<p>Hello, I will start the graduate school application process in 2 years but I want to be fully prepared. Do schools ask you such information on the applicatoin (1-parent's education and financial situation). How much emphasis do they place on this? </p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>as far as i can tell, those specific considerations are much more important for undergrad. personal background in grad admissions seems like it only really matters if you are an underrepresented RACIAL minority or a gender minority (example: women in engineering, men in clinical psychology)</p>
<p>look to see if your undergrad university has something called mcnair scholars program. its a program for low income/first generation/racial minority students, with strong preference it seems going to the racial minority students.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.ed.gov/programs/triomcnair/index.html[/url]”>http://www.ed.gov/programs/triomcnair/index.html</a></p>
<p>yes, cal oftentimes sucks for many students. this is a problem with the school it doesn’t seem to care about solving all that much.</p>
<p>if you want to do well in your classes, i suggest you try to talk to people in your classes who seem like they’re into school. perhaps that will motivate you. also, try to force yourself to accomplish something. working under deadlines will have such an effect so maybe…join a large club? get involved in research?</p>
<p>DarklingSun,</p>
<p>The graduate school application process does not place as much emphasis on achieving diversity – admissions basically rest upon merit. However, there are often “unadvertised” opportunities in admissions for underrepresented groups. For example, many Graduate Schools (the overarching office at the university level) will offer each department (the level at which admissions are granted) an extra funded line for an underrepresented minority in that field, if that candidate meets all other requirements for admission. And as dobby indicated, “underrepresented minorities” vary greatly by field. </p>
<p>However, the income of your family of origin will usually not matter at all, since graduate students (rightly or wrongly) are usually considered by universities to be independent of their families in terms of financial status.</p>
<p><please excuse=“” post=“” #3=“”></please></p>
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<p>I think this is completely false at many levels. If an applicant comes from an underrepresented group, s/he WILL receive added attention and will probably have an easier time getting in - at least at universities which have stated commitments to diversity/inclusion/affirmative action (i.e. basically all in the U.S.) </p>
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<p>Eh…what? Personal background, which is largely about families of origin, matters a lot in my opinion. People coming from adverse or disadvantaged family backgrounds often successfully use it as an excuse for less-than-stellar GPAs or for the “wow” factor that will get them in. (e.g. “Although many applicants to your grad program probably have similarly impressive academic records, I can say that I am particularly proud of mine. As a first generation American from Guatemala who has had to continually balance working on my parents’ fruit cart with difficult coursework and lab positions, I feel that I could provide much-needed diversity to your program.”)</p>
<p>OP, another thing you might look at are summer programs for undergraduate research.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/diversity/srop.shtml[/url]”>http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/diversity/srop.shtml</a>
<a href=“http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/asis/srp/srpintro.htm[/url]”>http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/asis/srp/srpintro.htm</a>
<a href=“Page Not Found | The Leadership Alliance”>Page Not Found | The Leadership Alliance;
<p>Sorry, but I agree with Prof X. Grad programs simply don’t need to care about diversity - grad students need to accomplish research and teach classes, and that’s pretty much it. Cynical people will refer to them as drones. Because of that, grad programs just focus on merit.</p>
<p>Grad applicants can’t use “diversity experiences” as an excuse like undergrad applicants can. If the applicant has a less-than-stellar GPA, diversity excuses won’t get them in. Excellent LORs and other parts of the application can make up for it, but that’s true in any case. Grad programs only care about one “wow” factor - your ability to do research. Period. They are very, very single minded in that regard.</p>
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<p>WHAT?!?</p>
<p>You think grad programs “just focus on merit”? How did you come to THAT conclusion? It’s astoundingly clear to me that large numbers of grad programs, for purposes of admission, care about research potential, research fit, connections, and diversity + other minor issues. Virtually every major US university I can immediately think of seems to actively desire some sort of consideration of diversity in graduate admissions. </p>
<p><a href=“http://merrill.ku.edu/IntheKnow/policyarticles/stewart.html[/url]”>http://merrill.ku.edu/IntheKnow/policyarticles/stewart.html</a>
<a href=“http://socialwork.bc.edu/admission/affirmative-action/[/url]”>http://socialwork.bc.edu/admission/affirmative-action/</a>
<a href=“Temple University Graduate School”>Temple University Graduate School;
<a href=“http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/diversity/underrep.shtml[/url]”>http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/diversity/underrep.shtml</a>
<a href=“http://www.yale.edu/graduateschool/diversity/index.html[/url]”>http://www.yale.edu/graduateschool/diversity/index.html</a>
<a href=“http://www.osu.edu/affirmative_action/[/url]”>http://www.osu.edu/affirmative_action/</a>
<a href=“http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/gasaa/admissions/diversity.htm[/url]”>http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/gasaa/admissions/diversity.htm</a>
<a href=“http://www.diversity.umich.edu/about/[/url]”>http://www.diversity.umich.edu/about/</a>
<a href=“http://www.academic.umn.edu/equity/[/url]”>http://www.academic.umn.edu/equity/</a>
<a href=“http://www.gsas.harvard.edu/prospective_students/minority_students.php[/url]”>http://www.gsas.harvard.edu/prospective_students/minority_students.php</a></p>
<p>Stanford is particularly open about its efforts at diversification:</p>
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<p><a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/DoR/GSH/Sec3p.html[/url]”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/DoR/GSH/Sec3p.html</a></p>
<p>Surely diversity plays some role in graduate admissions. </p>
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<p>Uh…go read the book “Graduate Admissions Essays: Write Your Way Into the Graduate School of Your Choice” and others like it and tell me if you still think that’s the case.</p>
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<p>I’m not too sure that’s the case. I know of plenty of URM grad students who had less-than-stellar GPAs, got in, and flunked out.</p>
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<p>NO NO NO. Grad schools care about a combination of factors: research potential, research fit, connections, diversity, etc.</p>
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All of which relate to merit.</p>
<p>I realize schools actively recruit URM apps. They also have more funding opportunities. But when it comes down to admissions, they care about the academics. period.</p>
<p>I’d also point out that Prof X has sat on grad admissions committees. I would think he would have a pretty accurate perspective, no?</p>
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<p>You are deluding yourself.</p>
<p>Do you understand what “affirmative action” means?</p>
<p>As I understand it, AA is not only about actively recruiting URM applications and providing them with more funding opportunities, but also about lowering the academic expectations of URMs. This is done so that more URMs can get in. Departments don’t just want the URMs who could get in even if they were white - they want as many as they can get! Of course, they probably will NOT take the URMs who are doing absolutely horribly. The point is they DO accept URMs who, if they had been non-URMs, would not have gotten in.</p>
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<p>I fail to see how simply because someone has had this particular experience, s/he is better able to describe it than someone who hasn’t. There are literally millions of information sources in this world about graduate school. ProfX seems to represent some subset of these sources. My claim is that if s/he truly does not give a boost to URM applicants, s/he does not accurately represent the average source.</p>
<p>I think the grad school acceptance process, despite tons of materials, is still incredibly murky for those who have not been on the adcom end of it. You will find, through a search of any grad forum including this one, that everyone basically confirms this. As Prof X has, in fact, been on the side of grad sdmissions that actually makes decisions and weighs the factors, then yes, of course I think he knows more. In addition, I have been told the same thing by many other profs who have sat on admissions committees for grad school. I consider first-hand sources far more reliable than second-hand sources (being the researcher I am), as second-hand sources are generally not much more than speculation. So I don’t really think I’m deluding myself.</p>
<p>Affirmative action often applies to undergrad, certainly. However, it rarely applies to grad programs, especially the top, say, 50 programs in each discipline.</p>
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<p>So basically, you’ve talked to professors and somehow you’ve come away with the idea that merit is all important in grad school admissions.</p>
<p>Well guess what? I’ve talk to professors too. What I’ve been told is that although merit is certainly important, many students are accepted because they have bigwig recommenders (connections) or belong to some minority group.</p>
<p>Please stand back and realize that as much as meritocracy would be nice to have, it just doesn’t exist in pure form in graduate admissions. People who would not be getting in 50 years ago are getting in today - not only because the quality of their application has risen, but because they are actively favored!</p>
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<p>HAH! I think the opposite is actually true. What schools do activists who complain about low numbers of the minorities target? The top ones! If you think about it, that makes sense. Why would you target some little university if your goal is “changing the culture of the academy”? If you’re in that position, you want to go after the leaders in higher education and convince them that diversity is next to godliness. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.springerlink.com/content/u0j658j04851j77l/fulltext.pdf[/url]”>http://www.springerlink.com/content/u0j658j04851j77l/fulltext.pdf</a>
<a href=“http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2007/03/14_diversity.shtml[/url]”>http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2007/03/14_diversity.shtml</a>
<a href=“http://www.bamn.com/hostileclimate.asp[/url]”>http://www.bamn.com/hostileclimate.asp</a></p>
<p>Moreover, activists aren’t stupid - they know that in order to more tenured minority faculty members at top universities (a major goal of theirs) they need to get more minority grad students into top programs in the first place.</p>
<p>I truly believe that to fail to acknowledge the huge emphasis universities place on graduate student affirmative action is to miss huge aspects of what’s been going on in higher education for decades.</p>
<p>dobby, I work in the graduate admissions office of my school. I can confirm what Professor X and others have said. You fail to realize one point, Professors PAY using funding at the phD level. Its naive and idiotic of you to think they would spend their own research money and grant a spot to a minority over a more qualified applicant simply due to diversity.</p>
<p>Hi,
I think this is an interesting discussion. I do not believe that people get in based on their status as minority or disadvantaged. However, I do feel that if someone has an excellent record on par with a similar candidate, the fact that they overcame difficulty or fought against the odds might give them a little boost. Particulary if you consider that to be successful in a given profession, or in grad school, the ability to work hard and have the drive to go for it are essential. This is an aspect that can be seen in applicants that come from difficult situations.</p>
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<p>Eh…SOMETIMES profs pay for some of the funding PhD students receive.</p>
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<p>Please point to the quote in which I make such a claim. I don’t think you’ll be able to. I have said very little about funding. What I’ve said is that minority applicants are often considered for specific funding sources for which non-minority students are ineligible. I never said ANYTHING about professors taking some of their research money to fund “a minority over a more qualified applicant simply due to diversity.” </p>
<p>Now, I actually think that such a situation is not impossible. It’s easy for me to envision a tenured professor with multiple grants who feels that their field needs to be diversified in some way going so far as to fully fund a minority student who perhaps may not be as qualified as a non-minority student said tenured professor turned away at the admissions level.</p>
<p>I think things like this:
<a href=“http://www.gemfellowship.org/[/url]”>http://www.gemfellowship.org/</a>
and this:
<a href=“http://www.engr.uiuc.edu/mep/merge/[/url]”>http://www.engr.uiuc.edu/mep/merge/</a></p>
<p>And politicians like this:
“Hillary will direct the federal agencies to adopt criteria that take diversity into account when awarding education and research grants. She also proposes that the federal government provide financial support to college and university programs that encourage women and minorities to study math, science, and engineering.”</p>
<p>are proof that even at the graduate level, the play field is far from fair…</p>