My daughter attended a large state university and had no problem finding research positions- she began her first year and continued until after graduation. She still keeps in touch with her professors.
It seems to me that you are putting too much emphasis on undergraduate school name when it comes to grad school/masters admissions in your area of interest.
Generally speaking, and excluding PhD programs…you will find the grad school process to be less intense and competitive than undergrad…even if applying to grad schools that are highly rejective for undergrad…for your particular career interests that are noted above (MPH, environmental health, health policy, health sciences etc). Of course this assumes you will take advantage of what your college has to offer, etc.
I know 3 students who went straight to an MPH and 1 who worked first. Keep in mind that some programs (Hopkins, for example) require health related work experience first.
Hopkins provides further confirmation that your college name will not matter. What WILL matter are your experiences and what you have done in the years between graduating college and applying to grad school. They give examples such as managing a lab, health related Peace Corp work etc. Americorp is another possibility.
I have no doubt that if you attend FSU or USF you will find volunteer work during your time there, as well as a health care related job following graduation. My daughter worked as a research coordinator for a major research hospital before going back to school (she worked in clinical trials). Her peers came from a lot of different schools, many of which were just “regular” colleges. These “kids” were all applying to various graduate programs. Guess what? They were gaining valuable experience at a prestigious research institution, getting excellent letters of recommendation from PhDs and MDs etc …despite graduating from a “regular” school.
As far as ED2, all of the schools you mentioned are excellent. Attending one over the other will not somehow launch you into a better career or greater chance of getting accepted to a grad program. Personally, I would ED2 to Emory…if you feel the need to use ED2. Choose the one that fits you best (no school is perfect).
Your parents do not seem to understand how all of this works (no offense intended). They are attempting to put this process into neat little boxes, but it doesn’t work that way. This creates added stress for you, unfortunately.
I know I provided a lot of information and you are only in HS. Take it one step at a time.
Also- you indicated that FSU and USF are free. Would this free up money in the event you get a cool job in DC (for example) for little or no pay? There are many experiences out there for potential grad students.
Thank you for the advice. I come from a family of prestige-obsessed engineers who are also immigrants, I am the first one in my family to pursue a career in life sciences/health sciences. They’ve said some pretty blasphemous things about Emory (some are still hoping I can be convinced to switch into engineering), and I was shocked when they caved and said I can ED2 there if I really want. They are paying for my schooling, so their opinions do matter.
UF, FSU, and USF would all be free for me, thanks to the Bright Futures scholarship and possibly a Benacquisto scholarship on top of that too. I only considered Emory ED2 because I think there is a high likelihood that I will be rejected from UF. But in the end I figured that if I got into Emory and UF, I would rather go to UF. If money weren’t a factor, of course this would all be different.
Prestige obsessed and Engineering doesn’t really go togeher, since Engineering isnt Prestige conscious or even really that prestigious. But you need to ask if they will pay for Emory is you get in.
Yeah, they threatened not to. When talking about Ivy/Stanford/Hopkins/Duke, I mention concerns of money+cost of living and they say money is no object. When the name is replaced with Emory, “400k” “miserable life” “interests” “worthiness” enter the conversation again. They have a point in that I have more financially viable options. I think they would cave and pay if I got into Emory RD but didn’t get into UF, but if I ED2 to Emory and gave up the option of free UF before, that would be a different story.
Then don’t ED. This way you can control the narrative vs having them hold things over your head.
Yes it is odd as career engineers they are prestige heavy. Some are going in but realize after the fact that it meant little unless perhaps they pivoted do the business side.
While you may be aware of Emory primarily because of their public health reputation and close ties with the CDC, they are extremely well-regarded for quantitative sciences & social sciences in general. The QTM department offers multiple undergraduate majors that all produce graduates with top-notch quantitative “chops” as applied to their area of interest. Both the QSS major, with 20 different disciplinary emphases to choose from Quantitative Sciences Major and the PPA major Public Policy Analysis Major could get you where you want to go, with a very marketable data science skill-set under your belt, combined with depth in your social/health science area of choice. Speaking as someone with an MPH and experience in related fields, quant skills make all the difference in career opportunities, and Emory is extremely well-respected. It’s unfortunate that your family isn’t aware of the school’s reputation. You’d be just as well-positioned for grad school from Emory as from JHU or WashU. (Although to be fair you’d be at no disadvantage coming from UF, either.)
Emory isnt your best chance of acceptance. Likely thats WashU, which is no different than Empry so your parents would likely still jave a problem with it.
My GPA issues mainly originate from 9th grade, which is why Emory is probably favorable to me, although still a reach by all means.
Wondering what my chances for University of Michigan RD are? I have heard they prefer OOS students, but I wonder if missing the EA deadline decreases my chances significantly.
Yes I know the acceptance rate will always be higher for in state, I guess I meant relative to other state flagships. Like UNC and UF are 80%+ in state, while UVA is around 60% in state iirc.
I wish I could hear back from UF sooner! That would make my decisions so much easier. But alas.
Apply to Michigan if you want, but your chance for acceptance is low.
Yes, they take more OOS students than UNC and UVA, but those additional students are still very, very strong (there is no shortage).
Michigan is not warm and mid size.
If you are not happy with your 2 safety schools my advice is to apply to Miami. It’s not a safety, but you might get in. What about a school such as the University of Richmond? It’s smaller than you want but you might like it and the deadline is 1/1 (you have to hurry). This is probably a match.
You said to chance you, so I will. I feel your ECs are good (congrats!) but what will hold you back is your gpa. I also do not know how they will view a super scored ACT (many students have a high score on one attempt). Choose an ED2 school and see.
You are still GREAT and you should be proud of your accomplishments! What I see as an outsider are parents who are pushing prestige and turning their nose up at any school they feel is inferior. That is incredibly stressful.
What they fail to recognize is that you can achieve great things from your safety schools. What they also don’t understand is the level of competition at many of the schools on your list.
At the end of this process you can only go to a school that accepts you, and everybody will have to come to terms with that. The good news, as I mentioned, is that you can achieve great success even if you “only” attend your safety. I would spend some time looking at your safety schools and finding something to get excited about- clubs etc.
I applied to Miami EA! Not sure my chances, a lot of other students from my school applied after they visited campus and fell in love. I am thinking about Davidson and Richmond, but I am aware that RD + lack of demonstrated interest + gpa will make it hard. Thank you for the advice.
Thank you to everyone who gave advice. I posted my results here. Please help me make a decision! I thought I was set on Emory but second thoughts are creeping.
I don’t think the two schools are similar in prestige.
However that is not the deciding factor in choosing where to go.
The money definitely is very different. I cannot say if Emory is worth that much more. But it’s hard to imagine a school better placed to study publuc health, with the CDC next door.