r/publichealth PhD/MPH Aug 28 '19

ADVICE School and Jobs Advice Megathread Part III

All job and school-related advice should be asked in here. Below is the r/publichealth MPH guide which may answer general questions.

See the below guides for more information:

  1. MPH Guide
  2. Job Guide
  3. Choosing a public health field
  4. Choosing a public health concentration
  5. Choosing a public health industry

Past Threads:

  1. Megathread Part I
  2. Megathread Part II
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u/ajm1197 Sep 15 '19

Hi. Am a college senior applying to grad school and had a couple questions.

Thoughts on an ms in environmental health sciences vs an mph in a similar field? I’m drawn to the ms, just because I would like to do research, but it seems like those programs are hard to get into compared to the mph

What schools should I realistically target, preferably on the west coast, but could stay in the northeast if necessary (see next paragraph). My top choice is uc Berkeley, but the program looks competitive to get into.

I have a 3.73 gpa from a top 15 liberal arts college, am a double major (earth science and poly sci, but have completed most of the “premed curriculum” as well. Have some research experience, and will be doing research this year at school as well.

Took the gre yesterday cold, and did kinda crummy (157 quant 155 verbal). Going to study and obviously take again. What is a good target score in your experience?

Thanks all!

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u/[deleted] Sep 19 '19

Quickly replying to this, may add more detail later.

Shoot for a 165 Verbal and 160 Quant. Also since your interests are research, don't apply for any MPH and only go for the MS even if they are harder to get into.

Ask the schools you're interested in about their research efforts, look up faculty and see if they are doing research on topics of interest to you.

Apply for at most 5 schools.

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u/ajm1197 Sep 19 '19

Thank you, appreciate the response. Good call on the gre should get it up.