ZeChocMoose

In general, it is easier to get into a Master's. There are obviously some exceptions to this across departments and fields, but it is a safe bet to say that you'll have better odds getting accepted into a master's program compared to a PhD program. Some of the reasons are there are more slots for master's students, the program is shorter (more turn over of students), and departments typically do not fund this degree. Also there tends to be more master's programs in general because they are a money maker for universities and there is industry demand.

One bedroom apartment is significantly more expensive. They can range $1000+ upwards depending on location, size, and condition. I would suggest roommates to make it more affordable. Graduate students tend to live in Medford, Somerville, and Cambridge. The Tufts campus is technically 1/2 in Medford and 1/2 in Somerville. You can live further out, but I wouldn't suggest it if you are not going to have a car. I would say Medford is doable to navigate w/o a car due to the buses, but it is going to be challenging for groceries (as it is in most places without a car). There is a Whole Food within 20 mins walking distance, but Whole Foods may be a bit expensive on a grad student budget. There are other grocery stores of course (but I am pretty sure Whole Foods is the closest.) There are zipcars on Tufts campus though so that is an option. There is the subway (the "T" ), but that would take you out of Medford and into Boston proper. The closest subway stop is Davis Square, which is one stop away from the end of the Red line. During the academic year, Tufts provides a shuttle from campus to Davis Square. It drops you right in front of the T stop. I am not sure if I would call the subway system "excellent" -- it all depends on where you have come from and what you are use to. I would call Boston's public transportation "adequate," but there are far better cities to be carless in.

Well I was only suggesting this if you applied to a master's program. Entering B or C as a PhD student with the intention of "transferring" to A is not a good idea. If you feel that strongly about A (i.e. it's A or bust), I would decline both B and C and reapply next year. Many people have suggested that they had great experiences at their 2nd and 3rd choice schools better than they expected and even better than they may have had at their dream school. Also, generally you can't "defer" your acceptance. You just get placed back into the pool of candidates for next year-- depending on the strength of the other applicants, you may or may not be accepted again.

I am very very thankful. I just got the the official letter via email with the funding package attached that I need to sign, date, and fax back so I assume Wolverine Access should be updating maybe in the next couple of weeks? I don't think Rackham will send a letter of their own, but I could be wrong on that. I got the impression that their communication would come through Wolverine Access. I am crossing my fingers for you, cokohlik. Having the interview go well is a step in the right direction

Is this for a master's degree or PhD? If it is a master's degree (and you are interested in pursuing a PhD), I would accept the offer to B or C and apply to A again as a PhD applicant. Also what are the funding offers at B or C? If you have to self fund that may give me pause. Lastly, how realistic is it to receive acceptance at A next year? If you didn't get in and you also get shut out from B and C next year, would you be upset? Sometimes, it is best to just cut your losses and start seriously looking at B or C. I won't constantly be comparing them to the dream of A-- no school can complete with that.

I remember when I got into Michigan as a master's student it was obvious from the Wolverine Access, but I can't remember exactly what it did. You also have to use it to say "yes" or "no" to the acceptance so I figure it eventually needs to update itself. That being said, I have been waiting about 3 weeks since my unofficial acceptance. I am hoping by March it will update.

I am surprised that the stipends are that low w/o housing! When I was applying for my master's in higher ed, they were all around 12 - 20 K some being more generous due to a high cost of living. That being said, it is not so much what is the "best" deal when looking for grad programs. I would weigh whether you can reasonable live in Ohio on 8K (including housing) w/o taking out loans. If the answer is yes or if you had to take out a small loan 2-3 K, then I would say that financially this program is probably a go. If you need to take out large loans to cover your living expenses, I would strongly urge you not to do this because as you know entry jobs in higher ed have modest starting salaries (35 - 45 K). I know we haven't talked about this-- but higher ed/student affairs programs can be very different from each other. Some focus on educating practitioners and some focus on educating researchers/policy makers. I would look at the curriculum and the program requirements (do i need to do a thesis? comprehensive exam? internship?) to make sure that it is going to meet your expectations and fit your needs. Also feel free to PM if you want to ask more specific questions. Good luck!

One of questions I would ask is what are the fees for the school? Generally, tuition remission does not cover fees. It some places they can be as low as $100/semester and other places they can be as high as $700/semester. The fees (if high) can really cut into the 8K stipend. Is this a place where there is a high cost of living? If so, covering housing costs could be a good deal with a low stipend vs. a higher stipend (15 - 20K) and no financial assistance for housing. How about medical coverage? Do they cover this or some of this? If they don't cover this or it is only partially funded, what are the costs associated with it? I don't have any direct knowledge of working in res life. I just know of several friends who have worked in this area. My impression is that live-in positions can be difficult while you are in graduate school because you are required to be on-call certain week nights or weekends and you might be called to handle an emergency in the dorms at inconvenient hours. I think you really need to know whether you can handle this before accepting a job of this nature. I would also suggest looking at non live-in positions within res life and other assistantship opportunities maybe in academic advising or student activities if you want a lot of student contact.

My expertise is in higher education, not K - 12 so I don't think I would be the best person to address what types of positions would allow you to achieve your goal. From my limited knowledge, I would agree that looking for employment opportunities at the state or district level would be a good place to start. Another suggestion I have is perhaps working at an education policy org that is focused on K - 12 issues. I think there will always be a mystique of attending an ivy league institution. There will be people who consider that a more valuable degree and be impressed. The flip side of that is there is going to be people who will think that you will be "too good for" xyz position and not offer you the job even though you are interested in it. *shrugs* I don't know-- I would look to see who is currently doing the things that you wish to do and see where they received their degrees. If you want to go to an ivy league institution because you think it will give you a competitive edge, I suggest looking into institutions that fully fund their graduate students. From what I know of Harvard, they fully fund their EdD students (although the guaranteed 12K stipend might be tricky to live on in Boston). I would also look into UPenn to see what the funding situation is for their EdD students. (I think it is better than Columbia's, but I don't know that for sure.) If you are in Connecticut, I would also suggest exploring whether UConn would be a good possibility and the other public institutions around the New England/Mid Atlantic region. There are also a lot of reputable state schools of education in the Midwest region and California, but that might be further than you wish to move. One thing that we haven't talked about which is more important than where you go, is who you are going to study under. I would look for faculty who are conducting research on teacher and school reform. I would read several of their articles. If those articles really interest you, then I would apply to those places regardless of the prestige of the institution. Graduate school is going to be a miserable experience if the faculty are researching and writing on items that are of little to no interest to you. Also since these programs are competitive (accepting less than 15% of applicants in some cases), you can imagine that there will be a highly competitive pool of applicants. The people who get accepted (generally) are those that are great "fits" for that program by having overlapping research interests with that faculty.

stop out

There are a lot of great colleges/schools of education at state universities. In fact, some of the top programs are at public universities so I won't rule them out. What specific program are you interested in? I think that would help us determine whether your background is a good fit or not especially since Teachers College has a lot of programs. I have also heard that Teachers College doesn't do a great job at funding their graduate students. If that is a concern for you, I would research the financial situation before I applied. Taking out loans for 5+ years for a doctoral program can be rough and many people (including myself) would advise you not to do it. Good luck!

turkey leg

This happens and I do think professors can be genuinely excited about your application and think that you have a strong chance of admission (based on their recollection of past admission pools), but then it doesn't work out. Sometimes this happens due to funding or department politics (as mentioned above), but sometimes the applicant pool that you applied in happens to be much stronger than what they have seen in the past. Your strong application is now not quite as strong and you don't end up getting in. It's frustrating so that is why I like to say getting in is a combination of good credentials, timing, and luck.

Hmmmm I don't know where I was specifically in the waiting vs. rejected ratio as it was four years ago-- but I had already abandoned hope that I was getting into any of the 8 programs that I had applied to by this point in the admission season. Smart move on my part as I applied to a couple jobs in mid February and accepted an amazing offer before I graduated with my master's. This year, my admission season is over (applied to 3 schools) and I have two funded offers to my two top choices. Very thankful! Sometimes it pays to be persistent

I agree with the above posters I.e. research fit and talking with professors before you apply. One thing that was not mentioned is your LOR. Are they from professors in the field? Are they well known or semi-well known individuals? When I sat on my admissions committee as a master's student, applicants with LORs from professors in the field were more likely to gain admission than applicants without those type of LORs. Also LORs from professors that the adcom knew personally did ever better. It also could be because (as other people have suggested) there were too many qualified applicants and not enough spots. Unfortunately there is not much you can do in that case except applying again and working on further strengthening your application. I'm a second time PhD applicant so I can definitely understand your frustration. Thankfully, this year I was more successful and have received funded offers. Good luck!

Is it a teaching degree in education or education admin/policy/research degree? My field is education as well and I would hesitate to take out too many loans for a master's degree. Do you know what the average salary is for the jobs you hope to get after you graduate? Do you have debt from your undergraduate degree? Do you have other debts i.e. credit card/car loan/etc? Someone told me once never to borrow more than what you hope to make in the first year after you graduate. I think that is pretty sound advice.

Your comments are a bit odd philosophy chic. It is not so much that PhD graduates will increase the "prestige" of the institution that they attend, but institutions understand in order to attract and retain great PhD students then they need to provide them with basic essentials. These basics are tuition remission, a livable stipend, medical coverage, and solid training and development for the field that the students want to enter. It is a symbiotic relationship between the student and the program. Your comments make it seem like the student is the only one benefiting from their education. I disagree-- as the student, the institution, the field, and the community-at-large benefits from providing education to its citizens. Typically PhD students do not view their degrees as a "necessary evil" to earn their future income. It's the process that is important to them and this process allows them to secure a job in academia. Your comments make it sound like a PhD is just a hurdle that you need to accomplish before your "real" career begins. I also have to disagree with your comment that medical, law, and master's students are not concerned with the cost of their degree. I think they are concerned especially in fields where the average income is declining or jobs are difficult to find for recent graduates. Personally, I think we need to do a better job at subsidizing the cost of this education as well as it is important to our community to have skilled doctors, lawyers, and industry members from all walks of life.

Yikes, philosophy chic. Your comment is a bit harsh. Toxic_sci, I understand your frustrations and I am glad that you are thinking seriously about the cost of graduate school. Tuition + living expenses can really add up and in some cases it is not worth it if the amount you have to borrow ends up being more than what you can pay off. When I applied to master's programs, I was in your shoes. I received some acceptances without any funding and I decided that while they were really great programs, financially I could not justify borrowing 60K for a master's degree. I do not regret this decision. A good rule of thumb that I have heard is to not borrow more than what your starting salary will be once you graduate. If you don't receive any funded offerings, is it possible to work full-time and go to school part-time? Or if your field does not typically offer funding, are there any good programs in your state that you can apply to? Good luck with your decision and I hope you hear of better offers soon.

If you search for philosophy, english, or computer science (I think), you should find some interesting comments.

I vote for name recognition/prestige. There is something to be said for name recognition of a program especially if the program has a large alumni network. Something I would never want to hear after I spend 5+ years working hard to earn a PhD is, "I didn't know that X University had a program in THAT?!" Like the poster said above, if the stipend is enough to live on in that area, I am not too concerned what the bottom line is. As a grad student it is normal to live simply and on a budget. I would only grow concerned if I needed to take out loans to supplement the stipend because it is not enough to cover living costs.

The only other thing I can think of (you may want to proceed with caution) is to ask someone in the department or school that knows about admissions policies (preferably someone who works in admin not a professor) if your application can be considered for the MS program if you get rejected from the PhD program. The only issue I can see if your inquiry gets back to the adcomm which may be negative towards your PhD app. You could call and ask. Sometimes that don't ask for your information if you call. Also have PhD applicants in the past heard back before the master's deadline? If so-- then you might not need to do anything but wait to see what happens and then respond accordingly.

I have been thinking about this a lot lately as I solidify my plans to enroll in an education PhD next year: What makes for a great school or a college of education? Let's be honest our field has its critics and some of it is not unfounded. We have some issues that we need to solve and perhaps a reputation that we need to improve in some areas of the academy. So I ask you potentially new and current education graduate students, what makes for a great college or school of education? How can or should these institutions educate and develop the future education leaders of our society? My suggestion would be to have a stronger connection between research and practice. How to do this is the tricky part. I think initially creating pilot programs where education researchers and practitioners work together to implement system change and evaluate the outcomes of these changes could be a good start.

Well you need to find out if you can apply to a master's and PhD at the same time at that school. If you can and the programs are in different departments then the same people (most likely) will not be evaluating your application. If the two programs are in the same dept and the same or similar people will be on the adcom for each program then that would make it more difficult I would think because they would be confused about your academic goals and wondering why you applied to a PhD program and a master's program. Maybe it makes more sense in this situation to inquire about your status on your PhD app so you know how to proceed. Good luck!

As someone who has been both accepted and rejected this admission cycle, I think it is really helpful to have a heads up when bad news is coming your way. To me the worse thing is not the rejection per se, but the *surprise* rejection especially if you think it may be positive.

That is pretty much how I feel YA_RLY. I was accepted to my top choice last week and I am itching to accept, announce my decision to the world, and start planning to move to a different area of the country. I do think that the posters above are right. Although it's annoying it is probably best to just wait for the other decisions even though you don't think it will change anything. I do think you can accept after the campus visit which is what I plan to do and by the visit I will have the decisions on my remaining two apps. So sit tight and distract yourself!