How to Submit a Competitive Application to a Doctoral Program in CUNY School of Public Health?

Doctoral Level Education Doctoral education is the highest level of academic training one can receive in the US system. – Training beyond this level follows more of an apprenticeship model. The people under whom you will study at the doctoral level will, for the most part, all have doctoral degrees. – This means that faculty in doctoral programs are essentially training the people who they will be working with as colleagues in the future.

How to Think About the Application Before you apply, Think about it as an application for a job to work with the program faculty (both while a student and after graduation) rather than as an application to study with the faculty. Need to convince the Admissions Committee (mainly consists program specific faculty) that you are someone with whom they they want to work.

Are You a Good Fit for The Program? You should apply to programs that are a good fit for your interests and goals and which will prepare you for the future career you hope to reach – Are there faculty members who conduct research in areas in which you have experience and interest? In other words, will you bring the skills and interest to the program that faculty will find useful to their current research and vice versa? – Will the academic training offered in the program prepare you to work in the field you have chosen?

Components of the Application Doctoral Program Applications usually have 5 components, each of which is important: (1) Statement of interest (2) Letters of recommendation (3) Resume or CV (4) Academic transcripts (5) GRE scores

Statement of Interest The statement if interest is one of the most important components of the application. This is your opportunity to explain to the admissions committee: – How your past experiences have prepared you for doctoral level training and research, – How what you want to do in the future requires doctoral level training, and – How you will use your time in the doctoral program to work towards this future.

Statement of Interest The statement should read like a story, describing your past training and experience and how that lead to your current interests and desire to achieve a specific goal that requires doctoral training. Be sure to describe the skills and experience you bring to the program (again, as you would for a job application) that will be useful to faculty conducting research and which can enrich the learning environment for fellow students.

Statement of Interest When describing your future goals, be specific. What area of public health do you want to work on in the future? How did your past experiences lead to this interest? How will the doctoral program help you gain additional experience and skill in this area? If you have publications or have presented at conferences, you should mention this in the statement and cite the published papers or abstracts. This will help illustrate your trajectory up to this point and demonstrate that you already have achieved some level of professional success in the field.

Statement of Interest Remember that this is the final level of academic training you will receive. By this point, we expect that you have well define interests and goals that come out of your past experiences and which you want to continue to pursue in a very focused and clearly defined way. Of course, once in the doctoral program, your interests may change and that is fine. But admissions committees are looking to see that you have a well defined interest and plan of study by this point in your academic career (even though it may change).

Statement of Interest Be specific in your goals, I cannot emphasize this enough. At this point, your reason for pursuing additional education in public health should be more specific than just that you want to help people. By now, you should know how you want to help people, and what people you want to help. – So maybe you want to help tackle the race/ethnic disparities in health? If so, for which groups and why? What have you done in this area so far and how has that lead you to decide that doctoral training is now required to help you achieve your specific goals? – Maybe you want to work in the area of HIV prevention. If so, what specifically are you interested in researching or designing programs to target? What populations do you want to work with? Why, and how has your past experience lead to this interest? How will a doctoral degree help you pursue this interest?

Statement of Interest Whatever specific interests and goals you specify in your statement, make sure that there is faculty in the program to which you are applying who work in this or a related area. If you say you want to study colon cancer but no one on the faculty does research on colon cancer, you will not be considered a good match for the program and likely will not be accepted. – So do your homework and look at faculty biographies and CVs and if there is a match with your interest, try to write your statement in a way that highlights your experience and skills that would be of most interest to the faculty working in your area of interest. – Again, think of this as a statement of interest for a job.

Letters of Recommendation You will likely be required to ask 2-3 people to write letters recommending you to the program. These letters are very important in the application review process. Who you ask to write these letters and how much effort they put in the writing is key.

Who to Ask for Letters of Recommendation Since you are applying to an academic program, you should have at least one letter from a former professor who can attest to your academic skills and potential. You also want to have at least one letter from a professional supervisor who can attest to your ability to work within a professional environment, collaborate with colleagues, and take initiative in a work environment. Getting a letter from someone well known in the field can be helpful, but only if they can write a good letter about you.

Who to Ask for Letters of Recommendation Do not submit letters from family members or friends. While a letter from a work colleague at the same level as you (i.e. not a supervisor) might be appropriate if they can speak to a specific achievement, in general you want letters from people at a higher level so they can describe your potential to take positions at a higher level of responsibility in the future.

Who to Ask for Letters of Recommendation You should only ask people to write you a letter of recommendation if they know you well, you are certain that they can say some very positive things about you, and you think that they will take the time to write a good letter. If the program application does not set a maximum number of letters, you might include one more letter than is required in order to give the reviewers a more comprehensive view of your experience.

How to Ask for Letters of Recommendation When asking someone to write you a letter of recommendation, you should (1) Ask the person at least 2 weeks before the letter is due (3-4 weeks is even better). (2) Offer to meet with the person (or speak by phone) if they have any questions or need additional information. (3) Give the person your up-to-date CV or resume and the statement of interest you plan to submit with your application so they can see what you have been working on recently and why you want to enroll in the program to which you are applying and write their letter accordingly.

Letter Format The letter of recommendation should be fairly detailed. – It should describe the experiences, training and skills you have had that prepare you for doctoral level studies and your potential to do well in the doctoral program and your chosen profession. The letter should be 1-2 pages long. – You might point this out to the person writing the letter as some are not aware of the level of detail expected. This may be the case especially when asking someone from another country to write a letter as the customs regarding letters of recommendation vary and in some countries a short, single paragraph is sufficient while in the US we expect the letters to be longer and more detailed. Sometimes the person you ask to write the letter will ask you to draft a letter that they can edit. That is fine, but be sure to write a good letter for yourself in case the recommender does not do much editing.

Resume or CV You will likely be asked to submit your resume or CV with the application. As you would do for a job application, you want to tailor your CV to the program, emphasizing the experiences and skills that will be of most interest to the doctoral program faculty. Things to highlight might include: – Educational experience, including grade point average (GPA), any awards or honors (e.g. Dean’s List), title of thesis – Research experience, including paid and volunteer experiences with faculty while a student. – Relevant work experience, highlighting work that relates to the area of study to which you are applying. – Professional presentations or publications (journal or reports) – Any relevant skills, such as foreign languages spoken, computer packages, data analysis skills, etc.

Academic Transcripts You will be required to submit transcripts from all institutions of higher learning (i.e. above high school) that you have attended. If you studied in a non-US institution, you will have to have the transcripts translated in terms of language (if not in English) and grades/requirements as compared to the US system.

Academic Transcripts You are applying to the highest level of academic training (doctoral level). Therefore you do need to demonstrate that you do well academically, in other words you achieve high grades. – It is usually expected that the grades in courses related to the program to which you are applying will be high, in the A- or above range.

Academic Transcripts If your grades are mixed, you might include an explanation of why that is the case either in your statement of interest or as a separate document. You do not need to have had perfect A grades throughout your academic career, but an explanation about why your grades were not always high may allay some concerns the committee would have when reviewing your transcripts. – For example, if you had one bad semester, you might explain what was going on during that semester that made academics less of a priority (family crisis, health problem, etc.), or if you did poorly early on but then improved you might highlight the improvement.

GRE Scores While some programs are relying less on standardized tests, they remain one way to help admissions committees compare applicants in an environment where grading systems across schools vary widely, with some schools inflating grades but others not (making GPAs between institutions hard to compare). GRE scores are only kept by the testing organization for 5 years, after which they are discarded and cannot be sent to schools. After 5 years, you need to take the GREs again. Taking the GREs can be a nerve racking experience, but it will be less so if you come to the test prepared.

GRE Scores The GREs are designed to assess your academic potential. Essentially this means it is assessing how well you learned what you were taught in school up until now. How well do you read, write, and do math? However, just because you learned these skills well when you were in school does not mean that they have not gotten rusty. Use it or lose it, and it may have been a long time since you had to calculate the circumference of a circle.

GRE Scores Therefore, to do your best on the GREs, you need to STUDY! You should plan to spend about 2 months studying for the GRE on a regular basis (2-6 hours/week). This can be achieved through taking a test prep class, working through a GRE study guide book, and/or working through the test prep webinars and sample tests posted on the website of the Education Testing Service (ETS), the groups that administers the GRE ( You might form a study group with other friends planning to take the GREs

Studying for the GRE The goal of studying for the GRE are to – (1) Refresh your knowledge of basic math equations (some of which you may not have thought about since 10 th grade) – (2) Refresh your academic reading comprehension and writing skills (forms of reading and writing you probably do not use often in your current job) – (3) Gain familiarity with the test format so you spend less time reading instructions during the test (leaving more time to think and figure out the best answers) – (4) Feel prepared and less nervous when you take the test. Preparation for the GRE can improve your score quit a bit. The GRE is not an IQ test measuring innate ability, it measures academic skills which, depending on how long you have been out of high school, may need to be dusted off a bit.

Applying to Doctoral Programs Submitting the most competitive application possible not only increases your chance of being accepted into the program, it could also open up opportunities for scholarships, fellowships and Research Assistant jobs. Highlighting your relevant academic achievements, work and research experiences and skills is a way to demonstrate your potential to faculty who are often looking for doctoral students to work on their research projects (as fellows or assistants).

Applying to Doctoral Programs At the CUNY School of Pubic Health, the fellowship and other work opportunities may include: – The Dean’s Fellowship, which links the student to a faculty research project. – the Global Health Fellowship, which links students to faculty research in global health. – Paid and unpaid Research Assistant positions, some of which include tuition benefits, are also often available. Thus viewing the process as a job application may help you position yourself to better qualify for these opportunities.

CUNY SPH DPH Program As you may know, the CUNY SPH offers DPH degrees in: (1) Community Health and Society (2) Environmental and Occupational Health (3) Epidemiology (4) Health Policy and Management In addition to looking for competitive GPA and GRE scores and well written statements of interest and recommendation letters, applicants must demonstrate at least 3 years of public health work experience on their CV. Furthermore, each track may have additional expectations and requirements. For information, look at the DPH website at: Elements/Academics-Research-Centers-Initiatives/Doctoral- Programs/Public-Health-%28DPH%29, andhttp:// Elements/Academics-Research-Centers-Initiatives/Doctoral- Programs/Public-Health-%28DPH%29 The CUNY SPH admissions website at:

Other Doctoral Programs You should also look at the websites of other schools and programs in which you are interested to see what their requirements are.

Applying to Doctoral Programs The application process takes a fair amount of time, so start early to give you the time you need to make your application as competitive as possible and give yourself the best chance of being accepted into the program and maybe even of being offered a scholarship, fellowship, or Research Assistantship.