delight

I agree that TC feels a bit like a factory / diploma mill. There's just so many students, which can be disheartening. But a few advantages of TC include:

- If you have multiple different interests, TC is a great way to explore, learn from, and piece together your own body of work utilizing different theoretical and historical traditions. There's a huge number of qualified faculty members doing very different work. I also benefitted from getting a good dose of both theory and practice.
- It's New York. This is important both in terms of reputation, building connections, and using as a research site. There's several faculty members in my dept who came from UCLA / USC / U of Wisconsin primarily for this reason.
- Possibility of being part of research teams... I'm currently a masters student and I was fortunate enough to be invited into different research projects that are currently paying my tuition. While this won't be the case for everyone, it was mostly a matter of going to office hours, talking about my background and interests, and trying to find some sort of common ground. Each professor has their inner circle of students they cultivate. Just need to be proactive and reach out.
- I think each professor has scholarships they're in control of. I pretty much harassed a professor into giving me one upon admission (I also had what I perceived as leverage, since I was accepted to both UPenn and Harvard).

I have mixed feelings about TC. And it probably isn't for everyone...just have to figure out in which settings you strive.

I will try to chime in to the discussion here, based on my perspective on being accepted to two of the top schools in education and also to the third one I applied. My opinions are based on the numerous (over 20) alumni and current students I spoke to at both programs and extensive research, attending visit days etc etc.
 
First, for those of you considering TC-there is an extra $30,000 about to become available as I'm going to decline their offer. While I love the confidence TC has shown in me, with almost full funding for a 9-month program, I have a better (full) offer from Harvard and have every intention of taking that. So, I would piggy-back was wjdavis said and say take heart and wait for that revised letter.
 
That said, why am I declining TC's offer of MA in Private School Leadership knowing that it is the best/most prestigious/oldest/richest program in the country (the world?) for leadership in the private education world as well as my top choice? Money has nothing to do with it-I'm sure they'd match Harvard if it came down to that. Despite the fact that each and every one of the people from my program I spoke with loved it and lauded it no end (alumni from seven to one years ago), TC in general does have the diploma mill vibe. That is something which is impossible to get away from and as someone said on yelp, if you want an Ivy League degree that's not worth the paper it's written on, go to TC. I know that's a terrible exaggeration and that the real story is probably not even 1% accurate-but when you're dishing out that much money in cash and opportunity cost, you don't want to make even a 1% chance.
 
I also agree with wjdavis that dropping that kind of cash on Teacher Education is not worth it. Unless you wish to go into elite private schools (which I did), this is a poor return on investment from a financial standpoint. From a personal growth standpoint..well, that's priceless. But I never saw a person struggling financially (think an additional car payment for the next 15 years as the same as the cost of financing an Ivy League education) experience a lot of personal growth. If you have a good shot at getting into these schools, apply to a second tier school like Rice University, get fully funded to attend there, enjoy the weather and CHEAP cost of housing.
 
In the end, what decides these things is your gut feeling and your own financial wherewithal about your particular situation. What made the decision for me were too things:
 
1. TC's overall reputation as a diploma mill at the master's level-despite the same not being true for my program/department.
2. My family's reaction to me getting into Harvard (which came after Columbia) and was so much more heartfelt than Columbia.
 
Initially, I was concerned about Harvard's hands-off vs. Teachers College much more personal recruiting style. TC called me a lot and gave me a lot of time during the application process when I called them. But since I've been admitted, Harvard has tried everything to get me to attend from calls from program director, alumni, current students and other members of the faculty.
 
Hope this helps you. I am very available, willing and eager to help with the decision making if you want to bounce ideas and looking forward to being contacted by future applicants if you guys need any help. Hope my input puts something at ease for you

Where the heck is Astoria?

Can you people who keep posting here actually provide proper avenues or stop posting!!

Hello everyone

I am a student at University of Rochester, and I am studying MS TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages)
In a job interview, is it okay to brag, by being eager to state your accomplishments? Or should you answer only if asked?
It seems to me that in college applications, that is the time to brag, but tactfully.

What about in job interviews?
I have been denied jobs that are unrelated to my profession, many times because I come off, according to the employers as "too good" or "overqualified." I bring a resume that is packed full of "Magna Cum Laude," or won this award or that.

I am rather upset because I was placed with a future mentor (a teacher I will be observing for more than 100 hours and then I will take over the classroom) and met her at a restaurant. I handed her what I *assume* was a presumptuous resume. And even though I believe we had great connection, she replies a few days later saying "I don't think we have the right connection."

I believe I tried too hard to sell myself.
I try to be humble as much as possible, and sure, while not intended, I can very easily make people jealous with just a brief look at my resume.
Any tips on perfecting humility, and how I should approach future things such as this?

Thanks everyone!
TESOL

I apply CS MASTER of Northeastern University and has got conditional admission. However, about two weeks ago, te college send me a letter via E-Mail, it says:

Dear Yuexi,
As we have received multiple requests to extend the enrollment deadline, the college would like to inform all admitted students that we are extending the deadline to May 31, 2012. We want to allow accepted students enough time to make a decision regarding enrollment. If you have already submitted your documents and tuition deposit, please ignore this message. As always, if you have any questions on submitting your tuition deposit or enrollment documents, you can feel free to contact me and I'll be happy to help you.Again, congratulations on your acceptance. We look forward to having you on campus.
Best, Danni DiFazio
Administrative Assistant
Northeastern University
College of Computer and Information Science

Therefore, I did not pay the tuition deposit because it said the enrollment has been extended. However, I decide to pay the tuition deposit today, I found the link to pay from the confirmation letter from the website applyyouself is still showing that the deadline is may 1st, in this case, I can not pay the tuition deposit now!!!!! what should I do!!!!!

I had ever asked the assistant that why the deadline from the website is still may 1st, and he replys me that:

Hello,

The enrollment deadline has been extended to May 31st. The letters do not get updated when we extend the deadline.

Please let me know if you have any more questions.

Best,
Danni

what should I do~~~~~~can somebody help me?????????????????

I am on the same boat as you are. But I will only tank one graduate course, either B or C. I don't think it matters to me now. However, I thought differently a couple weeks ago.

A couple weeks ago, I did not get two out of three fellowships that I applied (these two are less competitive than the third waiting one, but the first two themselves are crazily competitive). So i thought I had no chance of getting the third one. Then I was thinking of what if I apply next year and my grade looks bad with B or C in graduate courses. I was sweating.

Luckily more than a week ago, I found out that I won the third fellowship that I applied for (most prestige and most money out of the three so fuk YEAH!). So now I don't mind of getting bad grades as long as I don't fail it. If I do fail, I wouldn't matter much I think. I am all set for graduate school now!

So the moral of my story is that if you are going to use your undergraduate transcripts for future applications then try to get your grades up as much as possible.

My little 2 cents.

Hi Everybody,
I just want to strongly advise a master degree program in Istanbul/Turkey. While you are having your education, you have also a great time in the city and the campus where there are lots of international students. The program is Information Technologies. The mission of this graduate program is to prepare individuals by providing the theoretical foundations of the discipline and the practical knowledge and problem solving skills to meet industry expectations. If you want more detailed information you can visit; kcenter.sabanciuniv.edu/en

What about a third option: Shelving the snark and doing what one can to help get students ready for graduate school. Does a student hating to write and to do research mean that she automatically won't seize an opportunity to improve her skills at either? Or is a less than ideal mindset just as good a reason as any to stop teaching?
Regardless of the motivation, a student is still going to have to create new knowledge to earn a doctorate. What harm is a student doing to you or a particular field if she creates that knowledge only for the social prestige of a doctorate? Why is the standard of creating new knowledge good enough for a field but not for you?

A good way to develop ideas is to read some up-to-date (maybe at most 10 years) Ph.D thesis in your field. They often give a survey of the topic or questions relating to your field. Your school libraries has access to databases on thesis.

lol if you actually think syracuse is better than WWS and HKS, you are in for a rude awakening. people from syracuse always bring up the #1 US news rankings to justify their decision to "choose" maxwell over WWS/HKS (they got rejected in truth). maxwell, although it is a good school, is nowhere near the top of the list when it comes to elite MPP/MPA programs. i have yet to see anyone who has turned down WWS for maxwell or has chosen HKS over maxwell with funding between relatively equal.

an education at SIPA or HKS is not even close to the quality and opportunities available at the respective business schools and law schools. you are kidding yourself if you think so.

Maybe you should seek advice from people who are less cynical about degrees in humanities! Having an undergraduate degree in art, I know plenty of people who pull out $50,000 a year for their MFA degrees - not abnormal to see people with $200,000 to eventually get a masters. Definitely not a pragmatic approach, considering that your life quality will be severely hampered by your loans after graduation. HOWEVER, if you're considering non-profit work in museums, federal loans have a 10 year forgiveness plan. You can get on an income-sensitive plan, pay for 10 years, and have the rest forgiven

Maybe you should seek advice from people who are less cynical about degrees in humanities! Having an undergraduate degree in art, I know plenty of people who pull out $50,000 a year for their MFA degrees - not abnormal to see people with $200,000 to eventually get a masters. Definitely not a pragmatic approach, considering that your life quality will be severely hampered by your loans after graduation. HOWEVER, if you're considering non-profit work in museums, federal loans have a 10 year forgiveness plan. You can get on an income-sensitive plan, pay for 10 years, and have the rest forgiven

Maybe you should seek advice from people who are less cynical about degrees in humanities! Having an undergraduate degree in art, I know plenty of people who pull out $50,000 a year for their MFA degrees - not abnormal to see people with $200,000 to eventually get a masters. Definitely not a pragmatic approach, considering that your life quality will be severely hampered by your loans after graduation. HOWEVER, if you're considering non-profit work in museums, federal loans have a 10 year forgiveness plan. You can get on an income-sensitive plan, pay for 10 years, and have the rest forgiven

Maybe you should seek advice from people who are less cynical about degrees in humanities! Having an undergraduate degree in art, I know plenty of people who pull out $50,000 a year for their MFA degrees - not abnormal to see people with $200,000 to eventually get a masters. Definitely not a pragmatic approach, considering that your life quality will be severely hampered by your loans after graduation. HOWEVER, if you're considering non-profit work in museums, federal loans have a 10 year forgiveness plan. You can get on an income-sensitive plan, pay for 10 years, and have the rest forgiven