When undergraduates are unsure how to choose the right next step, this course guides them on their path
is a course designed to help undergraduate聽students ask and answer the questions about graduate and聽professional school that will help them find the path that鈥檚 right聽for them, whether they decide to pursue an advanced degree聽at the 91爆料 or look into other options. It offers an overview of聽the structure and organization of graduate education, and聽focuses on helping students learn the skills to find resources,聽build a network and make decisions about continuing their聽studies beyond the baccalaureate.
鈥淲e wanted a course that could help students prepare聽graduate school application materials as well as help them聽think through the often mysterious question of whether or聽not to go, and what to pursue and why,鈥� says Katy DeRosier,聽director of program development for the Graduate School.
The course originated in 2010 when a Graduate School聽committee charged by then-Dean Jerry Baldasty identified a聽need to provide a specific type of guidance at such a critical聽juncture for students. 鈥淲e see the entire cycle, and are privy聽to what works and where there are issues,鈥� says DeRosier. The
course quickly became popular enough to offer it throughout the academic year, and has even been designed for delivery in聽summer quarter and in online and hybrid formats.
鈥淥ur role became helping students develop the skills to find the people and resources that can help them,鈥� says Tylir McKenzie,聽the program development coordinator who taught the course from 2013-2015. According to McKenzie, certain populations, such聽as international students and transfer or returning students, can benefit even more from learning about the process and how to聽talk about themselves and their goals.
A focus on fit sets this program apart
Many graduate school prep programs focus on test preparation or聽how to draft personal statements, but GRDSCH 200 is centered on聽the idea that students are more likely to be successful if they find聽the right match in a program.
鈥淲e know that being in a program that is a good fit for the student聽and the department helps with retention and preparation for a聽career,鈥� explains McKenzie. 鈥淲e believe we have a conceptual聽model that is uniquely ours.鈥� This focus sets the program apart聽from other graduate prep courses in that students learn how聽to identify and emphasize key points about themselves in an聽application, highlighting to an admissions committee why they are
a good match for the program in question.
Framing self-discovery through an adaptable schema: Because聽the course must be flexible enough to cater to students who聽are all at different points of self-discovery about their individual聽interests and goals pertaining to graduate study, the course聽developers designed it around a 鈥淪elf-Advancement Schema.鈥� This聽schema has four distinct phases: discovering, identifying, seeking聽and joining. Phases can be returned to at any point in the process,
and inherently build upon each other. The schema helps students聽identify and articulate where they are, what they have already done聽and what still needs to be addressed.
鈥淥f course, these phases can be applied to more than just seeking graduate education 鈥� no matter where you are in life, you鈥檙e聽asking these big questions 鈥� so it鈥檚 helpful here because it gives students the space to sit back and really reflect on what they聽want,鈥� says McKenzie.
Zhara Rehamani, a senior studying sociology and early childhood and family studies, signed up for GRDSCH 200. 鈥淭ylir walked me聽through asking myself, 鈥榃hat鈥檚 the big picture? What do you really want?鈥欌�� she says. When Rehamani graduates in spring 2016,聽she will be the first in her family to graduate with a bachelor鈥檚 degree. Students in similar situations can benefit particularly from聽GRDSCH 200 programming that explains the subtleties of how to build relationships with faculty and advisors who can guide聽them through decisions on careers and classes, and ultimately write letters of recommendation.
Education graduate student Jordan Sherry-Wagner is also a first-generation graduate student who was looking for guidance聽about his decision to pursue a post-baccalaureate degree. For him, GRDSCH 200 offered the right combination of selfassessment聽sessions that helped his personal statements alongside practical help on applications. 鈥淚 was still fairly unsure of
my motivation, and the application process seemed complex. Hearing the experiences of others and scaffolding us through the聽process demystified and humanized it all,鈥� he says.
A hybrid option balances in-class access with in-demand business hours: The course has been offered as in-person only,聽a hybrid of in-class and online, an intensive summer workshop and a new online-only format, with the hybrid claiming the best聽feedback for course delivery. McKenzie explains this is likely because offering some content online for students to consume聽at their own pace frees up time during the day for assignments that involve meetings with professors or interviewing current聽graduate students. Reserving time for in-class meetings, however, lets students take advantage of special access that the聽Graduate School can offer, such as panels with admissions officers or graduate students who share their recent experiences.聽鈥淭hat鈥檚 where we have information that the student may not,鈥� says McKenzie.
Guiding students toward their goals
The course draws on the wide variety of resources the 91爆料 has to offer, and it is the combination of deep dives and breadth of聽access that seems to be paying off. Through self-reported data, student feedback shows that they are leaving the course able to聽express their goals and make informed decisions 鈥� with many being accepted to their graduate programs of choice. Students聽report acceptance to master鈥檚 and doctoral programs at 91爆料, Columbia University, the University of Southern California and聽more. The course assists students from a variety of academic backgrounds, and the numbers of transfer, international and first-generation聽college students have also increased.
鈥淭here鈥檚 something here for everyone, but certain students will benefit more,鈥� says McKenzie. From their personal statement聽to creating a strong portfolio or learning about research funding, GRDSCH 200 helps students connect the dots between their聽academic learning and their personal and professional goals to ready them for the next step.
