Seeking Advice - Settle or Reapply?

[jimindc]

I was rejected from HGSE this week and am trying to decide what to do. Any thoughts, advice, etc. is appreciated, especially from Ed school alumni, either at HGSE or anywhere else!

My profile:

~3.6 GPA, top 20 state school, humanities major

GRE: 670 V, 720 Q, 5.0 W

Work Experience: 4 years in admissions at small private HS, currently on senior admin team (no teaching exp.)

Other: serve on volunteer alumni boards at my college and HS, volunteer tutor at inner city school

I applied to the EPM program at Harvard and was rejected. Honestly, for my interests and experience, school leadership might have been more appropriate-- but I liked EPM's flexibility and thought it would be a more versatile degree than school leadership. So I guess in my SOP I tried to sound more interested in ed policy than I really am, and maybe that showed through.

I only applied to 2 programs and HGSE was by far my top choice. I also applied to Penn's school leadership program, which sounds great too, but is pretty different. (The Penn program is one weekend per month and one night per month online, plus 2 weeks in the summer, for one year, so I'd still work full time at my school and commute on those weekends.) Because of when my application was completed, it will probably be a few more weeks before I hear from Penn.

Anyway, I'm trying to decide whether it's worth even thinking about reapplying to HGSE, perhaps in the SL program next year. I was excited about the possibility of HGSE, going to school full time, meeting new people and getting involved in stuff outside the classroom, which wouldn't be the case at Penn.

Or, if I get into Penn, should I just go ahead and accept their offer? It's a great school too, and financially it would be great not to have to interrupt my career. My GRE also expires this year, so I'd have to take it again if I were to reapply (ugh).

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge about reapplying to HGSE or other education schools? Do I stand a chance? Is it worth the stress and time involved? Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

[michigan girl]

I would wait to see what your financial aid package looks like for Penn GSE before you make a decision.. If Penn GSE offers you a scholarship, I don't see why you should pass it up.

[PhDreams]

I agree with Michigan Girl. And while we're at it... Penn is nothing to scoff at. It's an amazingggg school. I didn't get in hahah but if I would have, it would have made my decision so much more difficult.

[Revo]

Ditto to Michigan Girl and FutureEdStudent12. Penn is a great school, and if you can get an acceptance and money out of them, that would definitely be worth considering.

[jimindc]

Good advice all. Thanks!

[wildviolet]

I applied to the EPM program at Harvard and was rejected. Honestly, for my interests and experience, school leadership might have been more appropriate-- but I liked EPM's flexibility and thought it would be a more versatile degree than school leadership. So I guess in my SOP I tried to sound more interested in ed policy than I really am, and maybe that showed through.

This.

When I was the director of a summer space science enrichment program for talented middle school students, I had to read through students' application essays to select the top students who would do well in our program. For 90% of the students, it was fairly apparent if their interests would be a good fit for the program. I denied admission to one student based on the lack of enthusiasm in his essay--later, his mother called me and asked for his application to be reconsidered because his best friend had gotten into the program and she was hoping the boys would be able to go to science camp together. No problem, I thought--his parents could afford to pay for the spot, which allowed me to offer more need-based scholarships to other applicants. Well... it turns out my initial evaluation was correct. He turned out to be one of our major behavioral issues, and I was sorry that I had relented to pressure from the parent.

So, my long-winded point is... perhaps it's all for the best. You may not have been happy there if ed policy is not your true interest.

Edited for grammar!

Edited March 10, 2012 by wildviolet

[emmm]

If you view the other school as "settling," you probably should reapply. And if you really want the "full grad school experience," yes, wait and reapply.

[jimindc]

I guess what I'm trying to figure out is whether I have a shot at being accepted if I reapply. Given my stats/experience, am I going to have a hard time getting into HGSE regardless, or would I have a good chance if I applied to a "better fit" program and had a better essay?

Also, any thoughts on reapplying in general after having been rejected? Is it sort of a "scarlet letter"? To have any chance, will I need a drastically improved application (e.g. perfect GREs, additional significant experience, amazing recs), or will I be treated pretty much the same as someone applying for the first time?

[michigan girl]

OP, you stated that your GRE expires this year and you applied to Penn GSE's school leadership program. If accepted, you will have the chance to keep your full-time job too. If Penn GSE offers you scholarship money, I would take the offer. The GRE also changed last year, and you would have to pay more money to study and retake the exam. Be glad that you won't have to go into a lot of debt for a degree that would grant you similar opportunities as HGSE. This isn't business school or law school where the name of the school determines your future salary potential and job placement.

[Revo]

OP, you stated that your GRE expires this year and you applied to Penn GSE's school leadership program. If accepted, you will have the chance to keep your full-time job too. If Penn GSE offers you scholarship money, I would take the offer. The GRE also changed last year, and you would have to pay more money to study and retake the exam. Be glad that you won't have to go into a lot of debt for a degree that would grant you similar opportunities as HGSE. This isn't business school or law school where the name of the school determines your future salary potential and job placement.

The name of the school can matter to some degree depending on the specific subfield of education (a highly disproportionate number of administrators at my universities, particularly upper-level ones, went to "prestigious" schools), but for these purposes, Penn and Harvard are both great schools. It's not like in the law school world where being #4 gives you notably different career prospects than #10 which is also notably different from #15 (and so on).

Also, your GRE point is excellent (although I suspect some schools will continue to accept the pre-revision scores for a few more years) as are your points on not taking on debt.

[wildviolet]

I guess what I'm trying to figure out is whether I have a shot at being accepted if I reapply. Given my stats/experience, am I going to have a hard time getting into HGSE regardless, or would I have a good chance if I applied to a "better fit" program and had a better essay?

Also, any thoughts on reapplying in general after having been rejected? Is it sort of a "scarlet letter"? To have any chance, will I need a drastically improved application (e.g. perfect GREs, additional significant experience, amazing recs), or will I be treated pretty much the same as someone applying for the first time?

It sounds like you are really set on Harvard. There are several threads about second rounds of applications on GC. From what I've read, it seems like some people do much better and get accepted and others are still denied admission and give up hope of attending grad school. My honest two cents is that not everyone can go to Harvard. Doesn't mean that you can't try (I always encourage people to try).

[wildviolet]

This isn't business school or law school where the name of the school determines your future salary potential and job placement.

I complete agree!

[PhDreams]

Not to beat a dead horse, but Penn is an outstanding institution. We're not talking about some small local uni with no name recognition... It's Penn!!! I think that you have to want to go to Harvard because the program is a better "fit" and not because it's "Harvard." I chose Harvard because their AIE program can uniquely help me achieve my goals. Although TC is equally prestigious, their program was more language centered and would ultimately restrict my research focus. Harvard was the obvious choice based on those things. I think that you have a fabulous option in front of you (an option that some of us didn't have... Myself included!) so don't dwell on it. You know what is best for yourself and you know where your heart is. If you don't think Penn will help you reach your goals then don't go! But make sure that what you want is the best program and not the name (which btw Penn is a nice little name to have on your CV too!). Best of luck!

[jimindc]

Great advice, thanks a lot everyone!

I'm still waiting to hear from Penn, so I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch (even though I kind of was in my original post!) If I get in (big if!) I'll probably accept their offer, for all the good reasons cited here. If not, well, I'll probably reapply to both of these schools, as well as apply to some others, a couple of years down the road.

I'll let you know what happens!

[FreedomInEducation]

I was rejected from HGSE this week and am trying to decide what to do. Any thoughts, advice, etc. is appreciated, especially from Ed school alumni, either at HGSE or anywhere else!

My profile:

~3.6 GPA, top 20 state school, humanities major

GRE: 670 V, 720 Q, 5.0 W

Work Experience: 4 years in admissions at small private HS, currently on senior admin team (no teaching exp.)

Other: serve on volunteer alumni boards at my college and HS, volunteer tutor at inner city school

I applied to the EPM program at Harvard and was rejected. Honestly, for my interests and experience, school leadership might have been more appropriate-- but I liked EPM's flexibility and thought it would be a more versatile degree than school leadership. So I guess in my SOP I tried to sound more interested in ed policy than I really am, and maybe that showed through.

I only applied to 2 programs and HGSE was by far my top choice. I also applied to Penn's school leadership program, which sounds great too, but is pretty different. (The Penn program is one weekend per month and one night per month online, plus 2 weeks in the summer, for one year, so I'd still work full time at my school and commute on those weekends.) Because of when my application was completed, it will probably be a few more weeks before I hear from Penn.

Anyway, I'm trying to decide whether it's worth even thinking about reapplying to HGSE, perhaps in the SL program next year. I was excited about the possibility of HGSE, going to school full time, meeting new people and getting involved in stuff outside the classroom, which wouldn't be the case at Penn.

Or, if I get into Penn, should I just go ahead and accept their offer? It's a great school too, and financially it would be great not to have to interrupt my career. My GRE also expires this year, so I'd have to take it again if I were to reapply (ugh).

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge about reapplying to HGSE or other education schools? Do I stand a chance? Is it worth the stress and time involved? Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

My motto is to never settle.

But I don't see Penn as settling.

[jimindc]

Just a quick update for you all: I checked the Penn website today and discovered that I was accepted, with a $10K scholarship! Still need to officially decide if I'm going to do it or not, but it's looking pretty good. Thanks to all who responded for all your advice and support.

[michigan girl]

Congrats, jimindc!