{"id":25662,"date":"2015-10-05T14:40:30","date_gmt":"2015-10-05T18:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/?p=25662"},"modified":"2015-10-05T14:40:30","modified_gmt":"2015-10-05T18:40:30","slug":"my-journey-to-further-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2015\/10\/05\/my-journey-to-further-education\/","title":{"rendered":"My journey to further education"},"content":{"rendered":"Ahead of my last year at U of T, I decided to apply to graduate schools in the fall. At first, I thought that I was going to apply to graduate studies in English literature, but I had decided against it a few months before and thought I\u2019d try to get a job right after I graduated. But the summer before my fifth year, I decided that I didn\u2019t have the skills I needed to get the jobs I wanted, so I needed to get some further education under my belt. <\/span>\r\n\r\nI started by researching programs. I knew that I wanted to study either publishing, journalism, or information sciences. After a thorough Google search that narrowed down some of my options, I started off by <\/span>talking to people. <\/b>I looked on social media - especially <\/span>LinkedIn <\/b>- to find graduates and look at their resumes. I also <\/span>got in touch with admissions representatives at the different schools, <\/b>who suggested events to attend and set up meetings with me to answer my questions.<\/span>\r\n\r\n
\"Me<\/a>
Undergraduate degree? Check. Graduate degree? In progress!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\nAfter I did my initial information-gathering, I narrowed down which schools I wanted to apply to and made a spreadsheet with deadlines and admissions requirements for each. I then <\/span>set a schedule for completing applications. <\/b>I also <\/span>contacted my references early, and stayed in touch with them frequently throughout the application process <\/b>to keep them posted on my progress. <\/span>\r\n\r\nThe first letter of intent I wrote was the longest one I had to write, which I then brought to my college\u2019s writing centre. <\/b>A professor there talked to me about my reasons for applying for graduate school and walked through the letter with me, offering lots of great edits and suggestions. <\/span>I used that letter as a template for the rest of my applications<\/b>. <\/span>\r\n\r\nAs I worked on my applications, I continued to liaise with my references and attend events for prospective students at the schools I was applying to. <\/span>I got in touch with professors at the schools to see if their work interested me. <\/b>By the time I was done applying, I knew which school was my number one choice. Spoiler alert: it was U of T, and here I am!<\/span>\r\n\r\n
\"A<\/a>
I know I'm in the right program for me because my colleagues at the iSchool appreciate Post-it notes as much as I do.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\nWhat I learned during the process of applying to grad school was to try your best to spread out the work so that it never gets too overwhelming, to talk to your references early and often, and to do as much research as you can to find the program that\u2019s right for you. You should take into account not just academic considerations, but also your long-term career goals and financial and personal factors. <\/span>\r\n\r\nAnd of course, don\u2019t be afraid to reach out to others for support - whether it\u2019s friends or family, the institutions you\u2019re applying to, or U of T\u2019s Career Centre, Academic Success Centre, writing centres, Health and Wellness Centre, and more. There are plenty of people who can help you along the way to get into schools and choose the right one for you. <\/span>\r\n\r\nAre you considering further education? This week is <\/span><\/i>Further Education Week at the Career Centre! <\/i><\/b>Check out their lineup of events at this link<\/span><\/i><\/a>. Plus, check out <\/span><\/i>this helpful information page about further education from their website<\/span><\/i><\/a>. <\/span><\/i>\r\n\r\nGot questions about applying to grad school? Chat with me in the comments below! <\/span><\/i>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\nAhead of my last year at U of T, I decided to apply to graduate schools in the fall. At first, I thought that I was going to apply to graduate studies in English literature, but I had decided against…\n<\/div>
Continue reading “My journey to further education”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>
Continue reading “My journey to further education”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"author":252,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25662"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/252"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25662"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25667,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25662\/revisions\/25667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}