After an unbelievable amount of personal debate, countless inquiries, and the multitude of other things one does and/or experiences when deciding on a program, I FINALLY made a decision and submitted the remaining application materials today. I have applied to the Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership: Stewardship, Leadership & Learning at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, IL: https://www.stfrancis.edu/academics/college-of-education/doctor-of-ed/ If I'm accepted, I'll start in Spring 2018. If I'm not, then I suppose I'll give Taft or California Coast a call and see what's up.:wavey:
Right on!!!!!!!!!!! I am sure they will accept you. Before you know it, we will be calling you Dr. Gabe :smile:
Of course they'll want you! What school wouldn't? :smile: Great news from an already highly-accomplished person. I just know you're going to do extremely well and I wish you every success! J.
Congrats! Is there a reason why you would be looking at Cal Coast and Taft if for some reason you didn't get accepted into the regionally accredited USF?
Best to you, hope you hear good news back from them. A lot of us know just what it's like to go through endless debates and back-and-forth...before finally just taking a deep breath and applying.
I have both NA and RA degrees. Having said that, if you are going to spend the time and effort, go the RA way. :smile: No disrespect towrds Cal Coast or Taft. I have a B.S. from CCU, and it has served me well during my time with State government. Just saying.
First, I just want to say thanks to everyone for the kind words! Still waiting on an admissions decision. To answer this question, the short version is that I decided to either go local or go cheap. The University of St. Francis is a short drive from me and is well-respected within the region. Given that so many Illinois universities, including public ones, are suffering from brain drain because so many students attend school out of state, I felt I should make selecting a local school be a priority. The other two, Cal Coast and Taft, had to do with cost and flexibility. The problem, though, is that I've struggled to complete self-paced courses in the past. I'm the type that generally needs hard, fixed deadlines. Of course, I've also looked at skipping the doctorate altogether. I've simultaneously applied to a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study at Northwestern University as well. I have around 18 months of VA benefits left and I don't want to let them go to waste so that, too, is playing a factor in my decision to do yet another program.