Student Affairs v. Higher Ed Admin and Figuring out Where to Apply

[HigherEd2013]

Hi all,

I'm going to be applying to Student Affairs/Higher Education Administration programs for the Fall 2013. I'm having some difficulty because I'm not sure if I should apply to programs with more of a higher education administration focus or student affairs focus. It seems like they overlap alot so I'm having trouble figuring out the difference between the two types of programs and narrowing down schools for this reason.

I know I want a one-year program that will help me in my journey to create/maintain progams to help first-year students (particularly those with first generation status from low-income families). I'm also interested in academic advising. However, since I'm only going to have 2 years of higher education work experience (not including undergrad experience), it woud be nice to have an overview of the history/improvements being made in higher education as well, as long as there isn't too big of a focus on policy. Ideally, I would want to attend a program that isn't research focused and would allow me to have an internship at the same time.

I guess my problem is that alot of the higher education administration/student affairs programs seem really similar. Many are not as research focused, will let me have an internship/assistantship, and have really interesting courses that will both give me an overview and help me learn more about retention rates and the type of students I would like to work with.

I was originally looking at applying to Harvard, UCLA, UPenn, Boston College, Stanford and University of Virginia. Do these sound like good options or would you suggest I look elsewhere?

[lilgreycells]

I've PMed you!

[sw456]

I enrolled in the program at UPenn and had the most absolutely horrific experience to the point I withdrew. The guaranteed paid assistantship as listed on their website is a complete lie. It was the selling point for me and then they tried to make me an unpaid project assistant after I did not get offered a graduate assistantship for the ones I interviewed. Nobody took any of my concerns seriously and I felt I had no option but to leave the program in lieu of throwing away $40,000 tuition on a program I could have gone to for free at another school. I have a Penn GSE email, I'm not someone from a rival program trying to put it down, I seriously had the worst experience of my academic life with their staff. Total waste of time and money. STAY AWAY!

Edited September 20, 2012 by sw456

[Loseric]

psychapplicant, thanks for asking this question. I have similar interests in higher ed and have also been debating where I should apply. If anyone has any programs to recommend (or stay away from, as above!), I'd be interested in them as well.