Thanks to a little advance planning, I arranged for others to do some writing this week when my own time and creativity are lacking.  Today, Chris, one of our interviewers, tells you what comes to mind when he thinks back to his applicant days.

It’s hard to believe that it has been over a year since I applied to Fletcher.   I remember checking the Admissions blog and GAMS website every day, hoping that decisions would be released.  I was a nervous wreck.  Fortunately, I was assigned to a new project at work and was able to dive right in — a nice distraction.

With the advantage of hindsight, my advice for all those reading is to take a deep breath and relax.  Accept the fact that there’s little you can do at this point with regard to your application.  All the hard work is done!  Yes, look at the Fletcher website every now and then, but by this point you’ve probably read everything on the entire site.

This downtime between application submission and decision release is when life more-or-less returns to normal for a month or so (depending on where you’ve applied, obviously).  You had a life before the GRE exam and grad school applications:  go back to it!  Go on your dream vacation to Peru or Malaysia now, because once you have heard back from all your schools, there’s going to be a lot that you need to do (e.g. looking for housing, getting financing in order, or brushing up on your foreign language skills).

I realize this is easy for me to say now, a year after the fact.  However, one thing I’ve learned in life (thanks to Marcus Aurelius) is that while you may have little control over what happens to you, you have complete control over how you react to life’s events.

Hope to see you in the fall!
-Chris

Posted by Jessica Daniels on 09 Feb 2010 No Comments »

This weekend, a skeleton crew of students will be minding the Fletcher shop while a crowd of over 400 students, friends, spouses, and children heads to Maine for a weekend of skiing, snowboarding, and sipping hot chocolate.  They’ll nearly completely take over the condominium accommodations on site at Sugarloaf Mountain, possibly leaving the other skiiers confused as to how everyone on the lifts seems to know each other.  Organizing the trip is a massive student undertaking, all the more so given that one of the pretrip meetings needs to cover the topic of how to stay warm.  While all our students have seen snow by now, many come from places where Maine cold is an abstract concept. 

In other sports news this week, the Boston Globe ran this nice story about one of Fletcher’s first-year students. 

Whether you’re skiing, snowboarding, skating, or watching others play football, have a great weekend!

Posted by Jessica Daniels on 05 Feb 2010 No Comments »

On Sunday, clutching our complimentary grocery bags as we left a restaurant that participated in the Boston Super Hunger Brunch, Kayla called me a trend-setter.  I’ve been bringing my own bags to the supermarket since the days when my eccentricity provoked discussion among the cashiers.  (”Paper or plastic.”  “Thanks — I have my own bags.”  “You have your own bags?”  “She has her own bags!“)

But Kayla’s comment led me to remember a cartoon that has stuck in my head since I first saw it many years ago.  A quick search later, here it is (with ap0logies that it’s hard to read).  That woman who’s saying, ”I’ve always washed and reused my plastic wrap”?  I am that woman.  Environmentally aware?  Pathologically frugal?  You be the judge.

I’m taking a quick break from my pile of applications, having just shifted from the kitchen to a room with a computer.  But the computer isn’t why I made the move.  No — I was frozen out.  Each morning, our programmable thermostat clicks the heat off at 7:30 and the temperature in our old house starts to drop.  On my at-home reading days, I read in the kitchen (coldest room in the house) for a few hours, and then I shift to a warmer location.  When the warmer location gets too cold, I add more clothing.  Or a blanket.  Or a hot water bottle to keep my feet warm.  Or all of the above — the house is never very warm even before the heat turns off.  Finally, I’ll head back to the kitchen for lunch, often eating with my coat on.  Then I finally give in and turn the heat back on downstairs.  Afternoon reading continues in the kitchen, now warmer than the rest of the house.

Reading with the chill of February taking over the house isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  It keeps me awake, and the nomadic location shifting is a bit of activity between groups of files.

Back to my pile of applications.  Additional sweaters to be added soon.

Posted by Jessica Daniels on 04 Feb 2010 No Comments »

We had our weekly team meeting yesterday and talked briefly about application numbers.  Last year, we actively wondered how the poor economy would affect the applicant pool.  By this year, we have become accustomed to the unpredictability, and the “wondering” is a little less active.  That doesn’t mean we’re not curious, so it was time to check in.

And it looks like, if you have been worried that you’ll be up against a tidal wave of other applicants all trying to squeeze into the entering class, you can rest a little easy.  We still have an application deadline in front of us, but we can get a general sense of the year’s pool by looking at how many applications we had received at this time last year.  Based on those records, we expect we’ll receive more applications than in 2009, but only by a small margin.

That’s good news for us (admissions people always like to report that our application numbers are up) and for you (no massive herd of competitors for a slot).  A win-win!

Posted by Jessica Daniels on 02 Feb 2010 No Comments »

Wondering what the museum scene is like around here?  You may enjoy this reminiscence from New York Times art critic, Holland Carter.

And, a new exhibit on campus has a special connection to issues of interest to students of international affairs.  Called Questions Without Answers:  A Photographic Prism, 1985-2010 , it features the images of the VII Photo Agency, a photographic cooperative that specializes in conflict photography.  The exhibit will run until April 4, 2010.  I hope to get over there soon.

Posted by Jessica Daniels on 01 Feb 2010 No Comments »

We hear lots of questions about scholarships and how they’re awarded.  (It was the hot topic at Monday’s event.)  Must be time to shed a little sunshine on this murky topic.  Let’s start with the terminology.  When we, at Fletcher, talk about “scholarships,” we’re talking about the funds drawn from the Fletcher pot of cash — not loans, or any other type of financial aid.

Fletcher awards scholarships on the basis of need and merit together.  That is, there are no merit-only scholarships, and there are no need-only scholarships.  Merit is determined through the admissions process, and need is assessed when we review the two-page scholarship application.  For a given level of merit, the largest awards go to those with the greatest financial need.

(This is the moment to mention that we review scholarship applications after admissions decisions have been made.  Applying for a scholarship will not affect your admissions chances.)

We offer a few full-tuition scholarships, but we never “waive tuition.”  (In the end, what is a tuition waiver, anyway, except a full-tuition scholarship?)  Most Fletcher scholarships do not cover the full cost of tuition, and our students usually fund their education through a combination of personal savings, family contributions, the Fletcher scholarship, income earned while a student, loans, and external scholarships or fellowships.  Even students receiving a full-tuition scholarship will need to cover living expenses.

Different graduate schools have different scholarship/financial aid policies, and we’ve tinkered around with ours quite a bit over the years.  Is our current structure perfect?  Nope.  But it makes a certain sense.  We try to give students with financial need a start toward the cost of attendance.  It’s up to the student to line up the remaining funds.

Also up to the student is the task of finding teaching assistant, research assistant, or office positions.  The Admissions Committee doesn’t assign students to professors as research help.  The professors do their own hiring, and many Fletcher students are TAs within the School or in other units of the University.  To be honest, it’s very difficult to line up a teaching assistant position before you’re actually on campus, but some students will be TAs in their second semester.  Research assistant and office positions are advertised at the start of each semester, and are particularly readily available in September.

You may be wondering what you can do now to be sure you can afford graduate school.  The first thing you shouldn’t do is sit back (possibly biting your nails with worry) and wait until you have heard from all the schools to which you applied.  After admissions decisions are released, you only have a short time (about a month) to get all your financial ducks in a row.  Don’t miss the opportunity to do some research and planning now.  What personal and family sources can you draw upon?  Is there any scholarship or fellowship available to someone with your academic or professional or national background?  (These external scholarships are often for small sums, but every bit helps.)  Do a little financial analysis — how much can you afford to borrow?  Finally, it’s not too late to SAVE!  If there’s any way for you to put some money away each month, then do it!  Even if your savings only cover the cost of books, you’ll be glad to have the cash.

Since not all of our applicants and blog readers are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, I won’t say too much here about government loans and work study.  Just this:  if there’s any chance you’re going to want to apply for loans, you should complete the FAFSA, and now is as good a time as any.  That way, when the University informs you of your financial aid “package,” you’ll learn about loan funds in addition to the Fletcher scholarship.

Affording graduate study is a challenge.  Your first step toward meeting the challenge is a little advance preparation.

Posted by Jessica Daniels on 29 Jan 2010 No Comments »

Even as we’re working through the admissions process for September 2010 enrollment, there are people who will drop by as they start their research for future graduate studies.  To accommodate anyone who wants to visit, we’ll offer general Information Sessions on most Mondays at 12:30.  Here are the dates for the February to April sessions.

February 1
February 8
February 22
March 1
March 8
March 15
March 29
April 5
April 19
April 26

Whether you’re just getting started on the grad school research process, or you’re waiting to hear from Fletcher about September 2010, we welcome you to attend an Info Session.  Come on over!

Posted by Jessica Daniels on 26 Jan 2010 No Comments »

Last week I came to work every day in “business ultracasual” attire (if there is such a thing).  The office was closed for much of each day while we processed applications, and opening mail always leaves me covered with bits of paper, so jeans seemed like the way to go.

Today we’re all looking more professional as we meet 18 of the Early Notification admitted students.  They’ll be in and out of the office, alternating with attending classes, special sessions and panels, lunch, and a tour.  I enjoy meeting these small groups — easier to sort out who’s who.

I’m actually going to be lunching not with the admitted students but with the current students on the Admissions Committee.  They’re fabulous!  (I might have said that before.)  Our “Lunch and Apps” session is to help them stay on track and support them as they read, read, read.

And there’s a TON for them to read.  Maybe not literally a ton, but hundreds of pounds, anyway.  A super-efficient crew came in on Saturday and processed, processed, processed.  Among the many positive results is that most applicants can now access useful information through the Graduate Application Management System.  (Another positive result is that there’s a bare table around which we can sit and eat lunch.)

I’m taking my first full reading day on Thursday, and I’m looking forward to it.  Somehow, until I throw myself completely into a mountain of applications, I don’t fully connect to the process.  I’ll be back to ultracasual attire, accessorized by fuzzy slippers, for a day of getting to know applicants via their essays.

Posted by Jessica Daniels on 25 Jan 2010 No Comments »

There has been a lot of Haiti-related news and activity here at Fletcher.  Our communications office has been maintaining a news update page, and the University also has a page, but I thought I would compile a few more links that readers may find interesting.

First, of course, is the wonderful news that the group of Fletcher students and researchers who had been in Port au Prince returned safely last week, as mentioned in a Boston Globe story.

Also, a group of students sprang into fundraising action, and has managed to pool over $10,000 from many Fletcher-linked donors.

Much of the media attention has been pointed toward Ushahidi, for which several students have established an earthquake crisis situation room.  Team members search social networking and news sites, and compile the information they have found, in order to assist aid efforts on the ground.  They have been featured on New England Cable News (Note that the NECN anchor, R.D. Sahl, is also a Fletcher alum. Sorry that I can’t provide a link that helps you avoid the commercial.), on CNN (starting at 1 minute 20 seconds), and Al Jazeera.net, with a mention in the Wall Street Journal.

Not Fletcher-focused, but still relevant to understanding the concern felt in this area, is a Boston Globe article that explains how it is that a Northeast U.S. city came to have the third largest population of Haitians outside of Haiti itself.

Of course, there’s a heap of good public relations for Fletcher in all of this.  My reason for featuring it in the blog is a little different.  Prospective students often wonder about the nature of our community.  I hope the reaction to the Haiti earthquake shows Fletcher students to be engaged and involved — caring people who react to a crisis such as this one in generous and interesting ways.

Posted by Jessica Daniels on 21 Jan 2010 No Comments »

As I considered what to write today, I was thinking that January and February blog posts are the Admissions equivalent of elevator music.  That is, the music reassures you that everything is happening as planned — the elevator is going up or down — but the charming tunes have nothing to do with the actual operation.

And our Admissions elevator is indeed going up and down.  There was a big crew here yesterday, despite the pesky rush-hour snow storm.  Boxes and boxes of applications are ready for review or only a step away from readiness.  We’ll continue to devote a lot of time to processing throughout this week.  By the weekend, we’ll have more time to do the actual reading.

While we toil over applications (or write blog posts about toiling over applications), the School is looking pleasantly normal!  Lots of students were reuniting in the Hall of Flags when I just walked through.  (The flags came back last week — I assume they, too, had a good winter break.)  Today is “Shopping Day,” when students can sample a bit of many different classes before committing themselves to a schedule.  It’s great to have so much activity back in the building.

Finally, one note from my own “you learn something every day” file:  Despite the many years I’ve worked here, I had failed to understand one critical aspect of the process.  Or, more accurately, I only understood it from my perspective, not yours,  which led me to describe it in a less-than-useful way.  So here’s something more useful:  You might assume that, once you submit your online application, the data flows seamlessly.  That’s mostly true, except for one brief manual process to slide you over into the Application Management System.  It doesn’t take long to perform the process, but we need to do it hundreds of time.  Thus, the hair-raising moment when it appears that we haven’t received anything at all.  Hang in there — you’ll soon see a more accurate record of what has reached us.

Posted by Jessica Daniels on 19 Jan 2010 2 Comments »