Ed Policy Hello?

[Escussel]

Hello? Is anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me.  Applying for these programs, waiting to hear back,  I have become comfortably numb. 

I'm trying to connect with people who are applying to the highly competitive Education Policy programs. I have submitted my application to Michigan State University and have my Georgia State University and Stanford applications ready to go (once I can afford the fee!).  I hope to connect with more prospective Ed. Policy students and compare notes on applications etc.  Anyone else with me?

Here are my stats:

GRE: Verbal - 157 ; Quantitative - 150; AW - 4

Grad GPA: 3.89

Undergrad GPA: 3.45

Multiple local and state presentations; no publications; 9 years experience public school teacher

[ShePersisted]

Same here!

I applied to EPPE. 

GRE: Verbal: 155, Quant: 146, AWA: 4.5

Outstanding LoRs. SoP could've been revised more.

Not that great, but I remain hopeful.

[Escussel]

Awesome to find another Ed Policy buddy.  Where have you applied?  

 

[PhD_Wannabe]

Hiya, 

I only applied to USC Rossier School of Education PhD in Urban Education Policy

GRE: Verbal-165, Quant-167, AWA-5.5

Undergrad GPA: 3.3 (had some family issues). No grad degree.

LoRs: unsure how good they were, because I didn't see them and I'm always paranoid that people actually hate me. 

SoP: I feel it was pretty strong. Wish I had spent more time talking about my research interests. 

IDK what to expect, so any insight would be helpful. 

When are you supposed to hear back?

Edited January 11, 2018 by PhD_Wannabe

[ShePersisted]

On 12/18/2017 at 1:25 PM, Escussel said:

Awesome to find another Ed Policy buddy.  Where have you applied?  

 

 

[OperationPhDforMe]

Do we know if USC does interviews? I called the program today but was sent straight to voicemail. USC is my top choice and I am trying already not to be devastated about the denial I will receive. I haven't seen anyone talk about interviews for the Ph.D. in Urban Ed at all throughout these threads. I can't imagine you would get admitted without making any contact with faculty but also......IDK.

[jharpershub]

Well.. it depends on the professor. Interviews are not required. However, they did send out emails for the Higher Ed concentration about acceptances already. 

[indorichai]

Hi! Where did you end up going? I applied to a couple of educational policy programs myself just now. I got into the Georgia State's program but I'm waiting to hear from UGA. 

[FullMoon]

Anyone applied to Educational Policy Studies at U of A? 

[indorichai]

I just heard back from University of Georgia today by checking the status of my application and it said "Application Denied." *sigh* I wish I got an email or something to follow-up with their decision. 

[ILoveEdPolicy]

I want to resurrect this thread...any 2021 Ed Policy people? I'm applying for a Master's right now. Would love to connect and discuss.

[mangoachar]

hello!!! not strictly ed policy, but yes international ed here. where are you applying?

[ILoveEdPolicy]

5 hours ago, mangoachar said:

hello!!! not strictly ed policy, but yes international ed here. where are you applying?

Currently applying at

Harvard EPA Ed.M.

Penn Ed. Policy MSEd 

Georgetown MA in Education Transformation

Vanderbilt MPP in Ed Policy

Looking to eventually do government work

[GradSchoolGrad]

1 hour ago, ILoveEdPolicy said:

Currently applying at

Harvard EPA Ed.M.

Penn Ed. Policy MSEd 

Georgetown MA in Education Transformation

Vanderbilt MPP in Ed Policy

Looking to eventually do government work

I went into my MPP program focusing on Ed Policy, and I, like about 60% of the people that I know who started in the same lane, switched to another policy area (I did tech, I know people that went to housing or labor). I almost did an MA or MA ED and I'm so glad I didn't or else I would have been locked into education without fully appreciating how terrible the job market is for Ed Policy + culture behind this space.

I recommend you go to an general MPP/MPA program rather than an Ed-Specfic one to give yourself flexibility. Even if you stay with Ed Policy, a broad spectrum one will give you creative perspectives and solutions that you would not appreciate in a more siloed program. 

Bottom line is that outside of Academia and Think Tank research (which are brutally competitive and have limited opportunities to begin with), there are very few places that value truly value a master's degree focused on Ed Policy. 

The pure Ed Policy space in the US (as in they don't play extensively with labor, economics, or international) is actually rather small and clique. It matters less what degree you have than networking your way in and paying your dues. Honestly, I know people who achieved the same job title + salary without a graduate degree at these places just by going up the ranks. If you want to work these places, you might be better served just gaining work experience from there. These spaces also don't have much room for promotion or really do a great job of cultivating professional growth. Part of this is because once you go into pure Ed Policy, there is no many other places you can pivot from there.

The pure Ed Policy space is also not really that innovative. You are going after the same old sets of government data that refresh every 5 years or so. The community as a whole is also skeptical of other perspectives on Ed Policy (such as labor, sentiment, or political influence) due to their very conservative posture (as in hasn't changed in the past 30 years or so) about innovation in the space. There are some budding areas of innovation in the State Ed Policy space, which are really cool, but they struggled to pick up scale. 

Outside of the pure Ed Policy space that are tangentially relevant (like training, jobs acquisition, social oriented, and community uplift) type policy, you are competing with social, labor, urban, and etc. policy folks who usually have a leg up on you as an Ed Policy person because they are exposed to a more creative policy space and community.

Ed is also increasingly being disrupted. Its becoming more and more common for Harvard MBAs, Public Health, or Stats people to get involved in Ed Policy from an external lens. Better to know them than compete against them. 

Happy to give you any more perspectives. 

 

[GradSchoolGrad]

1 hour ago, ILoveEdPolicy said:

Currently applying at

Harvard EPA Ed.M.

Penn Ed. Policy MSEd 

Georgetown MA in Education Transformation

Vanderbilt MPP in Ed Policy

Looking to eventually do government work

Also, you do realize that the schools you are applying to have decently different curriculum? 

[ILoveEdPolicy]

@GradSchoolGrad Thank you for your perspective! I do have a diversity of interests within the Ed Policy space, which is how I ended up with this list. I was mostly going off looking at state/federal level jobs I was interested in, and looking at the career paths of some people with those jobs!

[mangoachar]

On 10/2/2020 at 8:57 PM, ILoveEdPolicy said:

Currently applying at

Harvard EPA Ed.M.

Penn Ed. Policy MSEd 

Georgetown MA in Education Transformation

Vanderbilt MPP in Ed Policy

Looking to eventually do government work

that's great! I wish you all the best. I am also looking at Vanderbilt and UPenn, but for their intl. ed (development/policy) programs -- hoping to eventually work in a global ed institution or think tank (especially focusing on education for emergencies/refugees/migrants)! 

[GradSchoolGrad]

6 hours ago, mangoachar said:

that's great! I wish you all the best. I am also looking at Vanderbilt and UPenn, but for their intl. ed (development/policy) programs -- hoping to eventually work in a global ed institution or think tank (especially focusing on education for emergencies/refugees/migrants)! 

@mangoachar

So for international development - ed/policy programs, you might want to consider going to and international development program and focus on ed rather than end and focus on intternational development. 

Same deal if you want to go think tank. You'll be better off going to an MPP or IR program and focus on ed because you simply have much more rigorous quant data training. 

[Bailey Nelson]

Hi all! I am currently applying to Ed Policy PhD programs. 

Any info on Georgia State and University of Illinois-Chicago? Those are my top choices but I've also applied to UC Boulder, Ohio State, University of Iowa and Iowa State.

My stats:
Undergrad GPA: 3.7

Grad GPA: 4.0 (Masters in Professional Education)

GRE Scores (Even though a lot of schools are waiving)

V: 154

Q: 152

AW: 4.5

I have experience teaching and am currently and researcher/curriculum author for a startup consulting company in collaboration with my former professor.

I honestly have no idea what my chances are getting into these programs and I'm not sure if I should apply to more. 

[Bailey Nelson]

On 3/18/2020 at 5:03 PM, indorichai said:

Hi! Where did you end up going? I applied to a couple of educational policy programs myself just now. I got into the Georgia State's program but I'm waiting to hear from UGA. 

If you don't mind me asking, what were your stats? I applied to Georgia State for their Education Policy-Social Foundations Doctorate.

My stats:
Undergrad GPA: 3.7

Grad GPA: 4.0 (Masters in Professional Education)

GRE Scores (Even though a lot of schools are waiving)

V: 154

Q: 152

AW: 4.5

[GradSchoolGrad]

20 minutes ago, Bailey Nelson said:

Hi all! I am currently applying to Ed Policy PhD programs. 

Any info on Georgia State and University of Illinois-Chicago? Those are my top choices but I've also applied to UC Boulder, Ohio State, University of Iowa and Iowa State.

My stats:
Undergrad GPA: 3.7

Grad GPA: 4.0 (Masters in Professional Education)

GRE Scores (Even though a lot of schools are waiving)

V: 154

Q: 152

AW: 4.5

I have experience teaching and am currently and researcher/curriculum author for a startup consulting company in collaboration with my former professor.

I honestly have no idea what my chances are getting into these programs and I'm not sure if I should apply to more. 

Bailey,

Ed Policy PhD from Ed schools (rightly or wrongly) is really bi-furcated. You basically have National Leaders (Vanderbilt - Peabody, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, Harvard Ed... and I might be forgetting someone here - maybe Michigan???) that view themselves as the elite and everyone else. *Note UGA sometimes is bucketed in this elite group... but not really. 

From a professional prospective, it doesn't mean anything. Peabody folks sit side by side undergrads only in the professional job market. HOWEVER... from a research + national resource perspective, there are a lot of advantages of being part of that network. It is one of those, if you know one person, you tangentially have access to the all-star team of ed policy folks type deal. 

I'm telling you this because my bet is that if you don't submit your GRE, you might have a better chance of getting into one of the National Leader schools (if you don't mind moving). It is better to start off your career with a network advantage than without it. I of course don't know the details behind your transcript and work history. However, I recommend you just look into it. 

You'll still be fine going to a major state school PhD program (and Georgia State has a good program). However, beyond the regional benefit (so if you want to do Atlanta stuff, Georgia State will be awesome for you), you'll have to work harder to get access to data, personalities, and resources. The way around that is connecting with a rock star professor, which are sprinkled out among all schools.

Bottom line, if you can, I would shoot for one of the national leaders. 

[indorichai]

 

19 hours ago, Bailey Nelson said:

If you don't mind me asking, what were your stats? I applied to Georgia State for their Education Policy-Social Foundations Doctorate.

My stats:
Undergrad GPA: 3.7

Grad GPA: 4.0 (Masters in Professional Education)

GRE Scores (Even though a lot of schools are waiving)

V: 154

Q: 152

AW: 4.5

Hey Bailey, 

I am currently at Georgia State right now, but I am in the Research, Measurement and Statistics program. My grad GPA is 3.96 (master's in education from FSU) and my GRE scores were pretty low (I don't test well and have horrible anxiety). V: 151 Q: 155 AW: 4.0 

I also applied to UGA but got rejected. 

Hope that helps!

Edited October 28, 2020 by indorichai