Graduate School

Preparing to be an #sagrad before you “become one”

July 12, 2011

I am often inspired by the conversations that take place within my Twitter stream, and this post bears no exception. I caught a question put out by Nathan Victoria asking “what should new #sagrad be doing now to prepare for first year?” in the context of the conversations taking place through the NUFPSLI. I should [...]

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Developing Development

October 16, 2010
Progress

This week I had perhaps one of the greatest moments of conscious personal growth then I have experienced in quite some time. Even more ironically, it had occurred weeks before on a cognitive level; but the ‘ah-ha feeling’ of development hit me like a rush that made me realize how much I have missed it.

The past few months I have been challenged by the formation and early development of a staff, understanding campus and department culture, keeping up with reading and discussions within the classroom, and maintaining (truthfully, developing) a social and ‘personal’ life in a new place. But these areas haven’t been the hardest part of my transition.

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Statement of Purpose: Beyond ‘About Me’

Thumbnail image for Statement of Purpose: Beyond ‘About Me’ July 10, 2010

After getting an email from a from RWU interested in Student Affairs and working on friend developing Grad School applications, I realized that I while I’ve spoken a lot about the ‘process of graduate applications’ in Student Affairs: Farm League, I’ve never actually explained what my ‘Statement of Purpose’ was when I was entering Graduate School. With [...]

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Bottom of the 9th

April 9, 2010
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My last undergraduate semester is more than halfway over, and it

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Keep Your Eye On The Ball…

March 25, 2010
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Now that my graduate school process has ended, all I find myself being able to say is

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The 3-2 Pitch

March 11, 2010

Well, the “hard” part is done. You went to campus, you took part in a number of interviews; maybe you even set up some phone interviews along the way! Just the waiting game, right? WRONG! You were prepared, and it shows. You ended up getting offers from several institutions, and even moreso, several assistantship offers from the same institutions!

If not, this is the situation I’m in, and quite honestly, I don’t know what to do! Both institutions have their draws, and in some cases for completely different reasons! The assistantships sometimes aren’t even comparable, so how do you navigate?

There are a few things that after speaking with administrators, grad students, and other Seniors navigating the process that stand out to me.

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On Deck…

February 15, 2010

As your dreaded grad school interview conferences quickly approaches, it’s important to feel relaxed, and as you’ll see below, I’m a big fan of ‘doing my homework.’ In a crunch, there are a few great ways to prepare that I’ve been so thankful to pick up through the twitter.com based #sachats on Thursdays at 11 and 1 pm and 7 pm EST, hosted by The_SA_Blog, as well as some fantastic Student Affairs professionals and grad students! (Thanks for posting @EdCabellon!)

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Do Your Homework

January 29, 2010

Yes, the childhood edict comes back to haunt you again. The process of the Student Affairs grad search is twofold; set yourself up so you have the choices that will make you happiest in the long run (succeed in the present), and be aware and prepared for the ever-changing world that you’re about to enter.

Of course, this is grossly minimizing how hard the process is, especially since you’re likely involved in all kinds of other things; your programming board, maybe residence life or your wellness affiliates on campus, orientation, or maybe working with other areas of student affairs in a workstudy capacity. In any case, the most important way to plan for your future is to succeed in the present; especially when it comes to graduate school. Having gone through a majority of the process I can tell you that the best advice that I got in my undergrad was to ‘be intentional.’ I looked at what programs were looking for early on, and I did my best to deliver. And never just meet expectations (for yourself or anyone else, inside or outside of your graduate pursuits) do your best to exceed them. At the end of the day, that is what is going to set you apart.

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