Fall 2017 Applicants

[Cat Time]

I know it's early, but I'm starting this thread because I think some Fall 2017 applicants already have questions/concerns (early preparation shouldn't be conflated with undue fretting!) , and it might be best to have a thread like this to keep things separate from 2015-2016 issues.

As for me, I am applying to Master's programs and am particularly interested in those which emphasize interdisciplinary study and flexible course choice. My professional background is in higher education, though I also have extensive volunteer experience with K-12 students, and I want to learn more about how I can strengthen the higher education/K-12 connection to the end of increasing  academic engagement among low-income youth. Academically, I have a BA in political science (4.1/4.33 GPA) and scored 170v/155q/5.5 on the GRE.

Best of luck to all and if anyone wants to trade SOP let me know!

 

 

Edited April 1, 2016 by Cat Time

[ClassicalEducator]

Your stats are impressive! I'm also applying to many different programs this fall - a smattering of either Master's or Ph.D programs. I have been lurking these boards for awhile, and trying not to panic. My focus is on minorities (African-Americans) in education, and this translates to different programs depending on the intended school. I am a bit nervous as I graduated from college (an Ivy) ten years ago, but I have spent the majority of my professional career in education. For the past two years, I've been taking classes in Intercultural Studies and will have a certificate (4.0 GPA) to show for my more recent ventures. I have yet to take my GRE, but will try to this summer/early fall. 

I have spent the past several months researching programs exhaustively, and they are mostly those which allow flexibility within the curriculum. I have found many that are interdepartmental, and some of those have been through emailing professors and calling the schools themselves. That might be the best route for you to take, because as good as programs may look online (or on paper), it is far better to actually speak to the admin assistants, program directors, and professors themselves. That is also the best way to feel people out for the role of potential advisor. Good luck to you!

[Cat Time]

It seems like you've got a very strong background in education and I'm sure being an Ivy graduate doesn't hurt!

If you need any help with your GRE preparation I'll be glad to lend a hand (at least with the verbal and writing portions--I'm not so hot with math)

Edited April 2, 2016 by Cat Time

[ClassicalEducator]

Thanks so much for the offer - vocabulary, writing, and languages are my strength so I'm relatively secure for that. I have a friend/former coworker who has TONS of GRE resources for me, I just haven't had the time to look through them yet. That's my plan for this summer. Have you narrowed down your area of interest, or are you still trying to figure that out? 

[Cat Time]

I am generally interested in how to increase academic engagment among youth from low-income families, and more narrowly I want my studies to help me answer the question of how the higher education/K-12 links can be strengthened to facilitate this. For inspiration I look at a program at a nearby university which engages inner-city youth and adults by allowing them to take free courses in art, politics, and a range of other subjects, and I want to help expand programs like this and make them more common. This issue cuts across the various program concentrations I've seen, which is why I am looking for something flexible (the Special Studies program at HGSE is something I'm drawn to). I have also thought about PHD studies but I don't think the 5+ extra years of school is for me!

What about you? I know you said your focus is on African-Americans in education, but is there a specific issue related to that which you are particularly interested in?

 

Edited April 2, 2016 by Cat Time

[ClassicalEducator]

2 hours ago, Cat Time said:

I am generally interested in how to increase academic engagment among youth from low-income families, and more narrowly I want my studies to help me answer the question of how the higher education/K-12 links can be strengthened to facilitate this. For inspiration I look at a program at a nearby university which engages inner-city youth and adults by allowing them to take free courses in art, politics, and a range of other subjects, and I want to help expand programs like this and make them more common. This issue cuts across the various program concentrations I've seen, which is why I am looking for something flexible (the Special Studies program at HGSE is something I'm drawn to). I have also thought about PHD studies but I don't think the 5+ extra years of school is for me!

What about you? I know you said your focus is on African-Americans in education, but is there a specific issue related to that which you are particularly interested in?

 

Ideally, I would like to explore educational funding and opportunities for African American students. I am interested in a Ph.D for research purposes, my ideal position would be as a researcher and an educational consultant with my own business. I have studied HBCUs and funding sources for them (and why they are dwindling), I am considering looking into students of color and their opportunities for entrance into Ivy League universities, and why African Americans are consistently underrepresented in education. This has been a long process for me and a lot of interdepartmental studying - I've taken courses in Multicultural Art History, in Communications, in Af Am Studies, in Lit, etc. 

[Vulpix]

Some GRE advice (coming from a strong writer/vocab):  look over the essay expectations for the GRE.  Although most of us are strong writers and will get a good score regardless, it was extremely helpful to know the *kind* of writing they are looking for on the GRE.  You don't need to practice writing essays, but the GRE is a game and you have to know what they want.  Apparently, length is appreciated (so type fast!).  In one of my essays (the one that's about a big philosophical idea), I made sure to just hit them hard with lots of historical facts and current events so they knew I could relate a broad aphorism to real things going on in the world.  They love that kind of stuff.  All those GRE study books have really great tips for the essays.

As for studying math... good luck !  

Edited April 3, 2016 by Heather1011

[marature]

hey applicants, I also started my application research early (about 2 years ago for this fall 2016 season), and one thing I found was that programs do change, so be sure to recheck their Web sites for the most updated curricula etc when you are applying, and also when the decisions come out! At least 2 of my programs had curriculum changes between when I applied (Nov) and decision time (March). One of them was quite significant in terms of how it fit with my interests.

So it's great to start early, but just keep in mind that they are tweaking their programs as they go along (generally a good thing, but just be sure you have the up-to-date information and don't assume that your earlier research is necessarily still valid). All the best!

[cokpala]

Hi all!

I am also applying for the 2017-2018 school year, and also starting researching about two years ago. Programs do change! I've been working on updating my info, as well.

I am looking at MA programs in International Education. I graduated from a UC in 2010 and have been working in education (elementary and secondary, domestically and internationally) for the past five years. I'm on the West Coast, in the SF Bay Area, so I'm looking at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, USF, and Stanford but am most interested in programs on the East Coast- Penn, Harvard, Colombia, and NYU. Any other suggestions for schools are more than welcome!

Thanks for starting a thread for 2017!

[Cat Time]

Great to have you here cokpala!

[Vulpix]

15 hours ago, cokpala said:

Hi all!

I am also applying for the 2017-2018 school year, and also starting researching about two years ago. Programs do change! I've been working on updating my info, as well.

I am looking at MA programs in International Education. I graduated from a UC in 2010 and have been working in education (elementary and secondary, domestically and internationally) for the past five years. I'm on the West Coast, in the SF Bay Area, so I'm looking at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, USF, and Stanford but am most interested in programs on the East Coast- Penn, Harvard, Colombia, and NYU. Any other suggestions for schools are more than welcome!

Thanks for starting a thread for 2017!

Yay International Education!

Something that was very interesting to me recently as I was accepting and declining my offers for International Education were the exit surveys --- HGSE and Columbia both had me select which other schools I applied to, which were clearly the ones that they consider their competitors.  For IE/IED/IEP, there are really only 10 or so programs of note in the entire country that actually focus on this issue.  It seems that you've identified all of them already... the only others are Vanderbilt, UCLA, perhaps GWU or other DC schools.

Something that still baffles me is that Johns Hopkins is consistently ranked #1/#2 in education, yet I've read of almost no one this year or in previous years on this thread who has applied to it.  I wonder why that is?  It's got major name recognition like Vandy/Stanford/HGSE/Penn/TC etc....

Edited April 4, 2016 by Heather1011

[ClassicalEducator]

21 hours ago, Heather1011 said:

Yay International Education!

Something that was very interesting to me recently as I was accepting and declining my offers for International Education were the exit surveys --- HGSE and Columbia both had me select which other schools I applied to, which were clearly the ones that they consider their competitors.  For IE/IED/IEP, there are really only 10 or so programs of note in the entire country that actually focus on this issue.  It seems that you've identified all of them already... the only others are Vanderbilt, UCLA, perhaps GWU or other DC schools.

Something that still baffles me is that Johns Hopkins is consistently ranked #1/#2 in education, yet I've read of almost no one this year or in previous years on this thread who has applied to it.  I wonder why that is?  It's got major name recognition like Vandy/Stanford/HGSE/Penn/TC etc....

I'm not in your field, but I was actually wondering the same thing myself. I contacted Johns Hopkins (among many other schools) and was taken aback by the response I received. I know that they require all applicants to hold a previous MA, which probably cuts down on their numbers significantly. Aside from that, I cannot personally see what might make them such a force when considering the caliber of other schools. 

[marature]

On 04/04/2016 at 7:45 AM, cokpala said:

Hi all!

I am also applying for the 2017-2018 school year, and also starting researching about two years ago. Programs do change! I've been working on updating my info, as well.

I am looking at MA programs in International Education. I graduated from a UC in 2010 and have been working in education (elementary and secondary, domestically and internationally) for the past five years. I'm on the West Coast, in the SF Bay Area, so I'm looking at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, USF, and Stanford but am most interested in programs on the East Coast- Penn, Harvard, Colombia, and NYU. Any other suggestions for schools are more than welcome!

Thanks for starting a thread for 2017!

If you're looking at Monterey, then probably you have a different focus from what I was interested in (which is refugee education/development contexts), but you could also look at American University's ITEP, which has several tracks and people there are very friendly, I was quite impressed with them. SIT has a low-residence Master's program which could be interesting if you want something more flexible. And Heather already mentioned Vanderbilt and GWU, so I think that about covers it. U of Maryland has a program but I haven't heard much about it. Someone in these forums recommended Minnesota, which looked interesting but ultimately not a good fit for me, but you could check it out.

[Vulpix]

41 minutes ago, ClassicalEducator said:

I'm not in your field, but I was actually wondering the same thing myself. I contacted Johns Hopkins (among many other schools) and was taken aback by the response I received. I know that they require all applicants to hold a previous MA, which probably cuts down on their numbers significantly. Aside from that, I cannot personally see what might make them such a force when considering the caliber of other schools. 

I didn't realize Johns Hopkins required an MA.  Do they mostly attract PhD/EdD candidates then?  I wonder why they do that.

I was equally confused when I was applying to TC, because they have an MA or M.Ed option, and they consider the M.Ed the "advanced masters" (so it was 30 credits vs 60 credits, or something like that).  You needed to have an existing MA in order to apply straight into the M.Ed option, I think.  But I couldn't figure out why I would want a "fancier" masters (unless I knew I was going for the PhD after) so even though I already have an MSEd, I applied just to TC's MA option.  I figured it was cheaper and still got me a degree in the field I wanted.  

[Levon3]

2 hours ago, Heather1011 said:

 But I couldn't figure out why I would want a "fancier" masters (unless I knew I was going for the PhD after) so even though I already have an MSEd, I applied just to TC's MA option.  I figured it was cheaper and still got me a degree in the field I wanted.  

That's really for residents of New York, where payscales/professional certifications are determined by the type of masters you have. 

[Vulpix]

58 minutes ago, Levon3 said:

That's really for residents of New York, where payscales/professional certifications are determined by the type of masters you have. 

Thanks.  Weird/interesting.  I live in New York, and plan to move back there after HGSE, so I guess I should care about this... but eh

[Levon3]

1 hour ago, Heather1011 said:

Thanks.  Weird/interesting.  I live in New York, and plan to move back there after HGSE, so I guess I should care about this... but eh

Well, I think you only need to care if you plan to teach in a DOE school, which I doubt you'll do with your degree. 

[Vulpix]

12 minutes ago, Levon3 said:

Well, I think you only need to care if you plan to teach in a DOE school, which I doubt you'll do with your degree. 

Oooooh, if you're talking about Masters +30/+60, I know all about that pay scale.  I thought you meant for jobs in the private sector or other education jobs.  Considering the degree I'm going for isn't for teaching, that's why I wasn't sure why the difference was significant (besides for the fact that you can ostensibly acquire more skills/knowledge with more classes).

Edited April 6, 2016 by Heather1011

[Levon3]

No--pretty sure nobody outside the city doe cares about a fancier masters. I think TC just offers it to cater to that large market.

[Lisha]

Hi everybody!

My name is Lisha, I live in India and I'm also applying to International Ed programs for Fall 2017-2018. Currently looking at almost all the same programs you guys have mentioned, with a particular interest in UPenn, Harvard and NYU.

Haven't heard great things about the ICE and CIE programs at Columbia, but would love another opinion if anyone would like to share.

Giving the GRE on July 17th, after which it's SOP season all the way. Again, any advice is always welcome.

Excited to be here

[Cat Time]

Excited to have you here Lisha!

Let me know if you need any help with the non-quant portions of the GRE.

[cokpala]

On April 4, 2016 at 3:36 PM, Heather1011 said:

Yay International Education!

Something that was very interesting to me recently as I was accepting and declining my offers for International Education were the exit surveys --- HGSE and Columbia both had me select which other schools I applied to, which were clearly the ones that they consider their competitors.  For IE/IED/IEP, there are really only 10 or so programs of note in the entire country that actually focus on this issue.  It seems that you've identified all of them already... the only others are Vanderbilt, UCLA, perhaps GWU or other DC schools.

Something that still baffles me is that Johns Hopkins is consistently ranked #1/#2 in education, yet I've read of almost no one this year or in previous years on this thread who has applied to it.  I wonder why that is?  It's got major name recognition like Vandy/Stanford/HGSE/Penn/TC etc....

 

Heather,

Thanks for this. I have looked at Vandy and UCLA, too, and both seem like solid choices but I'm not as interested in their locations. I have looked into American and GW a bit as well but need to do more research. I also wonder about John Hopkins.

[cokpala]

On April 5, 2016 at 0:51 PM, marature said:

If you're looking at Monterey, then probably you have a different focus from what I was interested in (which is refugee education/development contexts), but you could also look at American University's ITEP, which has several tracks and people there are very friendly, I was quite impressed with them. SIT has a low-residence Master's program which could be interesting if you want something more flexible. And Heather already mentioned Vanderbilt and GWU, so I think that about covers it. U of Maryland has a program but I haven't heard much about it. Someone in these forums recommended Minnesota, which looked interesting but ultimately not a good fit for me, but you could check it out.

I haven't heard of SIT but it looks interesting; I will do more research and look at American, too-thank you. Maryland I haven't heard anything about but I have a friend who finished her MA in International Ed. at  Minnesota. She was happy with the school overall but thought the program was more theory/research oriented and that she didn't have enough opportunities to take advantage of practical/hands-on experiences or internships. I could see why it may not be a good fit, depending on what you're looking for.

 I think refugee education and development is very interesting, as well, but my experience is largely in language learning and multilingualism as well as immersion and intl. exchange programs, and high stakes testing and use of educational technology/digital divide issues a the secondary level. My areas of focus are Latin America and Asia. What regions are you interested in?

Thanks for the suggestions!

[marature]

9 hours ago, cokpala said:

I haven't heard of SIT but it looks interesting; I will do more research and look at American, too-thank you. Maryland I haven't heard anything about but I have a friend who finished her MA in International Ed. at  Minnesota. She was happy with the school overall but thought the program was more theory/research oriented and that she didn't have enough opportunities to take advantage of practical/hands-on experiences or internships. I could see why it may not be a good fit, depending on what you're looking for.

 I think refugee education and development is very interesting, as well, but my experience is largely in language learning and multilingualism as well as immersion and intl. exchange programs, and high stakes testing and use of educational technology/digital divide issues a the secondary level. My areas of focus are Latin America and Asia. What regions are you interested in?

Thanks for the suggestions!

I'm interested in sub-Saharan Africa, so we don't overlap lol. With your regional interests, tho', Vandy might be a viable option, which it wasn't so much for me. Thanks for the info abt Minnesota - I am also more interested in practice rather than theory, which is why I didn't apply there, and also Stanford. Penn and HGSE sound great for you, with those interests. American also has a bilingual ed program in their ed school, which I was eyeing for extra classes if I went there. Best wishes with your search!

[marature]

9 hours ago, cokpala said:

I haven't heard of SIT but it looks interesting; I will do more research and look at American, too-thank you. Maryland I haven't heard anything about but I have a friend who finished her MA in International Ed. at  Minnesota. She was happy with the school overall but thought the program was more theory/research oriented and that she didn't have enough opportunities to take advantage of practical/hands-on experiences or internships. I could see why it may not be a good fit, depending on what you're looking for.

 I think refugee education and development is very interesting, as well, but my experience is largely in language learning and multilingualism as well as immersion and intl. exchange programs, and high stakes testing and use of educational technology/digital divide issues a the secondary level. My areas of focus are Latin America and Asia. What regions are you interested in?

Thanks for the suggestions!

P.S. Forgot to say, I looked at Maryland briefly because of Nelly Stromquist  - I had read some of her stuff (I can't remember what now!). It sounds like it might be of interest to you... she's got a strong Lat Am focus, and some of her research seems to have to do with higher ed and tech...

http://www.education.umd.edu/Academics/Faculty/Bios/index.cfm?URLID=stromqui