alphanso

I did my undergrad at Michigan State! Great school, great atmosphere.
I would recommend researching the websites of the schools you're interested in and finding a few professors whose research seems to align with your interests. What seemed to work well for me was to write a very short email saying something like, "Hi, I am really interested in [whatever interests you about this department]. I have read through the website, and still have some questions. Are you the person I should ask, or can you direct me to someone?" They can reply to this very quickly without much thought, and so they're more likely to reply. Then, if they say they're the person to talk to, you can write them something more like you posted here, explaining your situation and asking their insight on what you can do.
Alternately, often websites have contact information for current graduate students. Email them in a similar manner, and then you can get some general information out of them, without the pressure of talking to a professor.
If you do decide to write an email to a professor, post it here first and there's a good chance an American student would be willing to edit it or make suggestions before sending it. (No guarantees, of course, but a lot of us like editing other people's work...)

Well, I'm a first-year EdD at HGSE, but I'm only one person, so that severely limits my sample size. I do have some insight on the doctoral admissions process, though, as I have good relationships with some of the senior professors in my program; he and others were able to tell me a bit about the process (after I got in). I also did an EdM here a few years ago.

First, to give you an impression regarding relative selectivity, the Master's programs at the Kennedy School generally have admit rates around 20-30%, while we were told this past year's EdD cohort faced an admit rate of around 6%. However, the rate varies by program, and there are some reasons to believe that the Fall 2013 admit rate will be somewhat higher.

Second, your actual GPA doesn't matter so much if you've been taking difficult courses. We are generally required to maintain some GPA minimum throughout our career, but some upper-level EdDs I've talked to have told me that they will waive that requirement for difficult courses (generally at GSAS). From an admissions perspective, if your GPA isn't great, but it's mostly because you've been taking very hard courses, it may not be as big a deal as you think. You might have an advantage there, since the HGSE faculty are generally very familiar with the courses at HKS (the hard ones, at least).

One major thing they look for - or at least, multiple faculty have told me this - is a demonstrated commitment to education. One of the big things they want to avoid is accepting people who are really just interested in some discipline like Psychology or Economics and view the EdD as a "back door" to studying that discipline. From what I can tell, they're very good at weeding those people out. I think your work experience would cover that for you.

Regarding research interests, you should definitely identify something and make sure it's not totally out of left field compared to what faculty are doing, but it definitely doesn't have to align closely with any particular faculty member. From what I've been told by the HGSE professors who wrote me recommendations, at some schools of Ed, a large proportion of funding comes from individual professors' grants, meaning that you really need a faculty "sponsor" you're expected to stick with. At HGSE, that money comes from a common pool, so we are free to switch advisors or get new ones. I've learned a lot from mine, and I'm working on a research project with him, but his research area has very little to do with what I identified in my application (or what I want to do overall).

From what you've told us about your record, it looks like your GRE scores are very good, but your Master's GPA is not so hot. That would probably cause a bit of concern; the knee-jerk interpretations would be either a) you're not very engaged with your academic work, or you "lucked out" on your GRE, neither of which are especially favorable. Is there a chance you could up your GPA a bit, or if not, can you make the case that your coursework has been unusually difficult? For comparison's sake, I had a 3.6 from my EdM, and that apparently raised a red flag with them - although the EdM is a lot less selective (and easier, typically) than the MPP/MPA, and my GRE was higher (1570 combined).

I completely agree that it is subjective, and that decisions must be based on the kind of research the faculty at a place is pursuing. Funny thing though is that I really really wanted to work with a couple of professors at Berkeley, but I decided not to apply because they wrote back saying that they have a poor track record funding international students. I was really disappointed.

I agree with litjust and michigan girl. The designation of "private" and "public" has more to do with funding streams and less to do with the quality of the program. There is even variation within public university systems, California and Wisconsin being great examples. UC Berkeley and University of Wisconsin - Madison are just as reputable as many private institutions. These schools also have a great deal of research funding in comparison to their public counterparts within the same public system.

It is a somewhat strange question.

Most people would not do both a Master's in Higher Ed and an MBA. It does not make much sense, and I have never seen a top-tier, dual-degree program combining these. You would have to do them separately, and so most people choose to do one or the other. If employment stats and salary are the primary concern, a top-tier MBA might fit the bill. If you want to work in a university, a degree in higher ed is usually the best choice, unless you want to work in a business or finance role/program, and then an MBA could be an asset.

Rankings on top-tier MBA programs are easy to find, and generally are released each spring through US News, Businessweek, FT, etc. Master's-level education programs do not track employment statistics like MBA programs do.

AACSB is the organization that accredits MBA programs. All good schools will have this. For education, CACREP accredits some programs; but if you go to a reputable school (state school or Ivy), you don't need to worry too much about accreditation unless you want to do counseling work. Those jobs do seem to request CACREP or other accreditation.

As for MS, MEd, and MA, there's usually very little distinction. I think most programs for higher education are MEd programs, and in some cases there are reasons why a program is classified as an MS or MA program (MS sometimes means more stats/tech classes, MA sometimes fewer stats classes; but there's no hard-and-fast rule).

No one will tell you what your likelihood of getting a job is based on a bunch of statistics. No school can promise to employ you after you graduate. Students at top schools may have an easier time getting jobs, and may have access to different types of roles, but your ability to get a job depends greatly on a number of factors, including your career interests, work experience, education, fit with the jobs you apply for, and the level of effort you put into networking and your job search.

Most people select a program based on things like reputation of the school, reputation (and content) of the program, faculty research areas, research opportunities, fit/community, strong alumni network, cost, location, etc. But no one can come up with a list of the best schools for you to apply to. You could just pick the top 10 from the US News rankings if you want to make it really easy, or go through the spreadsheet and pick those with the top 10 highest employment figures, but you'll be ignoring whether the program is really a good fit for you. I wouldn't leave the decision up to statistics, if I were you. You have to do the research.