W. Cardwell

As a PSP - School Counseling student, it seems like we have the most restrictive requirements, though we have two years to complete them. We have 12 - 14 courses that we have to take and annually complete a 500+ hour practicum in order to graduate with our Master's and School Counseling License. All other programs, including the two other strands in PSP, are designed for one year and afford some flexibility so students can explore and connect their learning across disciplines. With that said, I only have 2 - 3 PSP courses left for next year and have a lot of freedom with course selection next year. A small price to pay this year, but it's also why I never considered the other programs at HGSE. I knew I wanted at least two years to soak in as much as possible.

Very interesting perspectives from people who attended accepted students day. I remember attending last year and leaving in the middle of the day, deciding that the cost of attending HGSE wasn't worth it given what I too perceived as a weak group of students and an under-representation of people of color. HOWEVER, I kept an open mind and spoke directly with my program director and shared those thoughts, I'm in Prevention Science and Practice - School Counseling (Adolescents). I had a full ride to Boston College for the Higher Education Administration program with an opportunity to dual enroll at the law school and thought I wanted to attend there instead. The conversation with my program's director really challenged me to think critically about my decision, identify my blindspots and biases and ask myself where these tensions came from. I went on to receive a full scholarship to HGSE, which helped my decision, but even if I hadn't I still would have attended. I'm returning next year for my CAS in school counseling w/o a scholarship. I share all of this to caution the single story some have developed following very limited experiences, conversations and hearsay. As Vulpix stated, we all end up taking at least one dud of a course. It happens. The conversations in some of my courses could go deeper but as a counseling student, most of my classes are tense in conversation and critical thinking as we're holding ourselves responsible for the impact we may have on a child's life. As a counseling intern, we're on site 16 - 24 hours a week and quite a few of us work in the Gutman library 10 hours a week. There are ways to stretch yourself thin here, especially when you think about the number of student groups that exists. It's true that some people have less experience than others. I stopped holding that against students quickly as some of the most meaningful and challenging conversations I've had have been with students who were coming right out of college with little to no counseling experience. I was a science and philosophy major at a large college and I have many peers who too did not study education before coming to HGSE but we all had 5+ years in the field and were committed to staying in education. HGSE attracts all sorts and you can find community, if not on campus than throughout the Boston area. I took a statistics course with students from the medical school and have law, business and government school students in two of my courses. I can't say I've always enjoyed my time at HGSE but I've met students who have received Masters degrees from UPenn, Vanderbilt and Columbia who've shared the pros and cons of each school. The experience wherever you attend is what you make of it. If you feel like conversations and coursework isn't intellectually simulating enough, you can challenge and take the conversations there. We all benefit from those we are willing to push the envelope and take us outside of our comfort zones. If anyone was recently admitted to PSP and has questions, feel free to PM me. I've got no blind allegiance to the school and will share openly and transparently to the extent that I think it will help one make the most informed decision.

They're two separate processes. I got my decision before I got my financial aid information. I found everything out by checking my accounts online and then following up with the necessary departments on campus with questions.

I'm currently an Ed.M. candidate in the Prevention Science and Practice program as well as an Urban Scholars fellow. I wanted to respond to you because I know how nerve-racking the process for hearing back for this can be. I was notified on March 16th, after acceptance decisions were made, about my status as an Urban Scholars fellow. I was listed as an alternate and then on April 8th, I was notified that I was no longer an alternate and had received the award. This one is going to require some patience as you won't find out until after acceptances have gone out, which won't be for another month at best. Best of luck though. Let me know if you have any questions about the fellowship with regards to the experience.