Penn GSE PhD Decisions

[musicalminded]

Does anyone know if Penn GSE has sent out emails for interviews? I applied for the PhD in Education Policy program and haven't heard anything yet. Thanks!

[rallen]

I applied to the same program and haven't heard anything yet. I'm thinking the next few days

[musicalminded]

Thanks for letting me know! Please let me know if you hear anything this week.

[RyanHGSE17]

Every year for the last ... 5 years at least(?)... they've sent on the third Friday of January. That would have been last Friday. My guess is that they delayed by one week because the first Friday was a holiday (Jan 1st). Or just nobody posted their interview invite. Last year mine came around 10:30 am EST on the third Friday. Classes started one week late this year at Penn, so I would not be surprised if they simply delayed a week. Usually the faculty meet during the second week of January, then each department chair sends a list of their finalists by that Friday to the dean. Then the dean and the admin people spend about a week reviewing and confirming the finalists. Then they send out an email to all the depatment chairs with a list of all the finalists. The admin making preparations, putts together the email list. Then, that Friday, all the finalists get the email from GSE (not the septic department or advisor), inviting them to doctoral weekend (which last I understood, was still going to happen but virtually this year, for obvious reasons). Some departments start reviewing and reach decisions internally even beforewinter break, but nothing is finalized until their deadline the dean (or vice dean or whatever it is) approves it.

Very short answer, I'd imagine, if they haven't sent it yet, that wouldn't be unusual, and that they will send invites this Friday instead. Their interview invites are sent formally, everyone gets them at the same time. 

[musicalminded]

23 hours ago, RyanHGSE17 said:

Every year for the last ... 5 years at least(?)... they've sent on the third Friday of January. That would have been last Friday. My guess is that they delayed by one week because the first Friday was a holiday (Jan 1st). Or just nobody posted their interview invite. Last year mine came around 10:30 am EST on the third Friday. Classes started one week late this year at Penn, so I would not be surprised if they simply delayed a week. Usually the faculty meet during the second week of January, then each department chair sends a list of their finalists by that Friday to the dean. Then the dean and the admin people spend about a week reviewing and confirming the finalists. Then they send out an email to all the depatment chairs with a list of all the finalists. The admin making preparations, putts together the email list. Then, that Friday, all the finalists get the email from GSE (not the septic department or advisor), inviting them to doctoral weekend (which last I understood, was still going to happen but virtually this year, for obvious reasons). Some departments start reviewing and reach decisions internally even beforewinter break, but nothing is finalized until their deadline the dean (or vice dean or whatever it is) approves it.

Very short answer, I'd imagine, if they haven't sent it yet, that wouldn't be unusual, and that they will send invites this Friday instead. Their interview invites are sent formally, everyone gets them at the same time. 

Appreciate you taking the time to share this. At this point I know I can't do anything further, so it's out of my hands. Just looking forward to hearing one way or the other. Thanks again!

[phdhopeful27]

I got an email this afternoon at 3:49pm that I got an interview!! Good luck to everyone else! Hope you all got good news too! 

Anyone know approximately how many people they interview? I know there's only 15 PhD spots each year, but no clue how many get interviews.

[musicalminded]

50 minutes ago, phdhopeful27 said:

I got an email this afternoon at 3:49pm that I got an interview!! Good luck to everyone else! Hope you all got good news too! 

Anyone know approximately how many people they interview? I know there's only 15 PhD spots each year, but no clue how many get interviews.

Congrats!! What program did you apply for, and if you don't mind me asking what were your GRE scores, and what did you use to study? Good luck on your interview!

[phdhopeful27]

2 hours ago, musicalminded said:

Congrats!! What program did you apply for, and if you don't mind me asking what were your GRE scores, and what did you use to study? Good luck on your interview!

Thanks! I applied for Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education. My GRE was 164 (verbal), 155 (quant), and 5.5 (writing). I did practice about 20-30 mins a day minimum and when I could I did more for about two weeks. I used one of the Barron’s review test books and the free stuff I could get with Magoosh. I also did one of the practice tests online when you sign up. I was going to apply next year but my school district is handling covid reallllllly poorly so I tried to squeeze in a few apps this year. Normally would’ve spent more time on it but just didn’t have it since I made my mind up Nov 1 ? 

[ir_ma]

@phdhopeful27 Congrats! Was it an invitation to the doctoral weekend or an interview with your POI?

[phdhopeful27]

7 hours ago, ir_ma said:

@phdhopeful27 Congrats! Was it an invitation to the doctoral weekend or an interview with your POI?

An invitation to doctoral weekend. It said we’ll get the details of our interview on Wednesday, but gave an agenda for some other stuff (speakers, a panel, etc) too. Unfortunately, but predictably, it’s all virtual this year. 

[musicalminded]

13 hours ago, phdhopeful27 said:

Thanks! I applied for Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education. My GRE was 164 (verbal), 155 (quant), and 5.5 (writing). I did practice about 20-30 mins a day minimum and when I could I did more for about two weeks. I used one of the Barron’s review test books and the free stuff I could get with Magoosh. I also did one of the practice tests online when you sign up. I was going to apply next year but my school district is handling covid reallllllly poorly so I tried to squeeze in a few apps this year. Normally would’ve spent more time on it but just didn’t have it since I made my mind up Nov 1 ? 

Thanks for letting me know that! I'm going to guess at this point that I will not receive an invite, and I only have one other application out. Instead I'm going to work on improving my GRE score and apply to more schools for the following application cycle. Also I can totally relate to the school district issue  My school district is also not handling it well at all. Have a great weekend!

[phdhopeful27]

13 minutes ago, musicalminded said:

Thanks for letting me know that! I'm going to guess at this point that I will not receive an invite, and I only have one other application out. Instead I'm going to work on improving my GRE score and apply to more schools for the following application cycle. Also I can totally relate to the school district issue  My school district is also not handling it well at all. Have a great weekend!

Unfortunately I’d agree. We have to RSVP by Monday at 5, so they’re probably all out by now.  I think working on your gre is a good idea. Were you able to talk to your prospective PI before submitting? I emailed the professor I want to work with and was able to chat for ~30 mins in nov. I don’t know for sure, but I think that helped too. I did it with some other PIs at other schools and was able to get a better idea of fit from them. If you weren’t able to do that this time, I’d definitely recommend that next round. And lots and lots of people read my statement for edits. But you’ve still got another app out! And there’s still so much time for stuff to happen this round.  

[Anthony81]

phdhopeful27

Congratulations on your invite! I have been invited as well. I’m super nervous but excited. I’ve been reading various opinions about the interviews. I’ve read there is a chance one could be rejected after an interview and I’ve also read that this is nothing more than a formality and that those invited would be admitted if they do not do anything crazy. I’ll make sure I’m prepared either way but oh man am I nervous. Good luck!

[musicalminded]

On 1/23/2021 at 9:42 AM, phdhopeful27 said:

Unfortunately I’d agree. We have to RSVP by Monday at 5, so they’re probably all out by now.  I think working on your gre is a good idea. Were you able to talk to your prospective PI before submitting? I emailed the professor I want to work with and was able to chat for ~30 mins in nov. I don’t know for sure, but I think that helped too. I did it with some other PIs at other schools and was able to get a better idea of fit from them. If you weren’t able to do that this time, I’d definitely recommend that next round. And lots and lots of people read my statement for edits. But you’ve still got another app out! And there’s still so much time for stuff to happen this round.  

Phdhopeful27: I emailed two professors at Penn and got responses back from both. The one told me that programs were accepting reduced numbers this year and even recommended applying again next year if this year was unsuccessful. She also encouraged me to apply to multiple programs within the GSE to maximize chances of acceptance. Since I waited so late to email, I got her response after the application deadline.

As a person that normally plans ahead, I did not do that very well at all with these applications. I did not email any prospective faculty at my other school, so for next round, I will be sure to do that   I did have friends read and edit my statement. 

I know you're right that there's still more time, but I'm trying to be a realist for myself  Now that I finally feel like I have virtual teaching under control, I can dedicate more time after work to studying. 

Phdhopeful27 and Anthony81: If you two remember, please let me know what exactly happens at interview weekend and how it goes. There's a lot I have to learn so that I'm better prepared next round  

 

[Anthony81]

Phdhopeful27,

No problem. I’ll reach out and let you know the details. 

[LilyKitty]

Hi guys,

Thank you all for providing these informative details. I also applied to PhD in UPenn GSE for the Reading/Writing/Literacy program this year, but have yet to receive any notification. Looks like I have to prepare for the next year application. Just wondering if all programs within GSE send interview invitation around the same time?

[LilyKitty]

6 minutes ago, LilyKitty said:

Hi guys,

Thank you all for providing these informative details. I also applied to PhD in UPenn GSE for the Reading/Writing/Literacy program this year, but have yet to receive any notification. Looks like I have to prepare for the next year application. Just wondering if all programs within GSE send interview invitation around the same time?

Oh just read through the information and solve my question. Hope I can do better next year:).

[LilyKitty]

On 1/20/2021 at 8:27 AM, RyanHGSE17 said:

Every year for the last ... 5 years at least(?)... they've sent on the third Friday of January. That would have been last Friday. My guess is that they delayed by one week because the first Friday was a holiday (Jan 1st). Or just nobody posted their interview invite. Last year mine came around 10:30 am EST on the third Friday. Classes started one week late this year at Penn, so I would not be surprised if they simply delayed a week. Usually the faculty meet during the second week of January, then each department chair sends a list of their finalists by that Friday to the dean. Then the dean and the admin people spend about a week reviewing and confirming the finalists. Then they send out an email to all the depatment chairs with a list of all the finalists. The admin making preparations, putts together the email list. Then, that Friday, all the finalists get the email from GSE (not the septic department or advisor), inviting them to doctoral weekend (which last I understood, was still going to happen but virtually this year, for obvious reasons). Some departments start reviewing and reach decisions internally even beforewinter break, but nothing is finalized until their deadline the dean (or vice dean or whatever it is) approves it.

Very short answer, I'd imagine, if they haven't sent it yet, that wouldn't be unusual, and that they will send invites this Friday instead. Their interview invites are sent formally, everyone gets them at the same time. 

Your information is really helpful! Besides interview invites, could you please (if you know) share with us when the rejection notification usually comes out? Thank you:).

Edited February 3, 2021 by LilyKitty

[RyanHGSE17]

Third week in Feb, could be 4th this time as everything was a week delayed.

[LilyKitty]

16 hours ago, RyanHGSE17 said:

Third week in Feb, could be 4th this time as everything was a week delayed.

Aha, but I see two lucky candidates above having been invited to interview weekend virtually. Seems the ball rolls in its original schedule lol. Thank you so much for your informative help:).

[RyanHGSE17]

5 hours ago, LilyKitty said:

Aha, but I see two lucky candidates above having been invited to interview weekend virtually. Seems the ball rolls in its original schedule lol. Thank you so much for your informative help:).

No, as I said earlier. This year interview invitations were sent one week later than usual. This is not "its original schedule" They are always sent on the the 3rd Friday in January. But, as the third Friday in January was a holiday, they were sent in the 4th. That is not the original schedule.

Rejection and Admission notifications come at the same time for all candidates. Previously, when interviews were held in person over a weekend, sometimes faculty found ways of informally notifying candidates of their admission or favorability, in particular, for inside candidates. 

Rejection and admission notices will come during the final week of February, or, if notices are delayed by one week as invites were, you will receive notification in the first week of March. All notices are sent at roughly the same time, I believe. These notices are sent formally though the Apply Web system, unless you are a Fulbright scholar.

[Anthony81]

 Musicalminded,

Doctoral weekend was today. Started with an introduction from Dean. Then we were divided into breakout rooms with program faculty and the other applicants to your particular program. They asked for you to talk a little bit about yourself and what brought you to Penn. That was an hour and then there was a research poster session where current students break down what they are researching. We rotated to different breakout rooms. After that there was an interactive learning activity involving everyone throughout all of the programs. We were sent in different breakout rooms for that as well. That was pretty much it as far as group activities. Afterwards were the actual one-on-one interviews with faculty. Mine was 3 hours after the other activities. 20 minutes, pretty informal and friendly. Just have a good grasp on what you want to research and why you like Penn. And have a few good questions to ask faculty. 

[musicalminded]

10 hours ago, Anthony81 said:

 Musicalminded,

Doctoral weekend was today. Started with an introduction from Dean. Then we were divided into breakout rooms with program faculty and the other applicants to your particular program. They asked for you to talk a little bit about yourself and what brought you to Penn. That was an hour and then there was a research poster session where current students break down what they are researching. We rotated to different breakout rooms. After that there was an interactive learning activity involving everyone throughout all of the programs. We were sent in different breakout rooms for that as well. That was pretty much it as far as group activities. Afterwards were the actual one-on-one interviews with faculty. Mine was 3 hours after the other activities. 20 minutes, pretty informal and friendly. Just have a good grasp on what you want to research and why you like Penn. And have a few good questions to ask faculty. 

@Anthony81, I appreciate you coming back to let me know how it was laid out. Hope everything went well for you!!

[Inging_329]

Does anyone who applied to Learning Science and Technology Design Program got interviewed by POI but didn't get invited to the Doctoral Weekend? Already got an admission from another dream school but still feel sad about Upenn. ?

Edited February 9, 2021 by Inging_329

[LilyKitty]

11 hours ago, Inging_329 said:

Does anyone who applied to Learning Science and Technology Design Program got interviewed by POI but didn't get invited to the Doctoral Weekend? Already got an admission from another dream school but still feel sad about Upenn. ?

Hi,

When did you get interviewed by POI? Earlier or later then the Doctoral weekend? I also talked to my POI but ended up without being invited to the event. I think you did a fantastic job! You got an ad from your dream school anyways! Cheer up and don't feel sad:).