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I would put my bets on tomorrow late afternoon for the official e-mail. Hopefully the PIs will be calling folks earlier than that. Crossing my fingers for all of you!

it's coming it's coming! as far as i can tell, the faculty have made their choices and decisions will go out once the university approves them

Some context for previous/future SHIPS applicants: Admissions this past year was more challenging than the usual, most likely due to several faculty going on sabbatical this year (2019-2020). Pro tip: Try to find out whether your POI will be on campus before naming them in your application. source: am a Stanford student

great question! yes. so many things. to be fair, i will name a positive & negative: plus: i am used to schools of education always being underfunded and underrated everywhere, but especially at prestigious schools. not here. in fact, if you need money to kickstart a project, there are at least five sources i can run off the tip of my tongue that will probably fund you. and that's not because i know anything beyond the average student @ stanford; they drill into your head all the resources that are available for you from the moment you step foot into this place. part-time jobs are also plentiful and pay generously, if you're into not being a starving grad student. minus: classes are by and large a mixed bag. some classes have been horrid because of star-studded faculty who are well-intentioned but honestly do not know how to teach or generally communicate. other classes have been fine, but it is impossible to tell from looking at the course catalog. it's widely known across the gse that it ranks low among other schools within the university on "quality of teaching and learning". an irony considering it's the gse...

@higheredbee ooh, I'd rather not say, sorry! the doctoral cohorts at the gse are very small and I would probably identify myself but happy to take random non-identifying questions if you have any... nice to meet you all! and best of luck these next few weeks as the (hopefully) acceptance letters begin rolling in!

no need for regrets. I attempted POI contact at all 10 schools that I applied to last year, and the majority of those (that includes Stanford) never bothered getting back to me.

@monastic above mentioned a few great points, but I would add the following caveats/perspectives: -As a previous Somerville resident and Harvard affiliate, Somerville is NOT a bad place to be if you're planning on studying at Harvard. It seems a bit more inconvenient off the bat, but there are a couple of handy bus routes that will take you straight to Harvard Square from Union Square. The Red line is awesome but it is not the end-all, be-all. ...on the other hand, Winter Hill/north of Highland Ave=NOT the ideal place to live. That uphill walk is like death (literally) especially with snow on the ground; I've also seen way too many cars stuck on that hill because the city didn't bother to plow on time -If you're a Harvard affiliate looking for a studio or something more reasonable in terms of pricing, I would look around Lechmere or in North Cambridge/East Arlington. Both have bus routes/lines to connect you to Harvard Square, are relatively quiet with young families, and are still more affordable than Harvard/Central/Porter Square. -For the most part, the best way to find housing in Boston/Cambridge is not to go through a realtor. In my few years as a Cambridge resident, the best "my room/apartment/flat is such a steal!" stories came not from those who worked w/realtors or building mgmt companies, but rather found housing from independent landlords. Just food for thought! I know this is not feasible for everyone, especially if you can't visit your apartment in person before signing the lease.

There are quite a few questions you can ask your professor(s) as well as anyone working at the school to address those goals. Here are a few resources I pulled off of Google, for your convenience: https://quantumfrontiers.com/2014/05/25/top-10-questions-for-your-potential-phd-advisergroup/ https://me.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/advice_paper_web.pdf http://education.seattlepi.com/good-questions-ask-potential-phd-adviser-3094.html Keep in mind that professors are great sources, but overworked and not altogether unbiased. School staff (admissions, student affairs) and current students can also be good resources for you.

@Heather1011 All the options you mentioned sounds viable! There are like a bajillion zipcars in Cambridge. Just book one a few days before you need it, so that you know it'll be there. As for where to stay, I think that's a personal matter! If you want a last few days of hurrah/hanging out in NYC, you should hang out there and just move everything on July 9. Or, if it's possible, I would ask the current tenant if it's ok to leave your stuff there from July 1 through 9 so that you don't have to worry about your stuff. If you're going to be there as a permanent tenant in like 8 days, they'll for the most part be OK with you leaving a few suitcases to hang out in your future room or something. I've done that before a couple of times.

You can always get an yearlong lease with Harvard and sublet it for the summer to another Harvard affiliate. That is totally a norm around here and tons of people do that to get an "academic year lease".

I'm also unclear why those quotes are considered "harsh" -- any elaboration on this would be great, OP! If I'm assuming correctly, the first quote is addressing age (?) and privilege as an issue... HGSE does a great job in trying to reflect educators from diverse parts of the country, if not the entire world. While I was in the program, there were plenty of educators with 10+ years of experience, and just as many fresh out of undergrad. I thoroughly enjoyed learning from both types of grad students during my time there. Secondly, given that this is a masters program where most people shell out $$$ to attend, there are definitely students who do come from backgrounds of privilege, who arguably have a "savior complex", etc etc. I don't think this took anything away from my HGSE experience; in fact, it was much appreciated to have these people in my classroom, striving to learn how to be allies for all young people and listening to other perspectives. I would also echo previous posters' sentiments about the value of profession along with academics. To be honest, I don't think HGSE values one more/less than the other. I have certainly met HGSE students who parade their work experience and belittle the coursework, or vice versa. These students have been few and far in between, and the HGSE alum I run into now testify very positively to the value of their graduate education and opportunities at HGSE. Lastly, I've dipped into several of the schools across Harvard, and have a few friends outside of HGSE -- at the biz school, HKS, the College, Med School, etc. None of said friends have said the ed school was a "joke" or anything similar -- anecdotal, but there you have it! HGSE certainly has areas for improvement, but lack of prestige compared to other Harvard schools would never have been the dealbreaker for me, personally. There are other issues (in education) to be worried about.

I would encourage you to call them -- Admissions office doesn't make decisions on the PhD level (faculty committees do), so they don't have any stakes on what they tell you, or what you tell them. The bottom line difference is that HDLT students tend to be more interested in the psych perspectives on education while CIS students tend to have more of a social justice angle. These are mere tendencies and not rules; there are certainly exceptions, and the lines between concentrations are blurrier than when they first started out. @has716 to clarify, these programs are funded by GSAS, but the bulk of your required classes as well as your main faculty advisors are indeed based in HGSE.

I am not a parent, but work in Cambridge and have many colleagues who have young families. Can confirm all those cities are great. I also live in North Cambridge, which is cheaper than Harvard Square Cambridge, bikeable, quiet, and has some great parks and open spaces. I have known several folks who do the commute from Jamaica Plain, a neighborhood quite popular for young families -- it's about a 45-minute ride on the train with a transfer at Downtown Crossing. I have also heard many folks highly praise Peabody Terrace for their great daycare. I would add Shaler Lane, Holden Green, and Soldiers Field Park to the list of family-friendly Harvard apartments. I wouldn't say any of the Harvard apartments are NOT family friendly -- just that these spaces are known to have lots of families in them.

Quick note: GSAS housing is only guaranteed for your first year if you're admitted by GSAS. So that excludes a lot of students (HGSE, HKS, etc) https://www.gsas.harvard.edu/current_students/eligibility_for_housing_in_the_gsas_residence_halls.php

If I recall correctly, the lottery for GSAS residence halls cost a lot of money (almost as much as the app itself!), but I didn't pay anything to enter the regular Harvard Housing lottery. Although, take note that this was several years ago, so rules may have changed. I would imagine Harvard Housing would tell you if you emailed to ask -- they are very responsive on emails.