JCP82

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. The problem has been solved for one of the two "backup" schools I am looking at. I contacted the department chair to ask about employment of their Ph.D. recipients, since it wasn't listed on the website, and he provided me a very impressive list of recent jobs. I will definitely be applying to that program. The other school is still a problem though. As previously mentioned, everything I know about the program seems to be a good fit for me, and I would have absolutely no problem attending that school if it were the only one I got into, except that the list of jobs taken by their recent graduates posted on their website is pretty sad. True, but what about the opposite? Can you be certain that you WON'T get "the kind of job you want" later if a program has a history of placing students only in jobs you're not interested in?

That's exactly how I am thinking about this question, and I'm just not sure of the answer. I've now found two programs that meet all the criteria of what I am looking for in a Ph.D. program - program structure, type of research being done by the professors, in locations where I want to live, etc - except that they're not renowned programs. One of them lists some sample positions taken by graduates of the program, and none of them are the types of positions I am interested in (though it does not state whether the recipients of the positions were M.A. or Ph.D. students). The other school does not list anything like that on the website, so I will need to contact the program to find out. The other problem is that if I don't get into any Ph.D. programs, or only get into ones that won't really allow me to pursue a career in research, I'm not sure what else I want to do with my life! My current job is great, but it's not something you can really make a career out of. The other general field for which I am qualified, based on my experience and education, is something I have become somewhat disgusted with and have no desire to work in. I would really like a Ph.D., not only because I want to pursue a career in research, but because I am really really interested in this field, and as the first person in my family to graduate from college, just having one would mean a great deal to me. But I'm just not sure it is worth 4-6 years of time and lost income if I'm unlikely to be able to get the kind of job I want afterward. About half the schools I plan to apply to (including one of the two "backup" schools) waive my application fee because I am a Teach For America alum, so the application fee for the other "backup" isn't a big deal. All I would really be losing out on by applying is the time it takes to put the application together. Having not applied before, I'm unsure of how much time, on average, it takes to apply to an additional school given that you are already applying to several schools. I know I will need to tweak the statement of purpose some. Does anybody know the approximate amount of time it takes to complete an additional application?

Almost all of the Ph.D. programs I plan to apply to are in the top 10 in the field, and those that aren't are in the top 20. I have found one school whose program I like, but it is not ranked anywhere near the top. Based on the admissions statistics listed on their website, I am almost sure I could get in (barring any "fit" problems, but there are 3 professors in the department doing research similar to what I want to do, so I don't think that will be an issue). I am somewhat confident that I will be able to get into at least one of the top tier programs I am applying to, but there's also a pretty decent chance I won't get into any of them. Is it a good idea to apply to at least one "backup" school for Ph.D. programs? Or given the absolutely brutal job market for Ph.D.s, especially since I am going into a fairly narrow field (education policy), would going to a low-ranked program not be worth considering? Thanks!

Hiya! I am planning to apply to Ph.D. programs in education policy/research methods at a number of top tier schools within the next 2-3 years. I am primarily looking at schools that have a very heavy focus on quantitative methods. As an undergrad (graduated in 2004), I majored in economics and minored in math. Unfortunately, I didn't decide to pick up that math minor until the summer before my senior year, and prior to that point I had only taken one semester of calculus. So basically my last two semesters were crammed full of upper division economics courses and a buttload of math, along with my heavy load of student activities. I was a bit overloaded, and some of my math grades suffered (B/C range). Plus, since it's been a few years since I graduated, my math skills are a little rusty. One of the benefits of my current job is that they will pay for up to 6 credits of tuition per semester, so I've been thinking of retaking some of my undergrad level math classes (specifically Calc 2+3, Linear Algebra, Calc-based Prob/Stats, Differential Equations, maybe Real Analysis). Does this seem like it would be worth doing? Presuming I get all A's (cause damn it, I'm going to!), will that be likely to help my application? If they see that I took Calc 3 and got a C in 2003, but took it again in 2011 and got an A, do you think they would be likely to overlook the C? Am I just crazy? Thanks for your input!

Howdy! Most of the Ph.D. programs in education that I am looking at offer full funding + stipends to most/all of their students, but not all of them do, and the stipends that are given don't always seem to cover even very modest living expenses. I want start looking for potential sources of outside funding for a Ph.D. program, but don't even know where to begin. Does anybody have any suggestions? Thanks!

Thanks so much for the feedback! I'll definitely try to stop by next time I am in Tallahassee.

One of the benefits I get through work is that I can take up to 6 credits per semester at any state university for free. I've been looking at this program at Florida State: http://www.fsu.edu/~elps/ela/masters.html They offer courses during the summer, so I'd be able to complete the degree in 2 calendar years, even though I would only be taking 2 classes per term, and the degree wouldn't cost me a penny. It's designed for school/district administration rather than policy, but I think that is okay - the research I want to do has a lot of administrative implications and I think this would serve as useful background information before entering a Ph.D. program. It would also give me an opportunity to get some more good grades on record to counterbalance some of my lower undergrad grades. I've been tentatively planning on applying to the Ph.D. program next winter to begin in the fall of 2012. Assuming I started this FSU program next summer, I would graduate in the spring of 2013, so my Ph.D. would be delayed by 1 year. Does this seem like something worth pursuing?

I wrote a number of academic research papers in grad school, and the equivalent of an honors thesis as an undergrad. None of it was published, nor was it as rigorous as a dissertation, but I certainly understand a wide variety of research methods and know how/when to apply them. But I suppose there is really no way to show this in an application unless a writing sample is required/accepted. My research interests are best described as measurement of teacher quality and the personnel decisions that stem therefrom (merit pay, tenure, etc). I am also interested in studying charter schools. Peabody is especially interesting to me for this reason. They are doing cutting edge research in both of these fields. Thanks for the replies so far!

I am primarily interested in applying to top-tier Ph.D. programs in public policy, but I have also been looking at FSU's economics Ph.D. program. It's not even in the top 50, but I really like the design of the program. It has several faculty that actively publish the exact kind of research that I want to do, and they have 2 centers focused on the kinds of questions I am interested in. It would also allow me to stay in Florida, which would be a huge plus for me. I would like to pursue a career doing research, but not necessarily at a university (though I would certainly be very open to this), and not for the sole purpose of creating new knowledge. I would like to perform research that is useful to economic policymakers (state legislators, etc). I would be perfectly content working in a think tank or for a legislature (I currently work for the Florida House of Representatives) or other governmental entity. In a situation like mine, would doing a Ph.D. in economics at a school like FSU be worth considering?

Hello! I am strongly considering applying to some Ph.D. programs in education policy in a couple of years. I am unsure whether I have a decent shot at getting into a good Ph.D. program, and figured I would seek some outside opinion. Here's a little about my background: B.S. in Economics with minors in Math and Music from Tulane University (3.2 GPA, 3.3 GPA in major)M.A. in Political Science with a certificate in Political Campaigning from the University of Florida (3.8 GPA)Teach for America alum (Mississippi Delta '04)I don't remember my GRE scores (I took it in 2005, and will need to retake before applying to Ph.D. programs) but verbal and quantitative were both approx. 85-90th percentile, and 99% analyticalLots of leadership experience when I was an undergradWork experience includes a 10 month internship at a polling firm, working on several campaigns, and now working as the only Legislative Aide for a member of the Florida House of Representatives (I do a lot of policy-related research and help my boss draft language for bills, and have done extensive work on 2 major pieces of education reform legislation). I have held this position for 2 years, and will probably hold it a total of 3-4 years before entering a Ph.D. program The schools I am looking at include Vanderbilt, Harvard, Penn, Wisconsin, and Michigan. I'm open to suggestions on other programs to conside. My main concerns about my chances of admission stem from the fact that my grades in several of my economics and math classes as an undergrad were in the B range, and I may have even gotten a C in one of my math classes (I didn't decide to minor in math until the summer after my Junior year, so my senior year was pretty intense academically and between that and my leadership roles on campus I was stretched pretty thin). I have also lost contact with all of my undergrad professors (including my thesis advisor, who seems to have completely vanished from the face of the earth), so all my letters of recommendation would have to come from either my current boss or my political science professors. Thanks so much for taking the time to read all of this and give me your thoughts!

Hello! I am strongly considering applying to some Ph.D. programs in public policy in a couple of years. I am unsure whether I have a decent shot at getting into a good Ph.D. program, and figured I would seek some outside opinion. Here's a little about my background: B.S. in Economics with minors in Math and Music from Tulane University (3.2 GPA, 3.3 GPA in major)M.A. in Political Science with a certificate in Political Campaigning from the University of Florida (3.8 GPA)Teach for America alum (Mississippi Delta '04)I don't remember my GRE scores (I took it in 2005, and will need to retake before applying to Ph.D. programs) but verbal and quantitative were both approx. 85-90th percentile, and 99% analyticalLots of leadership experience when I was an undergradWork experience includes a 10 month internship at a polling firm, working on several campaigns, and now working as the only Legislative Aide for a member of the Florida House of Representatives (I do a lot of policy-related research and help my boss draft language for bills, etc). I have held this position for 2 years, and will probably hold it a total of 3-4 years before entering a Ph.D. program The schools I am looking at include Duke, Michigan, Princeton, Chicago, and Carnegie Melon (the Economics & Public Policy program in Tepper, not the Heinz program). I'm also looking at the Education Policy programs in the education schools at Vanderbilt, Harvard, Penn, Wisconsin, and Michigan, but I'll ask about those on the education forum. I'm open to suggestions on other programs to consider, but I am mostly interested in programs with a very strong economics component. My main concerns about my chances of admission stem from the fact that my grades in several of my economics and math classes as an undergrad were in the B range, and I may have even gotten a C in one of my math classes (I didn't decide to minor in math until the summer after my Junior year, so my senior year was pretty intense academically and between that and my leadership roles on campus I was stretched pretty thin). I have also lost contact with all of my undergrad professors (including my thesis advisor, who seems to have completely vanished from the face of the earth), so all my letters of recommendation would have to come from either my current boss or my political science professors. Thanks so much for taking the time to read all of this and give me your thoughts!