swertl Posted January 18, 2019 Posted January 18, 2019 Hi Everyone, I recently got invited to the Penn GSE interview weekend for the doctoral students. Just kind of curious because this will be my first interview/visit, and wondering if any previous applicants could chime in on what it's like/what to the expect. Also wondering what would be appropriate to wear to such a visit (for men). Thanks!
OperationPhDforMe Posted January 18, 2019 Posted January 18, 2019 Congratulations on getting an invitation! Just curious as someone who is eagerly waiting still, how were you notified? Was it a form invitation that seems like it was sent out en mass or personalized to you from your POI? I'm just trying to get a feel for if I should give up hope and move on or keep waiting for a few more hours.
swertl Posted January 18, 2019 Author Posted January 18, 2019 Thanks! It was pretty much a form invitation with official letterhead by email. They also sent another email to let me know about travel arrangements. I wouldn't give up hope yet as I just got it in the past few hours, and also I think the different programs within Penn GSE might notify on different dates.
highered01 Posted January 18, 2019 Posted January 18, 2019 Hi, @swertl! Congratulations! I am a first-year Ph.D. student at Penn GSE. Are you a Ph.D. or Ed.D. applicant? And, for what Division? I can hopefully provide some more nuanced context that way. Generally, though, all attendees will be finalists for their respective doctoral programs. There will be general programming about GSE and Division-specific meetings and interviews (or, at least, that was my experience). I believe I wore business casual (a dress shirt, blazer, and slacks) for the evening mixer and wore a full suit and tie on the full day (which, for me, included interviews). You should receive a phone call soon from Penn GSE to answer any questions and to begin scheduling your travel. I am excited for you! This weekend solidified Penn as my top choice. Safe travels!
swertl Posted January 18, 2019 Author Posted January 18, 2019 @highered01Thank you so much! And thanks for the information! I'm a Ph.D. applicant. Since you said that they are generally finalists, I wonder if you could give a general idea how much the visit plays into the admissions process. For the interviews, were they pretty formal, or was it more of an informal chat with the POIs? I am excited as well to visit, it seems like a great city!
highered01 Posted January 19, 2019 Posted January 19, 2019 (edited) @swertl I treated my visit as pretty formal, but some of my meetings/interviews were very relaxed. I also know some programs invite more students than they can admit, while others may only invite the exact number of candidates they can accept. Unfortunately, I am not sure there is a way to tell beforehand. I do not believe admissions decisions are made before this weekend, so I would certainly treat it as influencing your admissions decision. Good luck! Edited January 19, 2019 by highered01
dustn123 Posted January 20, 2019 Posted January 20, 2019 @highered01Hi! I applied to the ECS program and I'm a phd applicant. Do you happen to know if all the interview invites are sent out for every division? Thank you!
GreenVea Posted January 20, 2019 Posted January 20, 2019 On 1/18/2019 at 2:39 PM, swertl said: Hi Everyone, I recently got invited to the Penn GSE interview weekend for the doctoral students. Just kind of curious because this will be my first interview/visit, and wondering if any previous applicants could chime in on what it's like/what to the expect. Also wondering what would be appropriate to wear to such a visit (for men). Thanks! Congratulations, what's your area of study?
highered01 Posted January 20, 2019 Posted January 20, 2019 @dustn123, I cannot say that I do. It looks like there were a few posts on the results page (Ed Policy, Higher Ed, Quant Methods), though. Good luck!
hotchocolate123 Posted January 21, 2019 Posted January 21, 2019 @dustn123 I am also an ECS applicant and I was wondering the same thing. I only saw postings from other programs within ECS and can't figure out if I just didn't get an invite or if ECS is behind the wave. Your post makes me feel like I have some hope for more coming in this week!
OperationPhDforMe Posted January 22, 2019 Posted January 22, 2019 (edited) For those of you waiting with bated breath...I called the office today and asked about invitations for Grad weekend. Allegedly they are still sending them out so all hope is not lost yet (though I have already mentally moved on from Penn). Edited January 22, 2019 by OperationPhDforMe
GreenVea Posted January 22, 2019 Posted January 22, 2019 2 hours ago, OperationPhDforMe said: For those of you waiting with bated breath...I called the office today and asked about invitations for Grad weekend. Allegedly they are still sending them out so all hope is not lost yet (though I have already mentally moved on from Penn). I literally called at 12pm and they said they had sent them all out. I then asked for Ed Policy and he said he believed so. OperationPhDforMe 1
FutureEdPHD Posted January 25, 2019 Posted January 25, 2019 I got an email earlier today from the GSE office that gave me some hope but also made me curious about the purpose of the Doctoral Weekend... “There are limited number of invites that are sent to applicants. If you did not receive an invite, that does not mean you will not be admitted into the doctoral program. Faculty will make final decisions or contact you by early/mid March. If you have any additional questions, please contact our office.”
JWalters Posted January 25, 2019 Posted January 25, 2019 6 minutes ago, FutureEdPHD said: I got an email earlier today from the GSE office that gave me some hope but also made me curious about the purpose of the Doctoral Weekend... “There are limited number of invites that are sent to applicants. If you did not receive an invite, that does not mean you will not be admitted into the doctoral program. Faculty will make final decisions or contact you by early/mid March. If you have any additional questions, please contact our office.” From an old post (2012) on the now-removed Penn GSE admissions blog: "We promised we'd let you know when invitations to the Ph.D. and Ed.D. invitations went out, so we're keeping our word and posting to confirm that invitations to the Ph.D. weekend went out via e-mail today. For those who received invitations, we can't wait to meet you in February!If you were not invited (check your spam/junk folder, just to be sure!), you will not receive an e-mail. While not being invited to the weekend makes it less likely you'll be admitted, it's possible the faculty will go back to the pool after the weekend and we will communicate final admissions decisions in early March. We anticipate invitations for the Ed.D. weekend going out within the next week and will let you, our blog buddies, know when that happens. :)"
FutureEdPHD Posted January 25, 2019 Posted January 25, 2019 33 minutes ago, JWalters said: From an old post (2012) on the now-removed Penn GSE admissions blog: "We promised we'd let you know when invitations to the Ph.D. and Ed.D. invitations went out, so we're keeping our word and posting to confirm that invitations to the Ph.D. weekend went out via e-mail today. For those who received invitations, we can't wait to meet you in February!If you were not invited (check your spam/junk folder, just to be sure!), you will not receive an e-mail. While not being invited to the weekend makes it less likely you'll be admitted, it's possible the faculty will go back to the pool after the weekend and we will communicate final admissions decisions in early March. We anticipate invitations for the Ed.D. weekend going out within the next week and will let you, our blog buddies, know when that happens. :)" That’s what I figured was happening..it’s kind of like being temporarily wait listed just in case the top choices choose to go elsewhere. Good luck to the invitees though!!
naoone Posted February 3, 2019 Posted February 3, 2019 On 1/18/2019 at 3:39 PM, swertl said: Hi Everyone, I recently got invited to the Penn GSE interview weekend for the doctoral students. Just kind of curious because this will be my first interview/visit, and wondering if any previous applicants could chime in on what it's like/what to the expect. Also wondering what would be appropriate to wear to such a visit (for men). Thanks! GSE Doctoral weekend coming up! I am not sure what to expect but I hope you feel prepared and ready. Hopefully there is no terrible weather on the east coast this weekend. Other than preparing for interviews, grad student mingling, and preparing good questions for students and faculty, I'm not sure what else I could be doing ?
swertl Posted February 3, 2019 Author Posted February 3, 2019 @naoone Good luck to you! Fingers crossed for the weather. I'm sure you will do great, and congrats on your acceptances so far. Have you had any communication from the program in the past week? After I RSVPed I haven't anything back in terms of hotel room confirmation or where the events will be taking place.
naoone Posted February 3, 2019 Posted February 3, 2019 5 hours ago, swertl said: @naoone Good luck to you! Fingers crossed for the weather. I'm sure you will do great, and congrats on your acceptances so far. Have you had any communication from the program in the past week? After I RSVPed I haven't anything back in terms of hotel room confirmation or where the events will be taking place. Yeah, I haven't received any other info either?. Hopefully we will receive it on Monday or Tuesday. I need to figure out when to leave work Friday in order to check in and be ready in time for the 6pm events. Safe travels!
JB91 Posted February 13, 2019 Posted February 13, 2019 Anyone applied/accepted to the IEDP masters program at UPenn? I am looking for external scholarship options because have received only $13k in merit scholarships. The fellowship results of 100% scholarship are not out until the decision due date. I have also received a good scholarship for IEPM at Vanderbilt but Penn is the preferred choice. Any thoughts?
Ran1126 Posted February 13, 2019 Posted February 13, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, JB91 said: Anyone applied/accepted to the IEDP masters program at UPenn? I am looking for external scholarship options because have received only $13k in merit scholarships. The fellowship results of 100% scholarship are not out until the decision due date. I have also received a good scholarship for IEPM at Vanderbilt but Penn is the preferred choice. Any thoughts? congratulation！I am still waiting for their decision. Edited February 13, 2019 by Ran1126
czf92 Posted February 13, 2019 Posted February 13, 2019 12 hours ago, JB91 said: Anyone applied/accepted to the IEDP masters program at UPenn? I am looking for external scholarship options because have received only $13k in merit scholarships. The fellowship results of 100% scholarship are not out until the decision due date. I have also received a good scholarship for IEPM at Vanderbilt but Penn is the preferred choice. Any thoughts? I just got into the Ed Policy program! Lmk if you find any good external scholarship options because I got $15k which is wonderful but...not enough lol. Congrats!!
JB91 Posted February 13, 2019 Posted February 13, 2019 (edited) 14 minutes ago, czf92 said: I just got into the Ed Policy program! Lmk if you find any good external scholarship options because I got $15k which is wonderful but...not enough lol. Congrats!! Congrats I currently only know of the bigger and thus more common ones - Inlaks, Aga Khan, World Bank, and PEO Int. Peace scholarship for women. Let me know if you find anything. Edited February 13, 2019 by JB91
JWalters Posted February 23, 2019 Posted February 23, 2019 Doctoral Applicants, are you expecting to hear this coming week?
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