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Vulpix

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Everything posted by Vulpix

  1. I have never encountered anyone looking down upon HGSE. If anything, I think WE are the ones with an inferiority complex, and not the other way around
  2. You have to check each program's curriculum requirements. I think some are more restrictive than others. But generally you can enroll in any classes you want as long as you also meet those requirements.
  3. ^Sorry I don't have a lot of advice on finances Best of luck to you though. Just on the discussion of "Is HGSE worth it?" career-wise... we are all getting jobs right now. Another thing HGSE has taught us is to dream big, believe in yourself, and go after what you want, not just what you can get. So people are also turning down some 'lower' jobs as they have legitimate chances at really advancing their careers.
  4. HGSE doesn't care WHO writes your letters, just that they are strong and know you personally. I don't think doing well in an online class would be the way to go with that.
  5. I believe Harvard GSE offers a *few* classes through Harvard Extension School online.
  6. I don't think it weighs more or less with people who are hiring, but I do think HGSE has a larger alumni network from which to find jobs.
  7. Most of my complaints, upon reflection, are more personal issues during my year at grad school and not related to HGSE itself. However, I'd say my biggest complaint is the spectrum in quality of classes. There are AMAZING classes and then there are classes that are terrible. And unfortunately, few people seem to be able to avoid taking at least one dud, which is a shame given we are only here for one year, even one dud feels like such a waste. I guess that's really my only complaint... I know international students have some more challenges...
  8. That last sentence is kind of problematic to me. What makes you think a teacher can't be "super"? This is an ed school --- teachers are supposed to be respected. Isn't your friend intelligent? Isn't his/her classroom teaching experience extremely valid when going into ed policy or whatever field? $65,000 is a good starting salary for education, I don't think the comparison to Harvard College is at all relevant because of the reasons stated above, students go into much more lucrative fields. I don't think you'll find an ed program with a HIGHER starting salary.... and if you yourself have more experience, then yours will be higher. There are plenty of students here who were making more than $65K before HGSE, and they obviously expect to make more after. In terms of critical thinking, I would caution everyone to not think that the few current students you see at an open house day, and the lack of professors present, is representative. I can't imagine there are many masters programs that have students with much MORE experience than HGSE students (considering MOST people get their masters degrees in their 20s, I don't really know what you expect overall), and in my experience, it is the younger students with fewer responsibilities who tend to volunteer with admissions to represent their cohorts at open house events --- i.e., you're not going to see a representative sample of experience (the moms who run schools are not available to talk with admitted students on Saturdays--- same for the professors who have lives and kids). As a student at HGSE, I have had unprecedented access to personal relationships with my professors, the ones I choose to pursue. And this is coming from someone who went to an extremely small college for undergrad and is used to very small classes. Also, my program professor was also not able to make it to my admitted students' day last year, and I worried that was a bad sign, but he is nothing but accessible. Scheduling these things are not easy, these people are incredibly busy and generally DO make the time to talk with students as much as possible. I do, generally speaking, agree with the camp that thinks that coursework here is not overwhelming, but I was in a rigorous undergrad program and am comparing to that. I believe HGSE is really the whole experience, the things mentioned before. That being said, it really depends on the classes. There was nothing easy about most of the classes I took, but others were less intellectually stimulating than I might have hoped. I have complaints about HGSE, but overall I'm happy I went.
  9. Well, very few internships are more than 20 hours a week anyway, and if you're a full-time student I doubt you'd take on more than that.
  10. If you are looking to teach, I would go for the cheapest option among those three because they are all reputable and you will get a teaching job regardless.
  11. My internship is not paid, so international students can definitely do that. I know many international students with internships. In terms of managing it, well, I'm doing it for credit, so it's like it's one of my classes. I also have good time management
  12. I have heard from people at HGSE who chose HGSE over Stanford that the reason had a lot to do with the fact that the MA paper was going to be all-consuming (that's what they were told at admitted students day) and they wouldn't really have time to do internships or anything like that. IMO, building your resume through actual experiences is more important than a paper.
  13. I call what I did "internships" because they weren't projects, they were formal roles with/at organizations. I would say I have had three "legitimate" internships and then one that could arguably be called a project but that's a lot of detail haha. In the fall, I went to my internship's office ten hours a week, and worked on their education program. In the spring I am interning with two very large (you've heard of them) international organizations, one for 20-30 hours a week, the other 1-2 hours a week. I had to interview for both of these internships and both of them were sent to me by my HGSE professor. I had to have backgrounds checks and I have an @email for one of these orgs, so it's definitely a formal internship. All of my internships have been directly related to my career interests, and there is a *crosses fingers* good chance right now that my current one will turn into a very good job.
  14. I have some reliable intel on the admissions rate/process for IEP students this year, so if you were accepted or rejected and are curious, feel free to PM me.
  15. I think it should go out at once to everyone and should be on the site. Is it completely blank? I would say it probably means not getting anything but call them and ask, they're very nice.
  16. There are some students who take out the additional Grad Plus loans and maybe then private loans to cover the remaining costs. The advisability of this if you have an alternative program of equal quality to attend is pretty questionable, though.
  17. This was me last year. It was very hard and confusing. But there is no wrong choice! Feel free to PM if you have specific questions about HGSE
  18. I'm in IEP right now 1) Everyone in the cohort is very close. I think those who attended IPSIE, the summer program, are even more connected. There are a lot of people in it but it's a really cool bond. 2) There are a lot of internships, some of them are paid. You do NOT have to enroll in S997 (and most would not recommend doing so unless your internship is many hours a week and you just need to get credit for it). I would say at least half of people in IEP have, or had in the fall, an internship. Almost no one did S997. Some of these internships are "remote" for organizations located elsewhere, but many are in Boston, at Harvard, at MIT, etc. I've had about 4 internships this year! (2 in each semester of varying commitment times) It's been a very important part of my experience and has definitely boosted my resume and connected me with potential jobs. I'm currently hoping to get a job in my current internship, and I also know that even if I don't, the experience is helping me tremendously. 3) Basically all of my professors know my name, and going to office hours helps with that. Even stats that has 100+ people the professors are incredibly approachable and easy to talk to. In fact, I would email a question to my stats professor and he would respond at midnight on a Saturday . The classes do not feel very large and if you raise your hand to contribute something you will almost never be denied. Most of my classes are on average 40 people, some have been much smaller, some much bigger. It really depends what you take. 4) Almost none of us are going to get a job at the UN straight out of Harvard (and if we do, it's because we have significant work experience already, but the average age in the program is 26 with 4 years of experience, so no). I don't think 80% of HGSE grads have offers/jobs by May necessarily, but this also varies by program and also the fact that the education job market tends to open up for September jobs (if you're looking in schools, for example). It is March still, and most of my classmates are currently interviewing/applying for jobs (some are not applying at all yet and are waiting until May because they want to just focus on finishing school and then look afterwards). I am one of those people who really wants to have a job to start right away after graduation. None of us have gotten jobs yet because it's still a bit early but I think it'll start happening in the next month. I would say most people are looking to work for NGOs/non-profits that are not as huge as the UN, like a lot of DC-based or international NGOs. Some are going back (or first) into teaching. We are optimistic. I was just at an HGSE IEP alumni networking event and met with several graduates from 2016 and they all had jobs and said all of their friends had jobs. They were working at various international education NGOs, some of which you've probably heard of if you know the field well. I would say these are the American/European students, mostly. If I might generalize, students from Latin America/Africa/Asia tend to work more for their country's governments and own national initiatives rather than the American/European students who go into development work. The reasons are fairly obvious. Hope that was helpful Also, random: I helped two prospective IEPers that I met edit their SOP. One got admitted, the other didn't. In case you were wondering if anyone was getting rejected, the answer is yes.
  19. This is a very interesting dilemma. I already had a masters before deciding to get a second masters at HGSE (and was very very very close to choosing UPenn over HGSE). I didn't apply to any PhD programs (which was my initial intention because I already had a masters, but quickly realized that because I was changing directions, I'd probably be rejected from all PhD programs, so I just applied for a second masters instead). First of all, I just want to add that there are a nice handful of people who pursue a second masters. I am not the only one in my program. I think what most of us have in common is the desire to make a career shift of some kind. FWIW, I think it will be worth it for me. I taught for four years and have an MS Ed in Literacy. Although my HGSE degree (an EdM) will be another masters in education and somewhat redundant, it is in International Education Policy (development) which has been a completely different perspective, network, and set of opportunities. The internships and job interviews I am currently getting as a result of the past year in this program are ones that I would otherwise never have gotten with just my previous set of skills and degrees, and makes me confident that doing this very expensive second masters will ultimately be worth it because it will allow me to switch jobs in a big way, and pick up where I left off salary-wise. It is worth noting that at least part of the reason I ended up choosing HGSE over Penn was related to the price tag --- I got more merit scholarship from Penn than HGSE (where I got $0), but HGSE was still cheaper. Also -- congrats to everyone with the $13.5K funding. I think they must've upped the average from last year.
  20. It really varies by program, but the reach is far and alumni are extremely helpful in connecting students with job opportunities.
  21. Sounds like you have an axe to grind here, but I can basically refute everything you've said, and it's really all opinion. But seeing as you didn't attend yourself I'm not sure you really know what you're talking about. I have no idea what building/infrastructure you are talking about, there hasn't been a new building in years. I was given full funding to attend the CIES Conference in Atlanta, as did most of my friends. I can't think of a single event I've had to pay $$ for since I've been here, if anything there are constant free lunches and always an open bar at events (for example). As for the quality of students, it's very insulting. The average age in HGSE is 26, which is probably typical of any graduate school, so naturally there is a limit to their experiences. However, the diversity of students and their collective unique backgrounds is a valuable learning tool. So what if a lot were in the Peace Corps? What do you really want from young graduate students? As for the return on investment---I'm not sure what you or others are expecting. This is education and development, it's not lucrative. I don't think that's why we got into the field, so I'm not sure what your point is. The Harvard tag has been very useful for me already, because Harvard alums in high positions will network easily with you. As for GRE, I'm sure some people had lower scores, but from the limited amount I've talked with others about it, it seemed we all did pretty well. I also contend that GRE score has very little to do with higher-order critical thinking or one's ability to do so.
  22. We don't actually know the admissions rates. Gradcafe users are not representative of the whole applicant pool and I would argue the fact that y'all are here might show you were more committed or invested in the success of your application and would therefore be accepted. Also, a lot of people when they get rejected don't post it, for obvious reasons, they're like "screw it." So you wind up with a lot of people being like "I got in!" and the ones who didn't are just moving on with their lives because there is not benefit to keep posting in this discussion now. As for EPM, because you get to choose your classes for the most part, it's really what you make of it. There are a lot of policy classes.
  23. Well, IEP is one of the larger programs. Also, I think message boards like this tend to attract a lot of international students to virtually connect, and I bet a lot of these IEP admits are international. But I don't know. Last year, I felt like one of the only IEP applicants here.
  24. 1. No, I don't think there is a chance of being offered a place even after others turn it down. 2. Doubt it, but you could try emailing admissions and asking, or calling. Doesn't hurt to try. Congrats Lisha! Aid information will probably come in a few weeks, probably by the admitted students event day, like a month from now. Congrats everyone and especially IEP
  25. I can't believe it's been a year since I was accepted. It goes UNBELIEVABLY FAST. Well, I'd say the spring/summer waiting to start goes slowly, but then this academic 9-month whirlwind... yikes. I can't believe by the time we got comfortable here we are applying for jobs and preparing to graduate. It's really a fast program.
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