As context....I am a professor who is currently the graduate coordinator of a program for an MA in Sociological Practice. I have enjoyed mentoring a diverse array of students who have been accepted to doctoral, MA in Sociology, MSW, MFT, teaching credential, EdD, law school, and counseling programs.
Below, I share my talking points for the hour long session.....mci
HOW TO BE A COMPETITIVE APPLICANT[1]
Marisol Clark-Ibáñez, Ph.D.
Identify Ultimate Goal
for Graduate School (professional, academic, applied)
o
PhD, EdD, MA, MFT, MBA,
MS, JD, MD (see next session for specific types of graduate schools)
o
Depending on the
profession, you need a specific strategy and likely take specific exams (GRE,
GMAT, MCAT)
§
Study for these exams
like it’s a full or part time job; many programs take the test results very
seriously – more than your GPA which are suspicious in general due to “grade
inflation” concerns
o Consider an MA/MS program
as a pathway to PhD; however, do your homework on funding sources and debt that
may come with pursuing an MA degree.
What do graduate programs
care about?
o
Find out what are their
values, what scholarship or internship do they seem to reward or promote, etc. Do
your homework on the programs you are thinking about – faculty scholarship,
activity, Linked In profiles and even Facebook pages of faculty and graduate
students. Keep a document / file with all this information.
o
Graduate programs
ultimately want to know that you can finish their program successfully.
What can you do while you
are an undergraduate student?
o
Get experience in your
target graduate schools’ areas (e.g., research, hospital, children, labs)
§
Try to present your
research or do write up reports
o
Tell your professors that
you are interested in graduate school and follow up on any suggestions that they
offer you
o
Maintain near perfect
grades or as best as you can – 3.0 to 3.5 minimum for some schools for MA level
programs; closer to 4.0 will be the most competitive applicants (see
contradiction from above about grades!)
o
Make your college papers
“count” for exploring aspects of your graduate school interests
o
Make meaningful
connections with faculty
§
Not all your professors
may have (recent or any) experience with doctoral or professional programs
§
Be aware of “mentors” and
“tor-mentors”
§
Volunteer to help
professor, assist with conferences, literature reviews and even library runs
What can you do if you
have already graduated?
o
Reconnect with your
former professors
o
Find (new) faculty in
your area of interest and try to connect with them
o
Take a class in your
target area or sit in on classes – be aware of pricing and policies for this
o
If appropriate, go for a
certificate as a way to get re-engaged in your target field
o
Use “Google scholar” and
set up an alert system for your topic
o
Volunteer or work in your
area of interest
o
Participate in national
and regional conferences in your field – it will update you on your field and
connect you with interesting faculty members and advanced graduate students
o
Join associations related
to your field(s)
How much should I reveal
about my immigration status?
o
In your personal
statement, if there is a place to describe your personal journey, this is ideal
IF you want
o
Your research or
professional motivation might also be tied to your immigration status (or not!)
o
Be ready to “educate”
administrative and faculty folks about undocumented issues: websites, policies,
etc.
o
Depends on your comfort
level
§
a mentor can inquire
about immigration issues or attitudes on behalf of “a student”
§
a key contact in the
various graduate programs can also help
What is the role of
letters of recommendation?
o
Crucial! This is why your
connection to others – faculty, supervisors – is essential to being competitive
o
Give your recommenders
your statement of purpose, a copy of your transcript (highlight classes you
took with her/him), bring any course work you had with her/him, copies of your
notes about the programs you are applying to, email reminders for due dates
o
Your recommenders do not
have page limits – can elaborate more in-depth or explain aspects of your
life/work
How can I improve my
writing samples?
o
Crucial for academic
programs – take the BEST analytical / research paper(s) you wrote in college and revise it
§
Most graduate programs do
not want to see a marked up version of a paper in an application
o
Perfect writing is
expected for your sample – find an editor, friend, or professor to help
you!
o
If you don’t have a
college paper, you need to write one; you will truly need help from a professor
or an advanced graduate student for this. Form a collective ~ I can help!
o
For last desperate
measure, do an annotated bibliography on your topic of interested; email me for
materials
What do I include about
myself, in general, to present a strong application / statement of purpose?
o
Clean up your online
profile – “manage” your graduate school identity before you get there
o
Activist identity – how
to manage or present your work in the community
o
Undocumented status – see
above – it’s your choice. Faculty and administrators must follow FERPA (student privacy and confidentiality law), which protects your personal
information.
o
Other personal
information about your journey through education and personal tragedies can be
mentioned. I usually advise students to discuss them in a framework that
explains specifically how has it shaped you in term of your current goals and
aspirations.
Discussion / More Questions?
[1] Concurrent sessions are about mentoring, statement of purpose,
and funding. I can help answer questions about these issues and will include
these topics in my session.
Presented at:
UndocuGrads Conference
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Panel III 1:00-1:50pm
Room A - West
Earl Warren Room
UCSD Price Center
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