November 5 - Virtual Grad School Fair (Register Now!)

Learn about Professional & Graduate Schools in a 'live' event...  'VIRTUAL' GRAD SCHOOL FAIR NOV. 5 (Tue)   8 AM - 6 PM

Interact with Admissions reps and save time!   Schools are from across multiple disciplines & institutions (see partial list below).  A Virtual Fair Tutorial is available on how to use the Virtual Fair system and the Live Chat feature.

*Register for this free event at www.GradSchools.CareerEco.net (Option to upload your resume prior to the event, but not required to participate)

32 Schools so far. More being added...

Bard College Master of Arts in Teaching Boston College Law School Boston U. College of Communication Boston U. School of Law California School of Professional Psychology California University of Pennsylvania - Many disciplines Cardozo School of Law Carnegie Mellon University - Civil & Environmental Engineering Columbia U. - Oral History Master of Arts Cornell U. - Graduate School of Management Cornell U. - Systems Engineering Hofstra U. - Many disciplines Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Sciences - Social Work McGill U. - Many disciplines MCPHS U. (formerly Massachusetts College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences) - Health and post-bac New York Institute of Technology - Many disciplines NYU - Arts & Science Northeastern U. School of Law Purdue U. - Many disciplines Quinnipiac U.- Law Seton Hall - Law St. John's - Law SUNY Buffalo State - Many disciplines Robert Day School at Claremont McKenna - Finance U. Alabama - Many disciplines U. Chicago - Urban Teacher Education Program -Bio/Life Sci., Educ, Math U. of Tampa - Business, Education, Art Virginia Tech - Many disciplines Washington U. in St. Louis Biology & Biomedical Sciences West Virginia University - Integrated Marketing Communications Willamette - Early Career MBA

Interested in Diversity & Social Justice? Check Out Harvard Divinity School Seminar

Interested in a career relating to issues of diversity and social justice?  Sign up to attend a three-day expenses paid introduction to the graduate program offerings at Harvard Divinity School. The program, Diversity and Explorations Program or Div-Ex, runs from Nov. 5 to Nov. 7 at the HDS campus in Boston. Applications for the program are due Sept. 16, and an online application is available on the HDS website.

HDS classes span religion, theology and ethics, studies that may be applicable to a wide variety of careers including a career in ministry.

The Div-Ex program will give undergraduate students a chance to attend HDS classes, network with the campus community, and ask specific questions about the HDS application and financial aid. There is also a faculty dinner, which will be hosted by Ahmed Ragab, professor of science and religion at HDS and a specialist in the medieval and modern Middle East.

Trends in Medical School Enrollment

Interested in a career in medicine?  You’re in luck – according to a recent news release by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), U.S. medical schools are on track to increase enrollment 30 percent from 2002 to 2017, a goal that AAMC had called for in 2006 in order to meet the medical demands of aging baby-boomers.  AAMC has projected that there will be a shortage of 90,000 primary care and specialty doctors in the U.S. by 2020. The news was not all positive, however, as federal funding for residency positions has remained stagnant.  According to AAMC President and CEO Darrell Kirch, this is a problem because students studying medicine are required to complete these training programs in order to become practicing physicians.  Congress’s failure to increase funding for residency programs has caused the enrollment increases at medical schools to have only limited effectiveness at increasing the number of practicing physicians.

Given the highly competitive nature of medical school admissions, how can you best prepare yourself for acceptance?  Check out these trends in medical school admissions for some helpful hints:

1. Medical schools are implementing holistic review

While medical schools traditionally relied on GPA and MCAT scores to evaluate applicants, new research that found MCAT scores highly correlated to test takers’ race, gender and socioeconomic background has caused schools to re-think the way they review applications.  Groups like the AAMC have promoted holistic review processes where applicants’ intellectual achievement, employment experience, personal background, community service and leadership qualities, among other intangibles, are evaluated as well.   According to a recent article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, an early proponent of holistic review, saw its 2012 entering class GPA and MCAT scores rise to 3.66 and 33.62 from 3.57 and 31.68, while students underrepresented in medicine rose to 20% from 12%.

Take away: Get involved in community programs and volunteer groups that match with your interests, especially if they are relevant to your future career in medicine. Think about attending events run by Globemed, a student group that addresses global health inequity, becoming involved in Dartmouth's Emergency Medical Services, or volunteering at events run by the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical School in order to round out your classroom interests with relevant extracurricular programs.

2. “Early assurance” programs are expanding

Schools like Dartmouth, Georgetown, Northwestern and Tufts, offer undergraduate students a chance to apply to their affiliated medical schools as rising juniors.  The goal of such programs is to allow students a chance to broaden the scope of their college academic pursuits and avoid the substantial time and energy investment students usually make studying for the MCAT exam.  Dartmouth began offering an early assurance program to Geisel in 2012-2013 and extended admission to five members of the class of 2014 through the program.

Take away: If you are sure you want to pursue a career in medicine, check out Dartmouth and other programs that offer early assurance admission as a way to reduce stress during your senior year and avoid preparation for the MCAT exam.

3. More students are taking time off before medical school

80 percent of Dartmouth students take at least one year off before attending medical school, a percentage that pre-health advisor Sarah Berger said she expects to see grow in coming years. Some students pursue academic programs to help round out their medical school applications or gain further research and lab experience, while others take time off to pursue opportunities unrelated to medicine, Berger said.

Take away: If you know you want to attend medical school, think about whether it would be helpful to take a year or more off.  This time might contribute to stronger professional skills that you can list on your application, or it might help you narrow the focus of your medical studies.

Looking for further advice about pre-health academic advising? Visit Berger at the student advising offices located on the first floor of Baker-Berry library or her colleague, Lee Witters, at his office in the Life Sciences Center.  Career services can help you to navigate your search for off-term or post-graduate internships and fellowships related to health, but see Berger and Witters for specific MCAT test preparation practice or pre-health academic planning.

CAREER BLITZ: Law

Topics Include: The Law School Investment Equation

YALE LAW School Visit

COLUMBIA LAW School Visit

International Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI), FELLOWSHIP/INTERNSHIP

New Hampshire Public Defender, Investigator INTERNSHIP

Juvenile Law Center, General Projects INTERNSHIP (PA)

Vera Institute of Justice, SPRING 2013 INTERNSHIP (DC)

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Legal INTERNSHIP (Boston)

Atlantic Legal Foundation, INTERNSHIP (NY)

Dartmouth Lawyers Association

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1. The Law School Investment Equation - Presented by: Professor Jerry Organ, University of St. Thomas School of Law,  10/16 (Tue) @ 6 PM in Haldeman 031

Professor Organ will present information regarding the current realities in the employment market for law graduates and how those realities should reframe the way prospective law students think about whether to go to law school and where to consider going to law school.

*Please bring -the work you will be doing in groups will require you to have access to the internet.  R.S.V.P: http://bit.ly/HM2Z23

2. YALE LAW School Visit -  10/17 (WED) @ 3:30 PM in Collis 101

R.S.V.P: http://bit.ly/HM2Z23

3. COLUMBIA LAW School Visit - 10/22 (MON) @ 5:30PM in Collis 101

R.S.V.P: http://bit.ly/HM2Z23

4. International Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI), FELLOWSHIP and INTERNSHIP.  Fellows and interns will provide analytical and writing support for IIPI attorneys and staff. Includeing conducting substantive legal research and assisting with the drafting of legal documents such as amicus briefs. They will also prepare speeches and presentations for an international audience and cooperate with intellectual property experts from around the country. Deadline: OCT 30, 2012.  http://bit.ly/QpDivd

5. New Hampshire Public Defender, Investigator INTERNSHIP (NH).  New Hampshire Public Defender seeks undergraduates in their junior or senior year and first-year law students or non-law graduate students for its investigator intern program. Interns conduct investigation for, and provide litigation support to, attorneys defending clients in criminal cases.  http://bit.ly/RlmsgE

6. Juvenile Law Center,  General Projects INTERNSHIP(PA)  Program provides undergraduates with valuable work experience in the area of children's rights and an opportunity to contribute to the organization's work.. Applicants should be undergraduates with an interest in child advocacy, law, or policy.  http://bit.ly/M3w7cJ

7. Vera Institute of Justice, SPRING 2013 INTERNSHIP (DC)  The intern will provide research assistance and data collection on various justice and safety policies and practices. The intern will attend Capitol Hill hearings and briefings to analyze and report on the information presented.  http://bit.ly/SPZwcN

8. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Legal INTERNSHIP (Boston)  Students primarily will work with Trial Attorneys engaged in litigation against employers for violations of Title VII, the ADEA and the ADA. This work will mostly be legal research and writing. Students may assist in interviewing claimants or witnesses, help prepare discovery responses based on those interviews, or help prepare claimants or witnesses for deposition.  http://1.usa.gov/VZrYeO

9. Atlantic Legal Foundation, INTERNSHIP (NY)  Atlantic Legal seeks focused, dynamic, and high-energy students or recent graduates with excellent research and communication abilities. Responsibilities and tasks include web research, writing, clerical and administrative tasks, and some data entry.   http://bit.ly/WbwEN5

10. Dartmouth Lawyers Association  The Association publishes an annual Directory of Members, listing individual biographical information, including primary practice areas. The Directory's geographic, alphabetic, and class indices are excellent sources for networking and researching law schools!

Undergrads have FREE MEMBERSHIP!  Fill out an application at: http://bit.ly/OYhpHb

*A hard copy of the Membership Directory is available in Career Services*

Check out the Law  webpage at http://bit.ly/QhnXO8

AND  the law school webpage at http://bit.ly/R43g8m

Make an appointment by calling 603-646-2215

Wednesday: Meet with Cornell, Duke, NYU, and Stanford Law School Admissions Deans

9/12 (Wed) at 5pmLocation: Carpenter 013 RSVP BY VISITING THIS LINK: http://www.wejoinin.com/sheets/ktcdd

This info session will offer specific information on how to apply to law school, discuss the criteria law schools use to evaluate applicants, and explain special programs and scholarships. Deans of Admissions at Cornell, Duke, NYU and Stanford share strategies for applying to law school as well as common mistakes to avoid. This program is intended for all students planning on applying to law school this fall or in the near future.

Hey '13s!: RSVP By Wednesday for "Strictly for Seniors" (A Must Do)

Is the stress of figuring out what to do after graduation is becoming too much to bear? Or maybe you're chomping at the bit to start the recruiting process, but not quite sure how to navigate Dartboard? Thursday begins our first "Strictly for Seniors" workshop - a great chance to get career advice, as well as boost your campus recruiting readiness. With September 23rd marking the first cycle application and resume deadline, our SEPT. 13 & 16  "Strictly for Seniors" workshops will tell you all you need to know to start figuring out work and school post graduation.

Along with tips on how to apply for jobs on and off-campus, learn:

• How to plan your job search and work your plan
• Practical advice on managing your schedule & setting goals
• Tips on your options (job, grad school, etc.)
• How to register w/ Career Services to receive Career Blitzes and updates on opportunities of interest to you

RSVP by visiting this LINK and selecting "Strictly for Seniors." In order to attend, your reservation is  REQUIRED by NOON on 9/12. All attendees will receive a 'timeline and action step' workbook !

Sept 15: NYC Open House for Cool Grad Program at Museum of Natural History

The  Master of Arts in Teaching Program at the American Museum of Natural History is the first urban teacher residency program offered by a museum. Get behind the scenes at the Museum, and immersed in an urban classroom at the same time: Learn to teach Earth and Space science in New York State in this paid full-time Masters program that combines science and pedagogy coursework with real-world teaching experience. Open House and Info Session at the Museum with faculty, staff and a behind the scenes tour! American Museum of Natural History, New York September 15th, 2012, 12-4 pm

Event schedule: http://www.amnh.org/calendar/sep-2012-mat-open-house

Open to prospective students, friends and family, and others interested in learning more about the pioneering AMNH MAT Program.

How to Get A Billionaire's Education

Forbes just published a report on "where the billionnaires studied," and it's somewhat similar to PayScale's recent report on which schools produce the highest earners in mid-careers: there's no shortage of Ivy League and highly selective school names on the short list of either list.

While Dartmouth College tops the list of mid-career salaries for the working public, Harvard, Penn, and Columbia, and Yale all occupy Top 5 spots on the Forbes' billionnaire's list.

I am not an Ivy League graduate myself, but I have worked in career offices at Penn, Dartmouth, and Columbia...My experience in what is frequently labeled as the "Ivory Tower" provided me with a first-hand glimpse of the wealth of connections, resources, and experiences that an "Ivy" education can provide.

It was a great experience to work in the Ivy League. I learned a tremendous amount and met many wonderful people. The commonly held assertion that an "Ivy League school opens doors" is true, but other schools and places do, too.

I remain firmly convinced that you don't have to go the short list of top ranked schools to get a top rate education or to make a great salary mid-career or to become a millionnaire. In fact, some of the smartest, most successful people I have encountered started their education at community colleges. Others, are "walking sponges"--furthering their education with all they see, read, and encounter along the way.

You can provide yourself with many of the same resources that would be available to you at an Ivy League school with minimal elbow grease. Here are three tips on how to get started:

1. Connect with others in your area of interest. From professional associations to Meetup.com groups and alumni clubs for your alma mater, there are countless opportunities to make friends and widen your circle.

Not sure how to start? Read Keith Ferrazzi's books, "Who Knows You Back?" and "Never Eat Alone." 

2. Take advantage of public access to career advice and resources. My colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania Career Services provide best-in-class resources on their website--and they invite the public to browse the site--for free! The site includes lists of recommended career resources and program summaries from industry specific panels. While in-person services and employer programs are restricted to students and alumni, you can receive a wealth of information simply by visiting the Penn Career Services website--and others like it.

3. Learn from others. You can't audit or attend lectures at MIT, but did you know that they share course syllabi and resource lists through their Open Courseware project? Don't have time for a course? Hop on over to TED and watch a few ground-breaking videos. You can also read transcripts of speeches and watch videos of lectures from college and universities websites and search for them on YouTube.

It's not what you have, it's what you make of it...You can open doors from anywhere.

To your success,
Chandlee

Why "Any Job" May Trump Grad School

For a majority of the 20th century, fashion observers could gauge the state of the economy through women’s hemlines: When the Dow was up (think 20’s and ‘60’s), shorter skirts were in. A consistent downturn led to longer hemlines—and so it was in the 30’s and ‘70s. Today, we need only look to grad school applications to gauge the level of economic malaise.  With fewer employers on campus, many students in the class of 2009 are quietly re-evaluating their chances for employment success while taking steps to prepare for Plan B: More education. As of October, one Manhattan based testing preparation company reported that class enrollment was already up over 50% over 2007. Requests for FAFSA applications for financial aid are up 9%.

My friend and career strategy consultant, Sheila Curran, who coauthored the book Smart Moves for Liberal Arts Grads: Finding A Path to Your Perfect Career, calls the stampede towards grad school the “elephant in the room”: Riding out a dismal employment climate by continuing in school is a topic that is rarely openly discussed.  A former director of career services at Duke University and Brown University, Sheila advises students that they’d be wise not to follow the grad school pied piper before considering the following:

1. How much is pursuing a graduate degree going to add to my burgeoning undergraduate debt? Note: Now’s a good time to sharpen those cost/benefit analysis skills.
2. Do I really want or need to study this subject at a higher level, or am I just looking for an excuse to wait out the poor economy and please my parents?
3. Will I be more marketable with this particular graduate degree than with an undergraduate degree and a couple of years’ relevant experience?

Sheila’s advice to college seniors:

“There is no substitute for due diligence—as victims of today’s marketplace will tell you.  You need the straight scoop on the career prospects for the degree you’re considering. Talk to knowledgeable alumni, relatives, or friends of friends to find out if there’s really an advantage to having an additional educational qualification.”

Sheila points out that recruiters have mechanisms to hire those coming straight out of college, and an employment division to hire those with experience, but often have no formal avenues to hire the person with a graduate degree and no experience. And, it turns out that employers have some strong opinions on the subject of further education.

Asked whether new grads should go immediately to graduate school, the employers Sheila consulted unanimously expressed a preference for more relevant experience rather than further education.  One employer went further, exhorting students to “get a job, any job, even McDonalds.”

I agree with Sheila’s conclusions. And I think it’s about time we started to talk about the elephant in the room—especially since it’s going to be increasingly difficult to get financial aid from cash-strapped universities. Campus may not be safe haven from the economic storm that many students and their parents suppose. Maybe it’s a smarter decision to work for McDonalds after all.

I am not saying that you should “settle” for flipping burgers after earning a college degree, but I do think that a job can set you up for career advancement. I, too, graduated from college during a recession and I recall talking to a friend of a friend who took the only job he could find—delivering pizza for Pizza Hut. Matt was a business major and fluent in German. After eight months, he was managing the store. Within two years, Matt worked in Operations for Pizza Hut in Germany and was on a fast-track for senior leadership positions within the company.  Sometimes it isn’t a matter of where you start, it is how you take advantage of the opportunity you have that counts.

Crash Course in Landing a Job: Position, Position, Position

My friends would tell you that I'm almost a perpetual optimist when it comes to the job search. I have a fundamental belief that if you work hard to identify:

• your natural strengths and areas of work that you enjoy;
• skills and experience that employers are looking for; and
• strategies to align and present what you offer with what employers need...

        The end result of any given job search will likely be a positive one in the long-term.

(Though it is quite likely you will have to work very hard to make it all happen, and the search may take longer than you anticipate.)

This week I attended a two-day conference on the future of the recruiting industry, a mini-conference on Branding for Sustainability. and capped it off by time at the registration for desk for an International career fair and a conversation with a Communications Director of a Healthcare system. In short, I feel like I've taken a condensed crash course in the current state of the economy.

There are fewer silver linings in this economy than I would like to report. In fact, there aren't even any copper linings--in Philadelphia, many homeowners are reporting thefts of copper drainage pipes--the metal can be recycled and is quite valuable in a melted down form). From positions in the recruiting industry to hospital bed admissions, numbers appear to be down across the board.

Despite all of this, I remain optimistic that there are jobs to be had--and that the best way to claim them is to position yourself to take them. Here's a great post on how to do this, courtesy of Dan Schawbel and David Heiser, a college senior and current PR intern. Among Heiser's tips:

1. Determine an area of expertise,
2. Strengthen your knowledge of that Expertise
   (Educate yourself about the area in which you want to be known, and get advice from others who work in the space).
3. Demonstrate your expertise.

David's a rock star and his approach to his career is--in my opinion--spot-on. It doesn't matter if restaurant numbers and consumer spending is down...he's positioning himself to be found by an employer who will value and appreciate his expertise.

I couldn't have said it better myself. So, meet David. Then share your story--and own tips to be known here!

The Grad School Factor (& How To Approach It)

Prior to "Fashion 2.0" and the return of gauchos,  women's hemlines used to be a good predictor of the state of the stock market: in good times, skirts were short (think flapper era). In hard times, hemlines fell. 

Today, a more appropriate predictor of the economy is the graduate school application rate: when the market goes down, applications go up. Today's market is no exception. As of September, the number of prospective b-school students taking the GMAT admissions exam is up almost 25 percent from 2006 (This is in stark contrast to 2004, when the Graduate Management Admissions Council published a white paper entitled "Where Have All the Applicants Gone?")

If you're considering a return to graduate school, here are five quick tips for the application process.

1. Ask not whether graduate school is a good option, ask whether it is the right choice for you...

Here's a great list of Pros and Cons from Heather Huhman at the Examiner.

2. Decide where to apply with your career goals in mind.

Conventional wisdom is often rankings-driven: "go to the best school you can get into."

In practice, additional factors also include: financial aid/affordability, faculty research expertise, and campus recruiting relative to your career goals. For example, if you are a Florida resident and hope to practice law in Miami, it may be easier to get a job--and less expensive--if you go to a state school than it is to go to Yale.

3. Benchmark your test scores--and practice before you take the "real thing."

Many graduate schools, especially law school and business school, require admissions testing. Save yourself the headache of testing and re-testing, and know your potential scores before you take a test "for scores." Testing prep companies such as Kaplan and Princeton Review frequently offer a free practice test prior to enrolling in study courses. Study guides for the LSAT, GMAT, MCAT, and GRE also often include practice assessments as well.

4. Be a Great Applicant: Study Programs & "What Not to Do"

Shortly after I started a graduate school program in counseling, I learned that I had committed a near-fatal application error: I had written my admissions essay with the same thesis as 90% of other candidates--i.e. "I wanted to pursue a Master's in Counseling because I liked to help people." My professor rolled her eyes as she talked about reading our applications:

If you are a doctor, you are helping people. If you are a teacher, you are helping people. If you are a carpenter, you are helping people through what you build. There are so many ways to help people. If you want to be in this program, you need to answer other questions: Why counseling? And why this program?

Pretend you are writing a paper instead of an admissions essay: Study programs of interest, research faculty interests, and ask questions about outcomes. Then write your essays and connect your experience and interests with something specific that you have learned about the school--it will help you stand out.

5. Be Discreet About the Application Process

This article from Princeton University provides an interesting perspective on admissions officers and how they conduct online research on candidates. Key take-away: Admissions staff spend less time looking at applicants than employers, but prudence is still advised. It's a far better thing to comment about areas of interest to your course of study or to post news items of general interest than to say what schools you are most and least interested in...If you do decide to post in online forums on graduate school programs, use a screen name.