Career Services at Baldwin Wallace hosted its Fifth Annual Graduate School Fair at the Center for Innovation and Growth on Tuesday, Oct. 8. Students and alumni met with representatives from over 200 graduate programs in a variety of disciplines including law, medicine, and business.
Judy Mey, Career Advisor, said “A total of 74 students/alumni attended the fair.” The academic class most represented was the sophomore class with 27 students and the academic program most represented was psychology with 11 students.
In regard to the graduate programs represented at the fair, Mey said, “Career Services is intentional about offering a variety of colleges/universities and graduate programs to cater to the diverse interests of our students. Programs included Allied Health, Business, Education, Humanities, Law, Non-Profit, Public Administration, STEM&M, and Theology. Most areas had an equal amount of representation, with the STEM&M [Science, Technology, Engineering, Math & Medicine] area including the most representation.”
For those interested in graduate school, Career Services offers many opportunities for students to prepare for the application process. Mey said, “Each semester, Career Services offers a two-part graduate school workshop series. The first session focuses on the graduate school application process; the second provides information about graduate school entrance exams.”
Career Services also assists students with graduate school exam practice. Mey added, “Additionally, each semester Career Services collaborates with Kaplan to offer a free graduate school practice exam, [GRE, LSAT or MCAT] session, which includes test-taking strategies and exam score results.”
BW students thinking about applying to graduate school should meet with Career Services as early as possible.
“Besides attending graduate school programs offered by Career Services, we encourage students to schedule individual advising appointments with a career advisor. Each student is unique and has different needs and aspirations; this is why one-on-one advising is so important. We also strongly encourage students to meet with faculty,” Mey said.
Although graduate school after college is a necessity for some careers, students may find different paths to the career they want. “Attending graduate school should be each individual’s decision. Some majors require post-graduate study to achieve a desired career outcome; others may benefit from gaining real world experience prior to attending graduate school. We would encourage any student who is conflicted about pursuing graduate study to meet with a career advisor,” Mey said.
Career Services distributes a survey to each graduating class titled, “First Destination Survey.” According to this survey, BW alumni who have gone on to graduate school have entered programs in medicine, music, theology, and social work among others.
For students who plan to apply to graduate school, Mey said, “An important piece of advice we share is that a student should be clear and passionate about what he/she wants to study and his/her ultimate career goal.”
