Teachers College Apps

[SnowKat]

I should have been on here before I applied!

I just applied to Teachers College last weekend, for their Higher and Postsecondary Education program. I have a 3.9 GPA at a Top-15 school, and have several years of work experience. I didn't have an academic reference, though, and my personal statement, in hindsight, was much too general (basically, a few stories from my job and little about my interest in higher ed or TC). I think I got complacent once I saw their acceptance rate was about 60 percent.

Did anyone get into TC or a comparable school without an academic reference, or with what they considered to be a crappy personal statement? Mine was two pages double-spaced, and even now I realize I don't know what "one to two pages" even means. Yeah, an overall failure.

[ZeChocMoose]

I should have been on here before I applied!

I just applied to Teachers College last weekend, for their Higher and Postsecondary Education program. I have a 3.9 GPA at a Top-15 school, and have several years of work experience. I didn't have an academic reference, though, and my personal statement, in hindsight, was much too general (basically, a few stories from my job and little about my interest in higher ed or TC). I think I got complacent once I saw their acceptance rate was about 60 percent.

Did anyone get into TC or a comparable school without an academic reference, or with what they considered to be a crappy personal statement? Mine was two pages double-spaced, and even now I realize I don't know what "one to two pages" even means. Yeah, an overall failure.

The good news is you have a strong GPA and work experience. Is your work experience in higher ed? The other good news is the 60% acceptance rate for TC. Hopefully it will be similar for this admission cycle.

I sat on my program's higher ed admission committee when I was a master's student so I have some insight into the process. It is a little unusual that you didn't include an academic reference. Generally, they want to hear from at least one professor on how well you write and communicate your ideas. What type of references did you include?

For your personal statement, it might be better than you think it is. Did you talk about why you are interested in pursuing the degree or what you hope to do with it when you graduate? In my experience, master's applicants can get away with being a bit general in their SOP, but doctoral applicants cannot.

At this point, there is not much you can do, but to hope for the best. I know that is hard to do as I also think about what I could have done better with my own applications. Did you apply to any other programs or just TC? When I was applying for master's programs in higher ed, the best advice that I received was not to pay for my master's degree as there are plenty of great programs that give you full tuition remission and a stipend. I highly, highly recommend to follow this advice. I didn't apply to TC, but I have heard that the funding isn't so great at the master's or doctoral level. I also wouldn't recommend taking out too many loans as the starting salary for a recent master's graduate in higher ed is usually around 40 - 45K (sometimes even lower in certain areas).

I wish you the best of luck!

[SnowKat]

Thank you for such a kind reply. There really is no point to asking questions after I've sent in the app, but oh well. I was thinking of deferring admission, anyway, so I guess I could do it better next year. I don't even really know what deferral entails, in terms of whether it has you at the front of the line for scholarships or the back, and the same for housing. I didn't want to ask about it, because I thought it would hurt my chances this year. I just want to get in so I can start planning my life.

I don't yet know what reapplication includes, but can you use the same recommendations and transcripts and everything, and just rewrite the personal statement and resume?

I am going to apply to at least one state school that has a later deadline, and I'll try to do better (I think that school offers tuition remission for part-time employment). My personal statement was more of a story about my job. For example, I discussed a person I admired, and just described some of the things he did, and didn't add a line to say, "That's how I learned the small things matter," or something like that. I just provided an example of a small thing that mattered a lot to me, and didn't say I want to emulate him when I work in higher education (even though, of course, I do). I hope that makes sense, and I hope the admission committee doesn't need me to overly explain things to them. I'm just wondering if I should have explained things more, or if they can read into what I have written. I guess it reveals some of the things I admire, and the kind of person I want to be.

I did talk briefly about what I want to do in higher education, and showed that I was more interested in working with students than being a researcher.

My job has been more with K-12 education, so I hope they aren't insulted that I think it can help with higher education. My references were from professionals who are familiar with my writing, so I thought that would be kind of professorial. My personal statement also talked about how I am a bit shy, or used to be a bit shy, and, again, hopefully they can read into that and conclude I didn't really talk to my professors, but I would now, if given the chance. Again, I should have spelled things out more, maybe.

Basically, the personal statement was about working with someone and developing a relationship with him that made me a more confident individual. So it wasn't really a higher education personal statement, but more just a story of an important time in my life. I hope it works.

All in all, this has been a good learning experience, and I think already I could put together a stronger application.

I had attended some workshops on law school personal statements, so I wrote my personal statement like that, and I don't know if it's supposed to be different for graduate school.

Edited January 18, 2011 by SnowKat

[ZeChocMoose]

I don't even really know what deferral entails, in terms of whether it has you at the front of the line for scholarships or the back, and the same for housing. I didn't want to ask about it, because I thought it would hurt my chances this year. I just want to get in so I can start planning my life.

This varies from program to program. I remember we had someone who deferred a year before I reviewed apps and so he/she ended up in the pool of candidates that we were reviewing. This person got reviewed again with all the regular applicants. I am not sure if that person used the same application or if they updated his/her resume and SOP.

My personal statement was more of a story about my job. For example, I discussed a person I admired, and just described some of the things he did, and didn't add a line to say, "That's how I learned the small things matter," or something like that. I just provided an example of a small thing that mattered a lot to me, and didn't say I want to emulate him when I work in higher education (even though, of course, I do). I hope that makes sense, and I hope the admission committee doesn't need me to overly explain things to them. I'm just wondering if I should have explained things more, or if they can read into what I have written.

Since admission committees tend to read a lot of SOPs in a short amount of time usually it is best to clearly connect the dots (so to speak) for them. If you have time, you might want to revise your SOP for the state school.

My job has been more with K-12 education, so I hope they aren't insulted that I think it can help with higher education.

In my experience, there are a fair amount of people with K-12 experience that make the transition to higher ed (especially former hs teachers). I definitely don't think they will be insulted at all! Some people talk about how they are interested in helping hs graduates transition to college thus tying in their professional experience with their current academic goals in the program.

Basically, the personal statement was about working with someone and developing a relationship with him that made me a more confident individual. So it wasn't really a higher education personal statement, but more just a story of an important time in my life. I hope it works.

I would suggest to make a stronger connection to the field of higher ed in your SOP. Admission committees like to see that you are interested and vested in the field. Some of this is because when the course work or life as a grad student becomes challenging, they might be concerned that you will not have enough motivation to finish (which ultimately hurts their retention). Generally they select applicants who they believe will finish the program. A strong personal interest in the field is a good signal of this. If you decide to revise, I would also suggest talking about why you are interested in that specific higher ed program as well. It shows that you have done your research and have concluded that you are a good fit for the program. This is important because it is something that they will be looking for as well. If you can clearly and concisely explain why it will put you ahead of the other candidates.

Good luck!

[mrniceguy]

I also applied to TC ( different program) but you can actually edit your Personal Statement even though you already submitted... you just have to call the admissions office and they will give you directions on how to do so... I am actually a very similar applicant to you. 3.9 GPA, top 15 school etc etc etc. I visited TC last year and spoke with a professor in my program and what she told me to do for the statement is be as clear as possible. She said its ok to go two pages as long as you're clearly addressing the questions they ask in the 'guide to admissions'. Work experience, graduate ambitions, professional ambitions, research interests/aspirations, why TC?, how can TC help you reach your goals... thats what she said to include in the statement. She also said it is very important to get your app. in by the Jan. 15th deadline..

good luck

[SnowKat]

Yeah, it was one of those things where I work professionally as a writer. So I spent all my time worrying about recommendations and transcripts and everything, and then the personal statement turned out pretty weak. I mean, people who know me think it's great and honestly reflects who I am, but people who don't know me probably won't think of it as much of a big deal.

Can I edit it and still "make" the Jan. 15 deadline? I always feel weird about calling up the admissions offices, as if they would write down any "dumb" questions.

[mrniceguy]

I wouldnt worry about them writing down any dumb questions haha just dont tell them your name! btw how many recs did you get? it says on the site only two but i was told to get three..

[AppPsycholinX]

I applied to applied linguistics Ed.D program in TC, anxiously waiting for the results

Good luck, everyone.

[meme123]

Hi

I've applied to Applied Linguistics program at TC,Columbia University

but, I haven't submitted by application yet because my ielts score is a little bit low

I am an international student and my GPA is 3.7 BA in English Language

I think my personal statement is good ,i've written everything my experience, education Also I have a scholarship and I wrote this in my SOP

what are my chances to get into TC,Columbia University if my ielts score does not meet the minimum requirements?

Thanks