Econ and Public health - Where to apply EA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:gpa is totally different in public vs. private. 3.6 can be quite strong depending on the school.
Also the fact that the student is a urn can make a big difference in these situations.
I grew up next to Emory and the resources with cdc and big hospitals etc give lots of public health opportunities.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are immigrants and clueless. Our URM DS is interested in a midsize school, urban or suburban, he is into economics/math and public health. Grades are average (3.6UW in rigorous private high school in DMV), SAT is 1480. Panic on board because deadlines are approaching and we still don't know where he would have any good chance of getting admitted. Help.

Especially if he’s full-pay, he could probably increase his odds by saying he’s a sociology major. If he’s a sociology major, maybe a place like Case Western or the University of Rochester would welcome him with trumpets.

Maybe he could also try applying to a place like Howard University, GWU or American University, then use the consortium to deal with any curriculum gaps. It seems as if being in D.C. or near the CMS headquarters in Baltimore, or near the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, might be better for a would-be health economist than going to the best health economics program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I recommend also considering schools that have strong quantitative econ and the broader lens of public policy. The skills needed to apply economics to public health are the same as those to apply to public policy and at an undergrad level, it probably won't make much of a difference. (But I'd check course options for these public policy programs).

Agree that UVA and UMD will fit the bill. Michigan and Wisconsin are also strong (stronger actually) in the large public realm. William and Mary also has a strong econ/public policy department.

I haven't looked - but I'd also bet that schools that have a hospital associated with it are decent choices to have some overlap in econ/public policy with health.....I'm thinking: Emory, Tufts, USC, Vanderbilt, Duke. We know of a public health economist at Carnegie Melon (not sure in what capacity though) so that could be an option.

Aren’t those all reaches with that gpa and those scores though? Im not the OP but I am working with my jr on a list of schools, slightly higher GPA from a top public (will prob be about a 3.8 unweighted, 11 APs total) not an URM, no hooks, and I’m considering all those schools as reaches.

Midsize and not a reach is a bit of a unicorn. There are huge schools and tiny schools but not many midsize ones.

Your kid is nothing like op’s kid

Yours isn’t URM!

And you didn’t mention your spawn’s test scores

Op’s kid has a 1480 As a urm….I would spray t20 and t10 lac’s…I will guaruntee that they would get Atleast 2/30 acceptances just by blindly doing that

[Anonymous]

My dc is a senior majoring in econ and global health at Lehigh. I think your son’s stats could be a match.Their college of health is relatively new, but has great professors with solid reputations and connections and Econ is one of Lehigh’s longtime strengths. Opportunities for research with professors starting freshman year, opportunities for publication, and internships have been strong, and dc had two job offers in healthcare consulting by September to decide between, both over 95k base.

[Anonymous]

If your kid is black, they are def competitive for penn cas with a 1480

Also jhu and duke.

Esp if you apply early

In your case I wouldn’t and just go RD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My dc is a senior majoring in econ and global health at Lehigh. I think your son’s stats could be a match.Their college of health is relatively new, but has great professors with solid reputations and connections and Econ is one of Lehigh’s longtime strengths. Opportunities for research with professors starting freshman year, opportunities for publication, and internships have been strong, and dc had two job offers in healthcare consulting by September to decide between, both over 95k base.

Lehigh and bucknell both suck for urm’s. I’m from Pa

Is your kid white?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are immigrants and clueless. Our URM DS is interested in a midsize school, urban or suburban, he is into economics/math and public health. Grades are average (3.6UW in rigorous private high school in DMV), SAT is 1480. Panic on board because deadlines are approaching and we still don't know where he would have any good chance of getting admitted. Help.

Especially if he’s full-pay, he could probably increase his odds by saying he’s a sociology major. If he’s a sociology major, maybe a place like Case Western or the University of Rochester would welcome him with trumpets.

Maybe he could also try applying to a place like Howard University, GWU or American University, then use the consortium to deal with any curriculum gaps. It seems as if being in D.C. or near the CMS headquarters in Baltimore, or near the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, might be better for a would-be health economist than going to the best health economics program.

I'm a previous poster: Anyone planning on a specialty in economics as a career would just focus on an economics degree (with strong math courses as a supplement) in undergrad. Graduate school is where the specialty would come in (Michigan, Hopkins, Wisconsin come to mind as having strength in numbers).

OP mentioned a quantitative econ and this sort of degree would be helpful for anyone interested in using economics later to study public policies (or anything data related in business too). Undergrads can learn strong economic theory and the mathematical and analytic tools that would be used in a job or an internship (statistics, econometrics, regression analyses, programming, data management, etc.). This is why I noted earlier that finding a school that has strong econ and public policy is a good option - if you have the econ skills, you can then apply them to study the policy. The tools needed are often very similar across policies - the specialty comes in (at grad school) in learning the literature of what has already been done.

Starting with an econ degree (or "maybe" a public policy degree with strong economics/analyses background) reflects better what current health economists did as undergraduates. People generally don't go to a health econ undergrad program. There's too much to learn in economics....maybe there will be a health econ course, just like there will be a labor econ course, on ones in development econ, environmental econ, game theory, etc (sticking with micro policy theme here...not macro since the interest is public health).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I recommend also considering schools that have strong quantitative econ and the broader lens of public policy. The skills needed to apply economics to public health are the same as those to apply to public policy and at an undergrad level, it probably won't make much of a difference. (But I'd check course options for these public policy programs).

Agree that UVA and UMD will fit the bill. Michigan and Wisconsin are also strong (stronger actually) in the large public realm. William and Mary also has a strong econ/public policy department.

I haven't looked - but I'd also bet that schools that have a hospital associated with it are decent choices to have some overlap in econ/public policy with health.....I'm thinking: Emory, Tufts, USC, Vanderbilt, Duke. We know of a public health economist at Carnegie Melon (not sure in what capacity though) so that could be an option.

Aren’t those all reaches with that gpa and those scores though? Im not the OP but I am working with my jr on a list of schools, slightly higher GPA from a top public (will prob be about a 3.8 unweighted, 11 APs total) not an URM, no hooks, and I’m considering all those schools as reaches.

Midsize and not a reach is a bit of a unicorn. There are huge schools and tiny schools but not many midsize ones.

Your kid is nothing like op’s kid

Yours isn’t URM!

And you didn’t mention your spawn’s test scores

Op’s kid has a 1480 As a urm….I would spray t20 and t10 lac’s…I will guaruntee that they would get Atleast 2/30 acceptances just by blindly doing that

True - my kid isn’t an URM. Test scores should be similar (a jr so hasn’t taken official test but practices putting him around a similar score) I know URM helps but I would have thought you still need realistic backups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My dc is a senior majoring in econ and global health at Lehigh. I think your son’s stats could be a match.Their college of health is relatively new, but has great professors with solid reputations and connections and Econ is one of Lehigh’s longtime strengths. Opportunities for research with professors starting freshman year, opportunities for publication, and internships have been strong, and dc had two job offers in healthcare consulting by September to decide between, both over 95k base.

I'm the public policy poster from earlier: Lehigh has strong econ faculty, including health economists, and they do a good job at giving students real research opportunities if they want them. This is a very good option if your reaches don't pan out (I think OPs DC could get into a higher ranked program).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is black, they are def competitive for penn cas with a 1480

Also jhu and duke.

Esp if you apply early

In your case I wouldn’t and just go RD

These would all be schools with the econ/public policy courses/degrees needed for OP's DC's interests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is black, they are def competitive for penn cas with a 1480

Also jhu and duke.

Esp if you apply early

In your case I wouldn’t and just go RD

These would all be schools with the econ/public policy courses/degrees needed for OP's DC's interests.

OP here. As much as I want to believe it, I don't know that the URM status would trump the lower GPA, even if it is from a Big 3! I guess no harm in trying RD?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are immigrants and clueless. Our URM DS is interested in a midsize school, urban or suburban, he is into economics/math and public health. Grades are average (3.6UW in rigorous private high school in DMV), SAT is 1480. Panic on board because deadlines are approaching and we still don't know where he would have any good chance of getting admitted. Help.

Especially if he’s full-pay, he could probably increase his odds by saying he’s a sociology major. If he’s a sociology major, maybe a place like Case Western or the University of Rochester would welcome him with trumpets.

Maybe he could also try applying to a place like Howard University, GWU or American University, then use the consortium to deal with any curriculum gaps. It seems as if being in D.C. or near the CMS headquarters in Baltimore, or near the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, might be better for a would-be health economist than going to the best health economics program.

I'm a previous poster: Anyone planning on a specialty in economics as a career would just focus on an economics degree (with strong math courses as a supplement) in undergrad. Graduate school is where the specialty would come in (Michigan, Hopkins, Wisconsin come to mind as having strength in numbers).

OP mentioned a quantitative econ and this sort of degree would be helpful for anyone interested in using economics later to study public policies (or anything data related in business too). Undergrads can learn strong economic theory and the mathematical and analytic tools that would be used in a job or an internship (statistics, econometrics, regression analyses, programming, data management, etc.). This is why I noted earlier that finding a school that has strong econ and public policy is a good option - if you have the econ skills, you can then apply them to study the policy. The tools needed are often very similar across policies - the specialty comes in (at grad school) in learning the literature of what has already been done.

Starting with an econ degree (or "maybe" a public policy degree with strong economics/analyses background) reflects better what current health economists did as undergraduates. People generally don't go to a health econ undergrad program. There's too much to learn in economics....maybe there will be a health econ course, just like there will be a labor econ course, on ones in development econ, environmental econ, game theory, etc (sticking with micro policy theme here...not macro since the interest is public health).

Thank you for this elaborate answer. Will emphasize this with DS!

[Anonymous]

Pitt. The rolling answer always is Pitt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those are good stats for competitive private especially if student is first generation to go to college. Definitely UVA and UMD because those are EA and can do them simultaneous with another early school. Really depends what type of school the student wants. (small or large?, rural or urban)

Not first gen. Looking for midsize, urban/suburban.
We are looking at UVA and UMD, but a bit too large for DC's taste.

Just wanted to say, my DC is at UVA and while it is technically mid sized, it really feels smaller to her. Everyone I talk to her when she’s walking to classes, she is saying hi to someone and she always knows people in her classes. Public health and economics would be solid there also.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is black, they are def competitive for penn cas with a 1480

Also jhu and duke.

Esp if you apply early

In your case I wouldn’t and just go RD

These would all be schools with the econ/public policy courses/degrees needed for OP's DC's interests.

OP here. As much as I want to believe it, I don't know that the URM status would trump the lower GPA, even if it is from a Big 3! I guess no harm in trying RD?

What - you are a big 3 urm with a 1480? And that’s interested in public health?

This has to be a troll. You already know t20’s and t10 lacs will fight over your kid

Ok, not hypsm perhaps but I would bet 500 dollars your kid would get into penn Ed for cas.

In your shoes, I would actually be willing to give up something in hand at penn’s level and just go RD and spray 30 schools with the confidence of gaining optionality

Did you not see the discovery data released during the Harvard trial?

Urm’s with 1480 are not common

Urms with 1480 that are also from big 3 level schools, even less so