1. finance
2. grants, scholarships and financial aid
3. financial aid

2015 Master of Public Health
Application Instructions
General Information
Thank you for your interest in NYU’s Master of Public Health program. We are pleased to offer you the
opportunity to apply to our program using SOPHAS, the centralized application service for public health schools
and programs. Only applications that are complete will be reviewed for admission. For an application to be
considered complete, the following application materials must be submitted by the applicable deadline:
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The completed SOPHAS application, including application fee
Personal statement
Resume or CV
Official transcripts from each post-secondary institution attended
Three letters of recommendation
Official GRE scores
Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) from all applicants whose native language is not English
and who did not receive the equivalent of a US bachelor's degree at an institution where English is the
primary language of instruction. Applicants holding or completing only a graduate or professional
degree from an institution where English is the primary language of instruction are still required to
submit a TOEFL score unless the graduate program was four or more years in duration.
Available Concentrations
As of June 1st, we are continuing to accept Fall 2015 applications to the following concentrations only. Please
see the respective websites for each concentration for more details on learning objectives, degree
requirements, curricula, and sample course sequencing:
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Epidemiology
Global Health
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Application Requirements
1. The SOPHAS application, completed as instructed. The application is available at https://portal.sophas.org/.
2. One official transcript from each academic institution attended, indicating courses completed, grades or
evaluations received and degree awarded (where applicable). Official transcripts must be submitted to SOPHAS
for any postsecondary work undertaken, regardless of whether or not a degree was awarded. Current
transcripts must be submitted for any degrees currently in progress. Please note that official transcripts should
be sent directly to SOPHAS, and not to the NYU GIPH Office of Admissions.
For international applicants or those attending foreign institutions: SOPHAS requires that transcripts from
colleges and universities outside the U.S. be evaluated by World Education Services (WES). Please see
http://www.wes.org/sophas for instructions.
All official transcripts should be addressed to:
SOPHAS
P.O. Box 9111
Watertown, MA 02471-9111
3. Three letters of recommendation. Recommendations must be submitted by your references electronically
through the SOPHAS Recommenders Portal located within the SOPHAS online application. SOPHAS does not
accept any paper, faxed or e-mailed letters of recommendation under any circumstances. Any recommendations
that are mailed, faxed or e-mailed to SOPHAS will not be attached to your application and will be discarded.
SOPHAS also cannot accept any letters of recommendation that have been kept on file with a previously
attended institution's letter service.
4. A typed, clearly written personal statement, which provides insight into your career goals; your interest in
public health and the program; and how your education, work experience, and personal attributes have
prepared you for admission to the program. Applicants are required to submit an essay no longer than 1200
words in total, which addresses each of the following five questions either in a single narrative or by answering
each individually. There are no "right" or "wrong" answers to the following questions, so we invite you to take
this opportunity to creatively and honestly communicate your own engagement with public health and interest
in graduate study at NYU.
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Describe any prior and/or current health-related education or experience(s) you have, and how they
have prepared you to join the NYU Master of Public Health program. If you do not have any prior or
current health-related experience, please describe how your education and/or experience(s) have
prepared you to pursue an education and career in public health.
What do you perceive as your major strengths and weaknesses with respect to your current public
health-related knowledge and skills, and how do you expect graduate study in the NYU Master of Public
Health program to affect these attributes?
What are your current career goals and how will you use the education and training acquired from the
NYU Master of Public Health program to address or advance them?
What does it mean to you to be a global health or public health professional?
What do you view as an important/pressing challenge(s) facing global health or public health at present
or in the foreseeable future, and why?
4. The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is required from all applicants whose native language is
not English and who did not receive the equivalent of a US bachelor's degree at an institution where English is
the primary language of instruction. Applicants holding or completing only a graduate or professional degree
from an institution where English is the primary language of instruction are still required to submit a TOEFL
score unless the graduate program was four or more years in duration. Please note that official TOEFL score
reports must be sent to SOPHAS directly from ETS. When ordering test reports from ETS, you must include the
proper institution code for SOPHAS (8752). Copies of score reports will not be accepted under any
circumstances.
5. An official Graduate Record Examination (GRE) score report for an exam taken within the past 5 years. The
GRE must be taken again if your GRE scores are older than 5 years. When ordering test reports from ETS, you
must include the proper institution code for the NYU GIPH (8752)
Application Deadlines and Review Timeline
We are continuing to accept Fall 2015 applications for the three concentrations described at the beginning of
this document. The SOPHAS application will close on August 5, 2015. The current application will NOT be
considered for enrollment in terms beyond Fall 2015. Please note the following important dates:
July 21 - Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit the application with all required documents by this date.
This will allow time to correct any issues found during the SOPHAS verification process.
August 1 - The final deadline to submit an application in SOPHAS.
August 5 - The SOPHAS application closes for Fall 2015. All required application items must be received and
posted to your account by 5PM EST. SOPHAS will not waive application requirements to expedite the release of
an application. Applicants who do not complete the application process by this date will be required to create a
new application for Fall 2016. SOPHAS will not offer a reapplication process for the Fall 2016 application.
August 18 - SOPHAS will open for Fall 2016 enrollment. The Fall 2015 application will NOT be accepted for Fall
2016 consideration. Applicants should NOT create a Fall 2016 application or send documents to SOPHAS prior to
this date as they will be purged.
Once an application is complete, it is promptly sent to the faculty admissions committee for review. Decisions
typically take 2-3 weeks to be issued from the date an application is complete and sent for review. All
admissions decisions are conveyed via email; no hard copy letters are mailed.
Financial Aid
Process:
All domestic and international applicants who wish to be considered for program scholarships
will be evaluated for a program scholarship at the time of application. No additional paperwork
beyond the application form is required in order to be considered for program scholarships.
All domestic applicants (U.S. citizens or permanent residents) who wish to be considered for
federal and/or state financial aid must submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid
(FAFSA) using FAFSA on the Web (available at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov. The University's
institution code is 002785.
Deadline:
Domestic applicants who wish to be considered for financial aid should submit the FAFSA by
February 1st. Do not wait to be accepted for admission to submit a FAFSA.
Timing:
File the FAFSA by the appropriate deadline. Do not wait to be accepted for admission. Do not
wait until your taxes are done. Although it is better to do your taxes early, it is acceptable to use
estimates of your income, so long as they do not vary significantly from the actual values. You
can make corrections later on the FAFSA web site. Applying after the deadline may delay the
processing of federal aid and student loans.
Application Tips
1. Apply as early as you can. Submitting your materials early helps ensure timely processing and avoids costly
delays. Depending on volume, it can take up to 10 business days for items such as transcripts or money order
payments to be marked as received by SOPHAS from the date they are mailed. Remember, once your
application is considered COMPLETE, it can take up to FOUR WEEKS for it to be processed and mailed to your
programs. Therefore, to ensure your application is mailed on time, ALL MATERIALS should arrive at SOPHAS at
least four weeks prior to your earliest deadline.
2. Don’t wait to submit your application. Do not wait for your standardized test scores, recommendations or
other documents to be received by SOPHAS before submitting your application. Submit your application as soon
as you have entered all required information. Documents, recommendations and test scores will be added to
your application after they are received. We will be able to access your application as soon as you e-submit it
and may wish to begin processing your application right away.
It is your responsibility to ensure that all documents have been received in the program office by the
appropriate deadlines.
3. Do not send any copies of application documents, as they will not be accepted as part of your application.
SOPHAS will not accept faxes, photocopies, or unofficial documents. SOPHAS cannot accept student copies of
transcripts. You should notify your registrar that you need an official copy sent to SOPHAS. A request form can
be found in SOPHAS in the Colleges and Universities section.
4. After you have submitted your application, remember to use the SOPHAS application system to check the
status of your application. Once you submit, you should monitor your status in the “my status” section often to
ensure all required documents are received and your application is being processed. SOPHAS will e-mail you if
there is an issue with documents or coursework verification but about missing documents. Check your status
often until you application is complete.
Checking your status online is a much quicker way of determining your status than calling or emailing the
admissions office. Please note that during certain times of year, due to extremely heavy inquiry volume it
may take up to 1 week for email or phone inquiries to be responded to.