ASzofer

Trying to get a head start on this application situation and I'm wondering if anyone else is considering applying for the HDSP PhD program at Northwestern this year? I'd love to know what the average requirements are, and whether I should be retaking the GRE. Here is a bit about my background. BS in Adolescent Education/English - Miami University of Ohio (3.9 GPA); 6 years teaching experience; Harvard MEd in Education Policy and Management (3.75 GPA); currently one year working in policy at an urban education research institute. GRE: Q 153 V 159 AWA 6.0 I'm afraid to retake the GRE because even though my Q and V scores are low, my AWA has nowhere to go but down. I know when I was applying to HGSE, that AWA score meant more than the others. Would love to talk this over with someone before I take the dive.

Merrysoprano, WHERE WERE YOU??? Haha Sunshinegrl and I were trying to stalk you out in the groups but had no success.

In Cambridge finally. Anyone getting a drink somewhere tonight?

I am confused by the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. It only starts forgiving once you've already paid the loans off for 10 years. So you've already paid almost all of them off. And who knows what job you may have in ten years. Grrrrrrr loans. Grrrr school. Someone just give me 40K.

Well I received no grants. Probably because some of my information was not in time. Lots O loans it looks like.

They sent the international students' out via email last week, which means ours are likely in the mail. One person who lives in Boston said she received hers on Friday. So any moment....

I'd prefer gradcafe lunch over hearing the same information over again personally. I thought I'd explore Cambridge, housing, etc. on that Sat rather than take them up on OneHarvard.

Wish I could do Sunday but the hotel was way too expensive to stay an extra day so I'm leaving Saturday evening.

Nope. Not yet. Just that I did not get a merit scholarship, but I think there were only about two of those. Congrats to whoever received them! Would be nice if it was one of our gradcafe compatriots!

Wow I left the country for a few days and missed quite a bit! Had my admitted students reception in Chicago Thursday and it was great. As far as the people talking about it not being worth the money, I feel like very few people go into ed for monetary value. It's worth the money to get the best education you can to go on to make the biggest difference. At least that's how I feel. It's one year. Not like three years of law school or even more for med with way more debt. Anyway, the people I talked to at admitted students weekend all had great jobs and said everyone in my program was gainfully employed by the end of summer so that was encouraging. I never anticipate making bank, but we should be able to pay off some loans. In other news, I did not get a merit scholarship (not surprising). I just got back from the Dominican and am not psyched about the LAN of late march snow right now.

When did you guys get this spam letter? I'm pretty sure it's not retrievable at this point for me.

I do know, btw, dnanthro, that for Vanderbilt some people knew right away about scholarships and mine did not come until a month and half later, but I still got one. So I wouldn't rule it out.

Oh no. I always delete my spam folder after very half-heartedly checking. I mean I'm going to HSGE anyway, but I feel like getting money from Columbia would make me think I'm more likely to get money to HSGE, which I won't know for a week or so I think.

Was very excited to come home this morning (stayed at my parents' and ripped a contact so I had to drive all the way home with one eye before work today... not so fun) to see a large envelope from Harvard. I mean, I knew I was in, but the package made it more real. Plus, it came with a car sticker so the world is much closer to right. I put that baby on right away. Now if only I'd get that financial aid letter.... come on aid..... you know you want to give me aid.... Getting closer to Open House!! I'm very giddy. Going to the Chicago reception tomorrow night and am looking forward to that as well. I feel bad for my jobs. Harvard has taken control of my brain.

wjdavis, I don't think so. You'll be fine if you do that. I think they make the $300 just to prevent everyone from doing that, but it's not like they will come after you. I accepted to two undergraduates to buy me time to decide. ay761, I don't necessarily know that a thesis is such an important prereq to a PhD anymore. A lot of people enter PhD programs without even having a masters based on their experiences. One of my good friends is getting her PhD at UT Austin for an Autism Research program and she opted out of a thesis during her masters program at U of I. She said that when she was getting her masters a lot of her professors said that she would need the thesis, but she did the program and the research and still had to write a major paper and had no issues getting into her top PhD program. I know that my program at Vanderbilt didn't have a thesis either. There was the practicum experience and the corresponding paper. I think all schools go about it differently and that is probably true for what they are looking for in PhD candidates as well. If the thesis is important to you, you should probably go with the program at Vanderbilt, but I think you'll be fine either way. For me, as of now, I think I'd maybe like to go to something like Harvard's doctor of educational leadership program, which weighs your professional and leadership experience more than a thesis so it's more important for me that I get a career for a while after the program to build my resume further. From what I saw at Vanderbilt, a decent amount of people went to the East Coast. A lot of people stayed around Tennessee too. I think it really just depends where you want to end up. I know for my program you had the option of doing practicum wherever you wanted so you could make connections in another city.

I definitely am with you on your concerns. Are you Ed Policy? That's what I am and was between the same schools. I could have gone to Vanderbilt for free between the assistantship I was offered and the scholarship and TC gave me some money... yet I went with Harvard where I'm not likely to get any money. For my personal logic, I also don't know exactly what my specific goals are either. I know I want to be working toward reform in the education system, but I don't know if that means I want to go into a specific city and work for reform there through a program or whether I'd rather be at a government level. I think my real goal would be to travel the country visiting schools, analyzing data and writing books about what is working and what is not. Because this is a nonspecific goal, I feel like Harvard is the best place for me because of the connections everywhere in the United States. I, too, was hesitant on Vanderbilt because I thought it might limit me to the South/Midwest. That being said, they did have a lot of amazing connections based on what I saw when I went there for Visitation Day. Harvard was a clear choice for me because basically my gut just insisted. I cried when I saw the acceptance and was shaking for hours and I don't think I've ever been more excited about anything in my life. That may be just because of the name, but since I didn't feel that way about the other schools, I knew that I could not pass on the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream of going to Harvard. I like that it is a one year program because that will put me out in the research world a year earlier where I can start putting together what will eventually be my resume for my PhD. From what I've seen, most people at schools like TC and Harvard have much more experience than me in doctorate programs so the sooner I can get started on that, the better. I think whatever you end up doing will be a great decision. You have incredibly strong options so I don't think you can go wrong. Whichever you choose will definitely affect your life and the people you meet and where you go, but I wouldn't imagine that any of the paths are going to be negative. You'll graduate and get a great job and pay off your loans whatever you end up doing. Which program are you just most in love with?

Try on the pre-matriculation page. They have a forum where you can introduce yourself by program. I haven't actually done it yet. Perhaps I will do that now.

Yes... But Vanderbilt is also a top tier university... It's actually ranked number 1 in the nation for education. I would say you should talked to some of the professors at each school and decide which will be the better path for your specific goals. I generally assume schools like TC know what they are doing when they have one year programs, but there are also definite advantages of the two year approach at Vanderbilt. Also maybe think about where you want to end up and which school has what connections.

Yes. I was Masters of Public Policy in Education and the assistantship was with the Peabody Journal of Education for an associate editor position. I officially turned it down a couple of days ago. I don't think HSGE does assistantships for Masters people. I asked once a long time ago back in Sept/Oct and they said that all assistantship type of positions usually go to Doctoral candidates. Does anyone know anything about the internship experience? Is that something we should be looking into now or wait until we get there?

I hope by first week of August you mean April..... I know it's not likely to get much, but hey, I'll take $10 if they'll give me $10.

Haha oh yeah I found that site last night too and meant to post it. I keep thinking about being at Harvard next year and it makes me want to walk out of my IT assistant administrator job. I'm getting really sick of matching and adding up documents. Glad I'm not an accountant.

Didn't someone say something many posts ago about possibly hearing about financial aid mid-March? Am i totally making that up? I know that financial aid is super limited for Masters people anyway. I came home to a letter that I got a scholarship to Vandy on top of the grad assistantship and just emailed them to turn it down. YIKES! Free Vanderbilt vs. Expensive Harvard. You better be worth it Harvard!!

I came home to a letter today that I received a 1/3 Dean's Tuition Scholarship. That plus the GA position makes me feel a little crazy turning it down... but I'm about to do just that. I have to go to Harvard. I'm just too in love with their program. This opens up a GA position for an Ed Policy major, although I know they interviewed other candidates, so it is likely they will pass the position to one of them. Best of luck to everyone! Peabody really is so amazing.

Mine was just right in the acceptance message.

Meh it's too late. And since I haven't been to the area since I was 17 (and then just followed my parents around), I'd rather be closer to school. I'm 2 miles away and would rather be safe than get lost on the T or something and miss stuff. I may have been accepted to Harvard, but that doesn't mean my sense of direction has much improved.