Ian Pilarczyk has been Associate Director of Fletcher’s LLM program since before the first students even arrived.  Sadly for us, he will be moving on to a new opportunity.  Here, Ian tells us about his departure, with his signature (in the Admissions blog, anyway) use of poetry.

“On Saying Goodbye To My Office in Mugar 250” (with apologies to F.R. Scott)

Several weeks ago, I accepted a new position at Boston University School of Law.  It will pose new opportunities and challenges and reunite me with my alma mater, but leaving Fletcher is also the definition of “bittersweet.”  In an ideal world, the new job would have come after the current LLM class graduated in May, so that I could have seen them through the end of the school year, travelled with them to Talloires for our Capstone and celebrated with them at commencement — but we rarely have control over timing, and I knew this was an opportunity I wanted to pursue.  This past Saturday, the LLM students held a dinner in my honor at one of my favorite restaurants, Elephant Walk in Cambridge.  It was such a nice gesture, so generous yet typical of them — and emblematic of why it’s hard to say goodbye.  I hope they know they will be missed.

For the past few weeks, I have been slowly vacating my office, packing box after box of books, removing the trappings and trophies of professional life off of shelves and walls.  As Canadian poet F.R. Scott wrote about emptying his law school office, his “sanctuary” for many years:

They are carting away all my books and papers.
My pictures are stacked in an ugly pile in the corner.
There is murder in my cathedral.

As I pack up, I come across a clay figurine given to me by one of our students from Uzbekistan, myriad knick-knacks that coincidentally are replete with elephant motifs, and files full of notes  from when I first started here.  I realize that my filing system, as organized as I think it is, has an internal “logic” that will doubtlessly confound my successor:  it’s a special challenge to leave things in a way will allow someone else to seamlessly start where you left off.

Miserable vandals, stuffing me into your cartons,
This is a functioning office, all things are in order,
Or in that better disorder born of long usage.
I alone can command it.

My successor arrived this week, which allowed us a few pleasant days to work together before I leave today.  I am delighted that she is already a member of the Fletcher community:  Susan Simone ‘09, is a graduate of last year’s LLM class. She is a gifted lawyer and enthusiastic alumnus, and I am happy to call her a friend.  In her capable hands, the program will doubtlessly continue to flourish and grow, and knowing I am passing the office keys along to her makes leaving a little easier.

… I stand again on new frontiers.
Forgive this moment of weakness, this backward perspective.
Old baggage, I wish you goodbye and good housing.
I strip for more climbing.

Goodbye, Fletcher.  Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your family these past two years.

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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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What I’m learning lately is that, while I can more-or-less effectively multitask with various activities, I can’t write for the blog unless I have a little uninterrupted time and a little spare brain power.  Yesterday’s post was started early in the morning, but wasn’t finished until toward the end of the day.  I was hoping for some creativity today, but I don’t think I’m going to find it.  And yet, with Early Notification applications due on Sunday the 15th, and the majority of our applicants cranking up the effort on the applications for January 15, I should be sharing info as much as possible.  I’ll try to do better!

Yesterday was a crazy day around here.  We had the second of our three experimental MIB Visit Days.  There were about nine MIBers, plus the same number of visitors for the other programs, and a small delegation from a university in Korea.  At 12:30, the visitors headed off for info sessions, but we also had a lunch meeting with our one-year MA students.  All the relevant staff and participants for the three 12:30 activities were lurking around the Admissions Office at the same time — a smallish crowd, but in a very small space.  We could barely get in and out of the door.

And I think we set our own office record for number of interviews completed in a day.  Even with two cancellations, students and staff completed 11 interviews.  Given that only five or so years ago we only offered 20 interviews in a week, 11 in a day felt like an accomplishment.

And, speaking of interviews, there are still appointments open, but the number shrinks by the day.  If you plan to participate in an evaluative interview, the time to book it is now.  Some applicants have already been disappointed to learn there are no times open on the day they hoped to visit, so don’t wait any longer.

One last admin note:  The Office will be closed tomorrow, November 11, for the Veteran’s Day public holiday.

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Back in the 80s and 90s, a TV character named Jessica Fletcher solved the many mysteries that plagued the tiny town in which she lived.  Having a resident detective clearly worked well for Cabot Cove, Maine (and I’ve always liked the way that Jessica Fletcher borrows both my first name and the name of my workplace).  Maybe we should bring her in to solve the mysteries that we encounter in the admissions process in the Cabot Intercultural Center (the main building in the Fletcher complex).

Yes, dear blog readers, it’s true.  Sometimes we could use a detective to help us ferret out all the information we hope to find in an application.  This week, as our Early Notification applicants put the final flourishes on their applications, I want to encourage you beg you to ensure your application is clear.  Start with rereading all the questions.  Did you answer them?  (Hint:  “Refer to résumé” is not an appropriate answer to our questions.)

Next, put yourself in the shoes of our U.S.-based Admissions Committee.  We’re certainly accustomed to the evaluation systems at many, many universities in many countries, but maybe you shouldn’t assume we’ll know about yours.  Does your transcript provide an explanation of the grading system?  Or will we see a mix of 7s and 9s, with no information on whether the highest grade is 1 or 10 or 20?  If your college/university doesn’t use grades of ABCD&F, and a 4-point GPA scale where 4.0 is highest, and the transcript doesn’t include a guide (many of them do), please explain the system.  Without that information, we can’t evaluate your background fairly.

On an even more basic level, as you may have read here before, please ensure that all your documents have the same name on them.  If they don’t, please send us an email to tell us what to look for.  Whether the multiple names reflect a name change or a spelling error on the part of ETS, it’s your job to fill us in.

Another job for Jessica Fletcher:  figuring out choppy backgrounds.  Did you spend two years in a succession of six-month internships or contracts?  Did you transfer colleges more than once?  Did you spend a year after graduation working at a Target store so that you could pay your bills while waiting for a more relevant job?  Please don’t leave it to us to figure out what’s going on in your background.  You wouldn’t want us to assume the worst, would you?

Given that Angela Lansbury has moved on to other roles and Jessica Fletcher may be unavailable, we leave it to our applicants to keep their applications clear and easy to understand.  Putting in the time to consider how your background and credentials will be interpreted by an outsider will serve you well.

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If you regularly receive updates from us, you probably already know that we’ll host two on-line chats next Thursday, November 12.  If you haven’t already connected with us, you’ll find details on the first chat on our web site.  Chats later this fall or winter may be by email invitation, targeting specific geographic areas or fields of interest.

For us, the online chats can be a frenzied hour of top-speed typing.  For applicants, they’re a chance to ask your own questions about Fletcher or the admissions process, and also to see what other applicants are asking.  In our top-speed way, we’ll answer as many of the questions as we possibly can, and we’ll direct you to other resources when necessary.

Join us and check it out!

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Last week, I asked Jeff (our newest staffer) to reflect on his Fletcher travels.  Here’s what he wrote:

Where has the fall gone?  Every year I feel the same way when October draws to a close.  Since graduating from college, I’ve held jobs that send me out on the road during the fall months.  What that means for me is:  no alumni/homecoming weekends, limited time for apple picking, and a jam-packed social calendar on the days when I am in town.  That being said, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

The last couple months, I’ve had the opportunity to travel to New York City, followed by Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.   Each trip was fantastic, but there really aren’t any exciting stories to share – nothing compared to Kristen’s tour of Asia last year or Peter dodging wild fires in 2007.  But I’m happy to say that the locations I visited this fall were a nice change from the travel of my previous job.

My life in corporate recruiting brought me to the same university campus once or twice a week for the majority of the fall months.  While that got old quickly, I do miss the amazing restaurants that Philadelphia has to offer, and also the budget I had to “play with.”  Despite the gastric pleasures and the larger wallet of corporate life, I don’t regret my switch to Fletcher.  Meeting so many great prospective students and alumni during my travels has been amazing.  I have enjoyed hearing stories from alums regarding their Fletcher past, as well as descriptions of what they are doing now.  Alumni go out of their way to help the School, and from what I can tell, it’s because they really value their Fletcher experience.

So, fall is flying by, but it’s been great so far!  I was able to visit friends who I hadn’t seen in quite some time, and also to try some new restaurants (Eggspectations in Toronto, Rockit in Chicago, and Sushi Roku in LA) and visit some old favorites (JG Melon in NY and In-N-Out Burger in SF).  Now I’m preparing for my next trip — North Carolina and Virginia — to host information sessions at various universities with colleagues from some other great schools.  If you happen to be in the area, check out our travel calendar for the week of November 8th and I hope you’ll drop by.

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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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At our team meeting this morning (”team” being used loosely here, because four of us are in the office and three are on the road), I asked my admissions pals about the questions they’re hearing frequently while they travel around the country.  I wrote about testing last week (always a hot topic!) and this week I thought I’d focus on academic preparation.  Applicants often want to know if they have the “right” preparation for Fletcher.  Fortunately, there’s really no tidy path that applicants need to have followed.  This complicates our work, but it also keeps things interesting.  Here are a few of the key points we make in answer to the academic preparation question.

First — pre-Fletcher majors.  ALL majors welcome!  Though we certainly see lots of applications from undergraduate international relations majors, we don’t have a special preference for them.  We do like to see indication of both quantitative ability, and the ability to deal well with Fletcher’s heavy reading/writing load.  So you undergraduate English majors need to show us that you can handle numbers, and you undergraduate engineers need to show us that you can adjust to a very different type of out-of-class work than you may be accustomed to.  Beyond that, though, we have admitted students whose previous studies were in just about every discipline, from sculpture to veterinary medicine.

Next — pre-Fletcher economics preparation.  We do not require that you take economics before applying or enrolling…but…we certainly recommend it.  Basic micro and macro classes will go a long way toward helping you understand the economic themes that creep persistently into our lives.  Plus, under the heading of our breadth requirement, MALD students need to take both an economics class and a class in quantitative reasoning.  You’ll have the opportunity to test out of the basic classes, and many students prefer to take a higher level economics course while they’re here.

And one related note:  If you’re thinking of selecting Development Economics or one of the other quant-heavy Fields of Study, or if you’re applying to the MIB program, you should have some coursework in your background that will have prepared you.  Admissions Committee members feel uncomfortable when an applicant appears not to know what he’s getting into.

Last (for today, at least) — grades.  Regardless of where you have studied as an undergrad, higher grades are better.  Obvious, right?  We work with transcripts/grade reports from a zillion different systems, but we look for strong results no matter how you’re assessed.  On the other hand, we don’t limit our review of transcripts to the final result.  Oooooh no — that would be too easy!  We take a careful look at each transcript:  How are the applicant’s grades, class by class?  Were the classes challenging?  If the overall GPA is low, what can we note about the trajectory of grades — does it go up?  How did the applicant do in his/her major?

In other words, we give those transcripts a careful look!

Plus, we look beyond the transcript to ask:  What does the academic recommendation tell us about the applicant?  Has the applicant done any professional work that helps to fill gaps in the undergrad record?  What about post-graduate coursework?  We take all the information we’ve gleaned in answer to those questions, and form our impression of the applicant’s academic background.

So, whether your pre-Fletcher academic preparation is traditional or not, you’ll find students here whose background is like yours.

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