harris_t.r.

Thanks to MAC2809 & hj2012 for the advice. That's right! I'm rusty with my research on Ed.D programs ... Stanford POLS program is only M.A. and Harvard has the Ed.L.D. thing. I don't believe I want to do the Ph.D although I had originally thought the POLS program (Me.D or whatever the abbrev. is) would be a fit given my interests. Maybe Stanford will offer some sort of Ed.D or Ed.L.D. equivalent by the time I apply? I really like the cohort model offered at UCLA and (I believe) Penn -- not sure I like the Hopkins online option. I live in Tel Aviv at the moment, but would like to move back to the states in 4 years or so. Appreciate everyone's input! One last question: so are most people in Ed.D programs having more than 6-7 years experience in administration? Are most in their mid- to late-30s?

I agree wholeheartedly with advice from FeelGoodDoGood. I was in a similar situation myself ... knowing I wanted to do graduate school, but not sure on the Ph.D. I took a year off and worked a job in management that helped me think through my future -- ended up attending grad school for M.A. 1 year later. It's not always easy to explain yourself to others, but years from now who will care. Do it for yourself and enjoy it. Believe me ... I wish I had enjoyed this journey more than I did. Doesn't need to be stressful ... it's a healthy exercise to help you figure it out. If you don't know what you want to do professionally I think the trick is to try and do something that puts a foot forward in one way or the other. Put your foot forward in one direction and see where it lands. I'm in secondary education now. From my perspective I would say if you aren't sure whether you want to work with kids or not then don't do it. Is this a pipe dream or do you actually have reason for wanting to work with kids? You could always work 2 part time jobs negotiating two of these interests. When you put your CV together emphasize one over the other.

Thank you confusedKate for your feedback! Helps me think through this a lot -- I know you're right in that I should study hard for the GRE. Seems like GRE quant section is fairly easy ... just need to focus.

I'll simply my question since no one has responded. 1). Would I be more competitive for top Ed.D programs with a master's degree in education? I have a master's in history. 2). Is my experience sufficient -- how much experience do most in these programs have? 3). Am I competitive given my stats.

Hello -- this is my first post, but I've been eavesdropping on these forums for a while now. I'm a secondary-school teacher with some administrative experience in private international schools in the Middle East (Arab countries and Israel). My administrative experience and teaching experience is in the IB curriculum and am hoping to continue a career working for the actual IBO -- ultimate career goal is secondary-school administration + IBO senior administration post (such as Chief Academic Officer or Senior Assessment Officer, Director General, etc.) I'm aiming high, but I've noticed a lot of people who work with the IBO have leadership experience working for international schools that offer the IB curriculum. I'd like to potentially work my way up to a school director or head, but I'm plotting my next move while I continue to work. As it stands now I have 5 total years teaching experience (+ 2 years as Graduate TA that I don't count) -- 4 of those years international, 1 year regular teaching, 2 as Head of Department and 1 as a Coordinator. I will likely continue teaching and working as an administrator/coordinator for the next 3-5 years before I actually apply to Ed.D programs. I have an excellent job at the moment and am reluctant to leave anytime soon. I'm also wondering about taking 1 year to 18 months to manage an education NGO once I have more managerial experience from my current post. This would give me about 6-8 years administrative/management experience in international education when I apply. Stats: Have a B.A. in History from an average state school (3.4 GPA) Have an M.A. in history + teaching credential from a different average state school (3.9 GPA) Haven't taken GREs for a while, but had average verbal, below average quant., 5.5 AW Haven't been in contact with letters of rec from graduate program, but I should have 1 decent academic reference and hopefully a very good professional reference or 2 from work experience What else? I'm looking at the best programs I can find for the Ed.D -- list includes: Stanford, Harvard, UPenn, Vanderbilt, UVA -- potentially UNC, UCLA or Indiana. Am I competitive without an M.A. in the field of education? Do I have a chance with these schools? Would I be more competitive if I earned an additional master's in international education? Does my career trajectory make sense?