McPerson

Well spotted! I was not emotionally prepared for this analysis.

Deferred UMich Ann Arbor CSHPE last year, now applying to Harvard's EPPE program.

You're my type of person, this is so beautiful!!! Thoughts on GradCafe data: 1. For interviews, we can only see the date it was added, so if someone added it a few days after, that would be the date it shows up. Accept/Waitlist/Reject are recorded differently. 2. Timezones! Depending on where someone is in the world, they could be a day ahead or behind. 3. 2015 was a weird year. It makes me wonder if individual professors are sending emails out to their prospective grad students rather than relying on an automated system like the master's program. Then again, the dates are a lot tighter following that so... who knows! I think you're right that it'll be towards the end of that week, especially because J-Term is underway right now and goes until the 13th. Professors have a 10-day break before classes resume for Spring on the 23rd. I'm thinking they'll have that time to really finalize everything. Also, can confirm: Master's is still the first Friday in March, except two years ago where it was the second Friday in March (Covid threw it off).

I think you confused the EdLD and PhD. The EdLD has historically been 12/15 and the PhD has historically been 12/1. I did some sleuthing and looked through previous GradCafe results - Since 2017, interview invites have gone out the third week in January, either on a Wednesday (1x - 2022), Thursday (2x - 2017 and 2020), or Friday (2x - 2018 and 2019). HGSE did not accept PhD applicants in 2021. Prior to 2017 it was the 4th week on a Friday or Saturday. I'm starting to go nuts, people. I'm making spreadsheets of data now that are just going to get increasingly more elaborate the next two weeks.

Not sure where you're located, but there's a bunch of upcoming in-person events around the US. Also some remote/hybrid ones as well. Link: https://www.gse.harvard.edu/admissions/events I'm currently in ELOE - feel free to message me if you have any questions about the program ?

I got loans and work study :-( Trying to figure out how to make it all work.

Congrats on your acceptances! I didn't end up applying to Stanford this year, but I seriously considered it. I did apply and get accepted into HGSE, though. HGSE and Stanford are very different programs, and when you make your decision, focus on what you actually want out of your time in school. Cohort size Stanford is significantly smaller than HGSE. I think POLS is ~25 students? At HGSE, you'll have an EPA cohort of 100+ people. This can affect everything from class size and how much attention you get from professors to future networking ability. Who teaches classes? This is actually why I didn't apply to Stanford. All the classes I wanted to take in the POLS program were taught by adjuncts or were outside the ed school. HGSE is really good about their core faculty teaching classes. That being said, I was really interested in education and the future of work type stuff and HGSE just seemed better at that. The classes you want to take could be taught by core faculty. It may be worth looking at Stanford's course catalog and HGSE's course catalog and seeing which one is more interesting to you and who teaches those classes. Thesis/capstone vs. practitioner degree HGSE students graduate with an Ed.M and the degree is practitioner-focused. There is no thesis or capstone project. POLS is an MA and has the POLS project, so you'll get to work with a stakeholder and design a real-world solution for them. I'm not so sure how EDS works, but I'm assuming it's similarly structured. It's an MS as well, which is essentially a STEM degree and has different implications than an Ed.M when looking for a job. Outcomes Your school's location will be where you build your network, so think about industries you'd be interested in working in/what companies and/or resources are on a particular coast. Also think of how much you'll make after you get your degree. For the person considering the EDS degree, consider the cost of attendance vs. salary after you graduate. Data scientists easily make over 100k and EPA may not lead to as lucrative a career. Policy isn't my field, however, so I'm not too familiar with it. It may be worth comparing graduate outcomes for Stanford and HGSE. Other factors to consider Your financial aid package Cost of living - Cambridge and Palo Alto are both brutal, CA may be a little worse Course format (Stanford is on the quarter, not semester, system) Climate preferences (Boston can be COLD) Extracurricular/co-curricular activities Cross registration (HGSE lets you take courses at MIT) Family/friends' proximity to each school and if you'd be doing a lot of expensive flights to visit them or have a support network nearby Here are some other GradCafe threads talking about similar things: Always remember: The best choice is the one that gives you the most tools to be successful. Both are excellent choices; it boils down to what you're looking for. Congratulations again, and good luck!

I found a link to HGSE Ed.M student outcomes and thought it might be helpful for people. I know that UPenn, Stanford, and TC have similar reports as well, and comparing HGSE's with other schools could be really useful. HGSE data: https://cso.gse.harvard.edu/edm-student-plans-reports

The foundations courses section says that orientation is August 1 and on campus classes start August 3. The first foundation classes start online in June/July, but they’re supposed to be part time, 15-20 hours/week. (https://admit.gse.harvard.edu/foundations, https://www.gse.harvard.edu/masters/foundations)

Definitely! I'll message you directly.

Same!

I checked the portal, https://apply.gse.harvard.edu/apply/update

Decisions are out!

Last year the websites were updated almost exactly at 4pm EST and the emails were sent out at 4:15pm. There’s been a similar pattern the past few years as well.

I think we’ll know tomorrow. I heard through the grapevine that the first accepted students event is Monday, March 14 (remote) and I think they’ll want to give people at least a week’s notice. In previous years they sent out the email notifications around 4pm EST, so hopefully it’ll be around the same time this year as well.