Teachers College and Lynch School

[critic1]

Is there much of a difference between the two? I'm leaning more towards BC but I am curious to know if TC carries more weight in the long run. The main thing with BC is the faculty/administration seem genuine and approachable compared to my experience with the administrative staff/faculty at TC. They come across as a little hostile- and lost part of my scholarship application, didn't apologize, and sent me an email saying I need to do it again

Edited March 14, 2012 by critic1

[bluebunny]

Is there much of a difference between the two? I'm leaning more towards BC but I am curious to know if TC carries more weight in the long run. The main thing with BC is the faculty/administration seem genuine and approachable compared to my experience with the administrative staff/faculty at TC. They come across as a little hostile- and lost part of my scholarship application, didn't apologize, and sent me an email saying I need to do it again

I also got that vibe from TC. I e-mailed them with a few questions that weren't answered on the web page or FAQ, and I just got a terse reply that the web site should be able to answer all my questions.

[yumpeh12]

I also got that vibe and I got it from HGSE- financial aid office was helpful but so far the program assistant has been very unhelpful.

[critic1]

Yeah, I don't know. Maybe someone was having a rough day in the admistrative staff at TC, but I seemed to catch them in a crummy mood. I emailed them once and received a snippy email stating 'If you read our website it clearly states blah blah blah...' after reading that email I was tempted to reply with 'Did somebody steal your lunch today, why so harsh?' but thought the better of it.

[Malachi Constant]

Wow, I have had nothing but really positive communications with TC, and I am only being offered a masters track, as opposed to the doctoral I applied for. My (likely) advisor has been super accommodating and I'll be sitting in on 2 of my idol's classes when I visit in two weeks. Sorry, you all have not had similar experiences.

[critic1]

What department did you apply to? Mine is Human Development.

[pourtant]

Wow, I have had nothing but really positive communications with TC, and I am only being offered a masters track, as opposed to the doctoral I applied for. My (likely) advisor has been super accommodating and I'll be sitting in on 2 of my idol's classes when I visit in two weeks. Sorry, you all have not had similar experiences.

Hey Malachi, if you were offered Masters, does that mean they're not funding you (if you don't mind my asking)? I got my financial aid letter back today and it was basically like $40k/year in loans.

[Malachi Constant]

Hey Malachi, if you were offered Masters, does that mean they're not funding you (if you don't mind my asking)? I got my financial aid letter back today and it was basically like $40k/year in loans.

I received a "small" scholarship that will make tuition as though attending a state school. I do not mind the question.

[pourtant]

I received a "small" scholarship that will make tuition as though attending a state school. I do not mind the question.

Cool. The thing I keep hearing from TC alumni is that the funding leaves a lot to be desired, so I'm glad you were able to get some. I'll have to stick to an actual state school, I think

[PhDreams]

I never got any financial aid info from TC so I sent in my "decided not to attend this school" email yesterday. Never received any kind of communication from them besides the "you got in" email either. Decided I wanted a warmer reception from the school I choose to attend.

[critic1]

Congrats FutureEdStudent12! I called TC and they told me they will send email notifications this week. I've already decided on BC- the faculty was very friendly and so helpful. I emailed faculty at TC once to ask a few questions and was immediately told that's what Admissions is for (even though the professor I emailed had research that interested me)

Edited March 21, 2012 by critic1

[ctcpx084]

TC has been kind of hot and cold in terms of being approachable. I'm very early in the process, so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. TC's online application seems to give my computer a problem every now and then, and I emailed months ago and never heard anything back. That said, I emailed a professor in the department who is one of the major reasons I'm looking a TC, and he got back to me immediately and was extremely friendly and helpful. Unfortunately, he lamented in one of his emails that the funding possibilities there left a lot to be desired. I can see this being a major obstacle, assuming I pass the even greater obstacle of being admitted.

[CQE]

Haven't had experience with TC, but the people that I've talked to at Lynch are awesome.

I called the other day and the lady I spoke with chatted for about 30 minutes with me. She was willing to give me a lot of information without me having to ask many questions.

She had to clarify something for me, so she spoke with the Associate Director and had her contact me personally the following day.

I also got the feeling that the people I spoke to really cared about BC, especially when I was told that they were so excited that a student from the Southeast is interested in the GSOE.

I was even telling my girlfriend that the BC folks treated me better than the representatives I spoke to the other day from our own school.

Perhaps I read too much into that sort of thing, but it really does make a difference to me if I can tell that these people enjoy their jobs, love their university, and are willing to help me as much as they can.

[Kyanlikethepepper]

It seems everyone that has posted here got accepted to TC. I read that the acceptance rate is 77% and also that the reason it is so high is because many people get accepted but can't afford to go because the funding is so sparse thereby make the people that actually attend a percentage much smaller than 77%. The wikipedia page says TC's endowment is only 200 million with 5000 students, whereas HGSE 540 million with only 900+ students. Can anyone verify this unbelievable acceptance rate and by their experience?

[critic1]

TC does have a high acceptance rate but its probably because they expect quite a number of students to decline based on lack of funding and the high cost of tuition. I'm very happy at BC Lynch School's program academically and find they are genuinely caring and approachable. The faculty is very strong and supportive as well. TC was not the most friendly- and were very curt when replying to emails. However, it does depend on where you feel comfortable and that can make all the difference with programs.

[eighty]

I've had nothing but very positive interactions with TC, though I've been communicating with the Peace Corps Fellows office. When I went in for an interview the receptionist and interviewer were both amiable. When there was a technical glitch on their applications website the person who responded to my notification was thankful and accommodating.

I think it's fallacious to equate an entire department with a crabby receptionist. I understand it's hard to not to make that judgment, but I've also witnessed wonderful and friendly people working directly alongside absolute curmudgeons.

The people you work with will be different than the people dealing with admissions, so don't make their attitude your deciding factor. Cranky people are everywhere; do what's best for you regardless.

Good luck to all!