Career Center to host graduate fair
By Dorothy Augustyniak
Oct. 1, 2002 9:00 p.m.
More than 150 colleges across the nation searching for
prospective graduate student applicants will showcase their
programs today at the Graduate and Professional Schools Information
Fair.
The fair, sponsored by the UCLA Career Center, will last from 10
a.m. to 2 p.m. in Dickson Plaza.
With the beginning of a new academic year, students not only
face time constraints studying for classes, but also stress in the
graduate admissions process.
And with an increasing number of students across the country
planning to attend graduate and professional school each year, the
event was put outdoors to accommodate as many students as possible,
said Cathy Sims, director of the Career Center.
Representatives from Yale, Johns Hopkins University and Duke
University are among the schools looking to attract students at the
fair.
In every field of study, students are not familiar with the
overall application process.
A typical application package consists of several components
such as an application form, financial aid application,
transcripts, letters of recommendation and standardized test
scores.
Students have at least one resource in the Career Center, which
offers personal assistance and programs on the graduate and
professional school application process, including program
selection, personal essays, faculty recommendations, admissions
tests and monetary assistance.
Second-year physical sciences graduate student Leilani Chavez
said graduate school fairs assist students in the application
process.
“Many students do not realize what the application process
consists of,” Chavez said. “This is the one chance
where they can learn one-on-one about the procedure.”
First-year mathematics graduate student Marlon Jackson said the
graduate fair will help students decide which programs are suited
for them.
“It is so much better to hear the information coming from
the representative than reading a booklet about the program,”
he said.
Some college counselors find that graduate school fairs are
valuable to students who are indecisive about their futures and
take heavy course loads.
Bridget Wells, an undergraduate advisor in molecular biology,
immunology and molecular genetics, said students need to balance
their classes but also emphasize future planning.
“The more informed they are about a particular graduate
program, the more likely they will be accepted,” she
said.
For more information on the graduate and professional school
application process, visit the UCLA Career Center Web site at
http://www.career.ucla.edu.
