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ADVICE FOR UPPERCLASS STUDENTS
Focused Experience, Planning for the Future
As an upperclass student, you have grown and evolved in your campus life experience. It is time
to apply the knowledge you have already and look for focused experiences inside and outside of the
classroom that will give you more knowledge. You have become a leader in both your academic and
social circles. You now need to begin planning for the future, whether that means graduate school,
the work force, or a fellowship or scholarship.
You are eligible for some fellowships this year, and you need to start preparation of
applications for other fellowships in your senior year or as you graduate.
Activites you should begin thinking about include:
- In the Fall, begin planning your summer to further your academic or
professional goals, perhaps with an internship, co-op, research or creative endeavor opportunity. Begin preliminary
research on your senior thesis, honros project or senior capstone. Become involved in
a leadership position in a community organization. Many of these activities will be helpful
in your scholarship applications. However, you should remain focused on a few activities
that are important to you and for which you are passionate. Scholarship panels are not
interested in the quantity of your experiences but rather the quality of them.
- Some fellowships require the Graduate Record Exam. Obtain information
about the GRE and consider how to prepare for it and when would be the best time to take
it. ESS operates a computer-based testing center in 440 Sears. Check out the
GRE web site for more information.
- You will need many letters of recommendation soon, whether it be for
graduate school or a scholarship or fellowship. If you have opened a
Credential File at the Career Center, get faculty, supervisors, and employers to submit
or update letters. If you don't have a Credential File, establish one
now and start accumulating letters of recommendation in it.
- Iif you are considering any of the Fellowships for Graduate Study or
for ones for which you must have senior status, meet with a dean in the Office of
Undergraduate Studies during the Spring semester, to get started on your application
materials. Even though the formal deadlines are not until your senior year, you cannot
postpone getting guidance and getting started.
- If you are studying abroad this year, stay in contact with your advisor
while you are away. Keep them appraised of what you are learning and experiencing overseas.
Get ionvolved in reasearch, community service of leadership postions while you are away.
Fully immerser yourself in the culture and the country in which you are living.
- Talk to you faculty advisors about honors program or a national
honors society in your major, and join if you qualify.
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