HGSE 2021

[CoraKoala]

3 hours ago, hales1013 said:

This is the email I received from the admissions just now. So it seems like they are targeting a mid-march notification date as opposed to the first week of March

"Thank you for your email. We appreciate your question and can understand your eagerness to know when you can expect a decision. Please know that we are working as quickly as we can to complete our evaluation process and communicate decisions, with a focus on making sure our process provides us with the time necessary to make sure each file is carefully and fully considered. Our plan is to notify all applicants by the end of March at the latest, and by mid-March if possible. "

Oh noooo... Thanks for your sharing!

Can we also imply that they received an unexpectedly large number of applications this year?

[xyzxyz123]

16 minutes ago, caxiatec said:

I think I will just chill and not check at all till Saturday morning. The tension is actually getting too much. That way, if it was sent out on Friday, I will see it, and if not, I will continue living. 

It has been a daily situation that “I can’t breathe”... the waiting game as well as the anxiety is killing me... all I have thought about during these months is the decision of my application....

[xyzxyz123]

2 minutes ago, CoraKoala said:

Oh noooo... Thanks for your sharing!

Can we also imply that they received an unexpectedly large number of applications this year?

Not necessarily. I believe that admissions staff are all working remotely so this may require the committee to take more time to review our applications.

Edited March 2, 2021 by xyzxyz123

[caxiatec]

1 minute ago, xyzxyz123 said:

Not necessarily. I believe that admissions staff are all working remotely so this may take a little more time. 

Right now I wish I could bomb their zoom session...

[xyzxyz123]

13 minutes ago, caxiatec said:

Right now I wish I could bomb their zoom session...

What’s your thoughts regarding the number of the applications? I personally think it may remain approximately the same... I don’t think a larger number of applications would lead to a much longer waiting game... I personally lean to the reason that this is the actual first time (excluding the summer round) that the admissions committee (I think they are the faculty members) has to work together remotely to review applications, make decisions, and communicate with the admissions office. Maybe they are just slower and trying to adapt the new way of making admissions decisions...

Edited March 2, 2021 by xyzxyz123

[caxiatec]

1 minute ago, xyzxyz123 said:

What’s your thought regarding the number of the applications? I personally think it may remain approximately the same... I don’t think a larger number of applicants would lead to a much longer waiting game... I personally lean to the reason that this is the actual first time (excluding the summer round) that the admissions committee (I think they are the faculty members) has to work together remotely to review applications, make decisions, and communicate with the admissions office.

The fact of having a record number of applications this years is confirmed. I got that information from the admissions officers, as well as an alumni who has some in-house connections. So basically, it looks like this year has it's own spice and maybe will follow an unusual trend. We keep waiting and hoping for the best.

[xyzxyz123]

2 minutes ago, caxiatec said:

The fact of having a record number of applications this years is confirmed. I got that information from the admissions officers, as well as an alumni who has some in-house connections. So basically, it looks like this year has it's own spice and maybe will follow an unusual trend. We keep waiting and hoping for the best.

By any chance do you know was the number a lot higher or slightly higher than previous years?

[caxiatec]

2 minutes ago, xyzxyz123 said:

By any chance do you know was the number a lot higher or slightly higher than previous years?

Absolutely no idea! I guess when they say "record number" it means it is significant. These are my consoling thoughts: "If they have record number applications, they will surely give record number admissions".. It consoles me. And if I am rejected this year, I could try again another year or go for other options.

[hales1013]

8 minutes ago, xyzxyz123 said:

What’s your thoughts regarding the number of the applications? I personally think it may remain approximately the same

I am international applicant although I did my undergrad in the US. I think in general there are more international applicants for graduate schools from what I know, because many international students have a hard time finding work due to covid after graduation. Additionally, continuing education in the US is one of the only ways for internationals to remain in the US if we cannot find work. 

[xyzxyz123]

Just now, caxiatec said:

Absolutely no idea! I guess when they say "record number" it means it is significant. These are my consoling thoughts: "If they have record number applications, they will surely give record number admissions".. It consoles me. And if I am rejected this year, I could try again another year or go for other options.

I wish HGSE could be more generous on admissions at least for the money’s sake?the Ed school is facing fiscal problems so please be generous with master’s applicants?

[xyzxyz123]

Just now, hales1013 said:

I am international applicant although I did my undergrad in the US. I think in general there are more international applicants for graduate schools from what I know, because many international students have a hard time finding work due to covid after graduation. Additionally, continuing education in the US is one of the only ways for internationals to remain in the US if we cannot find work. 

I believe many international students (at least for Chinese students), they have left the US already including myself??I have two friends who initially wanted to apply to HGSE but ended up not applying either because their parents didn’t want them to do so or just wanted to find a full-time/internship job in China at least for right now...

[hales1013]

8 minutes ago, xyzxyz123 said:

I believe many international students (at least for Chinese students), they have left the US already including myself??I have two friends who initially wanted to apply to HGSE but ended up not applying either because their parents didn’t want them to do so or just wanted to find a full-time/internship job in China at least for right now...

That's an interesting perspective. Most of my Chinese friends are actually in the US. I guess it depends on the school/region. A lot of my friends who went back to China are trying to get back to the states. But it's good to know that some international students are choosing to settle down temporarily in their home country at this moment.

[xyzxyz123]

Just now, hales1013 said:

That's an interesting perspective. Most of my Chinese friends are actually in the US. I guess it depends on the school/region. A lot of my friends who went back to China are trying to get back to the states. But it's good to know that some international students are choosing to settle down temporarily in their home country at this moment.

I want to get back to the states too (I’m still in my current master’s program), but I don’t know if it is possible given the circumstances happening in the states...

[hmj598]

I was listening to Harvard EdCast last night and they were discussing undergrad admissions being up at prestigious universities (mostly due to them getting rid of standardized testing requirements). I can only imagine it's the same for grad schools especially at a time when it's more difficult to enter the job market. 

[xyzxyz123]

8 minutes ago, hmj598 said:

I was listening to Harvard EdCast last night and they were discussing undergrad admissions being up at prestigious universities (mostly due to them getting rid of standardized testing requirements). I can only imagine it's the same for grad schools especially at a time when it's more difficult to enter the job market. 

I just asked my current master’s program’s advisor who is also in charge of admissions of the program. He said that for my current program, it looks pretty normal compare to previous years, but he is also aware that some other programs have more applicants than usual. I believe it depends on different programs.

[xyzxyz123]

1 hour ago, caxiatec said:

Absolutely no idea! I guess when they say "record number" it means it is significant. These are my consoling thoughts: "If they have record number applications, they will surely give record number admissions".. It consoles me. And if I am rejected this year, I could try again another year or go for other options.

I just called the admissions asking for approximate release date, and I believe the staff was just reading off the scripted response that by the end of March guaranteed and will try to release as soon as possible... I also asked her if she knows if there’s any significant increase of applications and she said HGSE doesn’t track number of applications... idk which is true now... 

[hmj598]

I saw this article on Twitter if anyone hasn't seen it...goes more in depth about the new programming. I didn't realize coursework would start in June!

https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/21/02/hgse-launches-redesigned-masters-program?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=hgse_organic

[MsWonderP]

The Foundations courses in June are optional.  

https://www.gse.harvard.edu/masters/foundations

[MsWonderP]

One of the Foundations courses, "How People Learn", was optional for incoming HGSE Ed.M students this past Summer 2020.  

[McPerson]

 

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Edited March 2, 2021 by McPerson
Posted before I finished typing!

[McPerson]

Started typing this earlier but had to leave for a meeting and accidentally posted it early! 

 

There's a lot of speculation about application increases etc., so I did some research into it. I want to add this is based on a lot of assumptions, so take it with a grain of salt.

If we look at Peterson's data, then there was a 54% acceptance rate in 2020: 1700 people applied, 912 people were accepted, and 667 matriculated. Things we can extrapolate if we assume the data is correct and Harvard does not want to increase the incoming class size:

1. Those numbers are representative of all the master's degrees, not individual programs

2. They'll accept ~912 students for 2021 - 2022

Increase in applicants:

Despite a decrease in international graduate school applicants, there has been an increase in domestic applicants across multiple disciplines. Recessions typically see an increase in applicants, but there are other factors at play this year as well. This article from Berkeley shows a 16% increase in applicants for all master's, outlining how removing the GRE and altered recruitment strategies have been beneficial for many students, specifically minorities. The article does not go into which master's saw the increase. Keep in mind this data is specific to Berkeley and may not hold for all schools. 

The numbers in the Berkeley report are 2x the number of applicants across many universities for the last recession, which saw an average 8.3% increase across business, engineering, and social sciences. Removing the GRE could be a leading reason.

I decided to look into the overall trends for an education master's to get a better idea of our specific field. Despite the overall applications between 2009-2019 dropping, 2017-2018 saw an enrollment increase of 3.2% for a master's in education. Basically, despite fewer applicants, master’s in education programs are accepting more people. I know this data isn't the most recent; if you can find more recent numbers please post them.

Based on recession trends compared to trends within our field, if there is an increase in applicants, it will most likely be modest (think < 10%). HGSE wants to keep the number of students the same, so the acceptance rate may modestly decrease.

Statistics across the master's programs

While it looks like there's four HGSE programs, each applicant is actually placed into one of 24 buckets based on degree + concentration. Example: an ELOE applicant with a higher education concentration won't take the spot of an ELOE applicant with an early childhood concentration.

If we use the stats from Peterson's while assuming each of the 24 options gets the same number of applicants and the programs are all the same size, then everyone will be placed in a pool of ~71 people of which ~38 will be accepted and ~28 will attend. There are so many “if”s I want to start spelling "if" "iff." The actual stats will break down differently based on popularity.

Iff HGSE application patterns follow 2019 government data on master’s in education, HGSE’s degrees ranked in popularity are this:

1. ELOE

2. HDE

3. LDIT

4. EPA (couldn’t find in the data so I’m putting it last) 

And the concentrations are this:

1. No Concentration 

2. Early Education

3. Higher Education 

4. Arts and Learning

5. Global, International, and Comparative Education

6. Literacy and Languages (couldn’t find in the data so I’m putting it last)

Generalized education was the most popular subject in the data which is why I put “No Concentration” at the top. That seems weird to me because I’d assume most people applying to a master’s know exactly what they want to study. 

Using the government data, you could actually create an estimate of how many more applicants will apply to which program, but that’s more math than I want to do right now.

What the government data doesn’t take into account is that HGSE is ranked No. 1 in Education Policy by U.S. News, so EPA will probably not be the least popular program. It also doesn’t take into account other nuances, like types of program-related jobs within the Boston area, whether the pandemic increased interest in pursuing LDIT due to the increase of online learning etc.

If you’re trying to figure out your chances with all the moving pieces, then this may be a good framework to start with. If anyone has stats I left out/thoughts, please post! 

Edited March 3, 2021 by McPerson

[xyzxyz123]

30 minutes ago, McPerson said:

Started typing this earlier but had to leave for a meeting and accidentally posted it early! 

 

There's a lot of speculation about application increases etc., so I did some research into it. I want to add this is based on a lot of assumptions, so take it with a grain of salt.

If we look at Peterson's data, then there was a 54% acceptance rate in 2020: 1700 people applied, 912 people were accepted, and 667 matriculated. Things we can extrapolate if we assume the data is correct and Harvard does not want to increase the incoming class size:

1. Those numbers are representative of all the master's degrees, not individual programs

2. They'll accept ~912 students for 2021 - 2022

Increase in applicants:

Despite a decrease in international graduate school applicants, there has been an increase in domestic applicants across multiple disciplines. This article from Berkeley shows a 16% increase in applicants for all master's, outlining how removing the GRE has been beneficial for many students, specifically minorities. The article does not go into which master's saw the increase. Keep in mind this data is specific to Berkeley and may not hold for all schools. 

The numbers in the Berkeley report are 2x the number of applicants across many universities for the last recession, which saw an average 8.3% increase across business, engineering, and social sciences. Removing the GRE could be a leading reason.

I decided to look into the overall trends for an education master's to get a better idea of our specific field. Despite the overall applications between 2009-2019 dropping, 2017-2018 saw an enrollment increase of 3.2% for a master's in education. Basically, despite fewer applicants, master’s in education programs are accepting more people. I know this data isn't the most recent; if you can find more recent numbers please post them.

Based on recession trends compared to trends within our field, if there is an increase in applicants, it will most likely be modest (think < 10%). HGSE wants to keep the number of students the same, so the acceptance rate may modestly decrease.

Statistics across the master's programs

While it looks like there's four HGSE programs, each applicant is actually placed into one of 24 buckets based on degree + concentration. Example: an ELOE applicant with a higher education concentration won't take the spot of an ELOE applicant with an early childhood concentration.

If we use the stats from Peterson's while assuming each of the 24 options gets the same number of applicants and the programs are all the same size, then everyone will be placed in a pool of ~71 people of which ~38 will be accepted and ~28 will attend. There are so many “if”s I want to start spelling "if" "iff." The actual stats will break down differently based on popularity.

Iff HGSE application patterns follow 2019 government data on master’s in education, HGSE’s degrees ranked in popularity are this:

1. ELOE

2. HDE

3. LDIT

4. EPA (couldn’t find in the data so I’m putting it last) 

And the concentrations are this:

1. No Concentration 

2. Early Education

3. Higher Education 

4. Arts and Learning

5. Global, International, and Comparative Education

6. Literacy and Languages (couldn’t find in the data so I’m putting it last)

Generalized education was the most popular subject in the data which is why I put “No Concentration” at the top. That seems weird to me because I’d assume most people applying to a master’s know exactly what they want to study. 

Using the government data, you could actually create an estimate of how many more applicants will apply to which program, but that’s more math than I want to do right now.

What the government data doesn’t take into account is that HGSE is ranked No. 1 in Education Policy by U.S. News, so EPA will probably not be the least popular program. It also doesn’t take into account other nuances, like types of program-related jobs within the Boston area, whether the pandemic increased interest in pursuing LDIT due to the increase of online learning etc.

If you’re trying to figure out your chances with all the moving pieces, then this may be a good framework to start with. If anyone has stats I left out/thoughts, please post! 

Agree with most of what you said, but I don’t agree with applicants being picked in 24 buckets as the definition of concentration at HGSE isn’t the one we normally mean. According to HGSE, “You also have the option to further personalize your learning at HGSE by choosing to specialize in a Concentration. While optional, HGSE’s Concentrations allow you to deepen your knowledge in a particular context or area of education through courses and co-curricular activities, ranging from applied learning experiences to professional development opportunities to speaker and networking events... The Concentrations can be combined with the Programs to create personalized pathways and signal investment in developing specific expertise”

I believe this means that the concentrations are in addition to the program, so I believe applicants are being picked majorly based on the programs they are interested in. Although the concentrations may play in a role, it is definitely not a huge thing like “24 buckets” to decide which ones to be accepted or not.

Edited March 3, 2021 by xyzxyz123

[MsWonderP]

HGSE admissions does look at all applications with a holistic view.  I have known applicants who have been accepted at HGSE with low GPA's and not so great GRE scores and have been successful at HGSE.  One applicant I know had a really low GPA (a GPA where graduate admissions at any of the University of California campuses would bypass their application...one needs an undergraduate 3.0 GPA to even apply for graduate admissions at the UC's), but this applicant had good letters of recommendation and a solid work experience and was able to articulate themselves in their statement of purpose.  This applicant I knew applied to UCLA's graduate education program and got rejected.  Then, this applicant got accepted at HGSE and thought they would have never been accepted at Harvard.  Things happen for a reason.  Don't give up hope.  

[McPerson]

12 minutes ago, xyzxyz123 said:

Agree most of what you said, but I don’t agree with applicants being picked in 24 buckets as the definition of concentration at HGSE isn’t the one we normally mean. According to HGSE, “You also have the option to further personalize your learning at HGSE by choosing to specialize in a Concentration. While optional, HGSE’s Concentrations allow you to deepen your knowledge in a particular context or area of education through courses and co-curricular activities, ranging from applied learning experiences to professional development opportunities to speaker and networking events... The Concentrations can be combined with the Programs to create personalized pathways and signal investment in developing specific expertise”

I believe this means that the concentrations are in addition to the program, so I believe applicants are being picked majorly based on the programs they are interested in. Although the concentrations may play in a role but it is definitely not a huge thing like “24 buckets” to decide which ones to be accepted or not.

Interesting. So much of my stress waiting is that there's so little data from HGSE to go from. I think concentrations definitely factor in, but the program's too new so it's impossible to say how much. I'd imagine they'd want their class to be as evenly dispersed across interests as possible. If certain concentrations were overrepresented then there wouldn't be enough room in the associated classes and/or co-curricular activities. It's a resource allocation thing. Then again, it depends on the number of people who select concentrations. I personally think most people will choose a concentration, but data trumps my opinions and the available data showing national trends says it's likely most won't. If most won't then the selection would become more abstract. 

[xyzxyz123]

31 minutes ago, McPerson said:

Interesting. So much of my stress waiting is that there's so little data from HGSE to go from. I think concentrations definitely factor in, but the program's too new so it's impossible to say how much. I'd imagine they'd want their class to be as evenly dispersed across interests as possible. If certain concentrations were overrepresented then there wouldn't be enough room in the associated classes and/or co-curricular activities. It's a resource allocation thing. Then again, it depends on the number of people who select concentrations. I personally think most people will choose a concentration, but data trumps my opinions and the available data showing national trends says it's likely most won't. If most won't then the selection would become more abstract. 

Yes. The concentrations were actually the actual master’s programs at HGSE before the restructuring of the programs....didn’t pick up a concentration only means that you want to focus on the curriculum of the programs of your interest. At the end of the day it is a one year master’s program, and we are allowed to take half of the coursework outside HGSE, so I believe the concentrations are the addition of the programs while I acknowledge that it might impact the admissions decision somehow but I don’t think it matters a lot especially given the situation that it is optional for us to choose a concentration.

Edited March 3, 2021 by xyzxyz123