<p>Hey everyone,</p>
<p>This is one of my first posts in the graduate school forum (moving on up :D), and I have a lot of questions that I could use some help with.</p>
<p>1) From what I've read, it's my understanding that the PhD in Ed. Administration is more highly regarded than the EdD by faculty members, correct? Is this true because of the research involved for the PhD? Are job opportunities about the same with either degree?</p>
<p>2) How difficult is it to get into the top PhD programs in Education? Right now, the top 4 on my list respectively are: Columbia Teachers College, Harvard, Stanford, and Vanderbilt. This is my first semester at Berkeley, as I'm a spring transfer undergraduate (Junior standing), and I'm looking at ~3.6-3.7 GPA. I'm a Psychology major, and have yet to take an Education class. I'll be taking at least 1 in the fall, perhaps 1 over summer, and ideally 4-5 by the time I graduate next fall (2012). </p>
<p>Ultimately, I'm aiming for at least a cumulative 3.8 GPA in my upper division Berkeley work. I left my CCC with a 3.74. </p>
<p>Essentially, I'm asking for a competitive GPA range for an aspiring applicant to any of these schools. All I've been able to dig up, and I've searched fairly extensively, is average GRE scores from the institutions above. </p>
<p>3) What would make me more competitive? I've worked quite a bit; I'm only 20, but I've worked at a publishing company and 2 property management firms now. I've also been doing research here at Haas and was offered a summer position to continue our research on overconfidence. All-in-all, though, I'm realizing that these resume' builders aren't particularly linked with Education at all. </p>
<p>All this said, how much would a summer trip to a foreign country to teach help my case? I'm looking into the Education for Inmates Program at UCB, so I may participate in that. I'm also looking to teach an Eastern Philosophy Decal class here at Berkeley. Would any of these things be super helpful?</p>
<p>Essentially, I am trying to become as competitive an applicant as I can for grad school, and I'm planning to apply next fall when I have 3-4 semesters of grades at UCB under my belt. My hope is to one day influence academia at large and also to improve the standard of education in California at the collegiate level. </p>
<p>If anyone has any info about any of my questions, or anything in general, I'd love to hear from you! :) Thank you all so much.</p>