t_ruth

Do some reading in this area and look and see where the authors are--these are the places you should go. For a PhD program, it's about the faculty who are there (though there are some programs that focus on gamification at a program level...these will emerge when you do your reading).

If you are looking for PhD programs the best thing is to find faculty members you are interested in (based on your research interests and prior things you've read).

I believe those are all in the same school zone. You could go a little bit further out (still w/in three miles of campus) and live in the University Park area, which would get you more of a house or a townhouse for the same price. This would also get you away from undergrads and more in a family neighborhood. None of the campus housing that allows family has in-unit laundry (stupid, I know!). However, on-campus rent is A LOT cheaper. For a two-bedroom off-campus, expect to pay $1700-2200. Also think about parking needs...an actual house will allow you a garage, etc. (something we needed).

Thanks murkyama! I'm excited and the R&R is actually pretty doable. It's a massive project w/10+ authors on it though, so I'm not sure if it will have as much impact as a few smaller solo authored or co-authored pieces.

I'm hoping to have 3-5 first author publications. I just got my 1st R&R from a top journal today! In my field it runs the gamut. I think, like someone else said, it is about having a body of work with a good focus. I've seen people get great jobs with only 1 first author pubs (and a few non-first-author), and seen other people with 8+ first author pubs. The norm seems to be between 1 and 3.

I second the note about research fit. There are lots of other good PhD programs on the west coast that offer funding and have professors that work in science ed...depending on your research focus of course. Hard to say re: your stats too--they seem ok, but your writing and fit will be more important.

That's a pretty broad question...

I applied to nine my year--I got into most, but it was so worth it to have the choice. The school I chose might not have made my list if I had limited it to three...

It's so hard to give feedback on this because so much of it depends on your research match and ability to write a personal statement. Your background looks good, but those GRE scores are low. I'd try to bring your writing up to > 4 and your quant up to > 650. Neither should be very hard to do.

If you aren't having luck with professors you could also try reaching out to current PhD students. In my program, it is the PhD students who supervise the RAs: we select them, assign them work and write the initial draft of their letters (for our PI to edit and sign). Many programs have current students and their interests listed on their websites.

Based on your interests, I think you may be missing someone to work with at my university...PM me and I will share

I don't see how it can be an example of poor time management if you managed to get the other stuff done too. If you get those presentations submitted before the applications are due, then I think you've got a strong file!

An EdD might be a viable degree in that case. I don't know much about that industry though (sorry).

Lower scores in verbal are a much higher percentile rank...the quant scores are very inflated. This is partly because of international students and partly because the quant is easier to improve. And people, including professors, base their assumptions about you on their prior experience (both their own and of other students/friend/colleagues/etc.), so we have to be prepared for them to form opinions that may seem arbitrary. The key is to provide them with more data points that dispel those opinions: make them see through other things that you are a hard worker and that you can do the quant reasoning. The verbal isn't that big a deal because presumably you will show them through your writing that it doesn't define you. This still doesn't get you around the cut-off score problem though... And we responded to the math because that's what you specifically asked about.

What is your post-graduation goal?

The math in the GRE is not pure math. A lot of it is math reasoning--it's a skill that is fairly easy to improve with the effort. From my experience with it (getting high 700s after not having taken a math class in nearly 15 years*), I would raise an eyebrow at that score (sorry). I would probably take it as an indication that you didn't put a lot of effort into it, which might be good or bad, depending on the type of professor evaluating your app. *I did put a fair amount of effort into it, so it wasn't just natural ability.

Have you talked to the specific schools/faculty to which you are applying? You have a strong background (with the publication, congrats!), but they might have GRE cut-offs that you don't make. You should know this before you possibly waste your time.

If you have actual publications before you apply, it's probably not that important (unless you are under a school's stated cut-off), but if you don't...these are pretty low scores, especially for math. To what percentiles did these scores correspond when you took the test?

I join the organizations whose conferences I want to attend. Another benefit of joining is access to the email lists, where all sorts of useful (and non-useful) information is posted, including calls for proposals, job openings and postdocs.

The second one is probably most like an actual research question. The latter two aren't well enough formed or specific. Good luck!

Hello I also have a JD, and I find it was good training for the PhD. You just have to spin it as such. As for making yourself more desirable--did you say if you had any research experience? I was able to work for two professors in law school doing research. I know these are usually summer jobs, but I kept one of mine during the school year also. I'd find someone at your law school whose work interests you and see if you could do something with them. And yes, presenting and/or publishing would also go a long way. Good luck!

I started very early--had my idea in January, talked casually about it with people for the next nine months and wrote draft one of my proposal in September. I went through six revisions, getting feedback from 7 professors in different areas of concentration. I wanted it to be appealing and understandable to a variety of readers. I didn't have anyone but another grad student read my other essays, and wrote them in 2 weeks. I received the fellowship, and each of my NSF reviewers commented on the strength of the proposal, so I'm guessing my work on it paid off

I made the suggestion because you said you were interested in learning/communication in video games. There is a lot of that research happening in Ed programs (Ed Psych or Language, Literacy & Technology) and also some of it in Informatics.

Did you look at any Ed Psych programs? Seems like that could be a good research fit too...

Verbal GRE seems a bit low to me, but probably won't matter if you can write well. Can you submit your research project to a national conference? I think having something accepted at a conference outside of your school (I'm guessing the presentation you listed was a school event?) would go a long way. Are you currently a student? Can you get more research experience and get on another presentation also? Probably best to contact the professors you are interested in working with and ask if they are accepting grad students. They might suggest a phone call, and if so, they'd give you a better idea of your chances at their institution. Good luck!