2010 Ed PhD hopefuls?

[t_ruth]

What!?! how did I miss another Ed PhD seeker w/a JD. Angelica, PM me (I graduated law school in 2003). I could definitely give you some very tailored insights

[amelapay]

Hi everyone! I was planning just to lurk, but you seem like a nice, small, friendly bunch so here goes :-)

To make a long story short(ish), my background is in philosophy (I hold a BA and am a few formalities away from an MA). My philosophical interests somehow all shifted to education: character/moral education, arguments for/against school choice, moral status of homeschooling, feminism & education, etc. So, I decided to make the move to a school of education in order to complete my PhD with advisors & colleagues whose interests were more in line with my own. I'm also under the impression that academic job prospects are somewhat better in schools of education than in departments of philosophy. I look forward to catching myself up on the history & theory of education with guidance, instead of trying to do it on my own while enrolled in a philosophy degree program.

Won't bore you with the details, but my application is decently strong. I think my letters are the best part, undergrad GPA is definitely the worst (I started off with a different major at a different school than the one from which I earned my BA, and it was 2 years of academic disaster). But my graduate GPA is very good, so hopefully that compensates.

I chose to apply to schools of education offering programs in the philosophy of education, social & cultural foundations, or similar. The final list was: Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Penn, Ohio State, Michigan-Ann Arbor, Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Washington, Wisconsin-Madison, & UNC-Chapel Hill.

I will be attending the Penn PhD applicants' weekend (I applied to the Education, Culture & Society program there).

[gem]

Hi everyone! I was planning just to lurk, but you seem like a nice, small, friendly bunch so here goes :-)

To make a long story short(ish), my background is in philosophy (I hold a BA and am a few formalities away from an MA). My philosophical interests somehow all shifted to education: character/moral education, arguments for/against school choice, moral status of homeschooling, feminism & education, etc. So, I decided to make the move to a school of education in order to complete my PhD with advisors & colleagues whose interests were more in line with my own. I'm also under the impression that academic job prospects are somewhat better in schools of education than in departments of philosophy. I look forward to catching myself up on the history & theory of education with guidance, instead of trying to do it on my own while enrolled in a philosophy degree program.

Won't bore you with the details, but my application is decently strong. I think my letters are the best part, undergrad GPA is definitely the worst (I started off with a different major at a different school than the one from which I earned my BA, and it was 2 years of academic disaster). But my graduate GPA is very good, so hopefully that compensates.

I chose to apply to schools of education offering programs in the philosophy of education, social & cultural foundations, or similar. The final list was: Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Penn, Ohio State, Michigan-Ann Arbor, Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Washington, Wisconsin-Madison, & UNC-Chapel Hill.

I will be attending the Penn PhD applicants' weekend (I applied to the Education, Culture & Society program there).

Hi Amelapay!

It's nice to meet you! I will be on the lookout for you at Penn!

It looks like you have a very strong application. Your interest in character/moral education is really fascinating, this is a topic that I spend a considerable amount of time considering in my life as a practitioner. I am sure that you have many insights to offer!

[KelseyEve]

Anyone hear from UC berkeley?

I haven't heard yet. I applied to the School Psych program.

[b_bstevie]

To help me endure the agony of waiting for decisions I figured I'd join in the discussion as well. I'm applying to PhD programs in Comparative/International Education at the following schools:

Stanford

Vanderbilt

Columbia

Minnesota

UCLA

Maryland

Penn State

Wisconsin

I'm somewhat young with not much work experience, but I've had some great research opportunities over the last few years including two publications (neither as primary author), research projects, and presentations. I had a 3.3 undergrad GPA in linguistics, and if I can take my mind away from my PhD daydreams long enough, I might just finish my thesis for an M.Ed. in Comparative International Development Education this April. My graduate GPA is 3.8 and GRE is 640, 640, 4.5. Although my numbers aren't incredibly strong, I feel like I make up for them with a good amount of experience in a somewhat obscure niche of the Education field.

My dream school would be Vanderbilt, mostly for the full scholarship and stipend they provide for every LPO PhD student, but would be happy with any offer which includes a decent funding package. I actually heard from a professor at UCLA last week, saying that I will be accepted to the Social Sciences and Comparative Education program with $10,000 guaranteed funding. It's a great offer--if only the tuition wasn't $26,000 and living expenses off the charts in Beverly Hills. We'll see what happens thought. He said the official letter won't come til the end of February. I don't know if they informed all the other students too, or if he just contacted me because I have been speaking to him since I met him at a conference last year.

Anyway, I've enjoyed reading all of your posts, so I figured I might join in on the fun. Best of luck to all of you. I just hope they let us know soon before too many of us keel over from all the anxiety.

[amelapay]

To help me endure the agony of waiting for decisions I figured I'd join in the discussion as well. I'm applying to PhD programs in Comparative/International Education at the following schools:

Stanford

Vanderbilt

Columbia

Minnesota

UCLA

Maryland

Penn State

Wisconsin

I'm somewhat young with not much work experience, but I've had some great research opportunities over the last few years including two publications (neither as primary author), research projects, and presentations. I had a 3.3 undergrad GPA in linguistics, and if I can take my mind away from my PhD daydreams long enough, I might just finish my thesis for an M.Ed. in Comparative International Development Education this April. My graduate GPA is 3.8 and GRE is 640, 640, 4.5. Although my numbers aren't incredibly strong, I feel like I make up for them with a good amount of experience in a somewhat obscure niche of the Education field.

My dream school would be Vanderbilt, mostly for the full scholarship and stipend they provide for every LPO PhD student, but would be happy with any offer which includes a decent funding package. I actually heard from a professor at UCLA last week, saying that I will be accepted to the Social Sciences and Comparative Education program with $10,000 guaranteed funding. It's a great offer--if only the tuition wasn't $26,000 and living expenses off the charts in Beverly Hills. We'll see what happens thought. He said the official letter won't come til the end of February. I don't know if they informed all the other students too, or if he just contacted me because I have been speaking to him since I met him at a conference last year.

Anyway, I've enjoyed reading all of your posts, so I figured I might join in on the fun. Best of luck to all of you. I just hope they let us know soon before too many of us keel over from all the anxiety.

Hi, b_bstevie! Just wanted to say welcome, and that we're in much the same boat. I am also young, with little work experience, but academic experience within a niche sub-field of education (philosophy). My GREs and GPAs are similar to yours, too. Best of luck to you!

[gvletmeintogradschool]

Hello, fellow Ed PhDs!

I applied to 2 PhDs (Berkely and Penn) that focus on culture's role in education. I also applied to two MAs (Harvard and Stanford)...fingers crossed that at least one of them sends good news!

I have four years of teaching experience (two in middle school with Teach for America and two with 4th grade in a high performing charter school). My undergrad GPA isn't amazing but my graduate GPA is quite good. GREs? A whole 'nother story, ha. I did quite well in the Quantitative section but (in my mind) bombed the verbal. Yeesh. I'm trying not to obsess over what could be these gaps in my applications!

Best of luck to everyone!

[jeanne]

I thought I'd add my 2 cents.

I'm applying to Education programs at University of Illinois, Northwesteern, WUSTL, Harvard, and Stanford. I've already been accepted at U of I, and am very hopeful for WUSTL, but am eager to hear about Harvard! I've kind of ruled Stanford out because of distance and I went to Northwestern for undergrad ... I haven't heard great things about the PhD program - there's no help in publishing, apparently. And I want to publish!

My "stats":

4.0 GPA in Masters, 3.7 in Bachelors (Music Ed and Neurobiology)

1400 combined GRE

Never been published

5 years at an elementary school (science coordinator)

1 year at a middle school (science teacher)

I've love to hear from others who are looking into Education!

[Future]

Just called UPenn GSE and they said decisions would be sent out in March... ugh! Talk about the stress!

[Paul S.]

Just called UPenn GSE and they said decisions would be sent out in March... ugh! Talk about the stress!

Good thing February is the shortest month of the year!

[snoopy]

I applied to Educational Psychology too. My interest is adolescent development and career decision-making in adolescent. This year I applied to only 4 places that seem to match my interest;

Ph.D. Child and Adolescent Development, Stanford

Ph.D. Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Development, University of Pennsylvania

Ed.D. Human Development and Education, Harvard

Ph.D. Child Development, Tuft

My background

B.Sc. (Medical Science), international (Asia)

Ed.M. (Mind, Brain and Education) Harvard

I have relatively low experience because of my age. I have been a full-time teacher for almost 2 years, and I have been doing research with a top university of my country.

I am pretty nervous right now since I only applied to top schools. But my original intention was that I don't want to leave my country just to go to the program that I don't really want to be in. So if I don't get in this year, I will apply again in a year or two. ( I keep telling myself that, but I am still hoping that I would get in this year!)

Edited February 12, 2010 by dorae_monty

[t_ruth]

Good luck to you Snoopy! I study something similar and you definitely missed some good schools that would have profs w/your interests...

[snoopy]

t_ruth

Posted 14 February 2010 - 05:46 AM

Good luck to you Snoopy! I study something similar and you definitely missed some good schools that would have profs w/your interests...

Would you mind telling me what they are? I didn't have time to research a lot of schools this year. The information would be really helpful if I have to apply again this year. By the way, what are your research interest?