where should I apply next year?

[HigherEd2013]

Hi all,

I'm already thinking about where I want to apply next year (to begin a grad program in Fall 2012) and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions especially since many of you just went through the application process and have gotten a chance to visit schools.

Stats:

- graduating from a good public university this May with a 3.78 overall GPA, 4.0 major GPA (Psychology)

- GRE: 670V, 740M, 5.0 writing

- research experience (all in psych): 2 semesters in two different labs, senior thesis that could sort of be applied to education, conference presentation, undergraduate research fellow (basically just given some money to do my thesis)

- applied experience: peer advisor for 3 years; mentor and tutor for 1; will have 1 year of working experience with high school students as a college adviser (ie. advising them how to pick a college, how to do financial aid etc.)

- various leadership roles, honor societies etc.

I realize that LOR and SOP are almost more important than all of that but I figured my stats wouldn't hurt. I think I'm most interested in having a career in student affairs/higher education where I would be able to work with college students in some sort of administrative role. Maybe eventually running some sort of honors program or program for at risk students? I'm starting to look at MEd. programs. I was thinking about WashU's Graduate Program in Higher Education.

Ideas? Suggestions? Thanks!

[DrKT]

Sounds like you're doing everything right to me! Your stats sounds excellent, especially for making the switch from psychology to Higher Education.

I think the biggest challenge will be to package everything together. Get good letters of recommendation from people who can truly speak to your character, experience, aptitude and interests. Ask early and give reminders. Also your personal statement essay will be key to getting in. I would spend a lot of time and effort working on it.

Are you only planning on applying to one university? Is it possible to do a campus visit and schedule time to meet with some of the professors in the department you're interested in?

Good luck, I think you'll do very well!

[ZeChocMoose]

I am not familiar with WUSTL's program so I can't help there. I will say that higher ed/student affairs programs can be really different-- some focus on counseling and student development issues while others focus on policy, research, and administration. Depending on what you hope to get out of the program can help you decide what type of program is better for your professional and academic interests. Your best bet is to look at the core curriculum and the other requirements (internships, comprehensive exams, thesis, etc) that you need to complete to get a degree. I would also look at what the faculty are researching to see if it interests you. Typically those interests are the available elective courses. Lastly, I would contact current faculty and students to get their perspective on the program.

Also I would look at the funding situation at the programs that you are interested in. As there are a fair amount of programs that offer full funding to their master's students, I would hesitate to take out loans for the degree.

Good luck!

[t_ruth]

There might also be EDD programs that meet your needs, if you wanted more than a Masters.

Sorry I'm not more familiar--I think it's a different process for Masters & EDDs than for PhDs (where research interest doesn't really matter since you aren't looking for a research degree).

Good luck!

[kismetcapitan]

I strongly recommend visiting schools and meeting in person the professors you'd be studying with. It makes a world of difference, and you also get to find out exactly which school fits you.

[HigherEd2013]

This may be a stupid question, but is the application for a Masters program the same as PhD? When I applied to PhD programs in psychology, I was applying to work with particular professors rather than simply the school. Therefore, one of the most important considerations was how closely my research interests matched those of the professors. So when applying to masters programs, should I be looking for a particular mentor (ie. I should tailor my personal statement to them)?

Or was that just a suggestion to note the types of professors who would be teaching the classes?

Thanks!

Edited May 5, 2011 by psychapplicant

[t_ruth]

This may be a stupid question, but is the application for a Masters program the same as PhD? When I applied to PhD programs in psychology, I was applying to work with particular professors rather than simply the school. Therefore, one of the most important considerations was how closely my research interests matched those of the professors. So when applying to masters programs, should I be looking for a particular mentor (ie. I should tailor my personal statement to them)?

Or was that just a suggestion to note the types of professors who would be teaching the classes?

Thanks!

I think it depends on the school/program, but many Masters programs in Education aren't really research degrees (at least not in the same way a PhD is), so I wouldn't think you'd apply to work with a specific professor, but I could be wrong...

[nanducket]

You should look at Harvard GSE's program, Human Development and Psychology : http://gseweb.harvard.edu/academics/masters/hdp/index.html

[ZeChocMoose]

Since you said you were interested in Higher Ed Master's programs, some are research intensive and you do work on research teams with professors so it would be important to make sure there is a decent research fit between yourself and 1-2 members of the faculty. That being said that are some Higher Ed Master's programs that are more management and admin based and do not have a focus on research methodology or even require any basic understanding of statistics or research design. It would depend on what type of program that you are interested in attending. That being said-- it is still important to look at faculty interests to make sure there are elective courses that you would like to take.

Edited May 9, 2011 by ZeChocMoose