Student Associations

[blankets]

If i'm in a terminal MA looking to apply to PhDs would being an officer of the graduate students association make any impact on my application to PhD programs? The association is for both MA and PhD students.

Just thought it might make a difference because this shows that I care about a healthy cohort/program/department. Our association has a voice on proposing and approving new hires, we suggest courses and adjuncts, organize field seminar schedules. It's not like we're making banners for homecoming here.

What about organizing committees for conferences, does that send a positive signal? Or does all of this just display poor time management/lack of seriousness?

[newms]

If i'm in a terminal MA looking to apply to PhDs would being an officer of the graduate students association make any impact on my application to PhD programs? The association is for both MA and PhD students.

Just thought it might make a difference because this shows that I care about a healthy cohort/program/department. Our association has a voice on proposing and approving new hires, we suggest courses and adjuncts, organize field seminar schedules. It's not like we're making banners for homecoming here.

What about organizing committees for conferences, does that send a positive signal? Or does all of this just display poor time management/lack of seriousness?

Things like this are good for padding your CV under the heading 'Community Service'. It also helps you to network when it comes time to look for a job. I don't think it helps much, if any at all, when you're applying for a Ph.D. It won't hurt you either, but admissions committees are looking at your research potential and being on a student association doesn't help in that regard.

Edited May 16, 2011 by newms

[Bukharan]

I feel that it won't necessarily help you to 'get in' but it can certainly impress the faculty, upon the secondary look at your application, once they decide that you are in, based on your academic qualifications and interests.

[Eigen]

It's one of those little, helpful additions that can help set you apart from the other several hundred very academically apt applicants, from what I understand.

I would put it under the "leadership experience" section on your CV (that's where I have mine), and leave it there even past graduate school. Things like that show that you can work with administration, university committees, etc., which can be quite beneficial for an academic (or non-academic) job down the road.

Of course, it somewhat depends on the student association- are you talking about a departmental organization?

When you say graduate student organization, I'm picturing something like mine (~800 students, $90k/year budget, seats on all the major university committees), but it could also be something smaller in scale. University level graduate student organizations can have quite a lot of power to get things done, and most admissions committees will be aware of that, I would think. I know ours is the major driving force for a lot of campus renovations, changes to insurance policies, etc.

[kaykaykay]

I do not really think that it helps in the application process...at least nobody who I ever talked took another look on that line of my CV when I talked about my applications. But I did something similar before applying and I never regretted it. There are a number of hidden perks: better relationship with the faculty (better rec letters?, better advice), reading applications in committees for funding, jobs, grad applications etc (helps understanding how the process works and fine tuning your own), also understanding how conferences work, (when you have to send in your paper), getting connected with the people who are participating in the conferences and some bagels, coffees, pizzas on the way. If you have a track record in organizing conferences that can further lead to a line in job applications if you decide not to do a PhD or later to find a part time job/ paid graduate association position during your PhD. Of course be pro active and take the tasks that can help you. eg. selection committee positions etc.

Edited May 17, 2011 by kalapocska

[bobcatpolisci1]

As faculty, I'd suggest that something like this tends to make absolutely no difference when it comes to PhD admissions in, say, top 50 programs. If you think about admissions as a game in which the ad com tries to predict future research success, this is a pretty weak signal. In my current department, something like this has never come up in any admissions discussion I've been a part of. In my old (MA-granting) department, I had students who were active in this sort of thing. I encouraged them if they chose to participate, but provided the same advice--it's something to do now if you have a passion for it, or if you're looking to build skills for a non-academic position. But for those wanting to go on for PhDs, I suggested that more time on the thesis or on GRE prep was probably time better spent.

Listen. Grad schools need these kinds of organizations. They fulfill important functions on campus, and can give students valuable skills. But they don't make a middling student a better admissions candidate. Unlike college admissions,, or even MA admissions, PhD admissions is just about whether or not we think you can finish the program, do good research (and perhaps, depending on the program, teach with some proficiency), and get a job. That's what matters, that's what affects a portion of our rankings, and what builds our visibility. Maybe it ought to be different, but that's how it works.