misskira

I did my special education master's degree at Pacific in 2006/7. I was at the Eugene campus, but overall I was pleased with the University. Forest Grove itself is on the very edge of the Portland area, near Hillsboro. I couldn't imagine living there without a car. If you'll be doing clinicals off campus, you will probably need one. Craigslist will give you a good idea of rent ranges, but I would talk to current students about where you will actually want to live as a student.

I'll just offer my experience on student loans. They are quite the burden... I've been paying $425/mo for the past 7 years, with 8 to go. That's for my $50k private loans. I have another $50k of federal loans, that I paid $200/mo on for a few years (30 year plan) and have been on income based repayment for the last 2 with payments of $0. Luckily I'm a teacher, so in another 8 the balance will be forgiven for public service. Otherwise my total would be $800/mo for 15 years. I would love to buy a house right now, but can't. It was a tight few years when I paid for daycare and then was a stay at home parent until my oldest went to public school. Right now a full 50% of my paycheck goes to student loans and daycare. I had no help paying for school, so my undergrad cost me 50k, and my masters/teaching license program was 40k. I'm just now at the point in my salary where I have a bit of wiggle room, but will probably be going back for my doctoral degree beginning in June. It will also be paid for in loans, but will be largely forgiven due to public service. Even if it wasn't forgiven, the salary increase from my current to degree to a doctoral, in my exact same job, is enough to pay for the tuition within a few years. Anyways, my point is to really consider realistic salary expectations upon graduation, combined with your hopes for family/house/etc. Student loans are no joke...

I'm a teacher, applying for educational leadership, so it may be different in my field. I graduated from my masters program in 2007. At this point, I figured my transcript would have to speak to my school abilities, and my LORs would have to speak about my work abilities at this point in my life. I asked my principal (immediate supervisor), a school psychologist in my building with amazing personal/university connections, my department supervisor, and another teacher who I've worked closely with for 8 years. In education it's expected that you've been working in the field for a number of years before applying for a doctoral program. However when I applied to a different program a couple years ago, I was accepted using LORs similar to what I described above. Since phd students come from field work as well, I have to believe they look at those candidates with a little bit different of a lens.

Yes. The graduate school at a university often has a minimum requirement that departments have to uphold. For example: http://gradschool.uoregon.edu/admissions/non-native-english-speakers

Me too. My masters program started in April (while finishing my senior year of undergrad) and I got married in July. They gave me Friday off, I had my wedding Saturday, and was back to school Monday. I'm 29 now, still married plus 2 kids. Fall will be my first year of phd if I go.

It sounds like they want you to tell them that you know what a phd can do for you in career terms, and that you understand what you'll be doing in a phd program. It's also another opportunity for them to get a writing sample from you of course. When I applied last spring, my potential advisor emailed me that as a follow up question as they were reviewing applications. She wanted to know if my research and career goals were compatible with the opportunitites she could provide me.

Ohhh I see. From what I've seen around here, every Oregon licensure program (which is inside of a masters due to state requirements now) has a decent list of pre-reqs. Especially when it comes to secondary programs. They'll expect that you've majored in your content area and the masters portion will be pedagogy, instruction, education law, curriculum, assessments, etc. They want you to know the content you'll be teaching already, and their focus is teaching you how to teach it. Also, in Oregon programs aren't very research based, they're all about getting you into the classroom. That's something to keep in mind. Research (outside of student teaching work samples) happens if you decide to go phd.

If you receive any type of funding based on a fraudulent application, they can require you to repay it. You could also get to a point where you are a long ways into your program, they find out, and then they can kick you out without allowing you to finish the degree. I'm in education so we are required to have complete background checks, including fingerprinting. My application did require complete transcripts from all schools attended.

I have a MAT in special ed and it's never been an issue. I have been hired with it by 2 different districts and accepted into a phd program. I honestly didn't even realize there were different masters degrees when I did mine. I was pretty much focused on licensure so the masters itself was just a means to an end and to satisfy state licensure requirements. I majored in education studies and minored in special ed.

SPED positions around here are pretty slim pickins, especially for my specific area of elementary life skills... I have a husband and 2 kids so I'm limited to this area geographically. Anyways, we're still thinking about it. The best for my family is me staying at my current position, since I'm teaching at my own kid's school and bringing in the health insurance and income. Best for me may be teaching, but my work load is getting insane (15 life skills students, 11 classified staff) and I miss the intellectual side of school and research. I do think if I decide to delay I could go in a few years when both my kids are in school full time. It's a tough decision, that's for sure. I wish I had a crystal ball... eta: I should also add that my current school is amazing as far as accepting my students goes. We have worked hard to create a program that is highly focused on inclusion and integrated in the school as a whole. So it's a hard baby to give up. The current working conditions are exhausting, so it would be so much easier to decide if I knew what working conditions next fall were looking like. I won't know until next April or May though. I might go ahead and put in my application again and give it until April 15 to decide. I'm afraid I'll burn bridges if I do that and don't accept though. We work closely with the University now and I need to keep a good relationship with them.

There's funding... if you look at their webpage they have a short description of their LINKS funding that is new this year. Looks like a great package and there's room for 6. They also have other leadership grants, and GTF funding that is pretty good. I did my undergrad at UO, then my masters/licensure at Pacific University. I'll look through my email form last year to see how many were accepted in the first round. I turned in a late application and was accepted off the waitlist. eta: nevermind, I don't know how many were initially accepted. I know that by March 4 they had 5 people accept the offer, and that "they hadn't heard from others..." I was offered my spot April 15, but with no funding guarantee because their leadership grants were already given out.

I have a deferred acceptance to Uoregon I'm trying to decide on... I have my masters so would be doing a phd. Funding didn't come through in time for me last spring so I accepted a teaching job for this year. Now I have to figure out which direction to go...

I would keep my commitment and follow funding personally.

I think you're making a lot of assumptions based on very little information.

Some schools will allow you to wait a year to begin school if there is a reason to do so. My school said if I would like to I can defer my admission for one year to be considered for funding with the Fall 2014 applicants. I would be on the accepted list for 2014 without resubmitting my materials. Some schools don't allow this option though.

That is essentially my offer... I thought I would have to refuse at first, but there are actually quite a few TA spots for me to apply for. So I'm applying and will see what happens. My advisor said in 5 years, no one has had to leave for lack of funding. I won't take loans out period. I can also defer my acceptance for a year and be considered with the other applicants for funding next year.

For some reason I'm skeptical that a single student was given that much power... at least I'm hoping not.

You don't have to do anything. If you already know you don't want to accept, it's better to decline now before wasting either of your time.

I'm other... I've worked as a public school teacher for 4 years, and would like to consult with local districts, research, and develop curriculum instead.

I've lived in Eugene for 11 years now. 4 for undergrad, then 1 year masters at Pacific U, then working, and now it looks like I'm returning to phd in the fall! So if you have any questions, feel free to message me. I honestly really love it here.

Just got an email, I'm in!!! Accepted off the wait list (late application) for University of Oregon Special Education. Now to figure out funding...

YAY!!! Congrats! I'm hoping for a similar email today...

I'm a public school teacher in Oregon, so I have some insight on this. To teach public school here, you need to be highly qualified per No Child Left Behind. Highly qualified means you have mastery of your content area. For elementary, thats usually a bachelor in some kind of educational studies program. In secondary, it's a bachelor in your content area or a large number of classes. That's the first requirement for a teaching license, and the second part is training in how to teach. That usually comes from a masters program at this point, that requires some student teaching and pedagogy classes. You also have to pass some kind of standardized test. This varies from state to state of course, but the highly qualified status is there for all states. A simple BA or BS in content generally isn't enough to get you a teacher job these days. Even substitute teaching here requires a teaching license, although they don't limit you to specific subject. Public school teaching is a very saturated field in most of the country. Especially in social sciences, English, and elementary. Science and math teachers are harder to find. It's not a good backup plan, that's for sure. Particularly for people who don't actually have an interest in teaching.

Guaranteed funding all the way! (assuming you applied because it is a good fit for your research.)

I agree... this is the point where you have a frank talk with the advisor. "I am glad I have been able to help out in these initial stages when you've been processing your diagnosis and creating a treatment plan. I'm at a point where I need more direction with my project, and the undergrads need more than I can provide, when will we be able to meet?" See what kind of response you get. If it's not satisfactory, I would go to your next higher up person and explain the situation. This isn't a fair situation, and while the cancer is unfortunate, you still have to look out for your education and career.