t_ruth

Yes, they certainly exist. You will find programs with this focus in Higher Education and also in Educational Psychology and probably some others.

An MA can be a good place to learn about a field, but there are other ways to do this without spending money--teach for a while, work as a lab manager or in a research position, or just read on your own. If money is no object, might as well do the MA though

I don't see your specific research interest listed in your old post. That will be important to identify in order to find the right place(s) to apply.

As you will no-doubt read elsewhere on this forum, for a PhD, you apply more to a person than a place. Do you have specific research matches at those listed institutions? That will matter a lot in their judging of your application. Hard to say how competitive you will be--applicants are judged by experience and GRE, yes, but perhaps more by writing and content of research/interest statement, so focus lots of attention there.

Yes, I've reviewed for GRFP. I think the undergrad pool is much more varied, so, as a *top* undergrad, one would have a substantially higher chance of winning. Things get less variable in the grad pool, so therefore it seems more based on reviewer personal opinion. There were also fewer undergrad applicants in general, at least in the panel I was on (I can't say which that was--they tell us that is one thing we can't share). Another note re: panel though--reviewers aren't placed on panels for their main research area. They will serve on panels different enough that there won't be any conflicts, but similar enough that they know *something.*

It's not that they are scored differently per se, but reviewers are urged to consider each group in comparison to peers. Reviewers make their scores, certain applicants are flagged for discussion, reviewers revise their scores after discussion. Then, the program officers examine these scores and, using other factors (geographic distribution, etc.), make the decisions re: the winners. So, a score of 25 could mean one thing for an undergrad and another thing for a second-year grad student.

They are labeled differently for reviewers. And they are discussed at different days and/or times on the "panels." However, each reviewer gets a mix of undergrads, first, and second years.

Aww I wouldn't pass judgment too soon though. Advisors are human, and her comment might have been more about the pressures she was feeling than about her actual opinion of you. Be cautious, yes, but also allow her to prove your dread wrong. I'm sure I have ups and downs with my own students, but I really do have their best interests at heart!

This sort of thing is very common, even out of STEM fields. Glad you found a great match for your work. It sounds like you will graduate and become an ally to other female academics--much needed!

Based on the OPs post below it seems advisor implied disappointment. Coming from the other side of it, I wonder if instead she was trying (albeit not successfully) to let the OP know that she is doing well--is in the right place and on par with or doing better than those who did get HMs, regardless of what the oftentimes arbitrary NSF reviewers think. This stinks. Waiting is hard and our career as academics involves an awful lot of it. Even though I'm just following this thread as I wait for news for my own mentees (and not myself), I do understand how distracting it is!

So much of it is random chance re: who you get for your reviewers and who else they review, so I wouldn't get too wrapped up in it. Plus, the advisor and their letter/guidance plays a large role, so it isn't all on you anyway btw, Hi Ed Psych person! Regardless of the GRFP situation, you should think about applying for the Ford next year if you are still early enough in your program...

My question was mainly to ask whether you were going to be trying for a PhD and academia. If so, a 2-year program that allows you more research experience is better. If you want to go for a job right after the Masters, then I would specifically ask each about placement rates and examples.

Don't lose hope for the next round! Many students don't apply to places that are the best fit for them and/or make easy-to-correct mistakes in their applications.

What are your career goals and plans post-masters?

Have you asked for more opportunities? Maybe presented an idea or showed willingness to go above and beyond the normal "grunt" work? It is a lot of work to be the PI and manage a lab--I love to give talented and motivated undergrads opportunity to do more grad-student-like tasks, but it's too risky to offer this to everyone.

Look at this professor's work. See what you can get enthusiastic about. During the conversation (if you have one), ask about current an upcoming projects and see where that conversation takes you. I wouldn't mention wanting to work more with the other professors at all. Don't lie, but, if you could see yourself working with this person, give the conversation a shot (and don't ask about why you didn't get your first choice).

There are lots of reasons this could happen. Professors 1 and 2 could not be taking students or could have preferred a different applicant. All could have shifts in their research focus that aren't yet apparent from their publications (there is a three-five year cycle between current interests and publication)--if this is the case, you might actually be a better match with the prof who wrote than with the other two.

That seems respectful. The point of the story was the difference in respect paid to the two named faculty...

Yes, research in this area is done in a variety of sub-disciplines of education and in other fields as well. In education, you may want to look at curriculum and instruction programs or even educational psychology--depending on the specific research question. It may be most helpful to find some articles that interest you and see what programs the authors are in.

I agree with what is above. Try to get research experience. I'm not sure if the internship to which you refer is clinical--if so, that will likely help you less in cognitive or developmental applications than would research experience. Start studying for the GRE and reading articles you find interesting. A good test score and some knowledge in the actual field to which you are applying will go far.

I always advise my mentees to have two advisors: one senior and one junior. However, that's neither here nor there. It is about individual fit (both research and disposition). I've known terrible senior mentors and wonderful junior mentors (and vice-versa)--these decisions should be made case by case. My post was more about the sexism and disrespect in dismissing female scholars (no matter how junior or senior) that is well-documented in academia. I suppose a secondary lesson could be: when someone reaches out to you, there might be a reason and you should probably take the time to at least read that person's website and maybe their work.

UPDATE: I've written to four people who have not specified who they wanted to work with. Two guys so far have written back and addressed me by my first name and both said they wanted to work with "Dr. Other Guy" (though one said he'd work with me too, lol). The woman who wrote back properly addressed me as "Dr." Get it together guys. Your biases are showing.

I have talked to two of them about it, including Dr. Other Person, who said, not surprisingly to me, that he thought the candidate had been a better match for me anyway so hadn't been interested (it was nice to have validation on my original opinion regarding both the match and the potential sexism).

Hi all. As you all go about your applications, I thought I'd write with a recent cautionary tale from the other side of the table. This forum was a great help to me as I went through my grad school application process and hope that I can contribute to the knowledge here. As a relatively new faculty member I am still excited to get grad applications--I start looking at them right away. I recently looked at one that listed areas of research interest that align with what I do, but did not list faculty members of interest. I wrote the applicant to ask for elaboration. I did not sign the email other than with my signature line which specifies my full name and my degrees (including PhD). He wrote back promptly (which is good), but addressed me by my first name only (not Dr. Me) and said that he wanted to work with "Dr. Other Person" (male), because of his work (that is similar to mine). This signals to me a few things: 1.) there are possible sexism issues, 2.) the student did not really read my web page or work, 3.) there are likely respect issues. This was an otherwise fairly strong candidate that I was potentially interested in. No more. Perhaps he will still end up with Dr. Other Person, and it will be fine, but it is a small program, and it is always good to cultivate multiple mentoring relationships. Perhaps those of you who are in the stage of applying and communicating with potential mentors can learn from this.

Good luck!