea of applicants is important, and you have plenty of opportunities to do just that. Your GPA scores are decent, and by retaking your GRE, if successful, will indicate to adcoms that you are even more serious about a career in public health. On the other hand, give thoughtful consideration as to why you are re-taking GREs. The great thing about grad-school is that the GRE (unlike MCATs for med schools, for instance) are treated only as a small part of your overall application. Having research experience, volunteer experience, work experience, awards, strong LORs, a decent GPA, and a good statement of purpose (by good...I mean one that is legible, coherent, genuine, intriguing, and has some degree of probity regarding your view of public health) all (individually) are just as important as the GREs. All factors will be equally considered in light of the 'student-type' that each school is looking for.

Only you can make the decision if the MPH is right for you. Nobody on this forum can really answer that question.

However, don't discount any experiences. No matter, how much they may seemingly deviate from the 'typical' MPH applicant. I'll give you an example:

I have a friend who is a music major. She didn't know what she wanted to do after college. Near her house, a local hospital was starting an educational / entertainment program for the special cancer institute that treats kids and adolescents. Armed with her talents and experience with music, she proposed creating a hospital program which would teach kids to play musical instruments, go to concerts, or give her an opportunity to play music for the kids at the hospital. The hospital jumped at this music program idea, and because of her talents, they have this whole big program on music as part of the wellness and healing process for the kids at the cancer center.

So...there is a wonderful example of how a music major (music--being ostensibly irrelevant to public health) can create a wellness program in a local community. She realized that she would love to develop wellness programs for kids, and applied to public health schools. As you can imagine, public health schools overlooked her poor quant section of the GRE and her mediocre GPA, in favor of her ingenuity, interest, perspicacity, and other positive attributes associated with her application (LORs, SP, experience, etc). She's now done with her PH school, and is doing her DrPH at Harvard. Again....I don't mean to belittle her in any way (which is why I am leaving any of her personal information out), but she wasn't exactly the brightest cookie in town. And, she wasn't your typical bio major or health policy wonk out of college. Still, she honed her skills, used them in a unique way, wasn't indolent, and (I don't mean to be cliché) reached for the stars.

You should go for it! MPH programs vary, and as a result, you may want to make some personal contacts with admissions folks at various schools of interest. Talk to them about the kinds of programs available. Some MPH concentrations are lab/ research based. Others, are more theoretical and require a lot of writing. Yet others, require some huge project or hands-on-learning experiences. It all varies greatly, and is highly dependent on your field of interest. Look through the various programs on-line, talk to some of the admissions staff to get a clearer picture of what the schools have to offer. Some of the questions you answered, would be best answered by personally calling the schools and talking with them.

There is no formulaic 'right path' or 'specific fit'. There is no prescriptive way to determine which schools you can get into, until you don't actually apply and give it a shot! So go for it!

 

[Coop05]

Thank you so much for your reply and advice. Your insight into the whole situation has been really helpful to me.

My former roommate from undergrad was accepted into the MPH program at Dartmouth last year and after one semester, dropped out of the program. She graduated with a BA in International Relations in 2009 and was about to embark on a project with an EMS agency, but dropped all of that because she found the program to "not fit her interests".

I don't want to make the same mistake she did, mainly because she was so 'gung ho' and ecstatic about the program and her acceptance at the beginning.

Also, I've been trying to get in contact with some admissions reps at some CA schools but none have gotten back to me (I emailed me about two weeks ago). I figure it's the holiday season, so most aren't in office at this time. I'll try to contact them again when I get stateside next month.

Thanks again for the input! I will be sure to carefully look into more programs before officially applying.

 

[ToxMan1]

I hear ya....

But here is the thing: Its actually quite common for people to drop programs when they find out these programs aren't for them, especially when you go into graduate school in a field which is really quite 'applied' in nature.

In college / undergrad, you rarely have an opportunity to take 'applied' courses. Normally, the courses you take are strictly theoretical and baseline which act as important building blocks for future serious material, knowledge, and the use of knowledge to solve problems (which are things that you do in grad school typically). Consequently, it isn't too surprising that being 'gung-ho' initially, and then being less excited about the program when you start doing it, isn't too surprising...since you really don't know what your getting yourself into....unless you get yourself into it.... yeah...I know its a bit crazy.

On the other hand (and believe me, I wouldn't even presume to know what your friend's motives were and what her whole approach was) but just because you drop something or give something up (like a graduate program) doesn't necessarily mean that what she did was a 'mistake'. Maybe, in a few years, she will do something else that will make her filthy filthy filthy rich and happy....which could have only occurred had she not dropped her public health endeavors. So...its like what the Zen Master says...today's pain and suffering may be tomorrows happiness and wealth.

That is why you should take what others did with the smallest possible grain of salt. Just worry about you. If you have a sincere interest in this field (and I think you do), give it a shot. Let me know how your application process goes. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions.