HGSE 2018

[Cookiz]

Hi everyone! 

I'm new to this forum and this is my first post :). 

I have received an email from Harvard GSE earlier today to inform me that I have been shortlisted for the interview stage. The interview will be conducted next Monday. I must say I am positively surprised and very happy, but I am also quite stressed about it... and was hoping to find some information about that interview on this forum. In the meantime, if that helps, below is some information about my application.

Program/Concentration: PhD in Education, EPPE concentration
GRE Score: V 154 (65%), Q 167 (92%), AW 5.5 (98%)   [I only studied for the quantitative section... I know my verbal score is low but I’m a foreigner [French], so I'm counting on the committee to be clement here .]
TOEFL Score: 110/120 (Writing 30/30, Reading 27/30, Speaking 27/30, Listening 26/30)
GPA: N/A (because I studied in France and my school doesn't provide any averages, but I had honors in my undergrad and was Summa Cum Laude in my Masters program in Economics & Public Policy)
Work Experience: a 3-month summer internship at the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills when I was a Masters student
Undergrad/Grad Institution (Public, Private, Ivy, etc..): top French "Grande Ecole" in social sciences, for both my undergrad and masters
Research Experience: 1 Masters thesis & 2.5 years of RAship for professors of economics (including 1.5+ years with a professor of economics at a US top school)
LoR/SoP: 2 from professors I RA'ed for (with one of them, I also took an undergrad-level econ course), 1 from my Master's thesis supervisor (I also took two of his grad-level econ courses and RA'ed for him but it was only data collection stuff), and 1 from one of my grad econometrics professors (he's the only senior prof among my recommenders). My SoP was quite standard, I guess (?): I talked about my academic background and my research experiences, why I wanted to pursue a PhD program in Education (I'm mostly interested in economics of education), what questions I'd like to address and briefly how I plan to tackle these, and which professors I'd be interested in working with.
What Other Schools Are You Applying To: several PhD programs... mostly in economics, but another one in education at Stanford GSE, and 2 in public policy at Harvard Kennedy and Chicago Harris.

Hope this helps. Good luck to everyone! 

And, if anyone has any advice/information regarding the interview, I would greatly appreciate if you could share! Thanks a lot!

Edited January 19, 2018 by Cookiz

[ShePersisted]

10 hours ago, ohrice said:

Do all the interviews come out on the same day?

I looked through previous threads and the current ones posted online, it seems like they break interviews apart. Based on the thread, there were close to 10 interviews for one program. And 2 more the next day. For the PhD in Education program, I saw 5 invites go out today alone (January 18)! I'm hoping more goes out this weekend/next week. The waiting game is killing me! 

[ShePersisted]

7 hours ago, Cookiz said:

Hi everyone! 

I'm new to this forum and this is my first post :). 

I have received an email from Harvard GSE earlier today to inform me that I have been shortlisted for the interview stage. The interview will be conducted next Monday. I must say I am positively surprised and very happy, but I am also quite stressed about it... and was hoping to find some information about that interview on this forum. In the meantime, if that helps, below is some information about my application.

Program/Concentration: PhD in Education, EPPE concentration
GRE Score: V 154 (65%), Q 167 (92%), AW 5.5 (98%)   [I only studied for the quantitative section... I know my verbal score is low but I’m a foreigner [French], so I'm counting on the committee to be clement here .]
TOEFL Score: 110/120 (Writing 30/30, Reading 27/30, Speaking 27/30, Listening 26/30)
GPA: N/A (because I studied in France and my school doesn't provide any averages, but I had honors in my undergrad and was Summa Cum Laude in my Masters program in Economics & Public Policy)
Work Experience: a 3-month summer internship at the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills when I was a Masters student
Undergrad/Grad Institution (Public, Private, Ivy, etc..): top French "Grande Ecole" in social sciences, for both my undergrad and masters
Research Experience: 1 Masters thesis & 2.5 years of RAship for professors of economics (including 1.5+ years with a professor of economics at a US top school)
LoR/SoP: 2 from professors I RA'ed for (with one of them, I also took an undergrad-level econ course), 1 from my Master's thesis supervisor (I also took two of his grad-level econ courses and RA'ed for him but it was only data collection stuff), and 1 from one of my grad econometrics professors (he's the only senior prof among my recommenders). My SoP was quite standard, I guess (?): I talked about my academic background and my research experiences, why I wanted to pursue a PhD program in Education (I'm mostly interested in economics of education), what questions I'd like to address and briefly how I plan to tackle these, and which professors I'd be interested in working with.
What Other Schools Are You Applying To: several PhD programs... mostly in economics, but another one in education at Stanford GSE, and 2 in public policy at Harvard Kennedy and Chicago Harris.

Hope this helps. Good luck to everyone! 

And, if anyone has any advice/information regarding the interview, I would greatly appreciate if you could share! Thanks a lot!

Based on what I've seen so far, the interview will be between 15 - 30 mins. I guess they would like to hear more about your research interests and/or anything that stood out in your SoP. Good luck and keep us posted!!!

[ShePersisted]

On 1/4/2018 at 9:44 AM, dh17 said:

Hi everyone. I wasn't sure if I would post here. I've been lurking and trying to figure out what my chances are. I applied to HGSE's Ph.D. program.

Program/Concentration: CIS
GRE Score: V 168, Q 152, AWA: 6 (I took the GRE once, and I studied very hard for the quant, but it's been a long time since I had to use math at that level; I am really happy with my V and AWA, but worried over the low Q. I considered taking the test a few more times, but I elected not to do so in the hopes that my V and AWA scores will be more important, but I don't know.)
GPA: 3.73 undergrad magna cum laude / 3.9 masters
Work Experience: 20 years as a classroom teacher, including 3 years as a technology integrator and about 4 years as a department chair. Some experience consulting. Lots of experience presenting at national/regional/state conferences in many different areas. 
Undergrad/Grad Institution (Public, Private, Ivy, etc..): Public in both cases, and I'm not sure how well regarded (UGA and VA Tech).
Research Experience: None really, but I have published two articles in a peer-reviewed education journal. I also have a well-regarded blog (12 years and counting!).
LoR/SoP: 2 from supervisors and 1 from a colleague who has worked with me closely. SoP focused on assessment in education. I earned my masters in 2010, and all of my undergrad professors are retired (I am a lot older than many of you!); I don't think any of my graduate school professors are still at it, either, or at least, I don't know where they are. I honestly think people who have worked with me would be able to speak more accurately about my abilities than my college professors who might barely be able to recall the work I did in their classes years ago, but I could be wrong. I decided I better not worry about it.
What Other Schools Are You Applying To: None; if I don't get in, I'm content to continue working in my current teaching job. This program is the one I want to try. If I'm not admitted, I probably will not go on to earn a Ph.D. anywhere else. I did research other schools, but my conclusion is that I really want to attend this school and participate in this program. 

Great stats! I don't think your Quant is too low (mine is lower). You have extensive experience and have been out of school for awhile, so you should proud of yourself! Good luck to us!

 

[imagical]

Hi all! Just wanted to thank you for providing an excellent source of support over the past few months - I found out yesterday I have an interview for the PhD in HDLT! @Cookiz (and others), congratulations on your interview! I'm sure you have no need to stress as your stats are great and your story sounds really interesting  I hope it goes well and wish you very good luck 

[EdPhDHopeful]

Hi y'all~

Congrats to those who were contacted for interviews!

I applied to the CIS Ph.D. program. Has any fellow CIS applicant received an interview invite? 

@jmaroon thank you for updating us with your friend's insider info. Would he/she know if the CIS invites were already sent?

[NativeEd]

@EdPhDHopeful I applied to the CIS program and also haven't heard anything yet.

[dh17]

3 hours ago, ShePersisted said:

Great stats! I don't think your Quant is too low (mine is lower). You have extensive experience and have been out of school for awhile, so you should proud of yourself! Good luck to us!

 

Thank you! I am nervous, like all the rest of you.

[NourM]

Hello everyone. I applied to the CIS program and received an interview invite for Tuesday.

[edu_21]

Hello! I also applied for the CIS program, but I have yet to receive an interview invitation.

[Seattle Gal]

7 minutes ago, edu_21 said:

Hello! I also applied for the CIS program, but I have yet to receive an interview invitation.

Hi! I also applied for CIS, but nothing re: interviews as of now. Have any other CIS candidates heard about an interview? Thanks. 

[edu_21]

6 minutes ago, Seattle Gal said:

Hi! I also applied for CIS, but nothing re: interviews as of now. Have any other CIS candidates heard about an interview? Thanks. 

Just looking at the data from GradCafe, it looks like people were informed of interviews during a three day span last year-from the 19th to the 21st. Might be a long three days!

[Seattle Gal]

36 minutes ago, edu_21 said:

Just looking at the data from GradCafe, it looks like people were informed of interviews during a three day span last year-from the 19th to the 21st. Might be a long three days!

Thanks, that helps! Let’s post if we hear anything. ?

[edu_21]

7 minutes ago, Seattle Gal said:

Thanks, that helps! Let’s post if we hear anything. ?

Absolutely!

[nandoswitharando]

22 hours ago, aimeglobe said:

If you don't mind me asking, which program did you apply for?

CIS.

 

21 hours ago, Andrew_Doane said:

Good luck! Let us know how interview goes. When is it scheduled for?

Thanks! It's on Monday.

[Basil23]

CIS applicant here as well; no news!

Folks that heard back, did the email land in your inbox or your spam?

[Basil23]

2 minutes ago, nandoswitharando said:

CIS.

 

Thanks! It's on Monday.

Good luck! I'm sure you'll be great! 

[NFarrell]

Have any EdLd hopefuls heard anything yet? 

[imagical]

2 hours ago, Basil23 said:

CIS applicant here as well; no news!

Folks that heard back, did the email land in your inbox or your spam?

Mine was in my inbox but my computer was convinced it was some kind of malware for some reason so I’d make sure to check spam too! Fingers crossed for all of you!!

[jmaroon]

@NFarrell Interviews for EDLD always come after PhD. The interviews aren't until late Feb, if I remember correctly a little over a week prior, maybe two.

[Cookiz]

14 hours ago, ShePersisted said:

Based on what I've seen so far, the interview will be between 15 - 30 mins. I guess they would like to hear more about your research interests and/or anything that stood out in your SoP. Good luck and keep us posted!!!

Ah, thanks a lot for the information! I didn't know that the SoP was so important for applications... I mean it doesn't seem to be for PhD programs in Economics at least... but glad to hear that I haven't written for nothing then :). 
And thanks for the wishes! Sure, will keep you posted!

------

@imagical: Congrats to you, too! as well as all the other finalists!
This weekend will be quite stressful... huh... but fingers crossed!

------

CIS applicant here as well; no news!

Folks that heard back, did the email land in your inbox or your spam?

I also received it in my inbox (they sent it to my Gmail address).

Edited January 20, 2018 by Cookiz

[dh17]

20 hours ago, imagical said:

Mine was in my inbox but my computer was convinced it was some kind of malware for some reason so I’d make sure to check spam too! Fingers crossed for all of you!!

Is it my imagination, or are the people who have had invitations all international candidates? It makes me wonder if they are scheduling interviews first with the folks who might potentially be more difficult to schedule because of the time difference. In any case, I'm chewing my nails over here, and I need to do something besides checking my email and this forum!

I think I pulled together the strongest application I could hope for, and there isn't anything else I can do about it now (except worry, which is not helping). I do really want to do this. I think I have the potential to help bring about some important changes in education, so naturally, I'll be disappointed if I'm rejected. 

Thanks for making this a place where those of us who are in the same boat can commiserate! Everyone here has been very encouraging of others.

[Cookiz]

18 minutes ago, dh17 said:

Is it my imagination, or are the people who have had invitations all international candidates? It makes me wonder if they are scheduling interviews first with the folks who might potentially be more difficult to schedule because of the time difference. In any case, I'm chewing my nails over here, and I need to do something besides checking my email and this forum!

I think I pulled together the strongest application I could hope for, and there isn't anything else I can do about it now (except worry, which is not helping). I do really want to do this. I think I have the potential to help bring about some important changes in education, so naturally, I'll be disappointed if I'm rejected. 

Thanks for making this a place where those of us who are in the same boat can commiserate! Everyone here has been very encouraging of others.

I am indeed an "international candidate" but I have been living/working in the USA for more than 1.5 years now (which you can easily tell from my CV) so I don't think your hypothesis about time difference is valid (sorry about that)...?

Edited January 20, 2018 by Cookiz

[dh17]

3 minutes ago, Cookiz said:

I am indeed an "international candidate" but I have been living in the USA for more than 1.5 years now (which you can clearly tell from my CV) so I don't think your hypothesis about time difference is valid (sorry about that)...?

Thanks! I missed that on your location and just remembered reading you were from France. 

[Cookiz]

21 minutes ago, dh17 said:

Thanks! I missed that on your location and just remembered reading you were from France. 

No problem! I in fact don't think it was clear from my initial post that I'm currently working in the US :).

Good luck anyway! Keep faith!

Edited January 20, 2018 by Cookiz