More Q&A from prospective students

We had a google hangout on Tuesday (which I forgot to post about! And did not attend because I had class), but most of the topics that came up are addressed in a previous Q&A post. Of course, more questions means more answers! GSEers LOVE questions, so here are some more answers. Feel free to email if others come up (and please excuse any redundancies).

1. In one of the points you had written that IEDP is more focused on the in and outs of development unlike other international education programs that are more focused on education policy and management. Does IEDP have any policy related courses?

There is another program (Education Policy) at GSE so you can definitely get your policy fill! I would say that one difference is that many of the policy classes are focused on the US, but there are some that look at international policy. Knowing those classes and prioritizing them in your schedule/plan will definitely help you if that is a route that you want to take. Also, some classes (even if they are not specifically policy-focused) require students to write policy memos and we do write a policy brief for the capstone paper, so that genre of writing is definitely covered in the program.

Here are some of the policy classes that IEDPers have taken this academic year:

-Policy Planning in International Educational Development

-Comprehensive School Reform As Applied Public Policy
-Economics of Education

-Teachers and teaching policy

Here is the link to all the courses offered at GSE. They may not be offered every year, but it gives you an idea and sometimes new courses are added (very last minute) so they really do vary each year. Besides GSE, people take courses at Wharton, Penn Law, Social Policy and Practice...there are tons of options! The trick is finding out about them before it is too late. There was this "Women's Microfinance in India" course taught at the Fels school and they traveled to India during winter break to learn directly about microfinancing.

2. I have been going through the summer internship positions of students and they seem very interesting. What I understand from your post that most of the internships are unpaid but the university provides some grants. What is the average funding for summer internship that most of the students get? 

This year, we are receiving up to $3,000 towards travel, housing and room and board. Depending what organization you end up with, they may offer different things, but this depends, so definitely do not count on it. Going somewhere where you have friends/family to stay with can help offset the costs and you can voice those requests early in the internship process.

3. Can I apply for external scholarships to help fund the Master’s?

Depending on your nationality, you may be able to receive some government funding and for Americans, there are a lot of private scholarships you can apply for. Also, Philadelphia is a pretty cheap city and you definitely can try to cut costs or work a part-time job on campus or in the area. I found it helpful to make a budget of living expenses and then compare it to how much Penn suggests you will need. They definitely overestimate and if you are determined enough to find cheap housing and stick it to a budget, then your costs will be lower than in other cities like DC and NY. However, do what is smartest for you. I figured, if I was going to go to a Master's program, I would do the best one for me, even if it was more costly than other options, but everyone's situation is different.

Being a GA in the student houses as another option for additional funding. Here is the link. It covers housing and meals. It is something definitely worth pursuing. 

Also, admissions has a document of external scholarships that we recommend to students who wish to pursue them. However, GSE cannot provide assistance or advice in applying for these awards.

General Scholarship Clearinghouses:

www.fastweb.com; www.zinch.com; www.finaid.org; www.graduateprograms.com/scholarship/

Here are some agencies that also give out scholarships & the amount:

Agency	Amount
American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education	$5,000
American Indian Graduate Center	Varies
American Students of Arab Descent	Varies
Association on American Indian Affairs	Varies
BlackStudents.com	Varies
Grant$ 4 Women	Varies
Hispanic Scholarship Fund	$5,000
Japanese American Citizens League	Varies
National Association of Hispanic & Latino Studies	$15,000
Paul & Daisy Soros Foundation for New Americans	$25,000
Scholarships for Women	Varies
International Students
Aga Khan International Fellowship Program	Varies
Cyprus Children’s Fund	$1,000
Dolores Zohab Liebmann Fund	Varies
Emergency Student Fund	Varies
International Student Voice Magazine	Varies
John Mott Scholarship	$10,000
Aspiring Teachers, Community Involvement & Research
Davis Putter Scholarship Fund	Varies
James Madison Memorial Fellowship	$24,000
Joseph B. & Toby Gitler Prize	$25,000
Knowles Science Teaching Foundation	Varies
National Academy of Education	$25,000
Scholarships for Teachers	Varies
The Elizabeth Munsterberg Koppitz Child Psychology Fellowship	$25,000

4. You mentioned about being more proactive about finding out the courses before it’s too late. Will I have somebody (from the faculty or a senior student) to guide me on this? Ideally by when (which month) should one figure out about these courses to create a better study structure?

Unfortunately, you just have to talk with a lot of people about what classes they are taking. But, it's a great way to start bonding with your cohort members! Advisors do help, but may not know about ALL the wonderful classes in GSE or at Penn in general. Advisors are assigned during the summer and often schedule meetings at the end of August to go over your interests and your general plan of classes you would like to take. This is a helpful mapping and narrowing down process of your interests.

It takes patience to sort through and search online for classes and a lot of "shopping" aka go to the first and/or second class and see how you like it. My cohort created a spreadsheet and people put in the classes they were looking at and did a kind of "class share" online. That was helpful and just asking about everyone's impressions of classes is helpful.

5.  Just curious about how you have tailor made your course structure, what prompted you to take up certain courses that you have taken and primarily what led you to Penn IEDP over other universities.

I actually didn't apply to other schools. I found the other school programs did not speak to me or seem all that practical. I looked into Anthropology and Education programs and found they were too theoretical. Instead I chose IEDP because of the internship, the practical experience aspect found in many classes, and because it seemed like everyone really CARES about your success and experience. I have found this to be very true and professors want you to get the most from your experiences. Not all, but the majority do. I shop a lot of classes and weigh the workloads and the professors while choosing classes. If it is a lot of work but the professor is amazing and the topic is an interest of mine, I make sure to take it. I also have other classes that I just enjoyed the overall experience and it gave me a little "break" from the IEDP classes. Everyone ends up picking classes differently and ultimately, you do what is best for you.

Lastly--for prospective students for Fall 2016 (wow!), there is an event coming up on April 25th. Get excited!!