If you're a scientist or engineer, undoubtedly you've seen this phrase, and perhaps have learned to program it in one or more languages. Welcome to the world of geeks and nerds. And if you're reading this, you're probably thinking, somewhere up there in your brain, that you might want to go to graduate school in your field (or a related one). Welcome to the world of supremely geeky nerds.
This blog aims to provide tools for you to use in your search for the perfect graduate program.
Soon we will be launching a graduate-undergraduate mentoring program to connect you with a graduate student in your field, to allow you to ask all of those burning questions you have- and all those questions you didn't know you had (should I go to graduate school? what schools are good for my area of study? what is day-to-day life like for a graduate student? how do I deal with funding? how can I make myself more attractive to the school I want to attend? what are these national fellowships about? am I even going to be able to get in?)
We'll post some of the most popular questions and answers on the blog.
Meanwhile, check in on the side tags to learn about topics related to graduate school. And if you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments section of any post (you'll need a google or blogger account).
Why does this exist?
When I was thinking about graduate school, I found myself without any good direction. My undergrad adviser didn't know much about the field I wanted to pursue, the career center advisers didn't have the slightest idea how to help me, and funding was a cloudy fog. I hope that I can make life a little easier for the next generation of undergraduate seniors. Every current undergrad and prospective grad student I've met in the past few years has described the same aggravating process, the same self-doubt and blank slate and hours of endless research on grad programs to top off their already crammed lives.
I was daunted by the numbers; I was amazed that such a low percentage of engineering graduate students were female. I knew I would feel alone, but I also knew that I needed to change that, I need to become a female faculty member at an engineering school, to help break this cycle of implied "women can't be scientists". Even though it is taboo to say it nowadays, the very ratio of female to male students in engineering and the sciences (less than one in four for most engineering disciplines) makes this claim. Perhaps we shouldn't play favorites, but we should at least be giving as much encouragement to our promising female scientists as we do to our male students. And when you have comments on articles like this one, the incredible biases entrenched in the sciences becomes apparent. It is my greatest hope that you will join me in this quest, to pursue the graduate degree you are qualified to obtain, to enter the program you will be able to master.
