For the last week or so, whenever I’m passing through the back of the office where our student staffers sit, someone’s busy date stamping, or envelope opening, or label sticking, or doing any of the other little tasks that are critical to producing application files that are ready to be reviewed.  I’m going to be honest here — much of the work doesn’t take advantage of our students’ brain power.  In fact, looked at in isolation, the tasks are menial.  It’s important for the students to maintain a sense of perspective — that without the completion of these tasks, the office’s work would never get done.

Beyond broad perspective, there are two main traits that fuel efficiency in the office.  The first is that students are already operating at max brain power every day.  Coming into the office and perfecting their date stamping can be just the ticket for relieving stress.

The second helpful trait is a sense of humor.  I just received an email from the student worker I referred to in this post, who was accused of working in a call center.  Of course, Sudila has gone off to a fabulous job, but he is still nostalgic for his Admissions days.  Here’s what he wrote.  Note that he’s referencing one task of packing a DVD about Fletcher for mailing.

Sorry I missed this email earlier, but reading the blog post made me laugh.  The days in the Admissions Office were so great.  I always talk about it whenever I meet past Fletcher students.  I hope the new crew is as fiercely competitive as we were.  And I do hope my coveted DVD Stuffing Record still stands:  97 DVDs stuffed in five minutes.  Daisuke came in a close second with 95.  It was so competitive  that we had to bring an international referee (Carol Murphy, Fletcher’s International Student Advisor).  Even Laurie stopped her work and came out to see the competition.  It just goes to show that the Admissions Office staff really appreciates the work of the student workers.  I am sure that every student who works there will have very fond memories of the Admissions Office.

And, as I assume you can tell, we have fond memories of them, too!  A photo of Sudila and Daisuke (and their DVD Stuffing Awards) still adorns our wall.

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There’s a core of activities that is shared by all Fletcher students regardless of degree program, but the precise features of daily life do differ a bit.  Here, first-year MIB student, Vincent, tells us about his early months in the program.

I can’t believe it’s only been three months since I started at the Fletcher School.  I began the MIB program in mid-August with a Strategy pre-session, and it already feels like a lifetime ago.  So much has happened since then — I’ve met so many amazing people, and I’ve learned so much.  For the purposes of the blog, I’ll tell you about my experiences to date and my expectations for what lies ahead.

My experiences at Fletcher up to now have all been extremely positive.  As an MIB student, I have to take three core courses this semester, and each one of those classes has opened a door for me on the world of business.  I have a background in the private sector, and my first few months of learning have complemented and built upon my experience. In two of our business classes, “Foundations in Financial Accounting and Corporate Finance” and “Financial Statement Analysis,” we are really learning the practical side of how a business works.  Theory is always there, but it’s more about making decisions and understanding what is going on.

My other core course is called “Global Political Economy,” and it’s excellent.  What I didn’t know about the interactions and history of state players and external forces in trade negotiations could fill a book.  I thoroughly enjoy this class and the perspective it’s giving me on international affairs and business.  This is exactly the kind of course that separated Fletcher from the other schools I considered.

Now, what do I expect for the coming months?  Well, it’s exam time soon enough, so there will be a lot of studying.  But the strangest aspect of all is that, two months from now, I’ll be doing four totally new courses.  I know I’ll be taking a region-specific course in French, and probably a course on international negotiation.  Thankfully, I’m now well adjusted to the world of academia so I no longer have a “deer in the headlights” look about me as I walk the Hall of Flags.  It’s certainly been quite a change to go from the working world into school.  There’s no hiding out in meetings here.  The more you put into Fletcher — pre-work and team projects — the more you get out of it.

Lastly, it sounds cliché, but there is a real community here.  There isn’t a day that goes by when my 30 MIB classmates aren’t cracking jokes or talking about their many incredible adventures in far-flung reaches of the globe — the range of their experiences is immense.  The things I’m learning from my MIB and MALD classmates could fill a couple of courses!  This has been the biggest and best surprise of all.

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One of the tasks that has fallen to me over the last few years is to lead the way in preparing selected students to be valuable members of the Committee on Admissions.  The Committee is made up of professors, Admissions staff, and a group of students large enough to manage however many applications we expect to see.

The process starts when we hire the students, having lured them with an email that makes the job sound like an insurmountable mountain of work.  (Only the rugged need apply.)  Then two of us conduct interviews (Kristen and Peter each joined me this year), and we put together a group that reflects, as well as possible, the scope of applicants that we’ll see:  men/women, U.S./international, private sector/public and nonprofit sectors, etc., etc.  Plus, they need to have the ability to present an argument, even if they’re on the opposite side of the discussion from one of their professors.  To be honest, it also helps if they understand that they shouldn’t cling tenaciously to a lost cause.

Once the students have been selected, we offer about an hour of training — completely inadequate, so we construct a big safety net around them.  They work with us in a mentor-type arrangement, each of the staffers reading the files previously reviewed by our mentees, so that we can learn their style (and tweak it as necessary).  And then there’s the Committee discussion process for ironing out any last wrinkles.

We keep our expectations reasonable for the Early Notification process.  Not only are the students heading into exams, but the Admissions work is new to them.  An application that takes 30 minutes to read now would, by February, take half that amount of time.  So we try to go easy on the readers and give them a chance to really learn the ropes.

The Early Notification deadline was Sunday, but we had a small group of files ready last Thursday afternoon.  Minutes after I emailed the crew that they could pick up files, in they marched!  Some of the files were back again an hour later.  Fabulous!!

I’m super psyched about this year’s Committee, and I love this part of the process.  Current students know the community and are in a perfect place to reflect whether Fletcher seems like a good match for each applicant.  The Admissions Staff is there to provide the broad context, and the professors represent the faculty view.

I have five files from my mentees here, and I’m going to read them now.  We’ll be meeting on Thursday to discuss their early work.  The first full Committee meeting takes place in December.  I can’t wait!

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As you may know, most of our evaluative interviews are conducted by current Fletcher students, providing the students with a special opportunity to help shape a future class and the applicants with a forum for learning about the Fletcher student experience.  Here, Jessie, an interviewer and office student staffer, shares her perspective:

Hello applicants and Fletcher fans!  As a second-year student who has worked closely with the Admissions Office over the past 14 months as an interviewer, info-session leader, and student worker (and who was an applicant myself not so long ago!), I want to address a question we hear often:  Why should I come for an evaluative interview?

The purpose of the interview is two-fold:  it’s one more way for us to get to know you as a person who aspires to study at Fletcher, and it’s also your chance to ask questions of a current student.  Each of these aspects are important, so I’ll discuss them both.

Fletcher really does take a holistic approach to admissions – it’s about evaluating a person as a whole, with all of the academic and professional and personal qualifications factored in.  Some of the Admissions Committee’s metrics are quantifiable, while others are more subjective.  Coming in for an evaluative interview allows you to tell us exactly why you want to go to grad school – and, more specifically, why Fletcher – which I have always felt were the most important questions of the interview.  You also can tell us about all of the dynamic and unique traits that make you special.  Granted, you should address this in your application essays, but let’s be honest – 700 words is not much!  We want you to tell us why you want to be here, why you feel it’s the right time for you to be here, and how you can make this school academically and socially a great place.

The second purpose to the interview is, of course, to give you a chance to ask questions of a current student and try to ascertain whether Fletcher is the right place for you.  To a certain extent, the application process is a mutual audition of sorts.  You are trying to show grad schools why you should be there, but you’re also auditioning the schools themselves.  While I often joke that I’m afraid I love Fletcher more than I will love my first-born child, I recognize that not everyone will feel this way.  You need to find the school that will be the best fit for you, not only academically but based upon social, financial, and whatever other criteria are important to you.  Grad school is expensive, no doubt about it – you want to be sure of your decision before you make the investment.  So when you come for an interview, please ask whatever questions you may have, no matter how off-the-wall they may be!

My own interview two years ago (wow, has it been that long?!) was a great experience, because I felt well-prepared for both of the interview’s purposes.  I knew I could do more than recite my own resume; I had clear reasons for wanting to come to Fletcher and was prepared to articulate them.  I also had my own questions, about financial aid, the students’ social life, the workload, the utility of the alumni network.  I came out of the interview surer than ever that this was where I wanted to be, and I was able to translate that conviction to my application essays.

Despite everything I have said about the usefulness of interviews, please remember that, if you can’t come to campus for an interview, you should not fret!  While a helpful component of the admissions process, it is OPTIONAL and if you don’t do one, you will not be penalized in any way.

I wish you all the best of luck in the admissions process and hope that, for each of you, your next step (whether school, more work, or something else) proves to be the right one.

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The students who commented last week on why they chose to pursue an international affairs master’s degree captured many of the points we hear.  I’m going to add a little of the admissions perspective on the question.  I would say that casual conversations and interviews, as well as application essays, give me the sense that most Fletcher students have decided to go to graduate school for one of these reasons:

1.  They know what they would like to do in the future, and all those job opportunities are posted with “master’s degree required” attached to them.
2.  They want to internationalize work they are currently doing.
3.  They are already in the field that is (at least generally) their goal, and they need the political/economic/legal context to bring their work to a higher level.
4.  Their work has involved implementing policies, and they want a degree that will put them in a position to create policy.
5.  They are looking for specific skills (negotiation, for example).
6.  A combination of several of the above.

Even as each student’s motivation reflects individual circumstances and objectives, these are the themes that most often pop out.  Of course, if you’ve made it to the Fletcher Admissions web site, you probably have your own reasons already.

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About a week ago, Kristen and I spoke to a group of Tufts undergraduate IR majors.  We brought along three “double Jumbos,” who could easily remember when they were undergrads, not necessarily knowing they would someday return to Fletcher.

One of those bright undergrads asked a question that I don’t hear as much as I feel I should:  Why would I pursue graduate work in international relations?  The context in which the student put the question was that while some careers require a graduate degree as a credential (such as a U.S. law degree or a medical degree), no such requirement exists for those who wish to be international affairs practitioners.

So it’s a really good question, and I asked Fletcher students to describe the thinking that preceded their enrollment.  Here are some of their answers.

Elise (first-year MALD student):  My recent position as representative of Project Syndicate, an international association of newspapers, was pretty ideal.  I was based in Prague, traveled to more than 30 countries for meetings with newspaper editors, and rubbed elbows with such bigwigs as George Soros, Peter Singer and Shashi Tharoor.  It was a difficult job to leave, but as we face pressing and complex global challenges, I feel that graduate study is necessary to more deeply inform my existing interests and prepare me for a meaningful career that will address those challenges.  Though a master’s degree isn’t a required qualification for many careers in international relations, I strongly believe that the skills and connections provided by the Fletcher experience will enhance my opportunities down the road and eventual job satisfaction.  I’m only two months into the experience, but I haven’t regretted my decision to come to Fletcher for one second.

Erika (second-year MALD student):  My goal is to be able to assess and deal with business challenges and opportunities that will help emerging countries achieve and maintain sustainable development in future years.  As an IR student, I hope to gain international knowledge and different perspectives from global students and professors about current trends, topics, and issues, especially in finance and economic policies.

Luis (second-year MALD student):  I chose a multidisciplinary IR degree because it gives you the ability to tailor your academic experience to your specific international career interests.  The international and multidisciplinary perspective changes your way of thinking and of analyzing problems, while giving you the flexibility to build on your areas of weakness.  Post Fletcher, I wanted to consult for an organization or government working to develop microfinance programs for demobilized combatants in conflict zones.  At Fletcher, I have been able to develop a framework for my future career through consulting and policy analysis courses, while improving my knowledge of the field through a series of microfinance, conflict, and development courses.

Chris (first-year MALD student):  When I was an undergraduate, I assumed I was going to earn a master’s degree in the future; it was just a matter of deciding which field to pursue.  After working for a couple of years in the private sector, and already having a bachelor’s degree in finance, I determined that pursuing an MBA was not the right direction for me.  When one of my coworkers left the company to pursue a PhD in political science, I started looking at international affairs programs.  I was drawn to Fletcher primarily because it offers International Security Studies and Pacific Asia as Fields of Study, something I’ve always had an interest in.  Location was a plus, too.  At the end of the program I’ll be able to combine my undergraduate studies with the Fletcher experience and have a greater diversity of skills and knowledge to use in pursuit of my career goals.  And I can say with confidence that, although I’m only half way through my first semester, I’ve made the right choice.

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There are still a few members of Team Admissions to be introduced.  The as-yet-unpresented members of the student staff tell you about themselves below.

First in today’s line-up, Amy:

Welcome to the Fletcher Admissions blog. I wish I had had good Internet access during the application process, because once I discovered the blog (a few days before the application deadline), I found it to be really helpful.

I’m Amy, a first year MALD and the only “Double Jumbo” student worker in the Office of Admissions.  My concentrations are International Security and Human Security.  I’m one of those typical Fletcher students who hates the question “Where are you from?”  I was born in the U.S., but was raised in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, and Thailand.

Before coming to Fletcher I served as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo, West Africa.  I worked with an AIDS treatment and care center; however, my favorite Peace Corps memories are of the days spent on my front porch, watching my posse of small children being wowed by Pop Rocks and other care-package goodies sent by my friends and family.  I also worked with the World Food Programme in Timor-Leste developing monitoring and evaluation skills.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. Good luck!

Next, David, the one student in the office who is studying in the MIB program:

Greetings!  Life at Fletcher has been busy since I first arrived on campus a little more than a month ago.  As a student in the MIB program, I can say that every one of my classmates represents an extraordinary and diverse foundation of business, language, and international experience.  I came to Fletcher after three years of work in operations and supply chain management for a major jet engine manufacturer.  In this role, I coordinated and managed production initiatives in South Korea and Israel.

While at Fletcher, I plan on studying strategic management and consulting, while concentrating on micro-finance projects.  Ideally, I’d welcome an opportunity to work with infrastructure development in Latin America and am confident Fletcher will give me the tools and experience to reach this goal.  I look forward to working with all of you in the coming months!

Continuing along in alphabetical order:  J.R.

My name is J.R., and I just started studying here at The Fletcher School.  I’m originally from Cleveland, Ohio — and have a lot of Cleveland pride — but as there aren’t too many international opportunities in “the Cleve” these days, I haven’t lived there for a long time.

After I graduated from college, I enrolled in an intensive summer Mandarin Chinese Language Program at Middlebury College, and then moved to China.  I spent the next eight months teaching English and trying to learn Chinese in Beijing.  Eight months of teaching English seemed like enough, so I quit and began a three-month solo backpacking trip through Western China and Burma.  I spent my second year in Beijing as a paralegal and, after sticking around for the Olympics, moved back to the U.S.

While at Fletcher, I’m interested in studying U.S. foreign policy, Chinese foreign policy, and the potential sources of cooperation and conflict between these countries.

And, finally (last but not least), Virgínia:

Oi! my name is Virgínia and I am a second-semester MALD student from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  This is my first semester working in the Admissions Office, and I am looking forward to meeting and learning about the many amazing applicants. It will be inspiring to see that the next generation of students is equally astounding and accomplished as my class.

My fields of study are International Business Relations and Development Economics, and I am considering self-designing a field in International Training and Education.  I have been involved in the International Business Club, Latin American Group, Global Women, and the International Development Group.  When I have  free time I try to play a little bit of tennis or soccer, and dance Salsa with the Fletcheros.

This past summer I was an instructor of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) in a summer school program for middle school and high school students in New Hampshire.  It was a very rewarding job, but whether this new experience will lead me to a career in an academic setting is still in the air.  After Fletcher I hope to work in a setting where I can interact with a diverse body of people on a daily basis while promoting development internationally and locally.

So that’s our student staff!  Contact the Office by phone or email, and it just might be Amy, David, J.R., or Virgínia who answers your questions.

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In summer 2008, Hania worked in the Admissions Office before she had even formally started as a Fletcher student.  We have been so lucky to have her help in the office throughout the last year-plus, and here she tells us a little of what she has learned.

Hello again, everyone! You may (or may not) remember me from my blog entry last summer when I was full of anxieties, hopes, fears, and great expectations, just before beginning my first semester at Fletcher. Luckily, my great expectations were met, my fears and anxieties were quelled, and my hopes and ambitions have only grown.

If I had to use one word to describe the feeling of being a returning second-year MALD at Fletcher, it would be “comfortable.”  Throughout the course of the year, Fletcher has transformed into an environment where I can feel at ease and even at home. That’s the strange thing about the graduate experience: you go from being an apprehensive “freshman” to a seasoned “senior” in just one year. The new first-year class has come along to remind us of what it was like in the beginning — the blur of new places, faces, and names, and the dizzying attempt to find your niche at Fletcher. But they will soon learn, as I did, that it gets easier, better, and more familiar in a short amount of time.

Throughout the course of last year, I made a lot of great memories:  dancing the Salsa (in front of all of my peers) in the Latin Club’s “Fiesta Latina” cultural night, helping to organize Mediterranean Club’s “Med Night,” attending lectures organized by the Fares Center (including a talk by Tony Blair), and meeting and greeting a number of successful alumni and Fletcher guests on our career trips to New York and Washington, DC. I also went on a Fletcher ski trip to Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine and found I could enjoy myself in an environment that I NEVER thought I would survive.  (Coldest place I’ve ever been!)  And all of this is only a small percentage of the innumerable activities that go on around Fletcher throughout the year.

Thanks to the career trip to Washington, DC, I was able to meet with people in various organizations that interested me. I scheduled my informational meetings and interviews, and secured my summer internship at a non-profit where I spent the summer doing research for my thesis and producing reports for them. Meanwhile my friends were scattered all over the globe for the summer: Israel, Syria, Kenya, Germany, … and the list goes on.  It was very hard to keep in touch with everyone, but such is the life of a Fletcher student. We are, after all, jetsetters by nature.

I’m now back at Fletcher, meeting with professors and excited to begin the thesis-writing process. I’m also trying to squeeze in as many extracurricular activities as possible, as I did last year, but time management is proving a bit more difficult this time around. Nevertheless, the plan is still to perform at Med Night, participate in SIMULEX (a major crisis management exercise in which participants assume the roles of national policy makers in an international scenario for a weekend), and complete a Mediation Practicum certificate, all while attending classes and showing up twice a week to my job at the Admissions Office to interact with stimulating prospective students like you!

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When Roxana hires student staffers, she tries to bring in first-year students who may stay with us for two years.  We have three second-year students on the staff this year.  Today, we hear from two of them, and the third will have something to say next week.

First, Jessie:

Hello Fletcher prospectives! I’m a second-year student in the MALD program.  I have a strong interest in issues involving terrorism and WMD, which stems from the two years I spent working in the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, prior to coming to Fletcher. I am taking courses in Security Studies and Southwest Asia/Islamic civilization, which I hope someday to parlay into a job in the U.S. government or a think tank focusing on security policy.

Jessie was an active volunteer for us last year, but this is her first year on the student staff.

And Kristen:

Hello!  This is my second year working in the Admissions Office, and I love it!  I’m one of three second years in the office, but I’m the only one who still lives in Blakeley Hall, the on-campus housing for Fletcher students.   I work here in the office taking phone calls, responding to emails, and answering any questions that prospective students may have.

Before coming to Fletcher I was studying International Business and African Studies at Howard University in Washington, DC.  After about a semester at Howard, I decided that the private sector probably wasn’t going to be my career field of choice, but I still wanted to develop business skills and then apply them to the public sector.  I pursued a number of U.S. Government internships:  I interned for the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, and Department of State, ultimately deciding that I wanted to have a career in the Foreign Service.  So, I applied for and was fortunate to receive the Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Fellowship, supporting graduate study for students interested in pursuing a U.S. Foreign Service career.

Like all other MALD students, I’ve chosen two Fields of Studies.  Already having a background in business, I decided to pursue fields in which I had no experience but would be useful for my future career.  I’m concentrating in International Security Studies, Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, along with a self-designed field in Religion and Politics.   I’m still working on developing a thesis topic, but with the deadline for my thesis proposal approaching, I plan to write on the role of religion in both conflict and peacebuilding.

With that in mind, I spent the summer working in the Economic Section at the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam.   While at the Embassy I worked specifically on trade, serving as one of the leads on the Deputy U.S. Trade Representative’s visit to Vietnam, and also studied Vietnam’s agricultural trade and its rapid economic development.  It was a wonderful experience, and has proven to be very enlightening as I study Development Economics with Professor Steven Block.

I’ve had a great experience at Fletcher thus far and look forward to speaking with all of you who are interested in applying!

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A couple of years back, one of our most beloved Admissions student staffers from Sri Lanka took a call in the office.  The person at the other end of the line was irritated about something, and then further irritated when he thought he had reached a call center in another part of the world!  Trust me, dear blog readers, we do not outsource our office operations!  But we do hire fabulous Fletcher students to help us out.  While Liz is the first person our visitors meet, the student staffers may be the first Fletcher representative you speak to or hear from by email.  So here, they offer self introductions.

First up, Rebecca:

If you’re reading this, it means you’re interested in or excited about Fletcher.  That’s great — I am too!

Here’s a little bit about me: I’m half Danish and half Australian.  (My mother likes to joke that the good half is Australian.)  I was born in Denmark and moved to the States when I was five.  After graduating from college, I spent a year volunteering teaching English in Ecuador, with an international education NGO called WorldTeach.  When I returned from Ecuador, I spent two years working in the national office of Teach For America. There I learned the ins and outs of how a successful, results-oriented non-profit functions.  It was a fantastic experience, but I knew that ultimately I really wanted to apply everything I was learning to the international realm.

So, I’m now a first-year student in the MALD program. I’m studying International Business Relations with a focus on strategic management and Human Security Studies (I think!).  After graduating, I’m intending to go into management consulting or private sector development, which I hope will give me experience that I can use in managing an international NGO in the future.  But, from what I hear from other students, these plans might change, so I’ll get back to you about how this works out in two years.  In addition to working in the admissions office, I’m involved with the International Business Club, Global Women, the Gender Inequality Project, Fletcher runners, and the Latin America club.  In case you’re wondering, I live on campus, which helps make this hectic schedule possible.  I look forward to answering your questions — don’t hesitate to call or email us!

Next, Sabah:

Hello Fletcher applicants!  My name is Sabah and I’m a first-year MALD student, so I very clearly remember the position you all are in now.  The good news is that you have internet access and have found this site!  That’s more than I can say for myself at this time last year, when I was working as a Project Manager for an NGO in a refugee camp in rural Zambia.  (No electricity or running water — the whole nine!)  Prior to my year in Africa, I worked for the Department of Justice in San Francisco, in the Antitrust Division.  I’ve also held internships at the White House and the Council on Foreign Relations.  My favorite job that never makes it onto my résumé was being a Junior Zoologist at the San Francisco Zoo (for three summers!).

I am now studying Human Security, geographically focused on southern Africa, and my second concentration is not yet decided.  If you have any questions and call or e-mail the Admissions Office, chances are I might just be the person on the receiving end, more than willing to help out.  I look forward to eventually meeting  you, and chatting about your undoubtedly fascinating paths to Fletcher.

More intros coming up tomorrow!  And one scheduling note:  The office will be closed on Monday, October 12, for the Columbus Day holiday.

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