[External Funding late in the day?]

Truman and PPIA are great options for people who are still in college. They usually fully fund policy degrees.

[HGSE Fall 2013]

For me personally, it's not so much the opportunity to say I went to "Harvard". Rather, it's that I want to study organizational change and leadership from a research (v. practical/professional) perspective. In terms of getting that along with the foundation in/context of education policy, Harvard EPM and Stanford POLS are pretty much it. Moreover, Harvard is the only one that focuses specifically on K-12. It's that preciseness of focus and depth that makes this program valuable and worthwhile for me. If I felt that I could get anything close to that anywhere else for cheaper, I'd be there in a heartbeat (probably). 

 

Also, I keep reminding myself that it's not THAT obscene an amount of debt - there's plenty of kids in B school and Law school spending $100,000 more than I am who aren't guaranteed to come out it earning that much more than me (right away or over a lifetime), and you never know how many of them will end up switching to education down the road which makes me laugh a little because we'd effectively end up in the same place but my degree cost less and took less time

 

Your reasons are yours alone and if it seems worth it to you then certainly pursue the program. YOLO.

 

However I don't think the reasoning that students at the bschool and the law school take on loads of debt, therefore it must be OK for YOU to and other HGSE students to take on debt makes much sense. Remember that those students are for the most part pursuing jobs in the private sector, while HGSE students want to be public sector education employees. These positions are notoriously low paying. I work with many of them and some barely make 50,000 and are glad to be getting that. On the other hand the median incomes at HBS are $120,000 plus 20K bonus and $155,000 plus bonus at Harvard Law. No one in the education field will approach that even in the 20th year of their career let alone the first year out of school. And if any of these grads decide to jump sectors, most will be able to command higher salaries because they've been high earners over the course of their careers. Just look at the bios of executive directors and COOs etc of ed organizations on linkedin. Many, if not most, come from a private sector background which is highly respected and well compensated. Not to knock public sector jobs at all. I've worked in both the private and public sector, but I try to counsel people to be extremely cautious about the debt they take on in pursuit of a graduate degree because it can be a heavy burden later in life once you decide to start a family and buy a home, etc.

[Anyone ever take advantage of the SAIS feedback on rejected applications?]

If you're willing to wait a year to reapply then go for it.

[HGSE Fall 2013]

I read somewhere (sorry to be vague, I swear it was a link off the pre-matric site but I can't locate it now) that the average starting salary coming out of the HGSE Ed. M is around $55k. 

 

That said, I don't put too much stock in it given the variety in years of experience we're bringing into the program and the variety of industries we'll all be going to after the program. I also think what you DO with your time in the program has a large influence on your value coming out of the program (eg. making sure you take the right classes so you can actually get that analyst job). Rather than think of it in terms of averages, I think of the value of my time spent in this program as equal to a "promotion" if I'd stayed at work. It increases the salary I expect to move to after the program, it speeds up the rate at which I expect to reach said higher salary, and I expect the biggest pay off in the next 3-5 years when I start hitting those job descriptions that require a minimum of a master's (or 10+ years work experience that I am not willing to wait for!). 

 

Maybe that's a flawed/exaggerated justification for why it's worth it for me to attend this program, who knows. At the end of the day this is more than just a career move for me and maybe it's financially reckless (my parents, neither of whom finished college, certainly think it is), but I'm SO HUNGRY to study about organizational change and knowledge management and to be able to dig into research and theory and work with professors and talk with peers - for me it's the mecca of what I derive fulfillment and happiness from. And if I have to pay $65K for that, ok. Worst case, I'm earning what I earn now, which is enough to make the student loan payment without facing serious economic constraints. Bottom line is this is what I REALLY want to do; I might not be a ton richer for it, but I certainly hope my life will be enriched, which has value in and of itself. 

 

I understand your point. Certainly others have made it before, and many agree that just the opportunity to say you went to Harvard (even though it isn't one of the elite value adding and competitive degree programs such as the Law School, Business School, and Medical School) is worth the obscene amount of debt required to go to HGSE. Just a reminder though, not all grad programs at Harvard are created equal. You'll definitely be reminded of that regularly when you get to Cambridge.

[HGSE Fall 2013]

Based on the financial aid packages they've offered the past two years, all I have to say is don't expect much. You're going to be expected to pay for most of it.

 

Which is bull. Harvard should be able to fully fund all of its education students. Why on earth would someone willingly go $65,000 or more in debt for an M.Ed degree? Seems like the most you'd make coming out of that program is 50-60,000, and that's most likely in a major city where the cost of living is extremely high.

[Harvard Ed.L.D. 2014 Applications]

Hey all,

 

Are any of you thinking about applying to the Ed.L.D. program this fall? If so, what other doctoral (or masters) programs are you considering? This would be a good spot to post over the next few months for all the prospective Ed.L.D. students. I'm interested in reading bios of the kind of people they admit if any of you have access to that info. Do most have a Master's degree? Are they accepting people from M.Ed programs at HGSE mostly or are they branching out to attract non traditional types? Any insight into commonalities among accepted students would be most appreciated.

[Harvard Kennedy School Admissions]

Wow, some of you should chill out. The website said applicants would be notified by late March. It's not as if it's past the deadline. Perhaps spend less time obsessing over last year's notification date compared to this year's.

[Entering management consulting after MPP/MPA/etc.]

Have you heard of anyone making a MPP > Associate Consultant > Consultant transition without a MBA?

I'm sure this happens often. There are also people straight from undergrad who go from Associate to full Consultant without getting a grad degree. Do you think you could get a consulting interview at McKinsey/Bain/BCG with your resume as it is now? Usually the people who get good offers were already in a great spot before matriculating to their MPP so you could even try interviewing without wasting two years of earning potential and tuition at a public service graduate school.

[Entering management consulting after MPP/MPA/etc.]

I've seen HKS MPPs get hired to consulting firms before but usually at the Associate Consultant level instead of Consultant. LinkedIn is helpful for finding resumes if you're interested.

[HGSE Fall 2013]

For those worried about how they'll pay back tuition at the Ed School, there's always the chance you'll find Mr. Right at the Med, Law or Business School. Guys from all three definitely crash the HGSE parties on a regular basis because they know dropping the HBS, HLS, HMS bomb is sure to impress. HGSE guys stay complaining about dudes from other schools poaching on their territory.