jrehokie

I was pretty certain that I wanted to go into Graduate School for Higher Education Administration & Student Affairs, but over the past year I've developed new ideas of what I want to do. I apologize in advance for the long post! I'm still very passionate about Student Affairs & Higher Education and would still like to pursue it, but in a more specific way. I've gotten involved in a lot of extracurricular activities that involve minority student groups, education policy (regarding the achievement gap) and diversity in higher education. I've also worked with graduate students in the Sociology department in my school (specifically in Asian students and Sociology of Education). I've also worked in the admissions office in a program to recruit underrepresented minorities & low income students and also have an internship where I'll be working with high school students to prepare them for college (SAT prep, admissions, financial aid, and just personal development since they come from underserved backgrounds). While I'm still interested in Student Affairs, I've become really interested in working with these types of groups. My ideal situation would be to be able to work in a department that caters to a diverse group of first year students from underrepresented backgrounds, minorities, etc. From there I'd like to work my way up (VP or Director of a department?) - but that's way down the line from now. This is also very specific, and I would really be happy being able to work at a university in some form of student affairs (advising, mentoring, academic support, orientation, creating student programs, etc) that could focus on working with diverse students. I'm not quite sure if there are any graduate programs that deal specifically with this in Education and I'm not sure what exactly I should be looking for. Should I continue into a Student Affairs or Higher Ed program? Or should I be looking at programs outside of Education? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'd also be happy to answer any questions, I've been rambling a little bit so this post was somewhat unorganized.

slave2phd: I have a few more questions about SAPHE, if you don't mind answering! -Do you know during what period of time the admissions cycle is? I know Tech does rolling admissions up until June. I see online that UVa has a deadline, but it has no info on when the application process begins. -Is the program fully funded? How exactly? -What assistantships/internships are available? That's all I can think of for now, thanks again in advance for your advice! ZeChocMoose: I'm looking mostly at Virginia schools since they're instate and I really like both Tech and UVa (for the SAPHE program anyway...just kidding!) and I don't believe I have the money or resources to travel outside of state. I doubt there's any benefit of staying in Virginia but I do want to work here after I graduate as well. Also, after researching the other programs in VA, I might just apply to those two and if I don't get accepted, I could try getting work experience or research experience after graduating at Tech. It's early in the game to know what exactly I can do after I graduate if I don't get into these programs, but I have pretty close relationships with professionals I've worked with in the past that are in the education field. Oh, and I mentioned it up there, but UVa's program and the courses offered seem to line up more with my career goals, even though it's a one year program. Tech's program is broader, since it's just Higher Education, while UVa's is direct Student Affairs. You bring up good points though about the assistantship and length of time.

Thank you SO much for all of your replies I got a private email from someone at the UVA SAPHE program too so all of this has been a tremendous help to me. Oh and sorry again for the lengthy reply I have (and multiple posts), but I'll try to elaborate more on topics to see if any more guidance can be given. I really appreciate it! About GPA/Classes: My undergrad GPA at the highest will be a 3.4, which hopefully I can achieve. When I apply, I imagine it will be in the 3.0-3.2 range. Do any of you guys know if grad school applications will ask for transcripts from the school I transferred from? If not, then so far, I have an upward trend (Fall 10: 2.5, Spring 11: 3.02, Summer 11: 3.5) and I'm hoping to maintain at least a 3.4 or 3.5 for the remaining semesters I have. The classes I get the best grades in are the more rigorous psychology classes. I don't know how competitive either programs are, since my research online hasn't turned up much information, but hopefully my GPA is decent enough to be considered. GRE: I haven't taken it yet but plan to do so this year. Any advice on how to prepare? I'm just an average standardized test taker (I got an 1800 on my first try of the SAT without studying, and got it up to 1850 the second time but didn't really try to study that much at all). slave2phd, what kinds of scores does UVa look for on the GRE? Major/Minor: I'm pretty interested in the Business Leadership minor. If I don't follow through with the minor, I'll at least have some business leadership, communication, and education classes taken in addition to what's required for psychology. The education classes I've taken so far have all put emphasis on leadership and diversity, so I definitely can see how it would help. Thanks for advice on that! Research/Experience: The extent of my research involves 2 research based and 2 statistics courses that I've taken, but that's all. I don't plan on pursuing a PhD and was looking for a more practical program, like studentaffairsgrad described. UVa's program seems to be more like that (correct me if I'm wrong), which is why it appeals to me more than Tech's program in Higher Education. I was just planning on building up my resume over the next year before I apply to grad programs. In addition to admissions, academic support, and orientation experience, I'm going to have an externship with a college access program that deals mostly with Financial Aid. I also plan on applying to work in Career Services or TA with First Year Programs. The college access program and First Year Programs are the closest to what I want to do career wise, but it's not guaranteed that I'll be able to get positions with both of those. I really want to do something along the lines of first year advising (the first school I attended does this and it really appeals to me) or undeclared advising. I don't know if this will be enough to stick out since it's been stated that everyone has these kinds of experiences, so research is still definitely an option at this point. Do you guys have any other advice since I've provided more of my background with academics and experience? Maybe ways to improve my application or a direction I should be going in? Or am I on the right track? I've been planning this since last summer when I was about to start at Tech and have a pretty long list of back up opportunities, if the ones I prefer don't work out, haha.

Hello all! This is my first post on here and I'm a newbie, so please forgive me if this is the wrong place to be posting. I'm also sorry if this post is a little lengthy and scattered. Anyway, I'm about to enter my junior year of college & my second year at the Virginia Tech. I'm a psychology major and over the past year, I've become more confident in my plans after finishing undergrad, and my first choice plan would be to attend graduate school to get my ma. My top choice would be UVA's M.Ed. in Student Affairs Practice in Higher Education (SAPHE) and my second choice would be Virginia Tech's Master's Program in Higher Education. If anyone if familiar with either of these schools or programs, any info would be helpful about their admission process! I also had a few general questions regarding admissions to a master's program: -Does cumulative GPA matter more, or do committees look at the in-major GPA? My reason for asking is that I'll graduate with around a 3.2 or 3.3 (is that low for grad school?) but my in-major GPA will be around 3.6 or 3.7. The reason my GPA is low is mostly due to lower grades in required calculus and biology and a two classes that I just didn't do well in. -Is research experience required for these types of masters programs? I have no research experience but have experience in other fields that I believe are relevant (orientation guide, work in admissions office, work in the academic support office, etc - I can post my experience from my resume if needed). -Would having a minor be beneficial at all? Or double majoring? Or does it depend on the school/program? I've been debating on taking on a couple of different minors in either Sociology, Business Leadership, Leadership & Social Change, or Business Diversity. One of those four, haha, but if it wouldn't have too much of an impact on admissions, I might not. If you have any advice or input on these topics, I would greatly appreciate it! It would definitely help me narrow down what classes to take for the next two years, as well as what I should be focusing on with extracurriculars. Thanks!