Hello everyone,
I am a senior at an R1 state school, and have recently applied to Harvard, Columbia, and Penn’s technology in education graduate programs. As these programs are quite competitive, I applied to them only as a reach, while I have multiple job applications lined up as a more practical alternative. I applied to these programs as the field of study is something I am quite passionate about, although I am expecting a decline from each of them nevertheless.
Cumulative GPA (as of right now) is a 3.2, although my last two semester have been 3.75 and 3.77 respectively, with more challenging classes in these. I know the upwards trend thing is iffy with graduate schools, but I believe the particularity MA programs I have applied to quite the ‘business school’ vibes to them, and will hopefully look up to the other qualifications I have achieved.
My GREs have thankfully served me well. 163V, 166Q, which is around the top quarterly for each of the three schools programs.
I have 3 recc letters, each from a professor, 1 of them distinguished. I have assisted one of them (from the education dept) with research last semester. One of them (economics) I am doing research with next semester but have previously taken a research seminar with him and I anticipate the letter to be good. The final (philosophy) should serve well, as i have gotten to know the professor quite well over the last couple years.
Potential catalyst: I developed a very small, but college-recognized non-profit organization through a program/accelerator at my university that helps schoolteachers in the local region analyze student strength/weakness with data analyses. In addition to this, I (and my partner) have developed a program to personalize literary/math questions so they serve each individual student’s interests. While our sample trials were quite small, we were awarded through the organization on campus and recognized in a couple newspapers.
I have additionally launched a website highlighting the growing need for educators at both the secondary and tertiary levels to collect feedback on student skills/interests and set them on career tracks that both meet their needs and settle the growing issue of job shortage/surplus. This project was highlighted in my Personal statement, where I discussed my future entrepreneurial goals in relation to these issues and explained why attending each school would help me achieve these goals, owing to individual faculty success/research at each respective school.
Please give me honest feedback, especially in regards to the upward trend of GPA. There have been a total of 2 F’s, 4 C’s, and multiple B’s. I am a double major in Econometrics and Philosophy. Philosophy major GPA is 4.0. Econ is around 3.2.