wildviolet

Thanks for your input. The thing is that time is short--I wish they had notified us earlier so that it would be easier to make travel plans! Right now the cost of just the plane ticket alone is enough to deter me.

Funding is a major consideration for me. It's a HUGE testament to how much funding they have! I'm concerned about conferences/travel, too. MSU has indicated that each of their PhD students receives about $8,000 to $10,000 during their whole time in the program to attend conferences. On the other hand, the stipend and travel allowances at UW are not guaranteed. Although my potential adviser has said that he has been able to provide stable funding for his grad students, one of his former students told me that he knew of currently unfunded students! Anyway, I am also concerned that most of the large public universities are still cutting back for next year. Anyway, your opinion is much appreciated! (Of course you know what you're talking about!)

It's been too quiet on this thread! OK, serious question though... for those of you having a tough time deciding... are you going to visit both schools first? Here's my dilemma. I'll be visiting MSU in less than two weeks, and they're paying for me to go. UW is happy to have me visit (on my own dime). But, I don't want to pay for it (trying to save up). But, I don't want to wonder "what if," either. Do you think I can be sure that MSU is the place for me if I never visit UW? What to do...???

I sent handwritten notes and a small gift. I don't think it's too much, especially if you got accepted!

FutureEdStudent12, That's a tough situation to be in. I think, if I were you, I would go with HGSE and try to find a way to make it work financially. FWIW, I got through my two-year part-time Master's program because my classmates were so awesome and passionate about education. Good luck making your final decision.

I love this thread. I like spiral notebooks. I think I'm going to give Whitelines a try.

The new iPad looks pretty cool.

Wonderfully frustrating! Congrats to you, too! OMG, this is going to be a long month...

LOL. Nope, you can't!

Curriculum and Instruction Specialization MSU #2 UW #8 Hmmm...

I once had a mentor whose email signature was: First Name Last Name, Ed.D. Position and Institution 200X XX State Teacher of the Year Pretentious? Yes. Why do I need to know that you were State Teacher of the Year X years ago? IMO, listing it on your CV is enough.

Thanks! Now, you mean U of Michigan, Ann Arbor, right? I would be at Michigan State University. Anyway, what are we all going to do??? This is worse than waiting for decisions to come in!

wine bar

LOL, I know. I'm absolutely torn. I'm comparing apples and oranges. I'm hoping campus visits and conversations with potential advisers will help. But I have no idea how I'm going to choose and feel like I made the best choice!

Yes. You're not alone! I'm considering a program that wasn't even on my radar until one month before the application deadline.

Thanks! I have to make my decision in a few more weeks, and I think funding is going to be the key issue. Let me explain. School A accepted me way back in January, about one month after the application deadline. They offered me a 5-year guaranteed scholarship that includes a modest stipend + RA and TA positions. They also mentioned summer funding of 5K and travel funds, about 8K to 10K over the course of 5 years, for conferences. Plus tuition waiver (of the out-of-state portion, too). Plus medical. Plus travel funds to visit the campus for a personalized tour (not prospective student open house) before making my decision. School B just accepted me this week. No word about funding. No direct contact with potential adviser, just his assistant (I guess he's super busy). No travel funds to visit. The school's website is not very encouraging... "limited" travel funds only for students who are presenting at conferences, "limited" RA and TA positions. I guess I should follow the $$$.

I understand how you feel, and I think it's perfectly natural. I'm glad you vented your feelings instead of keeping it all inside. The only advice I can give is... be kind to yourself, and be patient about regaining your self-confidence. I think this is a great idea. This is what I did--after 7 years out of undergrad, I applied to a local state university (as in not flagship) to do my Master's. Not only was it cheap, but admission to the program was not an issue, I had a great cohort (people I still talk to and hang out with), and I have a thesis to show for it. The professors are not *superstars* in the field, but they are not slackers, either. My thesis adviser, an assistant professor, regularly published, presented at conferences, and had an active grant-funded research program. So, what did it do for me? First, I was able to use my thesis as my writing sample. Second, the experience of doing the research and writing the thesis allowed me to write convincingly in my SOP about my future research interests and career aspirations. Third, I got three letters of recommendation from professors who were directly involved in my program and thesis. Fourth, I demonstrated that I could obtain a 4.0 GPA (I had to take graduate-level courses in Chemical Engineering!). Along with strong GRE scores, I think I was prepared for a successful application season (3 acceptances, 1 wait list, and 0 rejections). By the way, despite going to a top private university for undergrad, I didn't feel like going to this local state university was beneath me--there are great people at "lower-ranked" schools, too!

gurlsaved--I have cold feet, too! Good to know I'm not alone.

But doesn't everyone know who got the Dean's Scholarships and University Fellowships? I mean, it's not like they have to go around telling everyone. Isn't this info usually published somewhere?

Yes. I got a Dean's Scholarship that offers 8K more than the annual stipend for a RA or TA position. And, the letter was extremely nice. And, they also mentioned how I could get a summer research fellowship for 5K, which really puts my annual stipend at 27K, plus travel funds for conferences, not to mention a full tuition waiver and medical insurance.

That's the thing... a few have secured TT jobs at other universities, but the majority of their PhD grads are still there employed as post-docs.

I'm considering a university that hires many of its own graduates as post-docs. Is this a bad sign? Does this mean that those PhD grads were not able to get hired right away? Or, is it just the poor job market right now? Or, is it actually a good sign that the program can afford to hire so many of them as post-docs? This is a top program, too.

For those interested in the University of Washington: *****IMPORTANT PLEASE READ: At the direction of the UW Regents the below waiver program will be discontinued effective July 1, 2012. That means that the waiver will no longer be available for any graduate or professional student who is admitted to the University and begins enrollment Autumn Quarter 2012, and after. This is an annual waiver of the differential between resident and nonresident tuition.

Hi all! Just browsing this thread (even though I didn't apply to HGSE). Hey pourtant--I feel the same way you do, which is why I'm going to make my decision after I visit the two campuses. It's very difficult to find out all I can just using the web. I like to get a sense of the feel of a place (its aura, if you will). Anyway, good luck to both of us! I'm finding the decision part much harder than the waiting part.

That's terrific. Good luck making your decision!