thedeadsea

Just officially accepted my Ph.D offer from Penn. Very excited. After the interview weekend, it immediately became my top choice. It's definitely smaller than most GSEs, and because of that, it seems like there is an incredible amount of flexibility in the programs and support from the faculty. It's also clear that the school embraces creative adaptation - not only do they encourage Ph.D. students to take courses in other concentrations and schools but they also regularly develop new programs and concentrations to fit with the needs of research in the field. Also, my focus has a lot of overlap with communication and media studies, so the prospect of taking classes at Annenberg (the #1 comm school in the country) is also a huge incentive. The current students were welcoming; the professors were incredibly supportive; and their scholarship package is incredible (full tuition, insurance, and a stipend that is generous enough that I will be able to cover living expenses and still put aside a fair amount for paying down debt and building up savings). Looking forward to meeting some of you there!

Anyone know when Illinois Urbana-Champaign sends out acceptances/rejections for Ph.D. programs? Seems inconsistent on the search results page and I've heard nothing since my application was complete in early December. I tried emailing but didn't get a response. It's one of the only schools I still need to hear back from before I can make my final decision and start planning a move, so I'm eager for any news.

Just got my acceptance for the PhD program in the mail. I'm guessing that's what is on the way to others - mine probably just arrived earlier since I'm in the Philadelphia area.

For those who mentioned Zizek (or for those who've seen film of him speaking), there are some spot-on moments in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjIT5LPxzDE.

I got an email this afternoon as well for the Ph.D weekend. Something I learned last year: if you selected that you're willing to be considered for the Ed.D program, they don't necessarily tell you that they are moving your application to a different "pile." Last year, I applied for the Ph.D and was disappointed when I didn't hear anything about the weekend - until I got an email a week or two later with an invite to the Ed.D weekend.

Stanford - Literacy, Language, and English Education (PhD) UPenn - Reading/Writing/Literacy (PhD) U of Illinois Urbana-Champaign - Philosophy of Education (PhD) UCLA - Philosophical/Historical Studies in Ed. (PhD) Vanderbilt - Language, Literacy, and Culture (PhD) Harvard - Culture, Communities, Education (EdD)

Thank you so much for this information! I think I'll definitely switch my application over to the Language and Literacy program instead. It's nice that the program is flexible enough to let you pursue interdisciplinary study so actively. You just saved me $125.

Though much of my experience has been in language and literacy education, I also have a background in philosophy, so I have been considering applying to a few philosophy of education doctoral programs. Stanford seems appealing because they suggest that you can potentially work to take a M.A. in philosophy on your way to a Ph.D in philosophy of education. But the website doesn't list many professors associated with the department (except for Eamonn Callan), so it's hard to know if my own philosophical interests would be a good fit with the program. Columbia has a more specific list of faculty members associated with their philosophy of education program, but they also have a specific Ph.D program in English education. Most of my philosophical interests are related to philosophy of language, philosophy of technology, and general epistemology - some of which, I suspect, would fall under the umbrella of the English program; some would be more at home in general philosophy. With this in mind, I have two questions: 1) Does anyone know any addition information about Stanford's philosophy of education program/professors? 2) Does anyone have experience with Columbia's English Ed. or philsophy of ed programs that might help me decide which one would be a better fit?

I'm applying at-large for a Fulbright grant in the United Kingdom - though I'm a little intimidated by the volume of applications that the program receives in English-speaking countries. I'm hoping to research the relationship between English language development and technology (not just digital, but transitions between oral, written, and printed media as well) at Oxford. I've done some graduate-level research at Oxford previously, but nothing for more than a few weeks at a time. At the moment, I'm struggling through the essay-writing process - it's difficult to negotiate the delicate rhetorical balance that the statement of grant purpose requires...

I took the GRE a few months ago before the announcement that there would be a new policy for score reporting that would let you send scores from specific test dates (rather than the full record of your GRE scores). When I took the test, I sent my scores to a few different schools; however, now that the policy has changed, I'm wishing I could send my scores for just the last test and not include the scores from the test I took almost five years ago (my recent scores are well within the range of the most competitive schools I'm looking at; my older scores, not so much). Is it worth re-sending scores with just the most recent test date selected? Or would those scores just be added to a file that already has my earlier submitted scores that include the older numbers as well? Anyone have any insights?

There's a part of me that was thinking the same thing, but I'm worried that if I wait a week, they may have already sent out acceptances to people on the waiting list and if I'm not one of them, it could be too late to let them know the program is my top choice. Maybe this stems from my confusion about the "unranked" waiting list - if it isn't ranked then that means they could potentially admit anyone from the list - there's no order or anything to dictate who's next in line. I guess I'm wondering if sending an email out sooner could potentially help me get off the waiting list.

About a month ago, I received word that I was on the wait list at my top choice school (a competitive, well-ranked education school). The next day I sent an email to the DGS to ask if the wait list was ranked and to express that I was still interested in joining the program if a position became available. She thanked me for expressing interest, informed me that their wait list is unranked, and said I should hear an official word from the school by May 1 (deadline for accepted students to respond is April 15th, I believe). Now that it's been a little over four weeks, the deadline for accepted students is here and the school will (I assume) be contacting people on the wait list in the next week or so. I'm curious if I should send another email to the DGS to reaffirm my interest in the school or if such an email would be redundant at this point. Any thoughts?