Online Impressions of PennGSE (love at first site?)

September 20th 2007


First Impressions of PennGSE online:

As a first time member of the blogging world, I find my first entry to be in many ways like learning how to drive for the first time. You are really excited about the prospects of being able to drive, yet you want to make sure you don’t scare people away because of your lack of skill! With this introduction let me start by talking a little bit about myself, a current master’s student at GSE, and why I decided to attend PennGSE.

It was about one year ago when I decided to start applying for masters programs for this fall semester. As a former student myself, I went about the traditional path of many students and logged onto US news to check out what is going on in the field of Education. Although helpful in some ways, it was very disorienting in many others. The information presented only allowed me guidelines, in which Penn was / and still is presented as one of the best schools in Education, but I needed to know more.

My first step was to visit the websites of potential schools I was interested in. I went through many, but Penn’s struck me as the easiest to navigate, so I decided to spend some additional time on it. As a hopeful principal of a school someday, I found the Educational Leadership Studies master’s program at GSE to be the most suitable for me. Although my undergraduate degree was not in Education, I soon realized after looking at the programs course of study that it can be an advantage if I allow it to be. There were a number of foundations courses available for those with little background in education, while at the same time having other in depth courses that are accommodating for those already experienced in the field. From this point onwards, a great deal of pressure was alleviated for me now that I had a goal in mind and a destination that I was aiming for.

The next three months (from the day I started looking at schools to apply to) were passing by pretty quickly. And although in some programs rolling admissions is applicable, scheduling GRE test exams, writing your statement of purpose, as well as the brunt of our daily lives does tend to consume time. It is best I believe to start as early as possible. There are a number of open house events during the academic year, the first of which is on October 6th 2007 for those who can make it. It is a great way to get an application fee waver for one thing! As well as a good opportunity to get to know the people of GSE a little better. I personally was working over seas last year and was unable to attend any of the open house events myself; however I will be available this year at the open house and would gladly help answer any questions/address any questions or concerns you my reader’s may have. Looking forward to meeting all of you! For the time being, this is me signing off, Maher Zamel, PennGSE computer lab, Philadelphia. (Career with CNN? maybe not).