studentaffairsgrad

My program has us register at orientation as well. We all get automatically enrolled into the same 3 classes anyways, so not much to do for me! Don't be shy about contacting your adviser though...I asked mine about the process which is how I found out we do it at orientation.

This reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer tries to take a quick nap every 3 hours or so, "like Leonardo DaVinci," so he can have more time awake. Didn't work out so well for him

If you really must know, I tend to sweat a lot in the summer when sitting in classrooms without AC, so hats do double duty there. I appreciate all of your opinions!

How do you all feel about ball caps? I have semi-long hair and some days, especially when it is super humid, don't feel like "doing it," so I throw on my fav hat and represent for my fav hockey team. I rarely see any other ladies wearing hats, especially sports ball caps. Of course I would only be wearing it in class. Also, further back in the post, I found the commentary on wearing clothes related to sports at your undergrad interesting. I went to a huge football school for undergrad, and will be attending a much smaller school that isn't well-known for football, but in the same state. Which means, a lot of people are kinda hostile to my undergrad, b/c they get all the attention. For example, during assistantship weekend, we all had to announce where our undergrad was, and when me and the other person from my school said it, people actually groaned. As with a lot of other people, I know my heart will always be with my undergrad, but I think I am going to really have to watch the school spirit, or risk people thinking I am obnoxious.

Thanks Strangefox...I'm always on the lookout for other good sites!

Thanks Glad to hear it! Here is a link to NASPA's grad school directory. http://www.naspa.org...rams/search.cfm I found it helpful when looking for schools - which is where you will want to start. It gives a synopsis of each program. I would note that some programs will require you to take the GRE, but a lot don't. I didn't want to take the GRE, so I picked a program that didn't require it. Something else to think about when looking for schools - do you want a program that focuses more on the classroom/academics (good if you are wanting to get your PhD in the future) or a school that focuses more on practical work in the field (good if you want to be a practitioner straight out of grad school). If you want the latter, don't get hung up on rankings. Luckily in this field, when looking for positions straight out of grad school, they care less about your academics, and more about your practical experience. For example, I want to work right out of grad school in housing. While my program isn't the most academically rigorous out there...I was able to gain an assistatnship as a hall director, which is great experience. Essentially when I go to apply for jobs, I will be applying for residence director jobs that I will have done in grad school for 2 years. A huge leg up on the competition. But, if you are really serious about getting your PhD and becoming an academic in the field - you will want to find an academically rigorous program that has ample opportunities to publish research. I know this is a lot to think about, and I don't want to overload you Just message me if you ever have any questions or need advice. Grad school applications were foreign to me, but luckily I was able to get help from people who had been there before!

Thanks for the breakdown! I didn't know about PHDcomics...I will def. check that out!

Yeah, there is good info there, but like you are saying - the delivery isn't the smoothest

Hi Suz! I am entering a grad program in higher education this fall. It is a great area to get into - congrats on finding something that is interesting to you! I don't think that you didn't experience undergrad life in the U.S. will be a problem. Diversity is valued very highly in this area. Think about it - there are a ton of international students studying in the U.S. I'm sure you have had a ton of unique experiences that those in the U.S. have not. Schools don't want a bunch of students who all have the same background...you bring a lot of uniqueness to the table that others don't, and you will be a great person who can relate to international students (if you want to work in that area...if not, regardless of what area you want to work in, you will most likely come across international students). I think you should really try to emphasize what makes you unique (your international experience), how you will bring a unique perspective to potential schools, and emphasize what you are looking to gain from studying higher ed in the U.S. You of course will be able to build your specialty during your grad program. Honestly, most people going into this area don't have professional experience in this area, or any at all. I took a year off and worked in an un-related area, and I found that schools found this refreshing - that I had some time to put perspective on my college experience, and had some professional experience. Most of the people you are competing with if you decide to pursue a full-time cohort based program, will have had paraprofessional experience (they might have been resident advisers, been involved in student government, Greek life, etc.) Now, if you decide to pursue a program where you take classes on the weekend, you will be competing more with professional people in higher ed. It sounds to me like you having been involved in an international student association will be sufficient if you are looking to work with international students. The fact that you've volunteered at different institutions is great - make sure you play up what you took away from those experiences. Most people, in addition to going to school full tine in this area, will gain an assistantship in higher education. In fact, a lot of schools require that you have an assistantship. Assistatnships are great because at a lot of places, they cover the cost of tuition and give you a stipend. They also allow you to pick your specialty and basically do the job you would be doing when you graduate, while you are in school. Job placement for the programs I applied were higher than 95%. You could get an assistantship working with international students, and have two years of professional experience when you graduate. As far as trying to get professional experience before you apply...I think that would be difficult. Most professional positions require a Master's degree...and the paraprofessional positions require you to be a student at that university. For example, I will be doing an assistantship as a residence hall director in housing. I looked at positions in housing to try to get experience in my year off, but most of those positions (except some way out West) required a Masters. However, I was a resident assistant in housing for two years during my undergrad, which was enough to land acceptance and an assistantship. To sum it up, assuming that you got decent grades and can do a good interview, I think with your international experience, you could get accepted to a program. I think you could easily land an assistantship working with international students. I only think you would have a problem if you wanted to do an assistantship in something you had absolutely no experience, like housing. Feel free to message me if you have more questions, or need advice!

Speaking of academic snobs, has anyone ever been to The Chronicle of Higher Education forums? They have grad school and higher ed admin (my area) forums. I've lurked on those boards periodically, and a lot of those posters are so pompous, and quick to be snarky. I don't even post there for fear that they will jump me for some reason. I prefer to hang out here, where people are genuinely nice and helpful

I haven't used it myself, although I have heard good things about it. Personally for myself, I would feel more comfortable in contacting current grad students in the program I am looking at to see if they would host me. I did that when visiting schools, and it worked out great. If you aren't going as a potential student though, most universities offer steeply discounted rooms to vising academics. Good luck with the couch surfing if you decide to do it, and let us know how it turns out

That is an interesting situation..I've been thinking about this for the last 30 mins, and here is my suggestion. Since your current supervisor knows you very well and has good credentials, it might be worth a second shot in asking him to write your LORs for 2012 (at least for the programs who make you re-apply). For all we know, last time you asked him he could have been super busy at that time, or dealing with personal issues. I think you need to gauge his interest. I would suggest doing this by sitting down with him, bringing up how you are applying again, and saying something to the effect of, " I was wondering if you would feel comfortable in writing a great letter of rec for me, or if you might suggest some people that would be able to do so." Even if you know darn well who you should ask, this will give him an easy out if his is less than enthusiastic about doing it. That way he doesn't feel obligated to say yes. If he wants to, he will say sure, if not, he will suggest other people. If he does say he will do it, and you feel good about it, perhaps having the summer which is more quiet at a university, will give him ample time to do it. Also, if your recs are due Dec. 1, tell him they are due Nov 1 (that is what I did) so you don't have to worry about missing the deadline. I know he knows you well, but I gave a folder to my LOR writer's with info about each program I was applying to, so they could tailor letters specifically. This will make less work for them having to look stuff up online, and will show you are organized. (You may have done this last time, but thought I would add that to be sure). If he doesn't end up wanting to do it again...I'm not sure what I would say to the inquiring programs. My best thought would be something like, "I know that current supervisor's are very frequently used in writing LORs, so I decided to think more outside the box and use people who could give you different perspectives of me than you would normally see." Maybe someone else has advice on what you could say?

I don't qualify for any type of financial aid, even though paying for grad school would put me in a lot of debt, which sucks. Luckily, in my field of higher education almost everyone has to get an assistantship to be in the program. Like the person above said, depending on the program and funding assistatnships can be a great way to pay for grad school. I will be working for the housing dept as a residence hall director. I get a full tuition waiver, stipend, room and board, plus parking. Check with your program and see if they offer assistantship opportunities in your field, or a related field. If they don't, you might have to do some leg work and see if you can convince a department that they need you! Another option is to get a position at a company working full time, who will pay for you to go to grad school. It happens more commonly in certain industries like business than others. But a number of people at the old financial company I used to work for were getting MBAs for free, but often you have to promise the company a certain number of years you will work for them.

1.) Where do you see yourself in x amount of years? - Even if they give you a specific number of years, make sure you describe where you see yourself both in the short-term span (this will show you are realistic) and in the long term span (this will show you have high-reaching goals.) You don't want to roll in there looking unrealistic, or like a slacker. 2.) Why do you pick this program? - Pretty straight forward, just be honest. Pick specific things about the program that sets it apart from other programs. For example, "This program really stuck out to me b/c while it has great academics, it also has a lot more opportunities for practical experience than other programs out there." 3.) Why do you think you would be a good fit for the program? - This is a chance to brag on yourself a bit. Also, let them know what makes you unique compared to the other hundreds of students applying. Tailor your talents to the specifics of the program. My last piece of advise...don't be arrogant about it, but try to think along the lines of you are interviewing the school as well. You want to let the interviewer know that you want to make sure the school is the right fit for you. Do this by asking discriminating questions...what sets this school apart from other programs? How has this program evolved over the last 20 years in its field? What is this program doing to stay competitive? Some people might disagree, but I went into my interviews with the attitude of, look, I know my qualifications, and any school would be lucky to have me. I want to make sure they are worthy of my talents. I know it sounds arrogant, but it made me feel less nervous to look at it as if I was the one interviewing them. Be confident, but not arrogant. It is a thin line. My interviewers even mentioned that they found my confidence appealing. If you have faith in yourself, they will put their faith in you. The worst thing you can do is go into an interview being unsure of yourself. My program did an interview weekend, where you were with other candidates the whole time. Some people can get intimidated, and get down on themselves when they hear other applications bragging about their amazing qualifications. Know that 1.) They are all embellishing and 2.) If they really were that amazing, they wouldn't feel the necessity to brag about it. They are only bragging b/c they know they are lacking. Just nod and smile. Just know that you deserve the best education, because you are a talented, intelligent person, and you will rock the interview

Just wanted to throw this out there for people who are contemplating who to get to write their LORs... I got three people to write my LORs who, while they didn't have extremely prestigious titles, knew me very well both inside and outside the classroom. The letters were amazing, lengthy, and spoke well of my skills and me as a person. I feel like they were a big reason I got accepted into my top choice. I had a friend applying to the same programs as I. Instead of choosing people who knew her work well, she picked people who knew little of her, but had more impressive titles (for example, instead of getting her supervisor who knew her well to write an LOR, she got her supervisor's boss to do it, b/c she felt that would look better.) The guy was a complete moron. She was constantly in his office reminding him to do it. When he finally wrote it, he only wrote her 2 short paragraphs, and the worst part is...he referred to her as "he" instead of "she" all throughout the letter. She ended up catching it, thank goodness, and made him re-write the letter. The other 2 people she picked wrote crappy recs too, b/c they barely knew her. It was like pulling teeth for her to get them to get their letters in. She didn't get into the programs she wanted. I would say to pick people who know you very well, and if you ask someone and sense that they are less than enthusiastic about it, screw them and get someone else. Their lack of enthusiasm will show through in the LOR.

Thanks for the advice, friends!

That is frustrating. I was surprised at how much burden was put on my (the applicants) shoulders during the application process. It seems like sometimes the people in admissions don't realize how stressful this is. They had a ton of conflicting information on their website about application materials, and it was somehow my job to call all the different offices and get it straightened out. Apparently you have to do all the leg work to find out your decision too - they told me I had an assistantship, and would find out in a few days what it was. 2 weeks later, I finally got the grad in the office to tell me which one it was. I can sympathize. Hopefully you will find out soon!

Ok, I see what you are saying. Glad you are feeling better, and good luck. If you work hard, I am sure you will find something good

Since you haven't had problems before, I'm guessing you're fairly easy person to live with, so I don't think it would be a problem. Personally, I get bored when I am by myself, so I like having one other person around. I have some friends in grad school now (I'll be entering this fall) and they live with other grad students in different programs. They really enjoy being around people who aren't in their cohort, which means they don't talk shop all the time, and can just go home and talk about whatever and hang out. If you find someone who seems like they value the same thing you do in a roomie (cleanliness or lack thereof/smoking preference/noise level, etc) I think it is a good idea, especially to set-off cost as you mentioned. And hopefully they will help keep you sane As for me, I will be running and living in residence hall full of hundreds of underclassmen while going to school, so that should be interesting

I'm a little bit fuzzy on your time line of entering in the spring, as most schools have already conducted interviews and selected individuals for assistantships for next year (April 15th is usually the date students must make their decisions.) That being said... In my field (yours may be different), unfortunately most schools do have a G.P.A. requirement of at least a 3.0 for assistantships, so you will definitely want to check and see what the requirements are for the schools you are considering. There are a couple different kinds of assistantships - teaching assistantships and research assistantships. You should think about which one would be better for you. Teaching assistantships are those TAs we all had in undergrad who help grade papers, assist in running the class, holding office hours, etc. Research assistantships are just that. You do research in a lab or out in the field with the supervision of a faculty member who is working in an area you are interested in. If you are interested in the research assistantship, you should take a look at the faculty profiles on the website of the schools in consideration, and find out who is doing research in an area that interests you. My dept. lists all the available assistatnships, but I doubt that is the norm. You will just have to look around on the websites and see if they have any info. E-mail is fine to start off with. You might want to shot a general e-mail to the department to see what if any assistantship requirements they have and what the timeline and possible benefits are. For research assistantships, you'll want to probably e-mail the professor doing research you are interested (After you know the basics from the department.) After all, professors are really busy and they can sometimes be a bit standoffish if they think someone is wasting their time.