by Mary Beth Carroll, Assistant Director of Student Affairs in the Office of Student Engagement and Practice at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

Most graduate school applications require two to three letters of recommendation, which provide another dimension to your application and, when viewed alongside other factors such as your GPA, professional experience and personal essays, can help faculty reviewers get a sense for whether you can succeed in your program of interest.

The process of securing letters of recommendation can be stressful or confusing for some applicants. As the Assistant Director of Student Affairs at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, I have helped guide hundreds of prospective students through the applicant process. Here, I’ll explain the steps you can take, and some of my top tips, for securing strong letters of recommendation.

At Michigan Public Health,  we encourage a quality-over-quantity lens when it comes to fulfilling this requirement, meaning that a page length high-quality letter from a recommender who knows you well will be more valuable than a long letter that lacks detail and specific examples.

Quick Tip: As you gather information on programs you’re interested in, be sure to do it early to ensure you have time to familiarize yourself with what is required. Keep an eye out for details about application materials such as essay prompts and standardized test or professorial work requirements prior to beginning the application process. 

Weighing Your Options 

If you have been outside the academic setting for an extended period of time, it may be challenging to identify references. We encourage our applicants to choose people who can speak to their potential to succeed both in an academic and professional setting. 

Depending on your background and specific situation, consider the following as potential recommenders:

• Professors in your major of study
• An employer or supervisor
• Academic advisor
• Professional mentor from a relevant volunteer or professional experience

We advise applicants against using a friend or relative for a graduate school recommendation. In addition, public health faculty reviewers like to see letters on official letterhead (a document with a heading that includes a company/affiliation logo, company name, address, and contact information), when possible, along with a full signature including the writer’s company or professional affiliation, job title, and contact information. You can make a good impression with these small considerations — making sure all components of your application display professionalism and thoughtfulness.  

Ask Away!

Prior to engaging with potential recommenders, it is best to review the program’s application process and timeline, so you are prepared to convey exactly what you need. It is ideal to provide recommenders ample time to write their recommendation, as they likely have busy schedules and multiple competing demands. If possible, schedule an in-person or virtual meeting to discuss your desire to attend graduate school and potentially include them as a recommender. Also, make sure they are familiar with the program and field you are applying to. When we advise applicants, we always mention this as many people aren’t familiar with what public health is or the career trajectory our students have. If you are unable to meet in person or virtually, it’s also appropriate to initiate contact via email.

Quick Tip: The letter of recommendation submission process has come a long way! In 2020, the majority of graduate school applications, including the Michigan Public Health application, allow recommenders to electronically submit a letter. During this process, applicants share recommenders’ names and contact information. From there, the system initiates contact, provides reminders, and offers instructions for submission.

Provide Relevant Materials 

You want to make a recommender’s role straightforward and easy, so after your conversation, follow-up with them to provide an updated resume/CV, transcripts, essays, and overview of the process and timeline. A short paragraph or bulleted list of the items you would like a reference to touch on is a helpful tool for them and a good way to ensure your major accomplishments are highlighted. 

Quick Tip: As you navigate the process of securing recommenders, remember to communicate your reasoning for pursuing graduate school, future career goals, and what you can contribute to the discipline. For example, you might say something like this: “I am applying to the Population and Health Sciences MPH program at the University of Michigan because I want to gain the skills necessary to start a career as a community health worker. I’m passionate about teaching children and new mothers about nutrition and other early-life health considerations.”

Say Thank You

It is important to compose a proper thank you note to each recommender. In addition, once you determine your next steps, it is appropriate to share your future plans with them. Communicating both of these messages will allow you to continue to foster a relationship and keep the door open if additional support is needed down the road.

A Final Thought

While letters of recommendation are important, remember that they are just one piece of your complete application package. At Michigan Public Health, like many other schools, we practice a holistic review process in which faculty reviewers give careful consideration to all credentials presented by each applicant. This ensures that no single factor leads to either accepting or denying an applicant.

Consider an Online Public Health Degree at Michigan Public Health 

Are you looking for an opportunity to contribute to a better world? Right now, the world needs public health, and public health needs you. Now more than ever, we need passionate and capable public health professionals, and since 1941, the University of Michigan School of Public Health has been helping students become just that. We are excited to have the opportunity to reach a broader audience through our newly designed online Master of Science and Master of Public Health degrees in Population and Health Sciences.

As an online learner, you will gain access to everything our school and community has to offer. You will be taught by the same top-notch faculty who teach our residential classes. Our school has consistently earned top rankings for the programs and resources we offer. Staff from the Office for Student Engagement and Practice will be there every step of the way as we work to provide you with quality student life opportunities, enriching practice experiences, and support through career preparation programming. 

We’re here to help you discover how an online degree in public health can fit into your life, so reach out to our team today at sph-inquiries@umich.edu to learn more! 

Michigan Public Health students come from a variety of backgrounds, but all are driven by a collective mission to help people and improve overall public health. Michigan Public Health students are innovators and collaborators; they come to Michigan knowing the School of Public Health provides its students with the knowledge and training that will allow them to make a real impact. 

Students like Dr. Robert Davidson want to create positive change with their Master of Public Health degree. He says “I would like to positively impact the health of larger populations of people compared with the one-on-one role I have played throughout my medical career. I want to build a foundation of public health over the next two years [in this master’s program] to make me a better advocate for policies that improve the health of populations.”

Current students in the online MPH degree program have been excited to share their motivations to pursue graduate work with Michigan Public Health. Many also note the ways in which they’ve already seen benefits in their careers and personal life as they move through their coursework. If you’ve ever considered earning your degree in public health, you might find that their stories are not that different from your own. Learn more about the many paths to public health our students have taken in the articles featured here: 

Read about Hanady D, an online MPH student who has been an infectious disease physician for the last 18 years, but chose to pursue her MPH because “you realize that as a physician, you cannot really be disconnected from the other services that can eventually influence the outcome of your patient. You really have to be engaged in terms of their social situation.”

Hear from Chris C, an online MPH student who became interested in public health when he started to recognize some of the disparities in care within his own community. He explains, “too often, if you’re at the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum, you do not get the same care as others because of income, race, or other factors. If you’re not some ‘preferred’ group, you’re not given access to the same level of care and I’d just like to be able to fix things like that.”

Chris R, an online MPH student has used his background as a nurse to inform his study of public health. Chris notes that “public health shares a lot with nursing. Nurses have that up-close relationship, and public health professionals—[which includes] many nurses—have a wider view. Nurses are taught more and more to see the “big” pictures [of overall health care]—population health, reducing unit waste through better practices, being mindful of key performance indicators in health care.”

The online Master of Public Health in Population and Health Sciences degree has an emphasis on providing students with a foundational public health education. This generalist approach allows students to address complex challenges and pursue innovative, lasting solutions to improve the health of communities. At the core of the Population and Health Sciences curriculum is an aim to strengthen a population-level approach to today’s pressing public health issues.

University of Michigan’s School of Public Health is ranked in the top five public health research institutions in the US and is taught by leaders in the field. In the Population and Health Sciences Master of Public Health program you’ll get hands-on practical experience with community public health issues and gain expertise in the issue area of your choice including epidemiology, biostatistics, nutrition, and more.

In a recent webinar from the Population and Health Sciences and Admissions teams at Michigan Public Health, two current students join staff to share their experience working toward their MPH online while continuing their current jobs. Read our highlights and watch the full webinar below.

Michigan’s Population and Health Sciences MPH program is the School of Public Health’s first online master’s degree. It’s created an opportunity for learners from around the country to earn their Master of Public Health from the number one public university in the country regardless of where they are physically or what stage in their lives. Michigan Public Health’s program and admission staff explained the importance of a strong public health force implemented across all areas of society in a recent webinar, “public health work prevents disease, prolongs life, and promotes physical health”. 

Public health professionals are the people who work to make health services run more efficiently and equitably, and often work with whole communities or populations as opposed to individuals – public health is health care on a large scale, based on data, community interaction and partnership, and education promotion. An MPH degree can be part of almost anyone’s path to a practical and impactful career promoting a healthful and equitable society.

I’m too busy to go back to school.

The current class of students include a unique and dynamic group from across the United States. Students come from all different types of backgrounds, from recent graduates to physicians in the midst of a 30-year practice, nurses, researchers, fitness coaches, and medical scribes, to name a few, many of whom continue to work while pursuing their MPH online. The diverse student group that make up the Population and Health Sciences (PHS) program has created a valuable and dynamic online network of peers to study with, work with, and learn from.

Current online MPH student Bano Ahmed shared how she has been able to add her studies to her life with a full-time job, “I’m a pharmaceutical technician, my hours can be irregular. So, finding time to do my work can be difficult, but I get to choose when I do my work, so it’s been really nice. There are days that I have to fly, I’ve been in the airport doing school work or in a live session with my classmates.”

What are the classes like?

Students are completing their classes 100% online, which means they’re able to download lectures, complete readings, finish assignments, and chat with faculty and peers from their mobile phone. In the inaugural cohort, students have been traveling, changing jobs, moving homes, and having children – all while continuing to learn. Logging in from airports, Ubers, from home or work, they’ve been able to add their online degree study into their already full and busy lives.

The PHS program offers an accredited, University of Michigan degree that you can earn in less than 2 years from wherever you are in the United States. About 15 hours of work a week is all it takes. Can you fit that into your life?

Kathy Heselschwerdt is a current online Master student in the program and says its been easy to see the value her courses will have in her future career, “I think some of my favorite [courses] have been Social Determinants of Public Health and Nutrition and Public Health. But, one thing that I really value about all of the classes is that we’re learning new skills but we’re given the opportunity to apply those skills to research interests that we want to learn more about. So, it’s learning new skills but in a way that’s really useful for you now and in your future career interests as well.”

Bano agrees that she too has enjoyed the courses in the program, in large part because of the accessibility and openness of the PHS faculty, “My two favorite classes have been Principles of Epidemiology for Public Health and Nutrition and Public Health. Epidemiology – I knew I was going to like. But Nutrition? I was totally shocked that I liked that class. But the professors are also just so nice and so willing to help. They’re constantly telling us if we need anything just to contact them, so it’s a very friendly online environment.”

The program lets students tailor their degree to their specific interests through a variety of elective tracks. You pick one to two elective tracks and this is how you gain specialized expertise in the areas and issues that matter most to you. You can launch or boost your career in the work that you’re passionate about with these elective track specializations.

How do I know Michigan Public Health is right for me?

If you’re unsure if Michigan Public Health is going to meet your needs, our advisors and faculty are always willing to talk with you about finding the right fit. Faculty lead for the PHS program and Associate Dean of Education, Sharon Kardia, like most of the staff at the school, take a hands-on approach to helping students through the program as well as through the initial decision they make to attend the program. 

“I got a phone call from Dr. Kardia and talking to her is what made me choose Population and Health Sciences. I was actually accepted into the epidemiology residence program at Michigan and that was going to be what I was going to do. But, then, talking to Dr. Kardia, I just changed my mind, I was like ‘no, [epidemiology] is not what I want to do’. The online program is going to fit me more and is just more flexible,” says Bano. She is earning her MPH in the hopes of one day working at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) following in the footsteps of many other Michigan Public Health alumni.

When Kathy considered her graduate program options, she thought most about how it was going to fit into her real life and her real goals. “I had my bachelors degree in public health so going into graduate studies, I already knew that was my passion. It was really important to me that the program was reputable so that was one reason that I was interested in UofM specifically. I chose this program because I really wanted to keep working full-time while I was in school, but still have that opportunity to interact with campus when I wanted to and have the connection with this group of students and with the faculty. That’s been my experience so far, so I’m very happy with my choice.”

Who can I talk to if I’m interested in the online MPH from Michigan Public Health?

Program and Admissions staff like Lisa and MaryBeth are always willing to talk to interested students about the program, connect them with other current students, and walk them through the application requirements. Michigan Public Health prides itself on its unique holistic application review process: students are not dismissed because of one weak application component, staff look at the full package of a student and what they may bring to our school and community. The process honors our mission to offer quality public health education for a better community for all.

 Contact admissions staff at sph.inquiries@umich.edu. Learn more about the full application requirements here and hear more tips for preparing your application in the webinar video below.

Kathy’s advice to students preparing their applications is, “start your SOPHAS (the Common Application for Schools of Public Health) application as early as possible because there are a lot of pieces to put together. You want to make sure that you’re being really thoughtful about your statements and essays and who you’re asking for those referrals.” She adds, “It isn’t as intimidating as it might feel going into it. The School of Public Health was really helpful about answering questions and the SOPHAS application has a chat and email feature that I used quite a bit. They were really helpful as well. So, you’ll have all the help that you’ll need right away.”

Interested in hearing from more students from the School of Public Health? Check out the We Are Michigan Public Health series where you can find the stories of students, alumni, and faculty from across our community. 

Michigan Public Health’s Population and Health Sciences MPH program will have its priority deadline for applications on February 15th. After this date, and once the admissions committee has reviewed, they will start officially sending acceptance offers to applicants. The most important thing about this deadline is that applicants who apply by this deadline will have the best shot at potentially receiving merit scholarship funding. The final application deadline is May 1, 2020.

This fall, the University of Michigan is partnering with Coursera to launch a new online Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in Population and Health Sciences. It’s an incredibly accessible opportunity to get a multidisciplinary master’s degree for those who want to create a healthier world through research, education, and practice.

Beyond the advantages in flexibility and affordability offered by the online platform, the University of Michigan MPH gives learners an impressive breadth of specializations to choose from, including population health, program planning and evaluation, health analytics, and genomics and precision health.

Four Students, Four Different Stories

The diversity of career paths that you can follow with the online MPH degree reflects the diversity of the on-campus University of Michigan experience. As these stories of current students and recent graduates show, the School of Public Health has a track record of providing a range of opportunities that support the varied pursuits of its student body.

• Tianna Morgan, MPH in Health Management and Policy: Tianna always wanted to make a difference in the lives of others, so her work to shape policy to improve population health and advance equity makes public health a “dream career.” She was inspired to go into health policy after interning with Senator Dianne Feinstein and working on the Affordable Care Act, and  seeing how social determinants can impact family health through her work in low-income communities. Currently, she is researching ways to reduce firearm injuries and suicides.

• Sarah Falvey, MPH in Nutritional Sciences: Sarah is an active duty Air Force officer who has found a link between her academic interests and military career. Growing up in a diverse household with a number of siblings adopted and fostered by her family, she developed an awareness of the nutrition-related disparities different populations face. This environment  nurtured an interest in public health. While at Michigan, she found an opportunity to focus her research on eating disorders in the military and the barriers stigmatization can present to diagnosis and treatment of these disorders.

• Jessica Yaser, MPH in Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology. In high school and college, Jessica had academic interests in both the hard sciences and social sciences. When she discovered the field of public health, she found a perfect interdisciplinary balance between the two. While at Michigan, she is also working at EpidStat Institute, a scientific consulting company,  on a team that includes epidemiologists, biostatisticians, health economists, and exposure scientists who are using science to answer difficult questions about health and disease.

• Rishabh Jain, MPH in Epidemiology: Before pursuing his MPH (and delivering a commencement address!) at Michigan,  Rishabh worked as a molecular biologist on response teams handling the Ebola and Zika threats. The experience made him realize the impact scientists could have on entire populations, and he believed the University of Michigan would help him find leadership roles in public health through its focus on professional development. He now works as a management consultant at Accenture, a top global consulting and professional services firm.

An Online MPH from a Leading University

Michigan MPH graduates hold key positions at non-profit organizations, hospitals, insurance companies, consulting firms, biotech companies, and government organizations – and the University of Michigan’s comprehensive online MPH curriculum will prepare you to become a public health leader in the specialization of your choosing.

You’ll develop skills in data collection and analysis, intervention strategy, and communications methods, as well as valuable experience working on real-world projects alongside today’s leading public health professionals. No matter where your interests lie, this degree will give you the professional skills you need to make a difference in the world.