Admissions Review Process

EDU 119D Appendix D - UT Southwestern Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health

In addition to the standards set forth in EDU-119 Admissions, the UT Southwestern Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health adheres to the following school-specific admissions policy.

Admissions Committee

The Admissions Committee of the O'Donnell School of the O'Donnell School of Public Health shall be appointed by the Dean and be compromised of no fewer than seven (7) full-time faculty members, broadly representative of programs, concentrations, and diverse faculty research interests. A subcommittee of no fewer than five (5) full-time faculty shall be established for M.P.H. admissions, and a subcommittee of no fewer than five (5) full-time faculty members shall be established for Ph.D. admissions. Committee members may be required to serve on one or more subcommittees.

Letters of Recommendation

Applicants to the O'Donnell School of Public Health must submit letters of recommendation as specified in the school's application. Letters of recommendation submitted outside of the formal application process specified by the application will not be made available to the Admissions Committee or considered in the admissions decision.

Conflicts of Interest

Admissions Committee members in the O'Donnell School of Public Health shall alert the Committee Chair of any potential conflicts of interest that may arise during the evaluation of an applicant. The Committee Chair, in consultation with the Dean's Office, will determine whether any additional steps must be taken to eliminate the potential conflict. Admissions Committee members who personally know an applicant, directly or indirectly, will be permitted to participate in the Committee's discussion of the applicant but will not cast a vote at any point in the admissions process.

Designated Point of Contact for Admission Inquiries

The designated point of contact for inquiries regarding the O'Donnell School of Public Health's specific admissions policies and procedures is the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Operations, at osph@utsouthwestern.edu, who also serves in an ex officio capacity on the Admissions Committee but does not participate in actual admissions decisions.

Admissions Review Process

The Admissions Committee engages in an individualized, holistic approach to identifying applicants whose qualities, attributes, and accomplishments indicate that they will contribute to the missions of the O'Donnell School of Public Health and be successful in their course of study. During this admissions process, the Committee considers the following factors (in no specific order):

Academic performance in college as reflected in the grade-point average and academic record;
Letters of recommendation;
Scores on the Graduate Record Examination General Test or other acceptable standardized test (optional);
The applicant's personal statement and the motivation indicated therein;
Experiences in clinical research activities, scientific research activities, or public health practices where appropriate for the program sought;
Whether the applicant has multi-lingual proficiency;
Personal integrity;
Socioeconomic background;
Whether the applicant would be the first generation of the applicant's family to attend or graduate from a graduate or professional program;
The applicant's responsibilities while attending elementary and secondary school and as an undergraduate student, including whether the applicant was employed, whether the applicant helped to raise children, and other similar factors;
To achieve geographic diversity, the applicant's region of residence at the time of application;
The current comparative availability of public health professionals in the applicant's region of residence; and
The applicant's interview (for Ph.D. program applicants only).

The Committee does not use a point system to assess an applicant's merit. No more or less weight is given to any one factor as part of the individualized, holistic review.