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Paraphrasing the email: They had a great many applications this year, so they have placed me in the "alternate group." If funding becomes available, they'll go into this pool. 

 

So, wait listed. Looks like those accepted will be contacted soon? Good luck guys.

Edited by jackinstyle
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For all those planning to attend the Preview Day on the 21st for Higher Ed PhD-

 

The visit date seems later in the season than many other programs. With a partner to consider, I have to make a decision prior to the visit date so a job search can ensue.  Michigan is at the top of my list and unless the Preview Day is downright miserable (which I'm sure it won't be), I think I'm ready to pull the trigger and commit. Has anyone else already decided that they are enrolling in the fall? Am I jumping the gun in doing so prior to the Preview Day? I'm lookig forward to meeting my future classmates!

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For all those planning to attend the Preview Day on the 21st for Higher Ed PhD-

 

The visit date seems later in the season than many other programs. With a partner to consider, I have to make a decision prior to the visit date so a job search can ensue.  Michigan is at the top of my list and unless the Preview Day is downright miserable (which I'm sure it won't be), I think I'm ready to pull the trigger and commit. Has anyone else already decided that they are enrolling in the fall? Am I jumping the gun in doing so prior to the Preview Day? I'm lookig forward to meeting my future classmates!

Hello,

 

I actually have two visits on the same day - Duke and Michigan are both on the 21st. 

 

I think Michigan is also my top choice, but I do have two reservations. Looking through the course listed here http://www.soe.umich.edu/files/doctoral_highered.pdf I think the program is lacking a bit in terms of standard public policy coursework. I'm going to check if I could take at least a handful of classes at the Ford school, or even see if I could add an MPP somehow and still finish in 5 years. Otherwise I'm pretty excited about the program and will definitely be there on visit day.

 

My other concern is funding. My funding offer is for 4 years, with a possible 5th one that is tbd. The program takes on average 5 years, so it'd be good to know that I can count on funding for that long. What about you, what doubts do you have?

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I'm really excited I was accepted to Michigan- although I got a phone call two weeks ago, I didn't believe it until my email came today :) I'm visiting early so that I have a better idea about the program, but the faculty member I interviewed with was great. Two other things that make Michigan stand out- comps. are a semester-long lit. review for your dissertation rather than a 2-day high-stakes test. And the curriculum is really tailored to your interests- with the cognate and electives, you can really dig into what you're interested in.

 

I'm sorry I'll miss meeting some of you, though :)

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Hello,

 

I actually have two visits on the same day - Duke and Michigan are both on the 21st. 

 

I think Michigan is also my top choice, but I do have two reservations. Looking through the course listed here http://www.soe.umich.edu/files/doctoral_highered.pdf I think the program is lacking a bit in terms of standard public policy coursework. I'm going to check if I could take at least a handful of classes at the Ford school, or even see if I could add an MPP somehow and still finish in 5 years. Otherwise I'm pretty excited about the program and will definitely be there on visit day.

 

My other concern is funding. My funding offer is for 4 years, with a possible 5th one that is tbd. The program takes on average 5 years, so it'd be good to know that I can count on funding for that long. What about you, what doubts do you have?

 

I understand the reservation about a lack of standard public policy work, but I think that's where the cognate courses come into play, which allow you to tailor your curriculum to your interests.  Kaleidoscopish points out major selling points for me in terms of the curriculum and the comps at Michigan. I like the flexibility of the coursework and the semester-long comp structure.

 

I wish I knew more about the assistantship/advisor structure. The faculty member I interviewed with explained that it's a system that seems to be working for students in the program. At the beginning of the program, it sounds like you are assigned both a work supervisor for your assistantship and an academic advisor. This "spilt-structure" of advising is something that students in the program seem to like. But, how are these assignments made? I'd love to know more about this. In talking with current students in the program, it does sound like you can change assistantships to fit your needs throughout the program.  Does anyone know more about this?

 

Funding for 5 yrs would be great, but I know very few programs that guarantee that. It seems like there are grants available for those who are going into a 5th year. I'm hoping to be done in 4 so I don't have to worry about that!

 

Anyone else committing to Michigan before the Preview?

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Just received my award letter this morning- according to the Graduate School, all students are expected to achieve candidacy in 3 years (coursework completed, comps. completed) and then they are funded for dissertation in year 4. I certainly feel like I can put together the papers I've written for courses, my lit. review (comps.) and the research assistantship work I've done into a comprehensive document (dissertation) in 6 months because Michigan's program allows for so much customization (ie, won't be writing tons of 20-page papers about things unrelated to my interests).

 

I am not committing to anywhere prior to visiting- even though I'm very impressed with Michigan's program and collegiality, it's also important to get a feel for the place and the people, in my opinion.

 

HigherEdkmg, I'm also uprooting my partner for this opportunity. If you're interested, I'd be happy to share strategies for job-finding, etc. :) Are you going to Indiana's recruitment event?

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Just received my award letter this morning- according to the Graduate School, all students are expected to achieve candidacy in 3 years (coursework completed, comps. completed) and then they are funded for dissertation in year 4. I certainly feel like I can put together the papers I've written for courses, my lit. review (comps.) and the research assistantship work I've done into a comprehensive document (dissertation) in 6 months because Michigan's program allows for so much customization (ie, won't be writing tons of 20-page papers about things unrelated to my interests).

 

I am not committing to anywhere prior to visiting- even though I'm very impressed with Michigan's program and collegiality, it's also important to get a feel for the place and the people, in my opinion.

 

HigherEdkmg, I'm also uprooting my partner for this opportunity. If you're interested, I'd be happy to share strategies for job-finding, etc. :) Are you going to Indiana's recruitment event?

 

I agree that it's important to get a feel for the place and people and I'm a bit nervous to rush into a decision, but I'm confident in the fit with Michigan and given my partner's industry, he needs to get on the job market sooner rather than later.

 

Kaledoscopish, I'm not attending IU's recruitment program - Bloomington isn't really a place I could see myself living for the next 4 years and I'm not as excited about the program's split-campus community (between Indianapolis and Bloomington campus), nor the larger cohort size comprised of a larger mix of part-time folks. But, I hope the visit goes well for you!

 

You mentioned you are planing to visit Michigan early. I'd love to hear your impressions! :)

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Has anyone received a official acceptance in the mail? I received the email a couple of weeks ago, but I was just wondering if Michigan sends out a paper letter as well. I am old fashioned so I love receiving mail, especially if it good news like an acceptance! :) It's not a huge deal if they don't send them out, I just thought I would ask you guys if anyone has received anything!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Has anyone received a official acceptance in the mail? I received the email a couple of weeks ago, but I was just wondering if Michigan sends out a paper letter as well. I am old fashioned so I love receiving mail, especially if it good news like an acceptance! :) It's not a huge deal if they don't send them out, I just thought I would ask you guys if anyone has received anything!

I got nothing in the mail, though I've exchanged a bunch of emails with the staff and all seems in order. I'm also a big proponent of snail mail, so it's too bad they haven't sent anything! The only school that mailed me a physical acceptance letter was Wisconsin.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just received my award letter this morning- according to the Graduate School, all students are expected to achieve candidacy in 3 years (coursework completed, comps. completed) and then they are funded for dissertation in year 4. I certainly feel like I can put together the papers I've written for courses, my lit. review (comps.) and the research assistantship work I've done into a comprehensive document (dissertation) in 6 months because Michigan's program allows for so much customization (ie, won't be writing tons of 20-page papers about things unrelated to my interests).

 

I am not committing to anywhere prior to visiting- even though I'm very impressed with Michigan's program and collegiality, it's also important to get a feel for the place and the people, in my opinion.

 

HigherEdkmg, I'm also uprooting my partner for this opportunity. If you're interested, I'd be happy to share strategies for job-finding, etc. :) Are you going to Indiana's recruitment event?

 

Hi Decaf! I am also admitted to Michigan's public policy in higher ed track though I am still hesitating about accpeting the offer. Do you mind why I ask you about your decision to accept/or leaning in for acceptance of UM? It's a great university of course...too bad I can't make the visit day.

 

Another info--I have emailed the coordinator about the length of this program, and they told me it would normally be 5~5.5yrs. I would like to cut it into 4yrs if I indeed go there, just not sure whether it is doable...

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Hi Decaf! I am also admitted to Michigan's public policy in higher ed track though I am still hesitating about accpeting the offer. Do you mind why I ask you about your decision to accept/or leaning in for acceptance of UM? It's a great university of course...too bad I can't make the visit day.

 

Another info--I have emailed the coordinator about the length of this program, and they told me it would normally be 5~5.5yrs. I would like to cut it into 4yrs if I indeed go there, just not sure whether it is doable...

 

I realize that this question wasn't directed to me but I attended the visit day so I thought I would provide my input. Yes, they indicated that the average is about 5 to 5.5 years to completion.  But they also indicated that it is doable in 4 years (with even a student accomplishing it in 3 years but that is absolutely the exception they said). Through the discussion, I determined that several factors impact the time to completion such as the student's drive to get it done, the type of data collection, his/her ability to narrow down the question, if he/she takes on a full time job after reaching candidacy, etc. Additionally, once they indicated that it typically takes longer than the funded time, I became concerned about funding after year 4 but they made it very clear that there are ways through the faculty, school of education, and the graduate school to continue to have funding.

 

I also plan to complete in 4 years so this was also a concern for me but I am no longer worried since it seems that the reason for the longer completion average is more a factor of students wanting to stay rather than the program being designed to take that long.

 

I hope that helps! Good luck with your decision!

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Hi Decaf! I am also admitted to Michigan's public policy in higher ed track though I am still hesitating about accpeting the offer. Do you mind why I ask you about your decision to accept/or leaning in for acceptance of UM? It's a great university of course...too bad I can't make the visit day.

 

Another info--I have emailed the coordinator about the length of this program, and they told me it would normally be 5~5.5yrs. I would like to cut it into 4yrs if I indeed go there, just not sure whether it is doable...

Hello,

 

I attended the visit day and am in the public policy track. It was pretty clear from the visit that time to complete is pretty idiosyncratic to peoples' choices of topic, data needs, methods, job situation, advising, etc. 4 years would definitely be on the "speedy" end of the spectrum, though.

 

I was really impressed with how nice everyone was, with the other admitted folks, and with the resources available at U of M. Maybe will see you there!

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  • 10 months later...

Hi, I was wondering has anybody applied to UMich for 2015 Fall?

 

I applied to the PhD program in Higher Education and received an interview invitation today. So excited! Does anyone done the interview this year care to share some information? Thank you! :)

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Hi, I was wondering has anybody applied to UMich for 2015 Fall?

 

I applied to the PhD program in Higher Education and received an interview invitation today. So excited! Does anyone done the interview this year care to share some information? Thank you! :)

 

I had my interview already. it was pretty similar to what people described in this thread in the past -- 30 minutes, no gotcha questions, just trying to flesh out who you are, why you want a PhD, what you're interested in. good luck!

on another note, does anyone have a sense of how big the higher education cohort is?

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I had my interview already. it was pretty similar to what people described in this thread in the past -- 30 minutes, no gotcha questions, just trying to flesh out who you are, why you want a PhD, what you're interested in. good luck!

on another note, does anyone have a sense of how big the higher education cohort is?

 

Should be about 10.  I had my interview last Friday and am waiting back to hear the final result.  Very excited and nervous all at the same time!! Can't wait to hear back!!

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Should be about 10.  I had my interview last Friday and am waiting back to hear the final result.  Very excited and nervous all at the same time!! Can't wait to hear back!!

good to know. good luck to you! i'm also dying to hear back.

 

also, i feel like i've seen your name on a lot of these forums / we applied to a lot of the same places. hope the process has been going well for you!

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good to know. good luck to you! i'm also dying to hear back.

 

also, i feel like i've seen your name on a lot of these forums / we applied to a lot of the same places. hope the process has been going well for you!

 

Maybe we did!  Best of luck to you as well :)

 

I was just looking at the recent admission posts (story of my life these days) and someone wrote UMich posted their decision today on Wolverine.  I'm not seeing anything though.  In fact, I don't even know how to check the admission status on Wolverine.. Anybody see anything?

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does anyone know if they interview everyone? applied to literacy, language, culture phd, haven't heard anything—kinda nervous :(

 

I just emailed the admissions office to ask, since I applied to Educational Foundations and Policy and haven't heard anything. The good news is that every concentration apparently does things its own way; while the reply I received wasn't totally clear, it sounds like EFP may not do interviews at all. So while I have no idea what the LLC PhD process is, it sounds like we both may still have a fighting chance!

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I had my interview already. it was pretty similar to what people described in this thread in the past -- 30 minutes, no gotcha questions, just trying to flesh out who you are, why you want a PhD, what you're interested in. good luck!

on another note, does anyone have a sense of how big the higher education cohort is?

Thank you for the info! I just had my interview, and it's basically the same as you've described. I had no idea how many students they are taking.

 

My interviewer told me the decision would come out next week, fingers crossed&good luck!!   ^_^ 

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Thank you for the info! I just had my interview, and it's basically the same as you've described. I had no idea how many students they are taking.

 

My interviewer told me the decision would come out next week, fingers crossed&good luck!!   ^_^ 

 

Do you mind sharing what concentration you're applying to?

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Hello,

 

I actually have two visits on the same day - Duke and Michigan are both on the 21st. 

 

I think Michigan is also my top choice, but I do have two reservations. Looking through the course listed here http://www.soe.umich.edu/files/doctoral_highered.pdf I think the program is lacking a bit in terms of standard public policy coursework. I'm going to check if I could take at least a handful of classes at the Ford school, or even see if I could add an MPP somehow and still finish in 5 years. Otherwise I'm pretty excited about the program and will definitely be there on visit day.

 

My other concern is funding. My funding offer is for 4 years, with a possible 5th one that is tbd. The program takes on average 5 years, so it'd be good to know that I can count on funding for that long. What about you, what doubts do you have?

 

Congrats on U-M! I'm a current MPP student and I know of at least one SOE PhD student who added an MPP while enrolled. It's definitely possible -- though challenging, for sure -- to do both. 

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