Ph.D. Admission chances

[JCP82]

Hello! I am strongly considering applying to some Ph.D. programs in education policy in a couple of years. I am unsure whether I have a decent shot at getting into a good Ph.D. program, and figured I would seek some outside opinion. Here's a little about my background:

• B.S. in Economics with minors in Math and Music from Tulane University (3.2 GPA, 3.3 GPA in major)
• M.A. in Political Science with a certificate in Political Campaigning from the University of Florida (3.8 GPA)
• Teach for America alum (Mississippi Delta '04)
• I don't remember my GRE scores (I took it in 2005, and will need to retake before applying to Ph.D. programs) but verbal and quantitative were both approx. 85-90th percentile, and 99% analytical
• Lots of leadership experience when I was an undergrad
• Work experience includes a 10 month internship at a polling firm, working on several campaigns, and now working as the only Legislative Aide for a member of the Florida House of Representatives (I do a lot of policy-related research and help my boss draft language for bills, and have done extensive work on 2 major pieces of education reform legislation). I have held this position for 2 years, and will probably hold it a total of 3-4 years before entering a Ph.D. program

The schools I am looking at include Vanderbilt, Harvard, Penn, Wisconsin, and Michigan. I'm open to suggestions on other programs to conside.

My main concerns about my chances of admission stem from the fact that my grades in several of my economics and math classes as an undergrad were in the B range, and I may have even gotten a C in one of my math classes (I didn't decide to minor in math until the summer after my Junior year, so my senior year was pretty intense academically and between that and my leadership roles on campus I was stretched pretty thin). I have also lost contact with all of my undergrad professors (including my thesis advisor, who seems to have completely vanished from the face of the earth), so all my letters of recommendation would have to come from either my current boss or my political science professors.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read all of this and give me your thoughts!

Edited October 1, 2010 by JCP82

[Ed_Doc]

Hello! I am strongly considering applying to some Ph.D. programs in education policy in a couple of years. I am unsure whether I have a decent shot at getting into a good Ph.D. program, and figured I would seek some outside opinion. Here's a little about my background:

• B.S. in Economics with minors in Math and Music from Tulane University (3.2 GPA, 3.3 GPA in major)
• M.A. in Political Science with a certificate in Political Campaigning from the University of Florida (3.8 GPA)
• Teach for America alum (Mississippi Delta '04)
• I don't remember my GRE scores (I took it in 2005, and will need to retake before applying to Ph.D. programs) but verbal and quantitative were both approx. 85-90th percentile, and 99% analytical
• Lots of leadership experience when I was an undergrad
• Work experience includes a 10 month internship at a polling firm, working on several campaigns, and now working as the only Legislative Aide for a member of the Florida House of Representatives (I do a lot of policy-related research and help my boss draft language for bills, and have done extensive work on 2 major pieces of education reform legislation). I have held this position for 2 years, and will probably hold it a total of 3-4 years before entering a Ph.D. program

The schools I am looking at include Vanderbilt, Harvard, Penn, Wisconsin, and Michigan. I'm open to suggestions on other programs to conside.

My main concerns about my chances of admission stem from the fact that my grades in several of my economics and math classes as an undergrad were in the B range, and I may have even gotten a C in one of my math classes (I didn't decide to minor in math until the summer after my Junior year, so my senior year was pretty intense academically and between that and my leadership roles on campus I was stretched pretty thin). I have also lost contact with all of my undergrad professors (including my thesis advisor, who seems to have completely vanished from the face of the earth), so all my letters of recommendation would have to come from either my current boss or my political science professors.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read all of this and give me your thoughts!

You've got a lot going for you to help offset the low-ish Undergrad GPA: A strong Graduate level GPA, presumably strong GRE scores, and experience. I wouldn't worry too much about that. Experience and personal growth trump undergrad scores, in my opinion.

[t_ruth]

I agree. Don't sweat the undergrad GPA or the fact that your letters will come from your MA professors. Since it doesn't appear you have academic research experience (or experience really similar to academic research), you might want to highlight the elements of your polling and legislative experience that involved research-type skills.

As for school recommendations, what specifically are you interested in studying? Instead of picking schools by the name/reputation of the school, you should really be picking your schools based on advisor and research focus area. This will increase your odds (and your likelihood of being happy once you are in the program).

[JCP82]

I wrote a number of academic research papers in grad school, and the equivalent of an honors thesis as an undergrad. None of it was published, nor was it as rigorous as a dissertation, but I certainly understand a wide variety of research methods and know how/when to apply them. But I suppose there is really no way to show this in an application unless a writing sample is required/accepted.

My research interests are best described as measurement of teacher quality and the personnel decisions that stem therefrom (merit pay, tenure, etc). I am also interested in studying charter schools.

Peabody is especially interesting to me for this reason. They are doing cutting edge research in both of these fields.

Thanks for the replies so far!

[JCP82]

One of the benefits I get through work is that I can take up to 6 credits per semester at any state university for free. I've been looking at this program at Florida State:

http://www.fsu.edu/~elps/ela/masters.html

They offer courses during the summer, so I'd be able to complete the degree in 2 calendar years, even though I would only be taking 2 classes per term, and the degree wouldn't cost me a penny. It's designed for school/district administration rather than policy, but I think that is okay - the research I want to do has a lot of administrative implications and I think this would serve as useful background information before entering a Ph.D. program. It would also give me an opportunity to get some more good grades on record to counterbalance some of my lower undergrad grades.

I've been tentatively planning on applying to the Ph.D. program next winter to begin in the fall of 2012. Assuming I started this FSU program next summer, I would graduate in the spring of 2013, so my Ph.D. would be delayed by 1 year.

Does this seem like something worth pursuing?

[t_ruth]

Not quite sure what another MA would add...

Your other MA grades are enough I think.

Instead, you might want to register as degree-holding/non-degree-seeking somewhere and do units of undergraduate research with a professor whose work you really like. You can do three units of this and three units of random classes you want to take (statistics if you need it). This way you aren't tied down to a 2-year program, but can just do stuff more in line with your research interests.