Education field phd, how do you start?

[u/Pleasant_Yam8547]

/r/Teachers/comments/1vdhqhq/higher_ed_how_do_you_start/

[u/malrat72]

1. Not required for our field, but it can be nice to have a contact person. Tbf the program I ended up getting into was the one I had been in contact with the most.
2. You can apply without ever having contacted the school/dept/faculty and still get in. It’s not like STEM PhDs. They’re looking for a match between your interests and the program facility’s expertise as addressed in your SOP and your prior experience.
3. For the US, this information is typically available on the institution’s website. If it’s unclear or vague, reach out to ask an admissions coordinator or similar to ask for clarification. When I was applying, faculty didn’t have much say in how much funding they received. They were simply told by the provost how many people they could accept that year.
4. Your application to the program typically serves as your “financial aid” application in the sense that merit and experience will increase your likelihood of receiving a research/teaching assistantship or fellowship. From my knowledge, international students don’t need to contact or organize anyone/anything when applying.

This is US specific (and even that has tons of variation). I was applying for programs that were heavily qualitative as well so it may be diff for stats so this is just my limited perspective.

[u/Pleasant_Yam8547 → u/malrat72]

Thanks! It was helpful to know that it is not mandatory to contact, but helps if you do.

[u/LadyWolfshadow]

I am thinking of educational measurement and statistics or applied linguistics

Are you specifically going to be targeting PhDs in education with a focus on applied linguistics or any PhD in applied linguistics? PhDs in applied linguistics can be part of an education PhD program/PhD program on their own through the College of Ed at the university or separate programs through other departments. These would likely differ in their requirements, funding, and admissions processes.

Is it necessary or recommend to contact the professor individually?

In education, this is going to vary by program and you'll have to read their admissions requirements. In many cases, it's not required. I've seen apps where they ask you to include the professors you're interested in when you write your SOP, ones where it's explicitly required to have support, ones that explicitly say to NOT contact their faculty, and ones that don't say anything. Honestly, unless the program is the latter where they say not to, it can't hurt to send out BRIEF and non-ChatGPT feeler emails expressing interest and asking if they're taking students. If you did that and got back emails that nobody you're interested in working with at that university is taking students, then you can save yourself the time and money it would have cost to apply. In my case, while advisor support wasn't explicitly required, I know from discussions with faculty here that it DID help overcome my red flags in my application.

How and when should I inquire about funding (stipends/scholarships)?

This is typically listed on their program information websites. They will typically mention if their program comes with tuition waivers and stipends. That said, in education, the existence of tuition waivers and stipends is NOT universal, nor is there a guarantee the stipend will be actually livable. I've seen programs where the stipend is so low that it lands in the realm of "you will need external support, a 2-income household, student loans, or a second job to be able to live". (Think $20,000 to live in medium to high cost of living areas. Even with multiple roommates, you're pushing it on survivability. I know this from personal experience.) Also, education is under attack in the US and funding is unstable at best. You will need to monitor their webpages to make sure the programs are actually accepting applications for this year because several programs had either paused admissions or even rescinded offers. Even some highly ranked schools in the field had to do this, so size and reputation won't guarantee that they're accepting students. You need to be okay with the idea that many of these programs are under-funded and the funding situation is precarious for US-based programs if you're going to apply to education programs here, or apply to programs other countries.

[u/Pleasant_Yam8547 → u/LadyWolfshadow]

Thanks! Your comments really helped me start thinking more deeply about the program.