MPH Admissions FAQS

For your MPH application to be considered complete and ready for review, the required documents listed here must be received by SOPHAS and verified. During the SOPHAS application process, you will receive emails from our Office of Academic Assistance (OAA) containing follow-up questions or confirming receipt of your application. It is important for you to regularly check your email inbox and respond to emails from our OAA staff.

Call us at (404) 413-1452 or e-mail your question to [email protected].

There is no minimum GPA, but applicants with a 2.75 GPA and above are generally preferred. Note that applications will be considered individually based on a number of factors, including the rigor of the academic program and school attended.

GRE/GMAT scores are not a requirement for admission to the MPH, DrPH, Graduate Certificate of Public Health or Maternal and Child Health Graduate Certificate programs.

No. Applicants are admitted to our program with various academic and professional backgrounds.

With the exception of our online degree programs, classes are held at Georgia State University’s downtown campus. Classes are held in the afternoon as well as in the early evenings to accommodate working students. Click here for the university schedule. Note that not all classes, particularly electives, are offered in the evenings. Students may need to take courses in the afternoon as well as the evening.

Our MPH program in the Health Promotion and Behavior concentration is available as a fully online option, as is our Graduate Certificate in Public Health. Classes in most other degree programs will be held in-person on Georgia State’s Atlanta campus, although some classes may be held in a hybrid or online format.

The School of Public Health requires applicants to submit three Reference Forms. Students who have recently graduated with their bachelor’s degree or equivalent are strongly encouraged to submit at least one academic reference from a faculty member in the program in which they earned their degree. Other recommendations should be sought from employers and/or supervisors from paid and/or volunteer work. It is suggested that a friend, relative or peer not be used as a reference. Give recommenders adequate time to submit their recommendation online or via mail.

Limit statements to one single-spaced page, or two double-spaced pages, and include the following content:

• Introduction: why you’re interested in public health and your specific area of concentration or research
• Previous academic, professional, community experiences, as well as any work in the area of health or healthcare
• Career and personal goals: how you believe the degree you are seeking will help you achieve these goals and trajectory
• Specific interest in Georgia State’s program

See the university's Tuition and Fees webpage.

Any applicant whose country of birth is English-speaking (as listed here) is not subject to the English Proficiency requirement. For applicants whose country of birth is not English-speaking, proof of English proficiency can be demonstrated through one of the following means:

• Proof of baccalaureate or graduate degree completion inside the U.S. (from an accredited institution) or outside the U.S., where English is the official language of academic instruction from an approved country (view this link for the list of approved countries)
• Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores of 80 or above (internet-based test)
• International Language Testing System (IELTS) score of 6.5 or above
• Completion of a University System of Georgia approved ESL program

You can check your financial aid status by calling the Office of Student Financial Aid at (404) 413-2600 or online at http://www.gsu.edu/financialaid.

Once your application and materials have arrived in our office, they become the property of Georgia State University. For this reason, no materials will be returned or released to an applicant or to any other party, such as another school or external agencies, for example. Moreover, your application fee is nonrefundable and will not be returned if your application is withdrawn or denied.

Students who have completed graduate courses at other accredited institutions before enrollment in the MPH program may request that any such courses be evaluated for transfer of credit. Students must have earned a grade of “B” or better in all transferable courses. The maximum amount of credit that may be transferred is nine semester hours. Exceptions to this rule will be granted on an individual basis. Click here for the Graduate Request for Evaluation of Transfer Credit.

The terms are often used interchangeably, but in the context of the MPH program, the APE is a field-based experience for which students receive course credit. An internship is a more commonly used term that refers to an opportunity to gain experience in a field. If you see an advertisement for an internship, it is possible to pursue that experience as an APE; it would simply require additional planning to ensure academic requirements are met through the experience.

You should complete your core courses and two of your concentration courses before beginning the APE. Start your APE search at least one semester prior to the semester you’d like to begin.

Gaining as much field experience as possible will help you in the long-run. Students can do as many internships as they can reasonably fit into their schedules, but would need to meet the requirements above in order to “count” the internship as your APE.

The first step is to refine your idea. There are several ways of doing that:

• Complete a gap analysis – does this opportunity afford you skill development that will aid in your job search
• Discuss your idea with the practice coordinator and your advisor. They can help to make your idea more specific and suggest possible APE sites.
• If you have a site in mind, discuss your idea with a staff member of the organization or a prospective preceptor.
• Assess how well your idea gives you the opportunity to use what you have learned in your specialty track or concentration in a real world setting.

You can learn more about proposing an APE by visiting the Office of Applied Practice Experiences and Career Services.

Finding a site is a key step in developing your APE. Before this can become your formal APE site, it is important to do the following:

• Discuss this possible site with the practice coordinator. She will help you determine if the site is appropriate to conduct your APE.
• Obtain approval from the practice coordinator. She may already be familiar with the site or the program of interest within that organization.
• Verify with the practice coordinator that an affiliation agreement exists between GSU and the potential site (if not, the coordinator will facilitate that process).
• Complete the learning contract, including signatures.
• Purchase professional liability insurance through the GSU web store.

The APE is an opportunity to bring academic theory, specifically what you learned in your concentration, into practice.

• The culminating experience is typically research-oriented, whereas the APE is mostly hands-on in nature.
• You are eligible for the APE as soon as you complete all the core courses AND at least 2 courses in your specialty track. The culminating experience on the other hand is the last academic requirement of the MPH degree.
• You may work on the culminating experience at the same time that you work on your APE and you may focus on a common topic or field; but, the two may not be the same thing.
• In some instances, the APE can help identify interesting research gaps, which could serve as a building block for your culminating experience.
• The APE and the culminating experience are SEPARATE and DISTINCT academic requirements, for each of which specific academic credits are awarded.

Possibly. If you are working in a public health organization and demonstrating competencies from your coursework, you may explore an APE opportunity in the same agency. Please contact the practice coordinator to discuss.

• Any practice site must be discussed with your advisor and approved by the practice coordinator.
• Consider that the APE offers great networking opportunities; students completing the APE at their place of employment miss out on this aspect.

The study abroad office provides scholarship opportunities to graduate students meeting specific criteria. Please visit the Georgia State Study Abroad Office for more information.