ripplesincolor

Hi! I am anxiously awaiting. Did you receive the interview invitation email already? 

Mine is up! I’m on the waitlist for the PhD program and I was accepted into the Learning and Teaching master’s. 
 
Really excited!!

Mine is up! I’m on the waitlist for the PhD program and I was accepted into the Learning and Teaching master’s. 
 
Really excited!!

In years past, current students have been notified about calling newly admitted students after the decisions go out. I wonder if any current Ed.M. students have been asked to call...
Really truly hoping for today but not counting on it. 

In years past, current students have been notified about calling newly admitted students after the decisions go out. I wonder if any current Ed.M. students have been asked to call...
Really truly hoping for today but not counting on it. 

In years past, current students have been notified about calling newly admitted students after the decisions go out. I wonder if any current Ed.M. students have been asked to call...
Really truly hoping for today but not counting on it. 

@gradhopeful0000 I had a response to this person's post awhile back also (they downvoted it) but thank you for the affirmation! I mentioned that MOST hgse PhD students earn their EdM during their doctoral studies, not before. I agree that this type of blatantly false information is bad/dangerous

This post so inaccurate that rumors of its existence have actually started flitting around the Ed school. Good work OP, you've made yourself legendarily ill-informed and bitter. 
I am a current PhD student. Three members of my 27 person cohort (I think we are 27...could be 26 or 28...) got a masters at HGSE. I can assure you that they are not here because they 'forked over 60k to Harvard.' They are here because they are fantastic students and researchers. I don't have numbers for how many of us have a masters degree in general, but I know a lot of us don't, myself included. Certainly not 90% of us. 
This is a damaging rumor to start because it could disincentivize people who are excellent candidates from applying to the program. So, to the applicants following this forum thinking about applying next year: yes, the odds are slim and there is a lot of luck involved in the acceptance process. However, if you are a strong student and researcher, you've got as good of a shot as anyone. 

A second Stanford Professor reached out to me for a Doctoral interview today.

I think this is spot on. The programs are for very different ends. 

PMing!
 

No, I did not.

Hi, all! Would anyone who interview for the PhD program mind sharing how the interview went and what you were told in terms of timeline going forward? 
 
I interviewed this week and I would love to just hear some other experiences so I can know how to interpret mine. Feel free to PM!

Hi, all! Would anyone who interview for the PhD program mind sharing how the interview went and what you were told in terms of timeline going forward? 
 
I interviewed this week and I would love to just hear some other experiences so I can know how to interpret mine. Feel free to PM!

I think this is spot on. The programs are for very different ends. 

No, I did not.

PMing!
 

I think this is spot on. The programs are for very different ends. 

EdLD is almost completely different from the PhD. Consider the accepted student profile: the average age, amount of experience, and GRE scores are all quite different. The way that the cohort is selected is also quite different. As far as I know, there is no group component of the PhD interviews, and the group component of the EdLD interviews is a critical part of building the cohort. Training to be an educational leader vs training to be a researcher and professor limit the amount of overlap in terms of the application process.

Hi, all! Would anyone who interview for the PhD program mind sharing how the interview went and what you were told in terms of timeline going forward? 
 
I interviewed this week and I would love to just hear some other experiences so I can know how to interpret mine. Feel free to PM!

Zero insight to share with you, stagestar, but figured I'd at least chime in to share stats and say hi.  ?
Program Concentration: CIS (Culture, Institutions, and Society)
GRE: 168 V, 163 V, 5.5 AWA
GPA: 3.67 undergrad (Philosophy / Russian, Central, and Eastern European Studies concentration) / 3.75 masters (Curriculum & Instruction) / 4.0 (reading specialist credential - another masters' worth of credits)
Undergrad Institution: top tier liberal arts college
Work Experience: I'm in my 13th school year working in the city where I was placed through Teach For America - about half and half between teaching and instructional coaching
LOR / SOP:  Feeling good here?  Wish I had more grad school professors in the mix - one committed to writing LORs and then disappeared before the deadline, which was... very disappointing.  Had former managers and mentors step in to cover her, just wish another one of those had a terminal degree.  Wrote my HGSE SOP last, and wish I'd been that "on" for my other applications, to be honest!  I think that the interdisciplinary nature of the CIS program speaks to my interests (philosophy, sociology, literacy, curriculum, and instructional practices) better than my other applications, for sure. 
I have heard back from a top 20 program already with an unofficial admit (waiting for that to become official before I share results), which makes me think I actually might have a shot at HGSE?  I mean, who knows, but it was worth a shot!  A very expensive non-refundable shot.  I'll more than likely be relocating to attend a program - there's nothing ranked close to where we live - so I'm really hoping to find a program that can make funding work for my family and I - I'd be relocating with my partner and two kids and my other half will need to find a new job.  So, basically, every finger crossed!

Just feeling the need to vent here as I am coming to terms with not hearing anything from Harvard. I've heard this in whispers and throughtout other forums on the internet but it seems like althought Harvard says..."masters degree not required" or "masters in ed field not required" they have a VERY CLEAR preference for people who 1. Not only have Masters in Ed but 2. Recieved them at Harvard. I looked at the past  4 years graduating cohorts of PhDs and on average about 90% of PhD students have an EdM from Harvard (many have at least two Masters.....)
All of this to say, I think getting rejected from Harvard (though it's not official yet) has really made me evaluate this whole process with new eyes. I find it quite disgusting that in order to really hedge your bets on gettting into Harvard, you first need to fork over 60k in tution for an accelerated Masters degree. I wonder how many students who complete EdM's there go on to be innundated with debt but have a "at least my degree says Harvard" sort of attitude about things and don't go on to pursue the PhD's...I attended the open house this fall and many potential students were already bitter towards the EdM to PhD pipeline as they felt it was apparent that the EdM program essentially funds the PhD students.
I did say I'd like to be considered for the EdM (to my detriment possibly) though I have no intentions of attending if I'm accepted that route. The more I dwell on it the more frustrated I become simply because of the background I have and the research interstests I have....only Harvard (and possibly Penn, Princeton, Columbia) can get away with denying people the opportunity to have a fully funded PhD experience and counteroffer with the opportunity to have a lesser degree and tens of thousands of dollars in debt and people willingly take it. 
Getting denied has truly been a blessing as it's allowed me to see this school with new perspective. Harvard was not my top choice and now I am excited about the prospect of attending a school that from the outside seems far more open-minded about who they select and why they select them.
For those that may think this is a post froma  bitter rejectee, I hold a Bachelors from an elite institution and a Masters from an Ivy League (though for what it's worth Ivy League is just the name of the athletic conference....) so the allure of Harvard was never there for me in that respect. While titles and schools do mean something, at the end of the day, I would be perfectly content attending a state school/small liberal arts school if the funding was there and the fit was better.
HGSE claims to be a a thought leader in education innovation and reform but at the end of the day they are still elitist pricks who sit levels above the lives they claim to try and impact....

@JWalters I applied to Penn and did not get an invite to their weekend. I am not upset in the slightest for many reasons...
1. Their application is free...Harvard is $105. The only investment it took to consider Penn was simply taking the time to apply.
2. They don't have a PhD to Masters alternative that they openly promote in a way that Harvard does. I also applied to Columbia and they don't readily promote PhD to Masters referrals. While some departments at Penn did say you may be offered a spot in a Masters instead it's not guaranteed and it's not as common as it is at Harvard.  This was something many people pointed out during my visit to Harvard as well. When it came time to discuss the possibility of being admitted to the Masters instead, the convo was geared toward "the benefits of HUGSE". The community and intensive experience. But when it came time to talk about raw numbers......the conversation got tense very quickly. Financial aid was very facetious and admissions officers became protective. Many students asked the question, why would I consider this option...in one way or another, but were steered away from the money and asked to consider "the benefits".  
3. Harvard is Harvard. Despite their claims to not care about their status...they bank on students falling in love with the name more than the actual practicality of what they're getting into by committing tens of thousands of dollars for a Masters, to better their chances at a PhD. Previously I've mentioned I know a few students currently in the PhD program. All of whom have masters from Harvard as well. In speaking with them, they made it clear that having a Masters didn't really benefit them as it didn't shorten time to a PhD but also, wasn't financially worth it because they knew they wanted to get PhDs in the end. The main takeaway I gathered from all of them was the only benefit to having a masters is that you learn "Harvard's way" of doing things. I refuse to subscribe to this notion that in order to be a great candidate I need to have already committed to the "Harvard lifestyle" via an expensive masters degree (especially since I already hold a Masters from an Ivy League school). 
I can't be mad with Harvard because...at the end of the day they do what the want ( sometimes to their detriment as we are seeing in this lawsuit they're facing at the undergrad level). I'm just disappointed that I fed into the hype, took time to apply, visit, connect, engage and show my commitment and now all I have to show for it is $400+ in the hole and anxiety waiting to get the inevitable rejection letter they'll send in 2 weeks. I know that's how admissions goes but at the end of the day, I still have a right to feel annoyed.