HGSE 2021

[xyzxyz123]

1 minute ago, hales1013 said:

I have had technology-related educational experiences but almost all of my professional experiences are during my summer internships. Not sure if that would count as much as a full time job, but I guess it's better than nothing. Fingers crossed! 

We don’t need full-time experiences in order to be competitive candidates. Summer internships certainly count as professional experiences and there are actually a lot of people who don’t have any full-time jobs. I believe the ELOE program may want people who have had many full-time experiences, but for other programs, if candidates have had some internship experiences, I believe that would be sufficient. 

[xiyao]

46 minutes ago, hales1013 said:

I applied to the Learning Design, Innovation, and Technology program!

Me too! And I don't have full time experience either. 

[xyzxyz123]

55 minutes ago, xiyao said:

Me too! And I don't have full time experience either. 

Do you mind sharing which program did you apply to?

[hmj598]

Did anyone on the thread apply for part-time? I know they only accept a small percentage of part-time applicants, so not sure if many people even consider this option. 

[xiyao]

9 minutes ago, xyzxyz123 said:

Do you mind sharing which program did you apply to?

Same program LDIT?.

[xyzxyz123]

Just now, xiyao said:

Same program LDIT?.

I’m actually not applying LDIT but EPA! @hales1013actually is the one applying the same program as you did! Good luck!

[hales1013]

3 minutes ago, xyzxyz123 said:

I’m actually not applying LDIT but EPA! @hales1013actually is the one applying the same program as you did! Good luck!

Good luck! Hopefully we will have a decision by this Friday assuming if there will not be any delays... 

[xiyao]

1 hour ago, xyzxyz123 said:

I’m actually not applying LDIT but EPA! @hales1013actually is the one applying the same program as you did! Good luck!

Sorry my bad. Good luck to everyone! Hope we all can get in!

[CaitlynM]

4 hours ago, xyzxyz123 said:

I mentioned this on an earlier page - I applied to the Education Policy & Analysis (EPA) program. I thought the program I applied to would also be very popular, but it seems like no one in this thread has applied to the program so far. 

I also applied to EPA! Super nervous because I don’t have a heavy math background and I know that a lot of schools look for that when candidates apply for policy. Good luck!!!! I was also surprised to see not many people seemed to have applied for it! 

[xyzxyz123]

2 minutes ago, CaitlynM said:

I also applied to EPA! Super nervous because I don’t have a heavy math background and I know that a lot of schools look for that when candidates apply for policy. Good luck!!!! I was also surprised to see not many people seemed to have applied for it! 

me neither regarding math backgrounds and I’m actually not good at it.... I have consulted with several of my friends who studied policy either at HGSE or other education schools. They said that the policy programs at education schools are different from the MPP or MPA at policy schools such as at Harvard Kennedy School, and the education schools’ policy programs don’t involve much math.... I don’t know if it was true but I believe the policy programs at education schools would rely math much less than the ones that policy schools. What’s your thoughts?

[CaitlynM]

2 minutes ago, xyzxyz123 said:

me neither regarding math backgrounds and I’m actually not good at it.... I have consulted with several of my friends who studied policy either at HGSE or other education schools. They said that the policy programs at education schools are different from the MPP or MPA at policy schools such as at Harvard Kennedy School, and the education schools’ policy programs don’t involve much math.... I don’t know if it was true but I believe the policy programs at education schools would rely math much less than the ones that policy schools. What’s your thoughts?

I definitely agree! From what I was looking at, the program didn’t seem very math heavy, but I wasn’t sure how they would weigh that when looking at applications! My worst grades were in math, I didn’t take anything but what was required ?

[xyzxyz123]

2 minutes ago, CaitlynM said:

I definitely agree! From what I was looking at, the program didn’t seem very math heavy, but I wasn’t sure how they would weigh that when looking at applications! My worst grades were in math, I didn’t take anything but what was required ?

???this aligns with my experience too...... do you mind sharing your stats? GPA, school went to, GRE/GMAT if you submitted, professional experiences....

[xyzxyz123]

6 minutes ago, CaitlynM said:

I definitely agree! From what I was looking at, the program didn’t seem very math heavy, but I wasn’t sure how they would weigh that when looking at applications! My worst grades were in math, I didn’t take anything but what was required ?

From watching videos and reading texts from the program’s websites, I think the program focuses more on analytics in education policy not like studying economics and math in the typical policy programs. So that’s why I think they would prefer students with critical thinking and analysis capabilities.... that’s my thoughts regarding their expectations.... I hope my consulting experiences may be helpful as for this program many graduates will go to become policy consultants....

[coonie99]

For my fellow ELOE applicants, do you all wanna share your stats? Here’s mine:

School: top 25 US private 

GPA: 3.8/4 with double major in PR and history 

GRE: N/A

Extracurriculars:

- I founded a university consulting startup half a year ago, which isn’t very long ago I guess. 

- I’m applying straight out of college but I’ve had a lot of PR-related internships, no full time job 

- I do education social media blogging where I teach English to speakers of other languages. Followers of 300k+ (Idk if this is a plus in the eyes of admission officers, or if it’s just something random) 

- I’m a licensed piano teacher so I’ve been teaching piano for several years. 

LOR: 3 profs

[hales1013]

1 minute ago, coonie99 said:

For my fellow ELOE applicants, do you all wanna share your stats? Here’s mine:

Good Idea! Here are my stats: 

School: Vanderbilt Peabody

GPA: 3.5ish/4 Human and Organizational Development (had rly low GPA for sophomore year but pulled it up later on)

GRE: V: 161, Q: 157, W: 5.0 

Experiences/Activities:

- A few internships in education and technology related companies
- I’m applying straight out of college as well but I tried to find internships and work every summer and winter break

- Took a gap year in Europe researching foreign language acquisition process

LOR: 2 professors, 1 from work

(Prolly won't be admitted due to inconsistent GPA. Also, I found out that I made several stupid grammatical errors in my essay after submission so...yeah...)

[hales1013]

Are you guys able to login to the application portal? For some reason, my old link is not working and I cannot seem to find the login page. Would we get a new link on Friday to check our decision?

[hmj598]

Everyone on the thread seems very competitive...hopefully we can all meet in person this Fall  

[hmj598]

5 minutes ago, hales1013 said:

Are you guys able to login to the application portal? For some reason, my old link is not working and I cannot seem to find the login page. Would we get a new link on Friday to check our decision?

I can access the portal. They send you a new link to login and check your admissions decision (I know from applying in the summer), so as long as you know your login information you should be fine! 

[hales1013]

2 minutes ago, hmj598 said:

I can access the portal. They send you a new link to login and check your admissions decision (I know from applying in the summer), so as long as you know your login information you should be fine! 

Do you mind sharing the portal link? 

[Alse14262331]

I’m also hoping that we hear decisions this Friday. However, a coworker of mine is on a committee that awards a scholarship for the master’s program (they’re not in admissions and don’t work at Harvard) and they mentioned to me that things were running a bit behind schedule this year. I didn’t push for more info, but I’m trying to be emotionally prepared for the possibility that this year may be a little bit later than typical. I really hope that’s not the case, though - waiting through January and February was hard enough!

[hmj598]

8 minutes ago, hales1013 said:

Do you mind sharing the portal link? 

Try this: https://apply.gse.harvard.edu/account/login?r=https%3a%2f%2fapply.gse.harvard.edu%2fapply%2fstatus

[hales1013]

1 minute ago, Alse14262331 said:

I’m also hoping that we hear decisions this Friday. However, a coworker of mine is on a committee that awards a scholarship for the master’s program (they’re not in admissions and don’t work at Harvard) and they mentioned to me that things were running a bit behind schedule this year. I didn’t push for more info, but I’m trying to be emotionally prepared for the possibility that this year may be a little bit later than typical. I really hope that’s not the case, though - waiting through January and February was hard enough!

I know...my anxiety is through the roof. I have to get back to another program by 3/12 and not knowing an exact date is stressing me out.

[hmj598]

15 minutes ago, hales1013 said:

I know...my anxiety is through the roof. I have to get back to another program by 3/12 and not knowing an exact date is stressing me out.

I don't know if you have already tried, but I would check to see if they might give you an extension? I was really stressed about that too and was able to get an extension until the end of March. 

[hales1013]

2 minutes ago, hmj598 said:

I don't know if you have already tried, but I would check to see if they might give you an extension? I was really stressed about that too and was able to get an extension until the end of March. 

Thanks for the suggestion. I will definitely give it a try if we don't hear back from Harvard this Friday. 

[CaitlynM]

1 hour ago, xyzxyz123 said:

???this aligns with my experience too...... do you mind sharing your stats? GPA, school went to, GRE/GMAT if you submitted, professional experiences....

Yeah of course, I’m happy to share! 

School: San Francisco State University

3.9 GPA, International Relations major and History minor. 

I transferred to SFSU from a community college in California so my stats are only what I did while at my main university.   

While at SFSU, I chaired the Academic Committee for the International Education Exchange Council, was a Presidents Leadership Fellow, and was a part of Sigma Iota Rho and the International Relations journal. My undergraduate thesis paper was 45 pages long and talked about how the US history education system is a form of propaganda and needs deep reform to resolve the cultural conflicts in the US. I submitted a piece of it for my writing sample. 

I worked on campus in the student government office and tutored multiple subjects, as well. I had an internship with the World Trade Organization, a research start up based out of London, volunteered at an art education non-profit, and am currently serving an Americorps position. 

I didn’t submit a GRE score to any schools. The timing was lucky for me and I didn’t ever have to take it.  

My LOR’s came from 2 professors (one IR and one History) and another professor who was also the supervisor for my student government job. 

I feel like my personal statement is fairly strong! Not 100% sure though ? I second guessed it a million times. Outside of school, I have a book published on Amazon and am an avid writer, I also have an blog where I write fiction stories!

Wow this post is long!!! Sorry about that ? what about you??