21 st Annual McNair Symposium August 1 st to 4 th 2013 UC Berkeley

Transcription

1 21 st Annual McNair Symposium August 1 st to 4 th 2013 UC Berkeley Graduate School Panel; Friday 11:20am Panelists: Samuel Bersola, Ph.D.- University of California, LA Assistant Vice Provost, Graduate Division; Joseph L Brown, Ph.D.- Standford University Graduate Diversity Recruitment Officer School of Humanities and Sciences; Erika Stileiger- Columbia University Assistant Director of Admissions School of Social Work; Carla Trujillo, Ph.D.- University of California, Berkeley Director of the Diversity Program Graduate Division Researching Graduate Programs How competitive you are Your profile fits into the department Ask local faculty about locations, readings, etc for your ideal department/program Research articles with questions relating to your research Conferences National reports o 2+ faculty that interest you, otherwise doesn t matter if it s the #1 graduate school for your program Look on websites for the CVs, labs of faculty 3 groups of people to contact o Faculty Read two recent papers Short Introduce yourself, say you read a paper, ask a question relating to that paper I m interested Can you tell me Wait a week/two weeks and try again o Admissionator of the graduate school program Information not on site Appointments set up Content with -> o Current Students How to get letters of recommendation Need 3 max letters of rec. Keep them closed letters (do not ask to see them); private conversation between professors; you should know what they are going to say if you are close to them Faculty, upper division classes (got A s; graduate topic interest)

2 Ask the faculty out to lunch to ask for a letter o Have questions prepared about graduate school o Copy of resume, personal statement, state of purpose, copy of research papers you have done for them o Let them know the process/ask them Other Personal statement is different from statement of purpose o Items outside of resume that relate/enhance experience/research

3 Don Asher Lecture; Saturday 9am Graduate Admissions Essays Specificity + flexibility = admission Passion + capacity = admission Clarity of purpose is seductive o What THEY want Fit n match > grades + scores Non-faculty PhDs still get higher pay in other jobs Go to grad school for free, otherwise it is not worth it People with higher IQs have more sex 1. Narrow target a. Specialty area in department i. Location, time, theme, etc ii. DETAILS 2. Target -> List a. 20+ schools that are valuable i. Faculty bios ii. Be FEARLESS; put on top/ivy schools 1. But expect to be rejected- stop fearing rejection iii. 4.0 s are rejected due to lack of customization 1. Tend to be arrogant a. Non-4.0 s too; shows up in essays -> get essays reviewed iv. Look coast to coast 1. Graduate students never go outside; don t worry about weather 2. No incest rule: cannot stay at undergraduate institution for graduate school or area around it because they will not hire from themselves or places around are full from those staying a. If you want to teach there, you must leave it v. I turned down (Harvard/rival school) to go here = more money vi. Need: Safe, Maybe, Reach schools 1. At least one Master s program 2. Grad school is now more competitive, must apply to more than 3-5 (do 7 to 12) 3. Put two down that are competitors 4. Do NOT list all 12 on applications, the graduate schools will lose interest b. Register light in the fall of senior year (same amount of work as a full class) c. THE SCHOLAR S WAY i. Google- advanced google; plug in (unique) keywords; type.edu in doman restriction ii. Web sites -> throw out false positives (4 year schools without graduate programs, community colleges, Master s program without PhDs) ->

4 true positives (Dr. supervising faculty) -> look at faculty picture (creepy, bad move on since they did care about their picture), look at their research interests, almae matres, publication records (prestige of them) -> full professors and associate professors are ten year emerita/emeritus with their plate full; go with assistant professors iii. Make your own ranking system, instead of using national ones iv. MA + PhD programs are great; if you had to choose a MA or a PhD, choose the PhD one GRE scores low: I did well on the practice GRE tests I will be willing to retake it if you desire o Majority of the time they will not require you to retake it Hobsin s Choice o School A or not A o Don t need to do the topic/research for the rest of your life, it s just the next step o You are not making a Hopsin s Choice when it comes to graduate school Perfect certainty never comes o Pretty Good Interest is enough o You can change your mind!!! o If ideas can evolve, you can evolve Look at the CULTURE of the school; fit n match Funding: o Illogical at graduate school level- embrace it o In/out state is the same o Private gives more funding IMPORTANT QUESTION: (ask before applying, admitted, and after to admissions, department, random students) o When and how do you choose your TAs, RAs, and Gas and can you help me understand ALL the forms of funding and support available to students in the program? Best Scholarships for Best Students

5 Don Asher; Choices, Strategies, and Documents #1 out of 2; Saturday 2:00pm Funding: Assistantships: full ride and stipend in turn for a job; it s financial aid; an honor; it s an apprenticeship (expose to faculty, part of your research experience) o **do not call use financial aid in graduate school, use funding/support (financial aid means loans) o 1.Teaching assistant (TA): GPA (relevant major), GRE score (subject tests usually looked at), TA/tutor before; TA selected by faculty o 2. Research Assistant (RA): fit n match; RA selected by Principal Investigator (PI; one person) o 3. Graduate Assistant (GA): job, you dress well and bug people it s on the website I ve looked carefully and still have questions - always say this even if false I have this assistantship, but I am interested in what you re doing in (if you get one you are unhappy with/will not help you in the future) o Get out of bad situations asap STEM Programs o Must apply to 3-4 third party scholarships o If you do not, it is seen as bad advising o Deadlines in September for these scholarships Books: o Foundation Grants to Individuals o Annual Register of Grant Support Finaid.org and fastweb.com o Cannot skim these resources Department of Homeland Security has money DEADLINES ARE EARLY FOR THESE o First ten days in September Do NOT work off campus! Do NOT work with other departments! o Graduate School is your JOB! Calls in the spring are from faculty o About money; if it is not a good time to talk, let it go to voic o April 15 th is the deadline for funding for all graduate schools o If someone does not comply to the date, have your McNair director contact the PI o Fake knowing the person or actually know them o Ask: What can of funding does your Does that include fees, wavier of tuition? What kind of stipend, health insurance do you offer? o Get the offer in writing!!! It extends your response time to April 15 th

6 Politely ask for more money o I am glad for the offers you have given me thank you I need more money so I can use my time for research Communicating multiple offers o Do not beat on the schools you do not like o Do not bluff They will check up on it o Use rivalry between schools if one you love is in one with another on your list School A offered me Can you Below is a tricky situation to do. Use caution when doing it, if you decide to do it: o April 16 th, 8am, ask if any additional funding showed up TOTAL TRANSPERACY: Unfortunately, I had to accept School A s offer on the 15 th, but if you put the additional funding in writing, I can RESCIND my acceptance Write to School A: got more money from School B, after discussing with my McNair director I would like to go to School B o CC everyone! (all the schools, director ) o **Be careful** You CANNOT be accepted to more than one school Do not use this technique to drive up ideal school Always ask one more time for funding before accepting, because they will not give you more after you accept them Graduate School Visits Never skip the Meet-n-Greet o Spring time reception for admitted students o Speed dating for graduate students o If you cannot make it, write to faculty you are interested in and Skype with them- they want to meet you face-to-face o Nothing is optional at m-n-g o Graduate program usually pays for ticket out If not, say you are a McNair scholar and would be interested in attending, but it will be a finically impossibility for me to go at this time, can you fund me I can couch surf I do not care what airline Fall time are the previews and open houses o Not required, but encouraged So, you re in graduate school Show up early in June to graduate school location Find grad school housing (cheaper) o Never live with undergraduates (party too much)

7 o Use craigslist o Acculturation Negotiate with department to see if there is funding, assignments for you to do during the early time You go from being super recruited to being the lowest on the human totem pole Imposture Syndrome o Happens to everyone o Will happen to you o Show up early to things, and leave late and the syndrome goes away o Find communities for support o Relationship with advisor o Knock me down 7 times, I get up 8 times o *Graduate school is not an intelligent test, but a training program DRIVE Never drop out in 1 st year, you will figure it out by 2 nd year Make friends in other departments To your haters: I will beat you! Grading is subjective in graduate school o The points do not matter Shaving Off A Year 1. First two year: a. read - i. Does the faculty know the author of the text? Why was it assigned? ii. Way to read: table of contents, forwards and introductions, look at chapters for what I need to know/what s important (read in order of interest) iii. The notes are most important 1. Contributes to your literature review 2. Master s in PhD program a. Do not care about it a whole lot b. Structure: i. Credits ii. Comp. exam iii. Thesis 1. Introduction, literature review, methods, data, discussion iv. Capstone (group project) v. Portfolio review c. **Never throw anything away. Keep all textbooks** i. Proof! ii. Material for PhD years of classes 4. Comps

8 a. Currently being revised in most graduate schools; no longer a hazing process 5. Proposal of project a. IRB approved b. If sent back, not a bad thing. Work on question more (more narrow) 6. Research 7. Dissertation a. Do not have something directly in your faculty s field, but close enough b. Do not jump around, become the expert c. This is proof that you know how to do research i. Stepping stone, not perfect d. Narrow method that answers the question in your lifetime, and budget Independent study = literature review Original research/irb before dissertation to get mistakes out Take the thesis option for the Masters (not a BIG deal as it seems) Orals during comps, proposal, and dissertation