NewMentality

Trevor Noah's Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood is a must! One of the best autobiographies I've ever read. Even better as an audiobook since he reads it himself.

I couldn't live without those. Mine: birthdays.

About $450 for five programs through SOPHAS. I balked at the idea of paying an additional $90 for "professional transcript entry" instead of doing it manually. Ha!

Statement of Purpose: It goes without saying that this should be authentic and personal. I decided not to use any outside sources for help (besides friends for slight edits) and I believe that was greatly to my advantage. My advice is to focus on tying in as many experiences as possible, even if they don't seem entirely applicable to your program at first. Your diversity is your greatest strength, so if you spent months or years working, volunteering, doing research, etc., I think there is a place for it in your statement. The experiences that I mentioned came from a wide variety of backgrounds--physics research, volunteering on an organic farm, an environmental fellowship in Japan, a neurology internship at MGH, teaching English for a year--yet they came together as a very cohesive public health statement that helped me get admitted to all my top choices. Ask yourself what it was that motivated you to take those sort of positions, and you will probably find that it is the same motivation you have for your field of choice.

Good point. It's a shame that such programs are on the chopping block, especially since they make up such a small fraction of discretionary spending.

Hey everyone, I just received a great offer for my first choice master's program at Johns Hopkins. I'm elated, but going into this application cycle, I had actually planned to defer for a year in order to subdue my student loans a bit, earn some money and hopefully do some volunteering. My idea for the year is to join the Americorps NCCC. It's something I've wanted to do since high school, and as I'm about to be 24, the cutoff age for being a team member in the program, now seems like the perfect time. They also offer an education grant after completion that would put me in a much better financial position to enter grad school. Tulane made my deferral as easy as a quick email to my advisor, while University of Colorado gave me no choice on the matter, stating that I must reapply next year if I don't matriculate. However, JHU requests that a "detailed letter" be sent to the admissions office with my reasons for requesting a deferral. My question is, to anyone with deferral experience, do you believe that the reasons listed above would qualify as "acceptable" to an admissions counsel? I'm aware that nearly all students entering grad school are pressed for money, so I'm not really sure if economic matters are viable reasons for deferral, or if it's mainly saved for students with more acute issues. Any insight is much appreciated!