SnowKat

What obligation do you think schools have to narrow their list before they invite candidates to interview at their own expense? I think they justify it by the potential funding you can get, but I was pretty surprised by how many people get rejected out of 80 or so people who scraped up hundreds of dollars to visit campus. So then you have to visit several schools, to cover your odds, and it's next to impossible when you have a job to get the necessary time off. So then you get people working in higher education who have never left college after starting, and I think that's a disservice. You don't really know what college did for you until you leave it and settle into the real world for a while and see that not everyone values "diversity" like a college campus, etc. Anyway, I think if college administration is all about increasing access for lower-income students, these higher ed programs are failing to meet their goal.

I asked about UConn a while ago, for their HESA program, but the program is so small I've been having a hard time hearing anything about results after interviewing. Through looking online, I've read about one person getting a call for a rejection, and another who must have gotten a waitlist e-mail. Also, a few have accepted positions at other schools. I've heard nothing. Does anyone know if acceptances have gone out? I'm trying to think no news is good news, but I doubt it.

Seriously, how do you keep a straight face after something like that happens?

I see that UConn offers a full ride to everyone admitted to their HESA program. Also, you get an on-campus job that pays about $20K, and your class would have only about 16 students. I've only seen one reference to it in the results database, referring to 18 applicants being admitted out of 180. That's more than competitive! Anyone have any info on UConn?

Yeah, it was one of those things where I work professionally as a writer. So I spent all my time worrying about recommendations and transcripts and everything, and then the personal statement turned out pretty weak. I mean, people who know me think it's great and honestly reflects who I am, but people who don't know me probably won't think of it as much of a big deal. Can I edit it and still "make" the Jan. 15 deadline? I always feel weird about calling up the admissions offices, as if they would write down any "dumb" questions.

Thank you for such a kind reply. There really is no point to asking questions after I've sent in the app, but oh well. I was thinking of deferring admission, anyway, so I guess I could do it better next year. I don't even really know what deferral entails, in terms of whether it has you at the front of the line for scholarships or the back, and the same for housing. I didn't want to ask about it, because I thought it would hurt my chances this year. I just want to get in so I can start planning my life. I don't yet know what reapplication includes, but can you use the same recommendations and transcripts and everything, and just rewrite the personal statement and resume? I am going to apply to at least one state school that has a later deadline, and I'll try to do better (I think that school offers tuition remission for part-time employment). My personal statement was more of a story about my job. For example, I discussed a person I admired, and just described some of the things he did, and didn't add a line to say, "That's how I learned the small things matter," or something like that. I just provided an example of a small thing that mattered a lot to me, and didn't say I want to emulate him when I work in higher education (even though, of course, I do). I hope that makes sense, and I hope the admission committee doesn't need me to overly explain things to them. I'm just wondering if I should have explained things more, or if they can read into what I have written. I guess it reveals some of the things I admire, and the kind of person I want to be. I did talk briefly about what I want to do in higher education, and showed that I was more interested in working with students than being a researcher. My job has been more with K-12 education, so I hope they aren't insulted that I think it can help with higher education. My references were from professionals who are familiar with my writing, so I thought that would be kind of professorial. My personal statement also talked about how I am a bit shy, or used to be a bit shy, and, again, hopefully they can read into that and conclude I didn't really talk to my professors, but I would now, if given the chance. Again, I should have spelled things out more, maybe. Basically, the personal statement was about working with someone and developing a relationship with him that made me a more confident individual. So it wasn't really a higher education personal statement, but more just a story of an important time in my life. I hope it works. All in all, this has been a good learning experience, and I think already I could put together a stronger application. I had attended some workshops on law school personal statements, so I wrote my personal statement like that, and I don't know if it's supposed to be different for graduate school.

I should have been on here before I applied! I just applied to Teachers College last weekend, for their Higher and Postsecondary Education program. I have a 3.9 GPA at a Top-15 school, and have several years of work experience. I didn't have an academic reference, though, and my personal statement, in hindsight, was much too general (basically, a few stories from my job and little about my interest in higher ed or TC). I think I got complacent once I saw their acceptance rate was about 60 percent. Did anyone get into TC or a comparable school without an academic reference, or with what they considered to be a crappy personal statement? Mine was two pages double-spaced, and even now I realize I don't know what "one to two pages" even means. Yeah, an overall failure.