What Should I Do?

[jrizzo15]

I was a New York City Teaching Fellow, and as part of my fellowship I received a Masters in Special Education this past May from Long Island University - Brooklyn. My GPA throughout my two year masters program was a 4.0. For my undergraduate studies, I majored in History, and graduated with a 3.7 overall GPA, and a 3.94 GPA regarding my major. 

 

Since receiving my masters, I have been researching possible PhD programs to continue my own education however I don't know which program would make most sense for me. The University of Kansas has a number of stellar education based PhD programs, and most of them interest me a great deal. In particular I find myself drawn to their Educational Psychology Program. I feel my experience as a special education teacher in New York City and as a graduate student can help ensure some form of success in that program and field. 

 

A major problem holding me back is that my experience with psychology amounts merely to understanding the broad concepts purported by Piaget and Vygotsky. That and I am worried that my teaching experience will not actually help me at all. Part of me just wants to go for it regardless, especially since I am only 24, but another part of me wants to be rationale about the decision as to not waste time, money or energy when I can be pursuing a program more suited to my current skill set of being a teacher. 

 

Essentially, what should I do? Am I just looking into the wrong program? It's a broad question and I apologize if this is too presumptuous of me to even ask, however I would greatly appreciated any and all opinions as I am quite lost on this matter.

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

I'd suggest contacting someone from the program you are interested in, whether a graduate student services coordinator or a specific professor or two with which you'd like to work. None of us can answer if you should apply since each program is different. For instance, I have decided to apply to anthropology and communications programs this season (based on my research interests), but my background is anthropology. I've been reaching out to comm programs I'm interested in and mentioning my research interests and my background, then asking if they think my interests and background would be good for their program/if they would like me to do additional work to improve my knowledge of comm on top of the degree program/any other questions I may have for that program.

So far, it's served me well. Some programs are explicit about their intent to not submit students without a specific background while others are quite interdisciplinary and encourage applicants from multiple majors. In short, contact the program first and ask. At worst, you get told you probably wouldn't be a good fit and you don't apply. At best, they say you might be a great fit and encourage you to apply (plus now you're on their radar).