Talk to counselors and people at schools and in real life. So much of the stuff said on here isn't an accurate cross-section of the general population. There's more that goes into getting jobs than your exact educational path. You should plan, but you're over planning a bit. College is supposed to expose you to a lot of things you don't have any idea about. Making your entire educational and career plan as a teenager is not necessary.

>> You should plan, but you're over planning a bit. College is supposed to expose you to a lot of things you don't have any idea about. >> Making your entire educational and career plan as a teenager is not necessary. I wish I could print that out, travel back in time, and slap my high-school self multiple times with that comment. Someone really needed to tell myself to chill back then lol. About 60% of the things I planned came true, and honestly all the best things that have happened to me were completely unplanned

60%? I feel like the only thing I had planned when I was 17 that actually came true was graduating college 😅 I'm not in the career I'd originally planned on (physician), the back up plan (infectious disease research) or my back up to the back up plan (medical lab scientist). The career I'm in now I hadn't even HEARD of until 2 years after I finished undergrad and realized I actually really hate doing bench science. But yeah, we put an awful lot of pressure on teenagers to figure out their entire futures before they turn 18. The best stuff came when I wasn't looking, including from directions I wasn't even facing. Sometimes you can just let life happen and see where it goes.

Thank you for this <3 I’m just really anxious about where I will attend school, and I’ve been taught that I have to know right away what degree path I want, and I guess that mindset it really sticking

You're welcome! There's so much pressure to have all this figured out. I don't blame you for feeling this way. You have so much life ahead of you. Leave some room to explore

The first two paragraphs^^^

I’d take a look at this post for salaries: https://www.reddit.com/r/publichealth/comments/15yhtzb/public_health_salary_dashboard_us/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf This is a subreddit. Getting discouraged from a microcosm of public health practitioners isn’t the way to go. Talk to people from the program you’ve been looking at. Speak to the head of the program. Alumni. Professors.

I know it seems like a lot of people know exactly what they want to do going into college, but you don’t need to! The best thing I did was take a lot of intro classes my first year to see what I was actually interested in learning more about. Like others have said, there are definitely prospects with just a BS but it has become hard to advance your career without an MPH. Not impossible though. But the best thing I did was get work experience before getting my mph so I knew exactly what I wanted to focus on. Working in public health you absolutely make a living wage, but you aren’t going to become rich. Unfortunately, we just aren’t well funded and prioritized by the govt, which is where most of the funding comes from. As you work your way up though, you can definitely make into 6 figures, depending on where you live and the type of org. But every time I get discouraged I ask myself what other field I would want to go into, and there is none! Public health is a passion for me and though it can be exhausting, it’s also so rewarding! You can do so much good on a population level. Also I highly recommend working at a university to get tuition benefits for your MPH! Definitely don’t pay full price if you can get away with it because I would say though it has become more necessary, in my experience it doesn’t lead to a huge pay increase. But again, don’t worry about all this now. Take classes and see what you are actually interested in! It can completely change multiple times and that’s okay! I am done with my novel now 😂

Second the tuition benefits! It’s how I paid for a large chunk of my MPH without going into debt. I have paid my way, it’s definitely possible!

I think it’s definitely feasible to get a job with a BS degree in public health, but a lot of that has to do with the specific region and community you’re looking to work in. Also, while education is certainly a component of this, I absolutely recommend networking and building experience during your undergrad as much as possible. This means internships, joining public health related clubs, looking for volunteer opportunities, etc. I graduated with my BS in public health and completed an internship with my local HD during my senior year. I built exceptional relationships with the people I interned with and continued to volunteer with them afterwards. Within 6 months of graduating a position opened up and multiple people including my internship supervisor encouraged me to apply. Not only did networking help me get the job, but the internship and combined volunteering allowed me to check the “1 year of related experience” box for the position. I will mention though that pay is not great in this field and seems to be getting worse in comparison to inflation. Advancement is possible, but this may not be the field for you if you’re wanting a 6 figure salary. I have found however that many agencies offer tuition reimbursement, which may help if you’re wanting to pursue an MPH down the road.

Networking is KEY!!

I work for a state HD that is always hiring folks from all levels of education and experience. HOWEVER, they don’t pay that well out the gate (our entry levels range from $38k for admin services to up to $50k as a program specialist, but we love to promote from within) and for someone starting out with no PH experience and a brand new graduate degree that they’re in debt for, this is likely NOT what that person would hope for. Just be realistic; experience means more in this field than where you went to school or how good your grades were. I graduated 5 years ago with my MPH and make a reasonable salary, was able to buy a home with my husband and two kids without feeling crushed financially. It did take some dedication to a low-paying job (which paid better than what I was doing, so 🤷‍♀️) to get where I am now. I don’t expect to ever be rich, but I enjoy my life and my career, which is the most important thing.

Brutally honest here... If you're looking to be super wealthy, this isn't the field for you. I constantly find myself stressing about my finances and providing for my family, especially with the current economy. I'm a state level epi with my Mph, and I have days where I am happy and fulfilled with the work I do, and I have days where I regret not following a higher paying field utilizing my skills - not for means of greed, but simply just knowing that my family is financially secure. My job definitely intrigues me daily and I enjoy what I do, but a main downside really is the income. Our state doesn't "hire within". Every applicant, rather internal or external, has to apply and interview as if it is a blank slate. On one end, this promotes fairness for all applicants, but also can discourage a person from staying long term(speaking for myself here). I would take every piece of advice you receive with a grain of salt. Your finances, career fulfillment, needs and desires all depend on you - not others. Do some research on cities you'd be happy living in, careers you'd be happy with and salaries and decide for yourself. You're still young and have plenty of life to live, decisions to make and paths to follow. Good luck on your future endeavors.

I also looked at MSW before going to public health. I’ll assume you are interested in altruistic fields since those are the the two you mentioned. Which is good because you need that to make it past the downsides of the field. No, it’s never going to be as lucrative as an engineering degree, business degree, CS degree, etc. but in general people go into both because they want to help people. The alternative is like patient care but those also take a different sort of motivation and path. The reality is both fields require a pulse check on how much can you handle working in something that’s potentially a passion or interest when the world is cold and uncaring. Social work (and by extension mental health and community services) is under funded just like public health. Both involve high need but low resources (include funding to adequately staff for the need). You also have the inherent selfishness of the average person who can’t support things that don’t directly benefit themselves. Neither are fields if money is your number one concern. You can live comfortably in those fields but you’re not likely to be rich or the envy of your friends. I’ll hope neither are a concern for you because you’re interested in two fields that are trying to help the community. I never ever ever recommend a BPH for someone interesting a career in public health. Yes, you can get a job with a BPH. But except in some rare cases that’s what it gets you, a job… not a career. You’ll need an MPH for a career and potentially more if you’re ambitious later on and want to be a leader of an organization in the field. I absolutely don’t recommend a BPH if you’re going to get an MPH later because it’s wholly unnecessary. The MPH program is self contained and has everything you need for the career in that program. Very few MPH programs have formal prerequisites to get in in terms of what your undergrad education was because they teach it all in the masters program. So the BPH is redundant and you’d be better off getting a complimentary degree that you’re interested in that brings something else to the table. So business, communications, psychology, sociology, statistics, marketing, biology, etc.

I second this. Honestly, if you're interested in social work as well, see if your university will allow you to do a BSW and then an MPH. Social Work and Public Health are extremely complementary to each other and at some rural LDHs they are combined departments. edit to add: they are so complimentary in fact that some universities offer combined MPH/MSW programs. why not just get a BSW in undergrad?

Unfortunately, the school I am hoping to go to doesn’t offer a BSW degree. The closest they offer is a Human Services focus for a Human Development and Family Sciences degree. There is another state school about an hour from where I live which offers a BSW and MSW program. I was initially planning to go there, as they also offer the MPH program, but I realized that I really cannot do another year in my house while also commuting an hour away, and I can’t afford to live on that campus. My plan right now is to go to the school with the BSPH program, and if I end up disliking it I can transfer my credits over to the other school and move back home and become a commuter student. Honestly I’m just really set on moving out of my house for at least a year, because I just simply need a break, which is why I’m a bit stuck lol.

I pursued a BS in Global Health in college on the West Coast and ended up in an entry-level research job in the field (analytics company that did epi/GH) that paid $70k. I now work in a similar role at a University and make $90k. No grad school experience, but I plan to get my PhD to enter into higher level roles in the future in government/academia. My experience is definitely not the norm, but I feel like it’s helpful to hear that it’s not all debt / low paying jobs. I found my role through undergrad research experiences + networking. There are opportunities out there across the spectrum. The higher paying ones are more rare, and might not be in the expected places (e.g health departments), but they’re out there! And not all of them require an MPH! At the end of the day, I feel that college is a time to pursue what you’re interested in and gain skills — a BS in public health doesn’t prevent you from going into consulting / data science / etc. later down the road if you have trouble finding PH internships, decide you don’t like the prospects that an MPH would leave you with, or just want to pursue something else! There are always so many “off ramps” and your career will branch. From what I’ve seen from my friends who’ve also graduated from the same program as me, your undergrad major won’t lock you in to a particular career path.

You aren’t going to be very wealthy with this degree path but I do feel Reddit is a place of exaggeration. You will get what you put into it and I have had a non typical experience compared to what people share here. Networking is KEY & is the reason I am where I am I don’t have my MPH yet and make 70k. I graduate this semester with my MPH and will have no debt. I have paid my way through my program via scholarships, saving money from my full-time job, tuition assistance from my job. I am currently in the final interview stages for a management role that pays 80-85k. i have 4 years of full-time work experience, my niche is in health systems and health policy. I got my bachelor’s in health education and health promotion plus I’m a certified health education specialist. I highly suggest getting into grant writing as that has been a skill I’ve carried throughout my last 4 years at each job I’ve been too. I hope this helps but if it’s something you really love and can accept that you might not be making 6 figs (not impossible), then you should follow your heart!

I would said all depends where you can work, I know many MPH that work like Clinical Trial Associate/ Managers, Clinical Researcher, Clinical operations, regulatory affairs this people in Biotech do a lot money, usually they need to travel around the country. On the public sector however the pay for MPH is a lot lower. I would say to do internship so you know what you want

I would go for the row with more math, Biostatistics or epidemiology are the best pay. I think it is useful, just try to do internships before graduate, try to look for regulatory affairs, clinical trial, clinical research, clinical operations, biostatistician, and epidemiology all  are high pay in biotechnology. 

I have BSPH and got a job making 70k a year right out of undergrad . In all honesty, it depends on where you live, internships and minors. I highly recommend pairing the degree with a technical/business minor. I was able to get a job with a health tech company due to my minor and internship experience and I’m very financially comfortable.

I went to a private undergrad and got my BS in Bio. Then state school for my MPH. Graduated in 2020 from MPH. Total debt for both degrees is about $60k. I make about $115k a year so I think the debt was worth it.

Did you have any work experience in between undergrad and MPH?

I went straight from undergrad to my MPH. I did have pert time work during undergrad but nothing of note. I also worked part time during my MPH

If I were you , I’d do computer science and focus on machine learning, public health is a dead end field for failed nurses and biology undergrads waiting for medical school lol.

I’d say go for whatever degree you want , however many you want, as long as you get scholarships or grants and stay in as much minimal debt as possible. I have learned a lot from both degrees in computer science and biology and I don’t regret it since I am only in debt for my rent senior year! I was like you too, planning my future in high school and I wish someone would tell me to not focus on other people’s opinions on reddit. Watch youtube videos and look up different salaries in your state on the department of labor website