How to Apply

The School of Public Health has dedicated admissions professionals available to respond quickly to your questions and assist you with all phases of the application process. From the time you first contact the School of Public Health to your acceptance, our staff is available to help you.

Request information by completing our form.

Prerequisites

To be considered for admission, you need the following:

• A bachelor's degree or recognized equivalent from an accredited institution.
• Adequate preparation in the biological or social sciences, though no specific majors required. Candidates with undergraduate majors in the social or biological sciences are encouraged to apply.
• At least one college-level mathematics or statistics course completed with at least a 3.0 (B) grade point average on your transcript.
• At least a 3.0 (B) grade point average or equivalent in course work completed after the first two years of undergraduate study and in all graduate course work. The admissions committee may occasionally consider applicants who do not meet these academic requirements in circumstances where other measures of professional performance are particularly strong.
• At least two years of work experience (recommended). If you are new to the field, your work experience need not be in the health or public health sectors. Examples of alternative work experience include advocacy, social work, environmental sciences, marketing, journalism, housing, and municipal administration.

Application Requirements

Your online application, to be submitted to the UC Berkeley Graduate Division, requires the following:

• A statement of purpose (500–600 words) describing your career goals and how this program meets your professional aspirations. If you are entering the field, please tell us about your public health interests and the skills you wish to acquire during your program of study. Please also tell us how you hope or expect to contribute to improving the public's health in your future professional endeavors.
• A personal history statement (300–600 words) describing yourself, your family, the experiences that have framed your current aspirations and how you hope or expect to contribute to improving the public's health. This essay supplements the statement of purpose and should leave the admissions committee with a better understanding about you as a person.  
• Documentation of work experience, such as a letter from an employer stating period of employment and respective job titles.
• Three letters of recommendation, including at least one from a former professor (or someone who knows your academic potential) and one from a current or former employer (or someone who knows your professional potential).
• GRE scores. All applicants are required to submit GRE scores for exams taken less than five years before the submission deadline for your application.
  • The UC Berkeley GRE code for this program is 4833.
  • Applicants who hold a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral-level degree at the time of the application from any accredited institution are not required to submit GRE scores. Equivalent doctoral-level degrees as used by the School of Public Health in application of GRE waivers are defined as: Chiropractic, Dentistry, Medicine, Osteopathy, Podiatry, Pharmacy, and Veterinary. (Please note: The M.B.B.S. is not a doctoral-equivalent degree in regards to GRE waivers.)
• A PDF of unofficial university transcripts. Official transcripts will be required only if you are offered admission.
• If you do not hold a degree from an institution in an English-speaking country, you must submit evidence of English-language proficiency with one of the following:
  • 570 or higher on paper TOEFL
  • 68 or higher on Internet-based TOEFL (iBT)
  • 7 or higher on a 9-point scale for the IELTS
  • For more information, see UC Berkeley Graduate Division's Evidence of English Language Proficiency.
  • There are no exceptions to the English-language proficiency requirements listed above.
• Nonrefundable $80 application fee ($100 for international applicants).

For detailed guidance on completing your online application and supplemental materials, please review our Application Guidelines. Learn more.

International Students

At this time, we are only accepting international applicants from Canada, Mexico and Europe.

School of Public Health

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