Yale GEPN Fall 2011

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i thought i'd start a thread for those of us applying to yale for the fall of 2011 :-)

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Did you take the GREs? This is the only thing holding me back from applying to yale

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Not yet, I'm taking them in September. Why? How did you do?

And if you don't mind me asking, what's your gpa? I just keep getting scared that mine is too low for Yale.

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I am in the same position as you. I have yet to take the GRE, I am an awful standardized test taker. I have a good undergrad GPA, 3.2 and Masters in Communications, 3.8 but my sciences are low, B- for Chem, A&P1.

Somewhere through the grapevine I heard Yale accepting those with low grades and people who are "not so smart"- I am not sure how valid those both are, since one is subjective. I think it depends on your background as the program is for those w/o a medical and science background.

Honestly, it doesn't hurt to apply. Stay positive.

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I have a 3.45 undergrad, and somehow I feel that's too low for Yale. Who knows. It is definitely my first choice though. Oh well. :) Good luck to us.

Any idea when the applications become available?

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Hello,

I'm surprised this thread isn't more active since there is only 90 days left until the application is due! Is there anyone out there who has applied before to Yale and is reapplying? This is my first time applying to Yale, but it's always great to hear from those that have had experience. I'm also applying to the UCSF MEPN program, but everyone knows how crazy competitive it is to get in there. I don't have all my pre-reqs done at this point, so MEPN and GEPN programs are the only ones I can apply to. Would love to hear from others if they have any experience/info on admissions or interview stuff. I'm also nervous about how the GRE and undergrad GPA is considered in your overall app (but I have a Masters in City Planning from Cal, and hoping they'll consider that).

Good luck to everyone!

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I'm applying for the Fall 2011 but I'm honestly not very confident about it for some reason. I have a 3.5 overall GPA but I'm not finished with my prereqs yet since I still have another year left before graduating. I just took my GREs and got a 740 quantitative and 480 verbal (ughh) and I don't know if I should re-take it yet -- I'm still waiting to receive my writing score.

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Hi! I am applying in the nurse-midwifery tract. I have a lot of experience, so I'm feeling good about that, but my gre scores stunk (540 quant, 610 verbal, haven't heard back about writing). I do have a strong gpa though (3.9 undergrad, 4.0 in prereqs).

Overall I feel pretty good about Yale. I'm also applying to UCSF , OHSU, and Vanderbilt and I'm much more nervous about them since it seems like their acceptance rates are much lower. You never can tell though.

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Has anyone started working on the essay yet? I'm totally intimidated by all of the questions (and having to answer them in order!). It's so detailed!

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I too am a little surprised to see traffic this slow on this board!

I applied to Yale GEPN last year, got in, and decided not to attend. So I have survived what you are going through now.

My advice: You can't change the past, and you have no idea what they want. The one thing you have now that is totally within your control is the essay.

Also, the process of writing the essay and refining your thoughts about why you want to do this is really important, just for you.

They are deadly serious about taking every question, and every piece of every question, in order, and don't leave any out. And make it sound pretty! (I had to go back late in the process when someone asked what I thought at the time was a silly question: Was it OK to list hobbies before travel in the last question, or whatever. "She" said no, you better do it juuuust like they ask. So I was the silly one.)

Those Friday online chat sessions are great, by the way. You can sign up for them, and have one or two admissions people answering your questions, telling you about things that aren't on the Web site. There are usually only a couple of people on them early in the season. Look for "admissions events".

Also, choose the specialty you're applying for carefully. At the end, at some of the schools I got into, it seems like a few people wished they'd chosen different specialties. Go for the one you really want and can speak most passionately about.

One more piece of advice: Let the schools make their decision about you. Don't you reject yourself for them. We were told that about half of the people who started the application never finished it. All of these schools could make their admissions decisions in a week if they just picked the top GPAs and scores. But they don't, do they? So work on that essay and tell them what you have inside.

Choose the school that is right for you, that you can afford. Give yourself options. Take some prereqs while you're waiting -- you'll at least get to waive Anatomy at Yale. Or you might find you hate it, or you love it and want to be a pathologist.

And remember that there are so many ways to have the career you want. Yale is an amazing place, but it's not the only place.

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Hey Abby Normal thanks so much for all the information. I am trying to complete my admissions essay, but I am feeling a little lost. Any tips for the writing process? I feel like there is so much info that needs to be covered in very little space and I am not sure how to go about including everything without jumping all over the place. Any help would be great!! thanks

Kelly

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Hi KKandes,

Just wanted to add in my 2 cents if it is at all helpful....

I set up a call with the Admissions Director and her tip was to treat it like a creative writing piece. You need to be able to answer all the questions in the order they ask, but it's not like you have to write a paragraph on each question. I know that might seem obvious, but it got me more in that mode when I started writing mine. I actually just applied to UCSF MEPN program and fortunately I have something to start with. I think the biggest tip that I got in writing my UCSF essay was to answer all the questions in a version that is just a freewrite-- no rules, no edits, just answer the questions. Then from there start paring it down by cutting out the unnecessary information or condense sentences that say the same thing. Then from there it's just a process of refine, refine, refine.

Good luck! I'm not done with mine either, but at least we have until Nov. 1 to complete!

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