HGSE Fall 2013

[CQE]

I'm with you on the loans. I'm lucky enough to have no debt from undergrad and some money saved up... But yes, I would definitely pay full price for Harvard. Please accept me? 3 more weeks!!!

 

Sigh...

 

Watch HGSE make us wait 'til the very last day, March 25.

 

[HigherEd2013]

Sigh...

 

Watch HGSE make us wait 'til the very last day, March 25.

 

Don't say that! I'm banking on early March. I will be so sad if we have to wait that long.

[EdYouKateOr]

I have loads of loan debt...what's a little more?

[ASzofer]

Shameless plug for Vanderbilt -- Peabody has these really awesome Office of the Dean assistantships. Not sure if they publicize these to entering students prior to committing, but it's a deal where you work on campus and they exempt you from tuition... or exempt you from 2/3 of tuition and then give you a living stipend.

Since I'm already on the campus & have a network w/professors, Vanderbilt is financially a lot easier for me to afford than any other schools I applied to... I can potentially graduate loan-free! But just saying that they do offer you some options for financing. I wish I were accepted (they haven't gotten back to me yet).

 

 

I was actually just thinking that today because I was offered to meet with someone regarding a potential really awesome GA opportunity at Vandy and as I drove to pick up food started to reconsider my "Harvard is Harvard" argument.  If I got an amazing assistantship, thus getting my tuition paid while gaining amazing experience... well that's definitely something to be considered.  Plus, I seriously love Nashville.   

 

You know what, LBessmer, I think you're right.  I thought I read somewhere on the website that tuition was $40 K a year, but I may have been looking at undergraduate.  It is 36 credit hours total at $1,265 per hour (this year) so it is about the same as HGSE.  That's a relief.  I was thinking I'd be out 100 K if I didn't get any funding (factoring living expenses).   And I don't think HSGE offers many assistantships to MA candidates.  I asked.  I was told that nearly all assistantships go to PhD candidates.  Well... I guess there is no point in weighing the options until I have an idea of what funding I get and where I get into.  I'm really looking forward to the Vanderbilt Visitation Day next weekend though.  

[Edugy]

Last year it seems a lot of Grad Cafe folks were disappointed with aid packages, and if I recall the financial aid office is pretty up front about that with the average post-HGSE loan debt being in the tens of thousands. I know they offer some work study that is somehow based on previous debt burden/available funds/etc from what I recall reading in my financial aid info from last year. I think they also offer around a dozen half tuition/fee scholarships (I think the idea is one for each program), and then of course the restricted scholarships.

I'm actually hoping lack of financial aid will help with admissions a bit. I was fortunate to have very little debt from UG because of scholarships,working and attending a state school. The program only being a year long really helps with getting a job to pay back the loans. The HGSE employment statistics are somewhat comforting as well. 

[CQE]

I'm actually hoping lack of financial aid will help with admissions a bit. I was fortunate to have very little debt from UG because of scholarships,working and attending a state school. The program only being a year long really helps with getting a job to pay back the loans. The HGSE employment statistics are somewhat comforting as well. 

 

Nice find.

[Loseric]

Interesting (though not terribly surprising) that HGSE doesn't provide much in the way of financial aid or assistantships. I guess they're banking on the "who can say no to Harvard?" school of thought. Still, that kind of sucks. I'm fortunate enough to have no debt from undergrad and money saved for this purpose, but it's still a hard pill to swallow.

 

Nicolemae, thanks for the inside info on Vanderbilt assistantships. I may have to give them a closer look, because the idea of graduating debt-free is very appealing.

[m26]

Well there's always this. I had a brief fantasy where I got to do that, take two years to finish my EdM, then serve in the reserves. It was a nice fantasy, until I remembered a few unfortunate realities (need to apply yesterday, would need to be in BPFT shape, would need a clean medical history, would need to get into H, would need H to go along with everything). Oh well.

[vincehoward]

What are you all planning to do after the M.Ed program? I'm worried about all the debt I'd have to take on to attend HGSE if I got in. I'm sort of torn on this because on the one hand I know the Harvard brand is well respected, but on the other hand I don't necessarily want to go $65,000+ into debt for a degree that may not add much monetary value to my career. 

[ASzofer]

What are you all planning to do after the M.Ed program? I'm worried about all the debt I'd have to take on to attend HGSE if I got in. I'm sort of torn on this because on the one hand I know the Harvard brand is well respected, but on the other hand I don't necessarily want to go $65,000+ into debt for a degree that may not add much monetary value to my career. 

 

 

I'm very with you on that.  I mean, even my parents, who are very skeptical about the idea of me taking on a bunch of debt, feel that if I get into HSGE that it's worth it because the Harvard brand (as you said) carries so much weight in the world.  But we're all going into Edu fields, which until you become a professor, really don't lend themselves well to careers of high monetary reward.  But as long as I can make ends meet with my loans, I'll be OK and I've got some money saved up to put towards it.  

 

My end goal is to be an education research analyst.  I don't know.  I want to be Diane Ravitch.  I want her whole career path.  Haha.  But really, I want to research and write about my findings to guide policies in edu.  I was a teacher for five years, and I am disgusted by the government's lack of understanding about what works in terms of real-world student education.  I'd like to end up back in Chicago, working for the Chicago Public Schools or influencing them in some way, but I am open-minded as long as I am sharing my understanding of education and working to make a difference in the field.  

[Edugy]

What are you all planning to do after the M.Ed program? I'm worried about all the debt I'd have to take on to attend HGSE if I got in. I'm sort of torn on this because on the one hand I know the Harvard brand is well respected, but on the other hand I don't necessarily want to go $65,000+ into debt for a degree that may not add much monetary value to my career. 

I want to go into educational tech entrepreneurship and later, consulting. Public Consulting Group recruits out of HGSE, and I'd like to think that a degree with a Harvard name would be good for applying to business schools down the road. Being able to be an intern at the MIT media lab would be useful, and the i-lab was another huge draw to the program.

[m26]

But we're all going into Edu fields, which until you become a professor, really don't lend themselves well to careers of high monetary reward.  But as long as I can make ends meet with my loans, I'll be OK and I've got some money saved up to put towards it.  

 

Maybe a professor at a top school with many years of experience/publications. I was a little surprised to realize entry-level tenure-track faculty (an absurdly difficult job to get) only make around 50k. 

 

 

Short term I want to do non-profit management or start my own. Long term, I want to do education law and eventually move into district admin or DOE. 

[merrysoprano]

Hi, spreadpeace88! Yay, I'm not alone in my love of the AIE program. Your background sounds really awesome, and I bet your application was fabulous.

 

A lot of things led me to AIE in terms of what I want to do after grad school. I - like spreadpeace88! - love theater and have been involved in it for much of my life. Right now I'm working at a regional theater and having a blast, so I knew that'd be something I could see myself doing, whether at a big theater or a smaller nonprofit.

 

I've also always really loved informal education through cultural institutions, like museums and libraries. I've worked in both museums and libraries and I've loved both and loved especially the way you get to bring communities together through the way information is communicated.

 

I wanted the chance to combine my own experience with an academic one and synthesize all this good stuff into an education-based career. That's why I love AIE - it'll let me touch on all of my experiences, let me try totally new things, and give me more concrete research into what educators face each day. A few of you already know about the other program I applied to, GWU's Museum Education program, which is wonderful and focused a little bit more on practice, but AIE's got a beautiful interdisciplinary bent to its curriculum. Fingers crossed.

Edited February 14, 2013 by merrysoprano

[nm16]

My end goal is to be an education research analyst.  I don't know.  I want to be Diane Ravitch.  I want her whole career path.  Haha.  But really, I want to research and write about my findings to guide policies in edu.  I was a teacher for five years, and I am disgusted by the government's lack of understanding about what works in terms of real-world student education.  I'd like to end up back in Chicago, working for the Chicago Public Schools or influencing them in some way, but I am open-minded as long as I am sharing my understanding of education and working to make a difference in the field.  

 

ASzofer, one of my current professors (who is the head of the MPP program at Peabody) has worked & researched for years in Chicago. She is a super friendly person and refers to her knowledge about the Chicago area all the time in class.

 

I'm really not trying to root for Vanderbilt on this forum... just laying out the facts that it is really an excellent place to be. In fact, the more I try to love the program & school, the more I end up disliking it

 

 

What are you all planning to do after the M.Ed program? I'm worried about all the debt I'd have to take on to attend HGSE if I got in. I'm sort of torn on this because on the one hand I know the Harvard brand is well respected, but on the other hand I don't necessarily want to go $65,000+ into debt for a degree that may not add much monetary value to my career. 

 

Great question! I have no idea what I want to do... I think I want to stay open-minded. I want to do more research (maybe abroad), but I don't think I'm quite qualified in that area just yet. I sure wouldn't mind continuing in nonprofit or being plugged into a research institute, although it'd be hilarious to go so much into debt for that.

[ASzofer]

Don't be silly Nicolemae!  The purpose of this forum is to share information and I love how passionate you are about Vanderbilt and the program.  Obviously my end goal is to have the best career, so I'm trying to figure out what my clearest path to that will be.  Unfortunately, I do not have a life counselor to give me black and white advice.    

[ZeChocMoose]

But we're all going into Edu fields, which until you become a professor, really don't lend themselves well to careers of high monetary reward.  

 

Just so you know so you can make informed decisions about student debt loans, education professors (unfortunately) do not make that much money in general.

 

Here is a great table by the Chronicle of Higher Ed about faculty salaries broken down by rank and discipline: http://chronicle.com/article/Average-Faculty-Salaries-by/131081/ (you'll need to have a subscription to see it.)

 

(If you don't have a subscription...) Basically, the average salaries for education professors are: 56K for ass't professor, 67K for assoc professor, and 85K for full professor. (Only about a quarter of faculty in the nation are full professors-- not sure what the breakdown is for education specifically but I imagine it is around there.)  Unfortunately this chart doesn't break it down by institutional type or public/private because you'll see a range of salaries around those means for education professors. 

 

One of my research interests is student loan debt so I think it is important for students esp in low paying fields to have a good understanding of what the salary expectations are when you come out so you can make well informed decisions about what level of debt that you are willing to take on.

[emg28]

I know some of us had been talking about wanting to receive packets in the mail from schools we applied. Just wanted to let you know I received a letter from USC...and then to my surprise....BC sent a real package!!! (I got so excited I ripped the damn thing open and ran my hands over the seal ) lol..I know I'm a dork. But it was a GREAT feeling lol. Just wanted to share the small pleasures in my life. Hope you guys receive good news and packages soon too! 

[Loseric]

Congrats, emg! Those letters are the best.

[Coloradogirl]

My end goal is to be a Director of Admissions or V.P. of Enrollment Management and Financial Aid.  I think it's definitely worth the investment in my side of higher education.  Most upper management positions in higher education require a masters if not a PhD, so for my goals it makes sense.  The debt is still a bit daunting though especially considering my husband is in medical school!

[roygbiv9460]

Is there anyone else on this thread that is applying straight out of undergrad?  I'm going to grad school to get my masters + secondary certification because I jumped on the teaching train a little late in the game and my undergrad institution only offers MAT + cert. for STEM fields, and I'm not interested in going to the neighboring school we pair with for the humanities.  I decided to apply to big name schools because I plan on later getting an Ed.D and working in administration, even though I might not make more than I spend on Harvard in my first years of teaching.  
 
This thread makes me feel young and inexperienced! 

 

I am also disappointed that I haven't received any real paper letters or packages!  My friend is going to law school next year and her schools send her bumper stickers and flash drives...

[merrysoprano]

I'm only a year out of undergrad. I feel young too, but I remember visiting HGSE and seeing that there were tons of undergrads or recent grads interested in the various programs, particularly the M.Ed programs.

[nerdvana]

I am also disappointed that I haven't received any real paper letters or packages!  My friend is going to law school next year and her schools send her bumper stickers and flash drives...

 

I have already done my master's degree in higher ed and now work in fundraising at a law school - I like to think of the comparatively tight finances of education school as a sort of badge of honor. The ed schools will never be able to woo you in the same way that a law school can, but that kind of appeals to me... we're mission-driven, not to be swayed by gifts!

[ASzofer]

ZeChocMoose, appreciate the info.  I personally don't know that I plan on becoming a professor ever, except that it would be a cool job.  It was just one of the only positions as an educator that I thought people had potential to make much money (non administrator).  I just remember having a professor who described why it was the best job in the world, but obviously, he was really high up the ladder.  

 

I don't honestly know if I care about being in a lot of debt as much as I care about doing something I am passionate about.  So I guess I feel like the cost becomes slightly irrelevant if I will spend my life regretting not taking an amazing opportunity.  Mind you, my parents totally disagree and seem to think I'm a fool for being willing to take on debt when I am currently debt-free and doing OK.  They remind me on a very regular basis that I have no safety net haha.   

[merrysoprano]

Hear hear, ASzofer! Lucky to not have much debt after generous undergrad financial aid, so hey... Might as well get that classic indebted student experience while I can. Haha. (EDIT: I know debt is no joke! I promise. I merely mean that it's an investment I'm willing to make.)

But, yeah, you put it perfectly. It's just worth it if it gets me to do work that's challenging and inspiring and impactful.

Edited February 15, 2013 by merrysoprano

[RandiZ]

As someone who used to have student loan debt, I am now a parent who has promised their kids that they will get their BA degrees debt free. Bottom line, the debt SUCKS. Debt denies you your freedom of choice and the ability to really pursue opportunities. I only applied to doctoral programs that pay for their students. If by some chance I get accepted to a program that requires me to pay tuition, I will decline. I am doing this for two reasons. 1) to model for my kids how one should pursue graduate studies without debt and 2) so I don't take resources away from my children when they need them. I think that you do need to balance out the cost of education with future earnings.

 

My criteria for picking out schools was first and foremost programs that have multiple people with whom I wanted to work. That's why my list includes HGSE and remains short.

Edited February 15, 2013 by RandiZ