HGSE 2019

[civitas]

Since I haven't seen any related posts for 2019, let's begin with myself. 

Program/Concentration: TIE (Master)
GRE Score: Not taken yet
GPA: 3.0 undergraduate (I've been leading my startup since sophomore year)
Work Experience: 4 years in EdTech startup as CEO; an EdTech product with 300,000+ global users
Undergrad/Grad Institution (Public, Private, Ivy, etc..): One of the best normal universities in China (global ranking 200-300), Chinese Literature major
Research Experience: Cooperating with local universities for their EdTech projects; one of which was listed in a national teaching project from Chinese MoE 
LoR/SoP: Since I don't have a supervisor for these years it's a bit difficult for me. Maybe from some professors that have cooperation.
What Other Schools Are You Applying to: Stanford, Northwestern, UBC, UCL

I'm both applying for EAS and EdTech... It's a bit awkward to say so, yet I have some more experience in the public sector in China, e.g holding a similar title to the city council here, having the chance to cooperate with local schools with my ed-tech products. Frankly speaking, I don't know if my targets are too high or not. 

Edited October 25, 2018 by civitas

[2019edhopeful]

Anyone applying to the PhD program? Deadline in 3 days!

[stagestar99]

Program Concentration: EPM (Education Policy and Management)

GRE: 147 Q, 159 V, 5.0 AWA

GPA: 3.75 (with a double-major) 

Undergrad Institution: Private, small (not well-known) English and Political Science major, Spanish minor 

Work Experience: two years as a Teach for America corps member in an urban setting, currently teaching preschool. On the leadership board at my school site, currently mentoring first-year teachers, involved in a lot of leadership positions while in college.

LOR/SOP: I feel really good about both of these things. My Vice Principal, my TFA coach, and my college advisor/professor are writing them and they all know me well. I also feel great about my SOP as I've gotten a lot of positive feedback. I feel like I have explained my reasons for applying to HGSE really well and with a lot of detail. 

I feel like I have a strong SOP and application in general but my quantitative GRE score is stressing me out! Math has never been my strong suit. I'm really happy with my writing score though as I know that is important to HGSE. I also feel like my strong emphasis on early childhood education is really attractive. It's an often underrated area of education research, especially in urban communities. I know some applicants have more work experience than me, but this feels like the right time to go to graduate school for me. Anyway, I"m feeling relatively confident about my chances, but not so great about my quantitative GRE score. Do you think that could significantly lower my chances of being admitted? 

[eternalreturn]

Zero insight to share with you, stagestar, but figured I'd at least chime in to share stats and say hi.  ?

Program Concentration: CIS (Culture, Institutions, and Society)

GRE: 168 V, 163 V, 5.5 AWA

GPA: 3.67 undergrad (Philosophy / Russian, Central, and Eastern European Studies concentration) / 3.75 masters (Curriculum & Instruction) / 4.0 (reading specialist credential - another masters' worth of credits)

Undergrad Institution: top tier liberal arts college

Work Experience: I'm in my 13th school year working in the city where I was placed through Teach For America - about half and half between teaching and instructional coaching

LOR / SOP:  Feeling good here?  Wish I had more grad school professors in the mix - one committed to writing LORs and then disappeared before the deadline, which was... very disappointing.  Had former managers and mentors step in to cover her, just wish another one of those had a terminal degree.  Wrote my HGSE SOP last, and wish I'd been that "on" for my other applications, to be honest!  I think that the interdisciplinary nature of the CIS program speaks to my interests (philosophy, sociology, literacy, curriculum, and instructional practices) better than my other applications, for sure. 

I have heard back from a top 20 program already with an unofficial admit (waiting for that to become official before I share results), which makes me think I actually might have a shot at HGSE?  I mean, who knows, but it was worth a shot!  A very expensive non-refundable shot.  I'll more than likely be relocating to attend a program - there's nothing ranked close to where we live - so I'm really hoping to find a program that can make funding work for my family and I - I'd be relocating with my partner and two kids and my other half will need to find a new job.  So, basically, every finger crossed!

[civitas]

40 minutes ago, eternalreturn said:

Zero insight to share with you, stagestar, but figured I'd at least chime in to share stats and say hi.  ?

Program Concentration: CIS (Culture, Institutions, and Society)

GRE: 168 V, 163 V, 5.5 AWA

GPA: 3.67 undergrad (Philosophy / Russian, Central, and Eastern European Studies concentration) / 3.75 masters (Curriculum & Instruction) / 4.0 (reading specialist credential - another masters' worth of credits)

Undergrad Institution: top tier liberal arts college

Work Experience: I'm in my 13th school year working in the city where I was placed through Teach For America - about half and half between teaching and instructional coaching

LOR / SOP:  Feeling good here?  Wish I had more grad school professors in the mix - one committed to writing LORs and then disappeared before the deadline, which was... very disappointing.  Had former managers and mentors step in to cover her, just wish another one of those had a terminal degree.  Wrote my HGSE SOP last, and wish I'd been that "on" for my other applications, to be honest!  I think that the interdisciplinary nature of the CIS program speaks to my interests (philosophy, sociology, literacy, curriculum, and instructional practices) better than my other applications, for sure. 

I have heard back from a top 20 program already with an unofficial admit (waiting for that to become official before I share results), which makes me think I actually might have a shot at HGSE?  I mean, who knows, but it was worth a shot!  A very expensive non-refundable shot.  I'll more than likely be relocating to attend a program - there's nothing ranked close to where we live - so I'm really hoping to find a program that can make funding work for my family and I - I'd be relocating with my partner and two kids and my other half will need to find a new job.  So, basically, every finger crossed!

Applying to Ph. D. ?

[eternalreturn]

Yes - the Culture, Institutions, and Society track of the Education Ph.D. 

[member1]

Hello! Like many of you, I'm here nervously prepping my materials to apply to HGSE. Would love some feedback on my stats and chances! Thanks. 

Program Concentration: International Education Policy (Master)

GRE: 159 Q, 163 V, 5.5 AWA

GPA: 3.83

Undergrad Institution: Private, top-40 research university. International Affairs and Political Science major.

Work Experience: One year working working abroad with my university's international experience office. Four months working with an educational non-profit organization in South East Asia. Currently in Central America teaching at an international school. 

LOR/SOP: LORs from: the Executive Director of the non-profit in SEA, a well-known, tenured professor from my university, and my ex-supervisor from a different non-profit I worked for. 
SOP is the one thing I'm still working on and not feeling that confident about! Hopefully I'll pull of a strong statement. 

Not a lot of details to really evaluate my chances, but I'd love to hear feedback!

[JWalters]

Just a note from a 16-17 HGSE alum:

I know for a fact that not all of my peers had top-tier GRE scores.

I know for a fact that not all my peers went to top-tier universities prior to studying at HGSE.

I looked at this forum when I was applying, and I got so worked up comparing GPA and GRE all of the things that everyone shares.

What I realize now is that it's more the things that people do NOT share that matter.

Once we got on campus, a few of us shared our statements of purpose, and the ones that I saw were all absolutely wonderful. As you see from this forum, there are many people with 80th and 90th percentile test scores and high GPAs. If you return to this forum after acceptance letters go out, you'll (usually) see a few people who sounded like ideal candidates not get in. Personally, I attribute that to the LOR and the SOP. If any of you have questions, shoot me a message.

 

Edited December 21, 2018 by JWalters

[sbk90]

Thank you so your valuable response @JWalters

[Lavaniya]

On 12/19/2018 at 9:35 PM, eternalreturn said:

Zero insight to share with you, stagestar, but figured I'd at least chime in to share stats and say hi.  ?

Program Concentration: CIS (Culture, Institutions, and Society)

GRE: 168 V, 163 V, 5.5 AWA

GPA: 3.67 undergrad (Philosophy / Russian, Central, and Eastern European Studies concentration) / 3.75 masters (Curriculum & Instruction) / 4.0 (reading specialist credential - another masters' worth of credits)

Undergrad Institution: top tier liberal arts college

Work Experience: I'm in my 13th school year working in the city where I was placed through Teach For America - about half and half between teaching and instructional coaching

LOR / SOP:  Feeling good here?  Wish I had more grad school professors in the mix - one committed to writing LORs and then disappeared before the deadline, which was... very disappointing.  Had former managers and mentors step in to cover her, just wish another one of those had a terminal degree.  Wrote my HGSE SOP last, and wish I'd been that "on" for my other applications, to be honest!  I think that the interdisciplinary nature of the CIS program speaks to my interests (philosophy, sociology, literacy, curriculum, and instructional practices) better than my other applications, for sure. 

I have heard back from a top 20 program already with an unofficial admit (waiting for that to become official before I share results), which makes me think I actually might have a shot at HGSE?  I mean, who knows, but it was worth a shot!  A very expensive non-refundable shot.  I'll more than likely be relocating to attend a program - there's nothing ranked close to where we live - so I'm really hoping to find a program that can make funding work for my family and I - I'd be relocating with my partner and two kids and my other half will need to find a new job.  So, basically, every finger crossed!

You sound like a really strong candidate! I’m keeping my fingers crossed too—getting accepted would mean relocating with 2 (of 4) children as well, and I’m worried about funding school, finding affordable housing, and getting childcare for the youngest.

Does anyone know when interview invitations go out?

[SPEDucator]

On 1/9/2019 at 12:57 AM, Lavaniya said:

You sound like a really strong candidate! I’m keeping my fingers crossed too—getting accepted would mean relocating with 2 (of 4) children as well, and I’m worried about funding school, finding affordable housing, and getting childcare for the youngest.

Does anyone know when interview invitations go out?

The interview time period is the 22nd through the 25th of January this year. So I would guess sometime next week?

[OperationPhDforMe]

Did anyone else get an email from Harvard today asking about Language Proficiencies? it says something to the effect of, " ...admissions committee has requested additional information from applicants regarding prior language study and language proficiency." 

I'm trying not to read into it and assume it's a blanket form for everyone but also, could it mean my app is being looked at now and they're making a decision? 

[SPEDucator]

3 minutes ago, TitanChick said:

Did anyone else get an email from Harvard today asking about Language Proficiencies? it says something to the effect of, " ...admissions committee has requested additional information from applicants regarding prior language study and language proficiency." 

I'm trying not to read into it and assume it's a blanket form for everyone but also, could it mean my app is being looked at now and they're making a decision? 

YES! I did too and I see people on the results page in other programs who got it as well. I have no idea what it means. I came here to ask the same question.

[eternalreturn]

Yup. Got the same email too. My heart definitely stopped for a minute, then I realized it was just a blanket thing. ??

[civitas]

TIE (MA) Applicant, didn't receive any email from HGSE. Anyone same to me?

[JWalters]

13 hours ago, civitas said:

TIE (MA) Applicant, didn't receive any email from HGSE. Anyone same to me?

For Master's students, in my experience, they don't ask the blanket question about language. You won't hear anything until March.

[civitas]

11 hours ago, JWalters said:

For Master's students, in my experience, they don't ask the blanket question about language. You won't hear anything until March.

Thanks!

[OperationPhDforMe]

I feel like by the end of this week we should have a solid idea if we are in or not correct? Looking at timelines from previous years we should get invites by Friday (campus is closed on Monday and interviews start next Tuesday). It appears as though interviews are sent out over 3 days, so...wed/thurs/fri...fri/sat/sun? I honestly don't know but I am going to try to stop checking my email frantically until Wednesday at 5 PM.

[SPEDucator]

54 minutes ago, OperationPhDforMe said:

I feel like by the end of this week we should have a solid idea if we are in or not correct? Looking at timelines from previous years we should get invites by Friday (campus is closed on Monday and interviews start next Tuesday). It appears as though interviews are sent out over 3 days, so...wed/thurs/fri...fri/sat/sun? I honestly don't know but I am going to try to stop checking my email frantically until Wednesday at 5 PM.

I agree. It'll be hard to stop checking, but everything for me has come in when I was least expecting it. so I'm just going to try and take my mind off of it. There is nothing I can do now that will change the outcome.

[SPEDucator]

The calm from my last post has disappeared. Has anyone heard anything? Anyone anxiously awaiting an interview email like I am?

[OperationPhDforMe]

@SPEDucator Meee! I just want to know that I'm not crazy at this point. Though I would love an interview....even seeing that someone else has heard back gives me peace of mind to know I can shut the door on Harvard.

[SPEDucator]

53 minutes ago, OperationPhDforMe said:

@SPEDucator Meee! I just want to know that I'm not crazy at this point. Though I would love an interview....even seeing that someone else has heard back gives me peace of mind to know I can shut the door on Harvard.

right?! That's where I am as well. At least let me know either way. I'm not optimistic that I'll get an interview but I just want to know.

[eternalreturn]

Same here. You're not alone. I'm not optimistic but... Ya know...

 

Sending good thoughts. 

[OperationPhDforMe]

Just saw this in the results forum...  I thought seeing this might calm me but really I am just feeling overwhelmed with emotions now because I still have nothing in my inbox.

[SPEDucator]

Looking back at old topics it looks like they go out over a few days. I would say if we haven't heard by Saturday morning, we probably didn't get an interview. It's nice to know that it's started at least. I can now check my email 1,000,000x a day legitimately instead of in anxiety.

 

Which program did you apply for?

 

Edited January 17, 2019 by SPEDucator