Upcoming Events

On-Campus Events

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Office of Admissions and Financial Aid Overview

4:15 pm, Houston Hall, Class of 1949 Room

Come learn more about GSE and meet the members of the Office of Admissions & Financial Aid staff as well as some of our current students! Please RSVP here.

Followed by an opportunity to sample GSE Academic life:

Race in the Academy

The New Biopolitics of Health Inequities

Dorothy E. Roberts, Professor of Law

Cohen Hall, Terrace Room

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Teacher Education Program Information Session

10:00 am-12:00 pm, Williams Hall, Room 205

RSVP here.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Office of Admissions and Financial Aid Overview

10:45 am, Graduate School of Education, Room 007

Come learn more about GSE and meet the members of the Office of Admissions & Financial Aid staff as well as some of our current students! Please RSVP here.

Followed by an opportunity to sample GSE Academic life:

Penn GSE Visiting Faculty Scholars of Color

Dr. Ebony McGee, Vanderbilt University, Peabody College of Education

Please note: RSVP is strictly required to attend this session.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

School Leadership Program Information Session

10:00 am-12:00 pm, Graduate School of Education, Room 200

RSVP here. 

If you're not in the Philadelphia area, we might be coming to an event near you sometime soon!

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Christopher Newport University (Virginia)

12:00-2:30 pm, David Student Union, 2nd Floor

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Kutztown University (Pennsylvania)

12:00-3:00 pm, McFarland Student Union (MSU) 218

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Ohio North University (Ohio)

9:00-11:45 am, The Field House, King Horn Sports Center

Friday, March 14, 2014

University of Maryland, College Park (Maryland)

National McNair Graduate Fair

10:00 am-12:00 pm, Marriott Inn and Conference Center

How many courses should I take?

I've been getting this question from a lot of prospective students. A majority of programs at GSE require 10 courses, since the maximum course load is 5 courses a semester a lot of students finish their degree in 2 semesters. Some programs however recommend taking a longer time to finish. This allows students to spend more time getting to know their cohort and professors and not feel so overwhelmed. So what should you do??

Well I think that just depends on you. Some people are better at managing their time, workload and stress than others are. If you are a person who doesn't deal well with lots of things going on at once then I would NOT recommend taking 5 courses! You know yourself and what you are able to take on so use this when trying to make a decision.

Also, consider what other activities you are or want to be involved in other than your classes. Do you have a job? a family or significant other? do you want to be involved in clubs or doing research projects? Each of these things takes time away from your schoolwork. I can tell you that for me personally taking 5 classes takes up pretty much all my time. I have time for socializing yes but most Friday and Saturday nights are spent reading my books. I couldn't really imagine having a job on top of all my courses. That's just me.

Finally, consider the workload of the courses you are taking. My courses this semester are much more project oriented than last semester so I expect they will take up a lot more of my time. Depending on the courses you are enrolled in it may be easier or more difficult to take 5 at once.

What happens to Philly in the snow?

I'm a Midwestern girl so I'm used to snow. I remember one year having to go outside Christmas morning and shovel 8-10 inches from the drive-way before my relatives showed up. They all made it, no big deal. While I was home over break we had several days of snow, temperatures of -20... but life kept moving.

Well everyone... Philly is not that way! Now, granted, I have not attempted to drive today so maybe things actually are worse than they appear to be when you look at the streets. As I looked out my front window this afternoon the road only had about an inch of snow on it but cars were slipping and sliding. One Semi took 20 mins to drag himself up the tiny hill infront of my apartment. Whatever the case, the whole city basically closed early. Penn canceled classes at 2 pm today and most evening activities were cancelled. Philadelphia news reports there was "chaos on roads" and massive delays on public transportation and highways. All the city workers left work early, creating even more delays. Some cases it was up to an hour.

Philly schools are already closed for tomorrow and I'm betting Penn will cancel as well. In my 4 years of undergrad I never had classes canceled for snow even once... interesting. I'll enjoy it while it lasts!

Chaos on roads, highways and transit lines caused massive delays and traffic jams as the region's third snowstorm of the season continued to intensify into the late afternoon.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/Number_of_school_districts_will_close_early.html#rzit7jXSr96h7oU0.99

Chaos on roads, highways and transit lines caused massive delays and traffic jams as the region's third snowstorm of the season continued to intensify into the late afternoon.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/Number_of_school_districts_will_close_early.html#rzit7jXSr96h7oU0.99

Chaos on roads, highways and transit lines caused massive delays and traffic jams as the region's third snowstorm of the season continued to intensify into the late afternoon.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/Number_of_school_districts_will_close_early.html#rzit7jXSr96h7oU0.9

Back to class!

After nearly 5 weeks at home it's pretty hard to get back into the mode of schoolwork again. It's even harder since we went to class for only 3 days and now have a 3 day weekend! Nonetheless...

Since I am set to finish the program in just two semesters each semester I've felt the pressure to choose my classes wisely. No time for redo's. Luckily, Penn opens up the first few weeks of each semester to "shop around", allowing students to sit in on classes without being registered for them. I haven't quite picked my 5th class for the semester but here are the others I am taking:

Policy Planning in International Education Development- Dr. Michelle Neuman
Curriculum and Pedagogy in International Contexts- Dr. Ameena Ghaffar-Kuchar
Introduction to Educational Statistics- Dr. Timothy Victor
Proseminar/Fieldwork in International Educational Development- Dr. Wagnar and Dr. Ghaffar-Kuchar

Last semester I took several classes outside of GSE and my classes seemed to focus more on development than education but this semester I'm really looking forward to taking classes within GSE and gaining some skills specifically to use within an educational context. Wish me luck!