My Doctorate Application, CV, Statement of Purpose and Goals
This article will fully deconstruct all advice I received during my application to my Doctorate Educational Management program; as well as show my original documents, methodology and walk you step-by-step for making my original statement of purpose, CV and writing sample. I will also include my test scores and GPA I had during the period of application.
Share this article with anyone you think would be interested in applying for a doctorate program: https://link.medium.com/2pEFAm4gf8
Since my senior year of undergrad, I always pondered the idea of being called Dr. Jonathan McMillan. Throughout undergrad, I had been able to build closer ties with some of my professors (who all had doctor titles), and I came to realize their incredibly down-to-earth personalities similar to mine and I thought that I, too, could do it.
Professor Micheal Coon (one of the professors from the University of Tampa that I built a close bond with) was the professor who deconstructed everything about a research doctorate program to me. He said that a doctorate program is, ultimately, your dissertation. A dissertation is your original research essay or paper that identifies a problem in the study topic, analyzes the problem, and proposes a model or theory for solutions.
In addition to the dissertation, there is coursework in a doctorate program that will teach the concentration specifically. You may have a comprehensive exam after a certain point (usually after all coursework is completed) before you begin your dissertation. The comprehensive exam will normally only include information from the courses. Dr. Coon’s advice was to pick a topic that I would study in my free time and that I truly loved. Since I was starting my own college at the time of searching for doctorate programs, I knew that I wanted to get my doctorate in higher education, and take courses on this subject since I spend all day constructing my college anyway.
My search for a doctorate program was a little more complex then my Bachelor’s and Master’s degree choices. During my time at UPenn, I met many doctorate students of color who gave me an additional piece of advise. Some of friends such as Dijonee T. (Ph.D student at Temple University), Laronnda (Ph.D student, University of Pennsylvania) and Will Anyu (Ed.D. student, University of Pennsylvania) spoke about how some professors may not understand the value of studying marginalized communities for progressive impact because they do not surround themselves with people that endure conditions found in these communities. They advised me to select a program where the faculty was welcoming of me as a person and understand my unique context as a black man in the literature. This would make the search a bit more time-consuming because I would have to look at faculty members, their publications, try to search for current students in each program and ask for their opinions, or video call the professors to get a general feeling on their reception to me and my research ambitions.
My criterion for programs, however, was relatively simple:
- A program that would last 3 years. While most doctorate programs last between 5–7 years (Stoller-Conrad, 2013), I did some independent research (also known as a Google search) and found that there are many doctoral programs with set time frames on completing the program (set coursework dates and expected time to complete the dissertation).
- A program that I would perceive as supporting my research ambitions. This would require that I be fully transparent in my statement of purpose and application. I wanted to study upward educational mobility through increased access to college or post-secondary education.
(I will detail the full application process in the University of Miami section)
I utilized the website GradCafe.com to search programs about who got accepted, some context into their application (such as scores, GPA, etc.) and how they secured funding for the program.
After researching programs, my final three candidates included Hampton University (Ph.D in Educational Management), Seattle University (Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership), and University of Miami (Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership). Dr. Coon told me that because doctorate applications require a few more materials than other applications, it is okay to narrow yourself to just 3 or 4 options.
So let’s start with Hampton University and why I ultimately did not end up attending. I was born in Hampton, Virginia; and 3 generations of my family attended this institution. Hampton seemed like the ideal choice: Mostly faculty members of color (I would become embedded in contextual peer-reviewed literature), program length of 2.5 years and a higher education focus. How Hampton achieved this was that each course was intensive reading with a 9-week course length for each course (with no summer semester break). This would allow the cohort to complete coursework in 2 and a half years. I completed a full application; with a statement of purpose, CV (we’ll talk about what a CV contains in the University of Miami section), writing sample, test scores and my transcripts.
As soon as it was time for me to submit my application, I reach out to a Hampton representative and was told that my application would be reviewed for the Fall semester of the next year, with the reason cited as the program cap reached and the application deadline passing. I was a bit confused that I wasn’t told this in my communications with the University up to that point; but I ultimately decided that I did not want to wait if I didn’t have to.
The next college was Seattle University, located in Seattle, Washington. I selected this university because I spent spring break of the previous year in Seattle with family, and loved the progressive and seemingly accepting culture of the city (as a Black, Androsexual Male). The University of Washington (the largest and most-frequently cited university in Seattle) was a university that was a bit too large for my liking (with 46,000 students as of 2016), so the next choice was Seattle University. The director of Seattle U’s doctorate program (at the time) was Colette Taylor, Ed.D. Dr. Taylor’s research focused on understanding how populations of color and other marginalized communities develop attitudes, motivations, and strategies to be successful in various cultural and institutional contexts, her current research focuses on improving educational leadership — formal and community-based — to create equitable educational environments, with a particular focus on students, families, and communities who have been historically marginalized in education. Dr. Taylor’s research focus encouraged me to apply, as I felt that my research on serving low-income communities of color would be welcomed.
I reached out to Dr. Taylor on scheduling a flight to Seattle from Philadelphia to visit the faculty members. Although she wouldn’t be present due to a conference she had that week, she reached out to program ambassadors and other faculty members of the program.
The university also touted having Dr. Tana Hasart as a faculty member, who had been a president at Pierce College and a few other institutions. I thought that it would be an invaluable experience to learn from her experiences as a college president (since I would be one as well). I reached out to the program assistant, who told me that she was a visiting professor and not a core faculty member.
While this discouraged me a little, it did not stop me from applying; as I assumed that the faculty members at least still kept in contact with her and that I could meet her through an informal introduction.
During the application process, I ran into a slight problem of my essay exceeding the one-page limit recommended by the university. I reached out again to the program assistant who would tell me that I may exceed the limit.
This doctorate program also began in the summer (right after the summer courses for my Master’s program). Since I had summer courses at UPenn, my degree would not be conferred (given to me) until August. Fortunately, Colette reassured me that if materials are missing, I can submit them when I receive everything. That would also mean I would have less than a month to pack my necessary belongings and fly out to Seattle (I would stay with family there until I located an apartment).
I submitted my statement of purpose, CV, writing sample, transcripts and test scores. Roughly a month later, I received an email on a decision to my application. I ended up not getting accepted, with the faculty members citing that they wanted to see me have at least three more years of supervisor experience; but also encouraging me to apply again immediately after because of several “favorable” traits.
I decided that waiting three more years with having my college was not a viable option for me.
My final application was to the University of Miami’s Executive Doctorate of Education in Higher Education Leadership program. This program satisfied all of my requirements of a doctorate program: able to complete in 3 and a half years, A recent dean and academic program director of color (and it happened to be in warm weather). By the time I made it to my University of Miami program, I got the application process perfected. I had my statement of purpose (which I would only edit from the previous statement of purpose based on University names and program objectives) and all other materials.
So I did just that, submitted the respective statement of purpose, CV (I’m going to explain below), my test scores and my GPA. I’m going to walk you step-by-step of my application and methodology below.
Doctorate Application Process; Step 1: Step 1 required me to register on their server for application materials, known as CollegeNet.
After creating an account, the system will ask you to verify your email. Go to the email address you registered with, click on the automated message in your inbox (also check spam folder) and click on the link within the email. You can now log in and start the doctorate application. Select the Online Application link under the Apply Online tab.
Step 2: Type or select the program that you want to apply to (in my case, the Ed.D. program in Higher Education Leadership). The next page asks you to complete your contact information, and your racial identity information.
Step 3: The 3rd page asks for your academic information including your test scores, GPA, statement of purpose and CV. Type in your test scores, etc. and send them to the institution at a later date.
For your statement of purpose, you will need to create an essay on why the program you are applying to will benefit your future endeavors and how you will forward the alumni network or endeavors of the university. I attached pictures of mine below (click here for the text link to the full document).
My doctorate statement of purpose was considerably more detailed than my Master’s statement of purpose (click here for a link to my Master’s degree program statement of purpose). That is because a doctorate program is largely based on the research you plan to contribute towards the field (or the major of your doctorate program). You need to dissect every element of your study and highlight the innovation you have or the specific question you want answered within literature. For me, my research is my college, and I wanted to understand how a college that was free of an admissions fee, out-of-pocket costs such as books and fees as well as conducting all coursework on a modern mobile platform would impact low-income students’ perception, enrollment and completion of college. While there are colleges that waive application fees, there are none that do so in a manner such as my college, and presented to students from an individual who came from a Title 1 high school and is a Black male. In terms of structure of the statement of purpose, my recommendation is to:
- Start the essay with a powerful quote (cite the author) that speaks to your ambition or desire to enact change. The next sentence should speak immediately to your career or research purpose.
- The remainder of the statement of purpose should be spent deconstructing (telling piece-by-piece with timelines and methods) how you will achieve your career or research goal. Speak on the current state of the research (ex: only 15 percent of Black and Hispanic students between the ages of 18-24 vote at local elections). Then speak on how your research aims at identifying the root cause (questions you would propose when interviewing Black and Hispanic students between the ages of 18-24). I would recommend quantifying as many elements of the career or research goal as you can (such as how many people, cities or regions you want to impact; the expected cost of doing this; the expected time it would take to collect research, etc.).
- Include statements (or lack thereof) from prominent professionals that may be impactful to the career or research topic (Ex: Current Congressional Chairperson of Diversity ---- states that it is a travesty that our young people of color are not voting.”)
- Include a sentence or two on how a particular faculty member (within the program you are applying to) has research, publications or a course that will advance your understanding of your career or research goal.
The next required application document was the Curriculum Vitae, or CV. A CV lists, in thoughtful detail:
- Your experiences. Dissect how you received the opportunity and quantify your impact. Always speak of the root objective of your position. For example, if you worked with an outreach center to locate food banks for local mothers, list yourself as an Outreach Representation, and deconstruct your specific quantifiable experiences with the organization (ex: “Our Westside High School Community Outreach Team helped 25 mothers locate food and nutritional items for their households.”)
- Your technical or practical background in the area. List any technical equipment or physical equipment (or instruments) used to achieve the goal. Jist because the equipment may be commonly used (such as computers or laptops), it still has validity. You are painting a picture for people on how your experience achieved the objectives it set. For example, “Our Westside High School Community Outreach Team utilized 3 donated Dell Computer systems and Google-based search engines to identify over 20 food banks that would feed the families in our outreach team.”
- Publications. This includes anything you have professionally or personally published, such as an article for how to find food banks in New Jersey. If you do not have any publications, I would recommend creating an article or two detailing and deconstructing different parts of critical career experiences. You may use free posting sites such as Linkedin or Medium to post your publications. Try to have a professor, editor or colleague review it, and list the person that reviewed the article you created on your CV. For example, Publications-"How to Identify Local Food Banks in Southern New Jersey" reviewed by Dr. Patti Thompson from Rutgers University. (For Ph.D. students, it may be favorable to list peer-reviewed published articles or co-written articles.)
I attached my CV during my time of the application below.
The top left portion of my CV leads with my current position. If you are currently a student, I would state yourself as a student researching the specific career or research topic of your choice. The top right portion of my CV states my research interests. Even though you may have one main career or research interest, there may be other related factors. For example, If you studying food and resource management for families, you may also be interested in researching educational opportunities and programs for mothers to young children (1-17), since educational access and job opportunities may directly impact how families feed their children.
I started the content section of my CV with my educational background (only where I received a degree). You may lead your CV with your current or aspiring position. Since I was also teaching a course at my college, I listed myself as a professor/instructor at the college (one of the benefits of starting your own business: you play multiple administrative, financial and technical roles). I then listed some of my prior experiences that were relevant to higher education (I have more, but none of them are relevant to higher education leadership). I would recommend organizing these experiences thematically, such as “Higher Education Leadership Experience” and “Higher Education Teaching Experience”. By the time you deconstruct each experience, you will have a healthy CV. Each experience you have will be multidisciplinary, so you will be able to speak to your financial or marketing experience as well as the tangible and quantifiable benefits of the experience. For example, “Food and Resource Management Experience-Organization Leader”: I led a team of 25 fundraisers during the Spring 2015 period to raise $2,500 through door-to-door campaigns in the Camden County, New Jersey Area.) Having campaigns also requires marketing experience, so you would list it like this: “Food and Resource Marketing Experience: Organizational Leader-Worked with local marketing firm Camden Marketing, as well as with 2 of our team members that were capable of using Adobe Photoshop, to create a campaign poster design that highlighted Westside High School Outreach Center’s objective to serve 25 single- mother families in the Southern New Jersey area. Our organization printed utilized this template on the 105 posters we printed. This may also include a legal element as well, since you are using imagery. How you would list this experience, for example, is: “Food and Resource Management Legal Experience”-Obtained permission from Camden County Public Schools to utilize the Westside High School Outreach Center’s logo to print on marketing materials. At you continue to deconstruct your experiences, you will see the incredible multidimensional aspects of your experiences.
Finally, I listed the book that I self-published and awards that I received in undergrad. It is not a lengthy document (at just 3 pages), but it speaks critically to who I am. With a CV, a college faculty board or employer will know exactly what I am capable of prior to reaching out to me for an interview.
Step 4: The next page of the doctorate application asks for your academic history. This includes any and all nationally and regionally-accredited colleges that you have received credit for a course with. I had quite a scattered academic history, since I started college at age 16 and studied abroad (a total of 5 colleges; Atlanta Metropolitan College, Georgia State University, University of Tampa, Trinity College Dublin and University of Pennsylvania). This page also asks for your employment history; I only listed my employment relevant to higher education.
Step 5: The next page asks for letters of recommendation. This site will automatically send requests for recommendations to an email address of a person that you provide. Let your recommenders know, in advance, to expect the email. You must also answer if you waive the right to view your letters of recommendation (some recommenders will show you prior to submitting anyway, if you have built a close relationship with them).
I am attaching one of my letters of recommendation below.
Final Step: The final page of the doctorate application gives you a checklist to remember all materials required in order for the faculty board to review your application for admission.
After inputting all the required fields and uploading all materials, I hit that submit button. Make sure to send official transcripts (college portals) and test scores (GRE, GMAT, LSAT, etc.) to the school and specific department that the program lists. It took roughly two months (Submitted on 3/5/2018) for my application to be reviewed. on 5/2/2018, I received a letter from the University of Miami stating that I had been accepted into the program and received a 50% tuition scholarship. I am attaching my Acceptance letter below.
One personal note that I want to leave with you is: Always believe in the validity of your experiences. I was delayed at one doctorate program, and rejected at another before being accepted to the University of Miami (using the same application materials). You and your experiences are valid and have a place everywhere, and someone will recognize it.
Citations and Additional Information:
- Average Length of a doctoral program: https://www.gradschoolhub.com/faqs/what-is-the-average-time-to-obtain-a-ph-d/
- Gradcafe Graduate Admissions Search and Results: https://www.thegradcafe.com/
- Hampton University Statement of Purpose: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QXGVhrTmdBUSmIhMNm919TitEKFH_ICW/view?usp=sharing
- Doctoral Writing Sample: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KEZRm_n7lfjlMVMikYBcD7AyLH7oaIME/view?usp=sharing
- My University of Pennsylvania Unofficial (non-sealed) Transcripts: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I1dQrD7y0oikaKKG27h2625_-3SfkE4r/view?usp=sharing
- Hampton University Ph.D in Educational Management Course Catalog: http://huonline.hamptonu.edu/media/docs/20180827_80546_PhD%20in%20Educational%20Management%20Overview%20and%20Course%20Rotation(1).pdf
- University of Washington Student Stats: https://studentdata.washington.edu/quick-stats/
- Seattle University EDLR Program Director Colette Taylor, Ed.D. biography: https://www.seattleu.edu/education/about/faculty-and-staff/colette-taylor-edd.html
- Statement of Purpose for Seattle University: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BITJ1091yAVNlaPM8l2E_U5ru82bWjpM/view?usp=sharing
- Statement of Purpose for University of Miami: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13ksmbxNYT5hraq4iGoyAYKr6aKjc9fPb/view?usp=sharing
- Curriculum Vitae (CV) at the time of application: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ioJFUWbhMReEGQud8x8VANB7T_-CuiLx6dy-KRNk5zk/edit?usp=sharing
- My University of Pennsylvania statement of purpose: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bSbWzLb5OKOojZA7mJDIlu_rU3qMqA34/view?usp=sharing
- My doctorate letter of recommendation: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_MzhAczEu1lyH8EwjKqB8EoeZpNyuN2k2uHl1Vtz9QM/edit?usp=sharing
