Application Doubts

[thelastgoal]

Hi All!

I am applying for HGSE PhD. I have some doubts, hope you can help:

 

Quick facts:

• Applied HGSE last year and few other schools, got admit into many great schools but HGSE
• Applying again to HGSE this year
• Average GRE, Excellent Acads and 2+ Work Exp
• Acads not from Edu or similar field
• 2+ Work Exp in Edu!
• I am an international applicant.
• I think poor SOP was reason for rejection at HGSE.

 

1. My recommendations are going to be same as last year. I have no control over that as such. Since HGSE application is thru GSAS, I hope it will not matter. Is it fine to send same recommendations again? SOP etc will be certainly different.
2. I have been advised by many people that one should mention Assistant or max- Associate Professors for PhD admission. This increases or rather this is the only way to get easiest possible admit. In my case, my research interests match with only senior people- Chair professors, Dean etc. I could not find any Assistant or Associate Professor matching perfectly with my interests. Since my application was anyway rejected last year, should I resist looking at Senior Professors. I will have to modify my research interests a little or perhaps too far to get along with the Assistant and Associate Professors at HGSE. So, What should I do?
3. I am going for PhD directly after Bachelors. I have read people suggesting Masters prior PhD. Is it absolutely impossible to get into PhD for me?
4. I would like to know about books, quick readings and general articles that will tell me about BASICS OF: Higher Education Policy, Economic and Education, Labor Issues related to this (( I know about them, but I want to get acquainted with how people in education look at it and talk about it, in their words ))

 

Thank you

[hesadork]

I think having the same recommenders is fine.

 

What is drawing you to Harvard, and to this program, specifically?  You need to have a good answer to that question, and it should come through in your SOP.  Are your research interests so specific that they're completely incompatible with the interests of more junior faculty?

 

What field is this for?  Your profile says "HE, policy."  For HE, 2 years of work experience and no master's is probably not a winning combination.  Your last question suggests that you might benefit from additional training in education prior to committing to a doctorate.

 

Best of luck.

[thelastgoal]

Thank you!

Your counter-questions prompts that I should strongly consider junior faculty. Is it so? Junior Faculty consideration helps? =is the way?


Interests combine higher education, economics and employment issues......... about outcomes of higher education and influence of policies... (skipping the full explanation here)

Things drawing me to Harvard: full funding (+++), reputation and recognition in my home country
( I am only capable of applying to places that give me terminal degree + reputation + absolutely full funding )


I would welcome your answer to the last question too!

thanks!

[hesadork]

I'm still confused about which program at HGSE you're interested in pursuing; there is no longer an EdD in Higher Ed.  They've completely overhauled the doctoral program and going forward only offer three PhD concentrations (CIS, EPPE, HDLT) will be offered; more info here: http://www.gse.harvard.edu/academics/doctorate/phd/concentrations/index.html.  I'm guessing maybe EPPE best fits your interests?

 

I don't have an opinion as to junior vs. senior faculty.  I'm not sure level is important, but fit is.  However prestigious Harvard may be, it may not be a good fit for your particular research interests; few or no faculty doing work that interests you should be a red flag.  (That said, the research interests you articulated above are quite broad, so I'm skeptical that there are no junior faculty doing work germane to what you want to do.)

 

And I think you're going to have to be able to articulate WHY Harvard in your SOP...beyond their name and the generosity of the funding package, neither of which is likely to move an admission committee.

[thelastgoal]

Sending a PM, thanks

[thelastgoal]

any other opinion? any other experience to guide?

[JBums1028]

Out of curiosity did you contact someone at Harvard about your application from last year? What was their reasoning for not admitting you? That might be a good place to start so you know what areas of your application they thought needed improvement. I'm no expert on Harvard, so I don't know how they handle those types of requests, but I'm sure it's worth a try.

[thelastgoal]

thanks... but I remember somebody saying that they don't respond. Well, definitely worth a try!

[hesadork]

It's worth a try.  My hunch is that even if you get a response it may not shed much light since this year is the first cycle under the new scheme.  Going from EdD's in many fields to PhD's in three likely means all bets are off -- what worked in past cycles, or didn't, may not have much bearing going forward.  And they've stated publicly that they're using this as an opportunity to trim enrollment...only 25 PhD students total will start in the Fall of 2014.

[ZeChocMoose]

Since it's a doctoral program that you are interested in, I always recommend talking to either the program director or the professor that you are interested in working with before you apply.  I found this helpful in my process because it helped me getting a better sense of the program and whether it was a good fit for my needs. (I had a fairly specific list of what I was looking for in a program that is hard to find in most places.)  This also allowed me to narrow down my choices of programs from six to three which was extremely fortunate because putting together an application packet takes time and you want to write a tailored SOP at the doctoral level.

 

As for your question about ass't or assoc professor -- that doesn't matter as much as I would say having fairly similar research interests to several people in the program.  You don't want to get into a situation where you want to do X for your dissertation but there is no one to sit on your committee because it is outside of everyone's expertise/interest.   

[thelastgoal]

Thank you ZeChocMoose,

 

Yes, that's what I was worried about. People in Chairs share my interest and I wrote to them earlier. It seems going well. But then, I am continuously scared of minimizing the probability because the juniors (conventionally) have better chances of pulling you in.