McPerson

@Angeli9222, I have no idea what time we find out but my plan is to make cookies and start checking the application portal on Sunday every hour starting at 9am EST. I'm only 20% joking. I applied to POLS, too! I want to focus on lifelong learning/alternative adult education. What about you?

Did you check your spam folder? If you didn't get one it could honestly be a sign of COVID related disorganization. It was pretty generic. Here's what it said: Thank you for your Master's program admission application to the Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE). While we review your application and you wait for a decision, we encourage you to spend some time preparing financially for your Master's program of interest should you be offered admission. Below are some suggestions to get you started: Watch this recent Preparing Financially for a Stanford GSE Master's Program webinar. This video contains all the information you need to know about funding a Stanford GSE Master's program, and resources to start your research for external funding. Understand the type of funding available from the various institutions to which you are applying; most Master’s programs only offer partial funding and student loans. At GSE, all admitted students are considered for Master’s fellowships, and recipients of these awards are notified on the admission letter. No separate application is required as fellowships are awarded based on the strength of the admission application. More details about funding available from Stanford GSE is available on this webpage. Become familiar with the full cost of attendance of each of your programs of interest. For your reference here is the 2020-2021 full cost of attendance by GSE Master's program as you start planning. The 2021-2022 full cost of attendance will be available by March 30. U.S. domestic students: Mark your calendar now and meet important deadlines associated with financial aid; most funds are not unlimited. If you would like to apply for the GSE Need-based Grant and federal student loans, you must apply through Stanford’s central Financial Aid Office. To get started, complete your 2021-2022 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)now and keep in mind the following 2021-2022 Stanford GSE Master’s Financial Aid important dates: International students: to meet immigration regulations, international students must show proof of adequate financial support to cover the length of time of their graduate program. Information on an array of funding opportunities for international students can be found on the IIE Funding for U.S. Study website and this IIE publication. Also, while international students are not eligible for U.S. federal loan programs, they may qualify for private/alternative loans. Many lenders, however, typically require that a U.S. citizen or permanent resident as a co-signer on the loan. Information and tools to help you choose private loan programs most frequently used by Stanford students over the last few years can be found here. A comprehensive list of private loan programs is available at FinAid.org. Research and apply for external sources of funding, so you are not relying solely on the resources available from the institutions to which you are applying. Here is a list of external fellowships we compiled to help you. We hope that the information above is helpful to you as you prepare yourself financially for graduate study. Please contact us at gseadmissions@stanford.edu if you have any questions. Best wishes, GSE Admissions Stanford Graduate School of Education

Me too. I'm pretty sure they send it to everyone but this gives me hope.... I also applied to HGSE and they sent one out a few days after the application due date, so that one I'm 99.9999% sure was to everyone. I'm going legit insane people. I made myself an index card that says "breathe" in huge letters and taped it to the wall behind my desk.

Here's a breakdown of the past 6 years of admissions notifications: ICE/IEPA: 2020: Feb 28 - Feb 29 2019: Mar 1 - Apr 17 2018: Mar 3 2017: Mar 2 2016: Mar 3 2015: Mar 3 - Mar 4 POLS: 2020: Feb 28 - Feb 29 2019: Feb 28 - Mar 2 2018: Feb 28 - Mar 2 2017: Mar 2 2016: Mar 2 - Mar 3 2015: Feb 28 - Mar 6 LDT: 2020: Feb 29 2019: Mar 1 - Mar 2 2018: Mar 2 - Mar 3 2017: Mar 2 2016: Mar 2 - Mar 3 2015: Mar 4 - Mar 6 STEP: 2020: Feb 19 - Feb 24 2019: Feb 13 - Mar 1 2018: Feb 20 - Feb 28 2017: Feb 14 2016: Feb 14 - Feb 19 2015: Feb 24 Things to keep in mind: Not everyone uploads their data to Grad Cafe, so this isn't a full representation of possibilities Spacing in the dates could be due to timezone differences (ex: Feb 29/Mar 1 could be Feb 28 in another timezone) Dates may reflect when a person opened the portal and noticed they got in, not the date they received an email or the time the admissions committee actually sent the notification (yay spam filters!) Dates could be when results were uploaded to Grad Cafe and not the dates the person found out (ie not filling out the Grad Cafe form correctly) Looks like waitlisted people start hearing back ~Apr 17 STEP finds out before the other masters programs In summary: Assuming this year follows the same patterns, it's very likely non-STEP candidates will hear back starting Feb 28 and everyone will know by the end of the first week in March. It's fair to be cautiously optimistic EDS will follow the same timeline, but it's new and there's no data. FIVE MORE DAYS!!

I honestly think they left it vague because it's still under development. If we all get in, then I anticipate they'll use our incoming class to fine-tune everything as they go. I'm sure they're using our applications and interpretations of the information they did give us to help chart the programs' paths, and I think you're right about them using what we say in our applications to take people who overall align with their values, broadly speaking. It's exciting because we'll really get to (intentionally or not) shape how their new format evolves for future years, and the fact that it does seem undefined right now will hopefully give us the ability to make the experience what we want it to be. The lack of concrete information did make the SOP a little hard to write, though. There's nothing on their website about it being remote in the fall as of now. They made their final decision to hold 2020-2021 courses remote in early July, so if they're going to make an announcement about fall 2021-2022, it may be around July as well. Regarding age, average means there's going to be people both below and above, so don't count yourself out because of your age!! I know people who have gone to HGSE at ages 22 and 23. By the way, I'm going to be 32 by the time fall 2021 comes around. Your age and my age perfectly represents the average ?

I reread everything after I submitted my HGSE application and noticed a few weird grammar things and one typo. The writing sample for the other program I'm applying to has like... a period, then a footnote, then another period because I had two minutes left before the deadline, was still editing because some surprise life/work commitments popped up that took me away from applications for over a week, and I had quickly turned it into a PDF and submitted it hoping I completed all my sentences (I did thank god). I curled up into a ball and cried not gonna lie. Seriously sobbed. I had a meeting with my mentor (also department head at the university I'm doing research at) and told her everything. Her response: "there's a scientifically proven typo/judgement ratio. You can have two to three typos per page before people start judging you". She then proceeded to tell me a story about a successful researcher she knew whose second language was English and who proofread to a certain point before deciding the potential typo/judgement ratio had been achieved, and would then move on. She then told me grad schools are there to teach writing so applications don't need to be perfect. Was she telling me urban legends to stop my breakdown? 50-50. Did it work? Yes.

Based on historical data, POLS responses should be out between 2/28-3/2. I'm super jealous of the Ph.D students, I've been going INSANE and I wish I could get the answer when they do. What are you hoping to focus on in POLS? I'm interested in lifelong learning/alternative adult education (I ❤️ Pathways Lab).

I'm also applying to ELOE (concentration in higher education).There's usually more grad school applicants in general during a recession which makes most grad school programs (not just HGSE) more competitive. However! The pandemic may change things this time around? I think the best way to think about acceptance rate is to look at it based on program + concentration + individual interests. Example: someone applying to ELOE with a concentration in higher education and with an interest in college administration has a different profile than someone applying to the same program with an interest in starting an EdTech venture geared towards adults. The more popular track will be more competitive and acceptance rate for that spot will go down. Basically, it'll depend on how many people are vying for a spot with the same specializations, so some Ed.M spots will inherently be more competitive than others. There's no real way of knowing who applied to what right now (outside of the small, self-selected group posting here), especially because there's no historical data to draw from. All this being said, I really like the data @foxfire123 shared, and that's definitely the acceptance rate I'm focusing on ? Whatever happens, everyone here seems super qualified and competitive. I wish you all the best of luck!!

For people waiting to hear back re the POLS masters, based on GradCafe's historical information, looks like we'll know the last day of February, first or second day of March ?