Question regarding Harvard GSE!

[bananabobbles]

For those who applied to HGSE, what are the stats? What's the acceptance rate for the master's program and doctoral programs?

How many years of work experience does the average master's students have? Are they tough on GPA? I'm an undergrad interested in applying to HGSE for my master's. How should I best prepare for the program? Any help or advice would greatly be appreciated.

[East_of_Eden]

Hi,

I was accepted into HGSE's EPM program for next year. In the end, I've chosen to go for an MPP/MPA, but I can give you a little bit of info. When I visited HGSE two years ago to gather info about their programs, I was informed that their admissions rate for most masters programs is around 50%. It's supposed to be a little bit lower than that for their Intl. Ed Policy and EPM programs, but probably not by much. They told me they look for candidates who indicate (through their applications) a sincere and proven interest in the field of Education. I haven't heard anything in regards to how one's GPA is looked at. Their avg. GRE score is supposed to hover around 1200 total. While, like most masters programs, work experience is highly valued by ad coms, I doubt it'd be a deal breaker if you have a strong SOP, solid grades, good recs and some work in education-related stuff on your resume.

I'm really not sure how to best prepare but, if you haven't already done so, see how you might be able to get involved with anything ed. related. ...Could be meet-up groups, teacher shadowing, volunteer reading, tutoring, coaching, etc. Best of luck to you!

[Ed_Doc]

You can find the 2008-2009 admissions stats for HGSE here: http://www.gse.harvard.edu/admissions/s ... ofile.html

They will likely update that to reflect the 2009-2010 class stats sometime this summer.

Hope this helps!

[bananabobbles]

Hi,

I was accepted into HGSE's EPM program for next year. In the end, I've chosen to go for an MPP/MPA, but I can give you a little bit of info. When I visited HGSE two years ago to gather info about their programs, I was informed that their admissions rate for most masters programs is around 50%. It's supposed to be a little bit lower than that for their Intl. Ed Policy and EPM programs, but probably not by much. They told me they look for candidates who indicate (through their applications) a sincere and proven interest in the field of Education. I haven't heard anything in regards to how one's GPA is looked at. Their avg. GRE score is supposed to hover around 1200 total. While, like most masters programs, work experience is highly valued by ad coms, I doubt it'd be a deal breaker if you have a strong SOP, solid grades, good recs and some work in education-related stuff on your resume.

I'm really not sure how to best prepare but, if you haven't already done so, see how you might be able to get involved with anything ed. related. ...Could be meet-up groups, teacher shadowing, volunteer reading, tutoring, coaching, etc. Best of luck to you!

Thank you for all your wonderful and helpful advices! Certainly appreciate it!

[bananabobbles]

You can find the 2008-2009 admissions stats for HGSE here: http://www.gse.harvard.edu/admissions/s ... ofile.html

They will likely update that to reflect the 2009-2010 class stats sometime this summer.

Hope this helps!

Thank you for the link!

[Sotototo]

One of my close friends applied to Harvard ed school for Learning and Teaching but got rejected.

Had 3.2 from top 20 univ. and 1400 on GRE. Decent work experience. Not so great recs. Amazing personal statement.

I personally thought he would get in because of his personal statement and GRE but they weren't enough to overcome the recs and GPA. I think Harvard looks at the overall package.