lilgreycells

Got a DM today about one of the places I interviewed last year in order to get an idea of the general process and I thought that might be something others could be wondering about too. So in general, I received an email the 3rd week of January inviting me to Penn for interviews. The next day they posted on the blog that all the emails had gone out. For Vanderbilt, I received a phone call then an email (can't remember how far in advance the call was before the email) the 4th week of January for interviews. That's definitely not to say it will 100% happen the same way this year (esp because I think one of those institutions is changing the traditional time of the weekend which may move the interview contact date). Just figured the info might be helpful. If you want more specific info you can always DM. Hope the waiting isn't too unbearable (as one who almost let herself be driven crazy, go out, see friends, do things you love!).

Well from your itinerary it appears that they didn't schedule a specific time for "Interviews" which leads me toward thinking this is more like a non-competitive weekend. Though it is smart that you plan on approaching it like a competitive weekend (as HeadCold suggested). Good luck on the weekend!

Like Quant_Liz_Lemon my field has those two types of interviews but for a number of schools you get your flights paid for regardless of the type. So you didn't find out until you got to the weekend whether it was competitive or not (the current grad students are normally quick to let you know).

I also had a POI at one of the institutions I applied to write a LOR. Bit of a different situation as I was applying to the place I earned my Master's from though it was a different department (faculty member had a joint appointment in the other department). I think it was a small piece in my favor because, as the faculty member was one of my biggest pushers for the PhD, I knew that she thought I would be a great fit for doc study in general and her research in particular. The reason I say small though is because you can never know for sure if someone else is in the app pool with a stronger fit to that faculty member. Out of the blue the POI could just decide they wanted to work with someone else. So the option I chose was to just be happy there was someone out there that thought I was ready for the PhD who could be an advocate for me and cross my fingers over everything else.

Great point though it depends on your program as to whether the software is program specific I would say. You have to give extreme justification in my program as to why you would use anything that wasn't STATA. For us, STATA is the only software allowed in 5 out of our 6 baseline statistics courses. But if your program is more flexible I definitely agree just find something that works for you.

I think this can be very field specific. I trained in my undergrad and Master's programs using SPSS (psychology and higher ed) but in my PhD program we use STATA because of it's superior abilities to handle regression (which is more popular in my field since we often rely on econometrics). So the best program for you is probably dictated by the programs the natural resource field uses. I have personally used SPSS, STATA and R and can say that they all have their worthwhile pieces it just really depends on what you're doing with them. Oh and depending on the package your field uses you may want to wait on purchasing the program for your personal use. STATA, for instance, is extremely expensive so you would want to wait to buy it through your school.

I completely agree with Andromache 2012 about talking with people in your program. I just went through my first semester of my PhD at a much more rigorous program than my Master's (where an A- could be seen as a C in some classes) and was not sure what my first semester gpa said about me (am I average? am I failing?). I went and met with some of the older students in my cohort who helped me to understand the culture of grading within my department and helped me to feel more secure in my grades. Oh and in your second post you mention being concerned with talking to the prof because he may think that you're asking for a grade change. I remember seeing the recommendation to send something like "I'm concerned that this grade suggests that I'm not performing up to standard/expectations. Could I meet with you to discuss what to do in order to improve for the future?" from The Adventures of Notorious Ph.D., Girl Scholar (http://girlscholar.blogspot.com/2011/04/grades-in-grad-school.html). Since it puts future in it, this might help to distance your request from the grade-mongering you were concerned about.

I'm a first year in my program and find myself sometimes questioning my commentary before I participate (imposter syndrome normally rearing its ugly head). I don't know about your program but mine creates cohorts for each year and we take the majority of our courses with each other our 1st and 2nd year. I've become close to one of the people in my cohort and we spend about 15 minutes before class chatting about our reading. It helps me to better solidify my thoughts and justifications while also getting a chance to hear what someone else thought. One of the reasons this worked for me is because I feel that I can trust this person to not "steal my ideas" and present them as her own. So maybe see if you can find someone like that? Knowledgeable about your field and willing to chat a bit each week. Someone who is not knowledgeable could definitely work as well (my mom remains my best sounding board) but I was trying to think of ways to build as much confidence. Hope this helps!

Every one has given really thoughtful and relevant advice. I think jokerjoe that yes for a number of those institutions (leaning towards saying all) the grades before you switched your major do matter. For some programs they'll care more about your last 2 years, some your major specific and others all four years. That's why people have been suggesting broadening the scope of your selection of institutions to apply to. I do think UVa's practice-based SAPHE program is a great choice for people that want to work in the field and normally they are not as stringent with the cut-off gpa if you can display a genuine passion for the field (what my last post and PhDreams were trying to get at). But the others are right that seeing your grades adcoms will pause, especially at some of the more competitive institutions.

I agree with Loseric. I applied to two of the programs mentioned in your list for my M.Ed. and was accepted at both (can PM me if you want). You mention your fear that you only have experience from your 5th year. I think if you can mention how you've changed and become more focused on higher ed it can just be seen as a plus to your file (esp since as mentioned not everyone has experience). I will say that with those grades it might help to write an addendum to your application. When I was in a similar situation as you (grades not what I wanted but knew I wanted graduate school), I made sure my recommenders knew how serious I was about the programs and then included an addendum explaining, not apologizing for, any poor grades I earned from undergrad. Some people will choose to include something in their personal statement but I personally wanted that to only highlight my strengths for the program (hence why I created a separate document to send). And it's an n=1 so who knows for sure but I know for a fact my high GRE scores showed that any poor grades in undergrad were an anomaly and I was more than capable of the work. Depending on your distance from the institution and your comfort, you can always think about having a conversation with a faculty member about this. When I visited the two Master's programs and spoke with the faculty member in charge, I made sure to feel the conversation out. I told myself if I found an opening I would make sure to mention the grades in a direct manner and reiterate my addendum (no apologizing just making sure they are aware I was capable of more and that personal circumstances created the drop). Wound up doing this at both programs and they both told me later, after I was accepted, that this conversation, and my GRE scores, did help me. Good luck in the process and like I said PM me if you have any other questions.

Always glad to help. Let me know if you ever feel have questions about Harvard or Vandy!

Never been in this situation but some institutions will let a recommender resubmit. You can always call and ask if they'll allow the recommender to send a new letter. However, I agree with dendy it is not something that they'll really hold against you. The worst thing is that they'll have verification of one of the other institution's to which you're applying.

I'm not sure if there's anything you can do at this point if they do not allow resubmission. If you haven't already submitted the application you can just make sure the section of your statement where you talk about potential POIs includes the new person you would want to work with. If you've already submitted maybe you just want to include in an email back to her that you thank her for pointing you in this new faculty member's direction and, while you've already submitted your application, you would definitely be interested in working with him/her. And I don't really think it'll be that big of an issue for the faculty. I know some of the people on the adcomms for two of the schools you mentioned applying to in the Education area and I know they'll be fine with it. Good luck!

I kept whatever conventions were normally required for my paper (I used a piece I wrote for one of my Master's courses). So I kept my title page and abstract. The abstract was especially helpful for one of the institutions where faculty did not always want to read the entire sample. I did add in my applicant number after my name on the title page and then included it with my page numbers. I think that even though that's not within APA rules it was a perfectly fine thing to do. Good luck and hope this helps!

Thanks I hadn't seen this! Brings back memories of my day job before I left for my PhD.

Education Policy-4.5 I love my cohort and am very thankful for the willingness of my faculty to support me. I do wish some faculty were better at giving feedback but *shrug* pretty sure I'd find that at any instiution. In fact, this would probably be a 5 if I wasn't about to pass out from sleep deprivation over final projects (and really that's my fault for not managing my time better).

A good way to see if your scores fit the institutions you are applying to is to explore their websites and find some sort of student profile. You can normally find one that highlights the middle 50% or the average GRE score for the incoming class. If you can't find that you could always ask as well. That way you you have a better handle on what your specific institutions are looking for. I took the old GRE but I would agree that if the percentiles reported by dendy are correct you more than likely would need to retake the GRE. Good luck!

I would definitely echo TakeruK's comments. During my admission cycle I used the results section to let me know if the institutions I applied to had started contacting people (and tried to make sure I posted when I was contacted). Though I will say that every once in a while people like to post that they got a decision or a phone call when it is not true just to mess with folks. So a great back-up is to check your discipline's board for previous cycles. That way you might be able to get more information about the academic profile of people and when they found out about interviews or admissions decisions.

I gave all my recomenders gifts during my application season and they really seemed to appreciate it. The dollar limit is a good idea. My recommenders were 2 faculty that I am extremely close with (celebrated holidays with their families before) and my supervisor from my job so I set my limit a bit higher but as long as you feel comfortable with the amount I think you're good to go!

Sorry to be late in my reply (I space out my internet fun visits trying to learn better time management for school). Vandy and IU-Bloomington are two top-notch programs off the top of my head that are 2 years but I think you can always check out institutions in your home state as well. Since you appear to want a Master's in order to get a job (from your last post), I think it's great to check out the institutions that are in the state you want to work. I know money wasn't a concern for you but hey you may feel differently 2 years from now.

First off, if you want some time to figure out which of those areas you might be interested in for the future you might want to consider a 2 year program instead of a 1 year program. That way you're not starting the job search 1 semester (or 1 semester and a summer) in to your program. Some institutions will have flat cut-offs of a 3.0 for admission and others will be a bit more flexible. You may want to check with each institution to see their view (can be difficult to do because sometimes institutions don't want to share). Same can be said for acceptance rates. Penn has a great blog that I believe will list exact acceptance rates and the other schools should have something similar. Oh and if you do decide you want to apply to 1 year only institutions then you should probably take Vanderbilt off the list. I can't speak for all your institutions listed but I know Vandy is a 2 year program. Hope this helps!

It would depend on the program but I don't believe there's a real boost to being a male applicant. I understand your situation as a former admission person myself and I would say that, if you're just planning to stay in that field, attending a program part-time is more than adequate. If you are interested in other fields down the road or potential for a terminal degree there can be some pros and cons to part-time study (though I earned my Master's part-time so it's definitely doable). Hope that helps!

I've PMed you!

I agree with DanMcD. You could focus on either student affairs practice or higher ed for your Master's and do an internship in an office with a diversity focus. Then after working for a bit if you want to go back to school for a Ph.D. or Ed.D. (depending on the type of department you wish to lead/your goals at that point in your life) you could. That way if you need/want more of that policy perspective you could add that in with your terminal degree. I focused on student affairs practice in my Master's and will now be studying higher education through a policy lens in my doc program. Just one option. My interests and background are actually extremely similar to yours so PM me if you want to talk further. Good luck on your planning!

I'll echo ZeChocMoose and say that it depends on the institution and how they will count the credit from your Master's degree. There are institutions that you can graduate from in 4 years if the credits line up well (for instance Vanderbilt or Penn). Unfortunately, this appears to be another one of those every institution is slightly different answers. Hope it helped a bit though and good luck with your planning!