hesadork

JKBFSS, take a hard look at the PhD in Criminal Justice offered through the CUNY Grad Center/John Jay. You can matriculate to the CJ doctoral program and then declare an interdisciplinary concentration in Les/Gay/Queer Studies. And at least one of the faculty at JJ is doing work at the nexus of CJ and queer identity.

This is totally random, but I happened to be on the phone with my parents when I saw your post. My dad was a SLP in New York for 35 years before retiring. (BS from Emerson, MS from Wisconsin-Madison, both in SLP.) I read him your post...and his strong recommendation was to go with the funded offer. He loved Wisconsin but hated the 15 years worth of loan payments the degree created. Anyway, take that for what it's worth and best of luck with your decision.

So the choice is a funded master's at U of Ark or a full-freight master's at the New School? In this field, I would jump at the funding opportunity.

I think it really comes down to geographic preference in that case. I'd choose Pittsburgh over Iowa City in a heartbeat but that's just me...

Are the funding packages comparable, controlling for differences in cost-of-living between the two? And do you want to be in a college town (Iowa) or a city (Pitt)?

[Note: You're far more likely to get informed responses by posting this in the appropriate thread -- The Menu/Professional Programs/Business. You might consider deleting this thread and reposting there.] It's virtually impossible to "chance" you absent GMAT scores. You might clarify whether you're intending on full-time or part-time study or would be open to considering either. You mention tuition reimbursement from your employer, which would imply a part-time program, yet you've include some full time programs on your list. Funding for full-time MBA study is exceedingly rare. With all of that said, I think your UGPA is likely to be a barrier to admission at most elite schools (esp. Columbia and NYU from your list above). The Fordham classes maybe a boost for admission to Fordham, not sure about elsewhere. You might consider gaining more full-time work experience before applying, which could strengthen your candidacy.

Inez90, I'd choose the MA. The TESOL job market is *not* the English literature market. You will be just fine.

Can you defer admission but preserve the funding offer?

LPMan76, I think you've played your cards exactly right. The rational choice was to accept X's offer in March. But now circumstances have changed, and it makes sense to revisit, even if briefly. That doesn't make you an awful person. One issue you haven't addressed (aside from referring to your partner's diminished earnings capacity in city Y) is what your aid packages look like at each institution. Might that be something you could use to help differentiate between the two? And I agree with MadScience -- if your choice ends up being Y, institution X will understand. This stuff happens all the time. Is it an ideal circumstance? No. But life and work (and school!) aren't always ideal. Finally, what your partner thinks matters here, too...and perhaps his/her preference as to the city can help give you clarity/assuage your concerns. Best of luck! And congratulations.

This is a tough one. May I ask what your career goals are? SIPA and SAIS place differently...and depending on your ambitions, New School may serve you just fine. It depends what you want out of the degree.

Hi Viget, and welcome. This is a terrific question IMHO, so thanks for raising it! I'll cut to the chase and strongly suggest that you do a master's prior to a doctorate in this field. Here is my rationale: - Many/most of the better doctoral programs in the field require a master's prior to admission, either as a matter of policy (ie, it's a stated requirement before they'll consider an application) or practice (ie, they say they're open to considering someone with only a bachelor's degree but then rarely, if ever offer them admission) - Accordingly, it's rare for a master's to be granted "in course" while on the way to a doctorate in HE/SA; the most common arrangement of which I'm aware is the TC model of granting an EdM once you're close to ABD...but those programs still require an MA prior to matriculation (in other words, it's highly unlikely you're going to be able to get a master's for free on your way to a funded doctorate) - These are professional degree programs (even a PhD)...so while your UGPA and GRE's are really important to doctoral admission, your work experiences and your master's attainment matter a lot too. For better or worse, master's degrees in HE/SA have become *so* prevalent that in many quarters they're viewed as part of your professional experience in the field, so not having one is a disadvantage in the doctoral admission process - Related to the third point, as a "professional" doctorate (even if it's a PhD rather than an EdD), it's *really* hard to have clarity/confidence about your research interests absent having done a master's; even if you do have clarity, faculty may not find it credible absent the degree to substantiate it - Your rec letters will have more weight coming from HE/SA scholars I will say that there are other education degree programs where you could safely proceed directly to the doctorate -- sociology and ed, politics and ed, ed policy -- and each of those could accomodate an HE focus. Anyway, I hope this is helpful. Best of luck on your journey!

Well, then it really comes down to whether or not you're ready to start the PhD in the fall or would be ok to endure another tough admission process. While it doesn't feel great to take out loans for a doctoral degree, $7k/year is very reasonable. Again, I'd take knowing you may not get funded for one or more years over delaying and reapplying, but that's just me.

Seems to me you have two options -- go to the school that accepted you and deal with the uncertainty around funding; or reapply to other programs next year and subject yourself to another application season. I'd vote for the former. Out of curiosity, are there any off ramps in the program? (ie, can you exit with a master's at some point along the way?)

Edstudies, you really can't go wrong either way. The subtext of your posts is that you want to be at Stanford. So I say go with your gut. The HE/K-12 integration does not strike me as a big deal. The reality is that some number of classes at Ed schools (e.g., Org Behavior, Rsch Methods) are cross-listed such that students in many different programs have access to them. The OB class I took as part of my HEA master's was open to folks in HE, K-12 and public/nonprofit admin. It really didn't matter, and I enjoyed having to operate outside of my HE comfort zone. In my humble opinion, some people make too much of the practice vs. policy vs. research distinction at the master's level -- especially in one year programs. The reality is that you're going to get exposed to all three irrespective of how a program markets itself, and any differences are of degree not kind. Strong performance at either Harvard or Stanford is going to stand you in very good stead for eventual doctoral admission regardless of their 'focus.' Best of luck.

I've been in the field for 16 years, mostly in admission and fundraising. I did my MSEd in HEA part time at Baruch here in NYC and absolutely loved it. Looking to apply to doctoral programs next fall. I've just always has a passion for higher Ed...ever since work study jobs in college!

I would give some further thought to the 1 yr vs 2 yrs question. Longer programs are a great option for people with little-to-no full time professional experience in the field...provided that you have a financial arrangement (ie, an assistantship) that will offset the cost of the added time. Minimizing debt is key in this field. Re geography: are you really indifferent to west coast vs. east coast? LA and Philly could not be more different. Do you have a sense of where in the country you'd like to end up?

Welcome! Tell us why UPenn and USC (both wonderful programs!) were especially attractive to you...

wjdavis: for what it's worth I think your plan makes good sense. The one piece of advice that I've gotten from just about everyone is that it's not smart to incur tremendous debt to get a doctoral degree in education...which would certainly be the outcome of an EdD at TC. Don't get me wrong -- I think TC's quality/reputation is amazing, and it's near the top of my list too. But it's also expensive, huge (in enrollment) and located in a run-down building. I happen to love Colorado. UC-Boulder's School of Education is well-regarded (top 30 in US News), they have a PhD in your field and they guarantee at least three years of full funding...

Congratulations; these are both superb programs, and you really can't go wrong either way. I'd suggest considering two things: 1) Location -- do you prefer Boston or Philly? They're both great towns, but very different. Where do you feel the most comfortable and where do you think you'd have the most fun? (I'm not suggesting that superficial concerns like 'fun' should rule the day here...but I know personally that I love Boston but could take or leave Philly. If you have a preference too, that should be factored in.) 2) Cost -- You mention the GA-ship differential...does that imply that you could attend Penn for less $$ out of pocket? If so, do it. The ROI for this degree is limited, and the less debt you incur, the better. Finally, I'd suggest that you not over-read the curricular focus (practice vs. research/practice/policy). These are one year master's programs. There are differences, in part driven by the GA-ship, but they're modest.

Congratulations! I think you face two threshold questions: 1) Location - In your heart of hearts, do you want to be in New England or Southern California? It would be hard to imagine two more different regions (or two more different cities than Boston and LA). Go with your gut on this. It looks like you're already living in Boston; do you want to stay, or are you wanting a change? 2) Program - Ed Counseling is very different from HE (even HE with a strong SA emphasis like UCLA or BC). If your passion is to work at the post-secondary level, and you want to have the option to work in a variety of different functions, EC may not be the right credential. On the other hand, if your true passion is counseling, and you want to be able to do it in a variety of different contexts, an HE degree probably isn't the right choice. (Out of curiousity, why did you choose Rossier's EC instead of its PA/SA option?) If you're able to answer these two questions honestly I think it will make your choice very straightforward. Finally, you didn't mention aid so I'm assuming the cost of all three would be relatively similar. If that's wrong (ie, if one of the options is significantly cheaper) then I would bump the cheaper option to the top of the list. Good luck!

Without question, UCLA because of the cost. At the master's level in this field institutional prestige is basically irrelevant. But trust me, the debt you'd incur by going to Penn or USC is *very* real. By the way, you're not going to get much policy exposure in any one year HE/SA master's program. That will come in your doctoral program. Best of luck with your choice!

Congratulations on your acceptances! Wonderful and undoubtedly well-deserved. Here is my advice: without a doubt, go to Syracuse. I think you would come to regret the debt you'd incur in the other programs. Penn and UCLA are good/great programs but institutional prestige really does not matter at the master's level in this field. Best of luck with your decision.

I am trying to figure out the range of aid offered to people in EdD programs at TC. I've yet to come across anyone, in any program, receiving the typical doctoral "package" (i.e., remission of tuition/fees + stipend). Do they just not fully/close-to-fully fund? Note: I'm talking specifically about the EdD and not the PhD. Many thanks!