Long time lurker looking for PhD advice

[kalexand]

Hey, everyone! I've been lurking on these forums for a while now and so I figured it's about time to actually contribute to them by asking for some advice. 

I am currently finishing up a MA in Political Science - Public Policy emphasis and a graduate certificate in Student Personnel Administration from Saint Louis University and will graduate either this December or the following May, depending on my current funding situation. I am looking at PhD (or EdD) programs in Education Policy or Higher Education where there is an option for a policy emphasis. My start date would be Fall '17. My research interests include higher ed policy and resource allocation in regards to underserved students such as international students and first generation students. That said, I am a first generation college student, if that matters.

Stats:
3.63 undergraduate GPA
4.0 graduate GPA
153 verbal/148 quant/4.5 writing (Can I explain these scores? I was an employee at the university in which I am obtaining my MA, so tuition remission was guaranteed, thus no real reason to study to get a competitive GRE score. I just had to score high enough to get accepted.)
One publication
Working on presenting somewhere

Experience:
3+ years as part-time office assistant at a university
2+ years in full-time position at a university registrar's office
currently working as an academic advisor via a graduate assistantship since August 2015
current graduate student rep. for Political Science
1.5 years of volunteering teaching refugees English and how to pass the U.S. citizenship test

All that considered, am I qualified to get in to a solid PhD/EdD program in Higher Ed / Ed Policy? I have my eyes on University of Missouri - Columbia (PhD), University of Michigan (PhD), University of Missouri - Kansas City (EdD) and George Washington University (EdD). The EdDs are slightly iffy to me because I would want to pursue the degree full-time, something that is rare among EdD programs.

Lastly, I will (hopefully) be having my significant other follow me wherever I go. He works in international business, so I'm struggling to convince him that moving to Ann Arbor or Columbia is a great idea for both of us. Haha. Has anyone else faced this predicament where a partner wants to follow but would have a hard time finding a job while you complete your degree? This whole process is making me feel anxious and selfish.

Let me know if this post is in the incorrect forum. I'm new to this!

Thanks, all.

Edited February 22, 2016 by kalexand

[MrsG]

As someone who is just beginning to get material together for application to programs for Fall 2017, I can't give you a lot of specific advice there.

However, as a person who is the spouse of a retired veteran, I can tell you that sometimes relationships are a give and take. After I graduated from my MA program, he asked me to move across the country with him (he was then an Active Duty Soldier). This required me to do some serious thinking about whether I was comfortable with having my career take a back seat while he focused on his, a career that demanded most of his time and attention that left me to focus on taking care of our children. I'm not saying that your situation is quite this extreme. I had very little opportunity to do anything that would have furthered my career choice in any way. However, I am saying that sometimes you take one for the team so that the other person can focus on a critical part of their career for a bit. Now that he is retired, I'm back at it, and he is taking the hit so that I can fully focus on my career. This is all to say that if I were you and your significant other is not on board with sacrificing a bit in order for you to move to wherever would be most beneficial for your career, perhaps it is time to decide whether it should be your turn, and if it should, whether the relationship is worth pursing in terms of relocating together vs. long-distance relationship.

[ZeChocMoose]

I also in the higher ed policy subfield and you definitely want a PhD and not an EdD.  The policy subfield of higher ed is super focused on statistics, data, and research.  The way that most EdDs are set up, you won't get enough research training to be competitive for jobs when you graduate assuming that you are going to try to get a policy research position.

On 2/22/2016 at 2:47 PM, kalexand said:

My research interests include higher ed policy and resource allocation in regards to underserved students such as international students and first generation students. 

This is super broad and to be honest, I am not exactly sure what you want to study.  Are you concerned about their lack of college knowledge?  financial barriers?  academic preparation?  Lack of institutional support when they come to campus?  Cultural transitions especially in the case for some international students?   I suggest for you to narrow your research interests down and actively target faculty that you want to work with at schools that you want to attend.  It is not clear to me how you targeted the schools that you listed in your post.