by Adriana Hernandez E.
So, you’ve become a Bobcat. You walk on Scholars Lane, you enjoy your upper division classes, and developed a color-coding system for your notes and agenda. Maybe you even created a file on your phone dedicated to cow and bunny pics (I know I have). You’ve met amazing people. All is going well when suddenly you see something approaching…something you knew would come but didn’t think it would come this fast…your senior year of university. You see it coming: change.
My Thoughts on the Future
Last summer, when I realized that I was going to be a junior, I began to think about all the changes that would happen soon. I would be a senior the following year and after that I knew that I would no longer be an undergrad student. I would meet new people, go to a new school, and have new experiences. This brought a million other things to mind. Will I decide on graduating early or will I decide to stay the full year? What will I do for graduate school? Who will write my letters of recommendation? What classes will I take the following semester? All these thoughts gave me flashbacks to when I was in high school, deciding on which schools to apply to and what my major would be. Thinking about my life after UC Merced stressed me out, but after thinking about graduate school that summer, I decided to take action on the topic. (By the way, I’m a Psychology major with a minor in Spanish and Writing. I also just finished my junior year this past May.)
My Research Process
I began my research at the beginning of my junior year. At the time, I didn’t know what I wanted to specialize in but had an idea of what I wanted my career to involve and what I didn’t want it to involve.
- I wanted to work with kids or teenagers.
- I wanted to help people on a one-on-one basis.
- I wanted to work in a school setting/education.
- For my mental health, I wanted to take a break from school after graduating.
- I wanted to become a licensed therapist.
- I wanted a Master’s degree, not a PhD.
- I wanted to be closer to my home in LA.
Keeping this list in mind helped guide my research process. I strongly believe that it is important to know both what you want and what you don’t want in life.
Tip #1: Brainstorm a list of what you like/are interested in and what you don’t like/are not interested in. Also know that it’s okay if your list of “likes and dislikes”/yes’s and no’s” changes; it’s all a part of the process.
What I Learned
I then began to explore different career paths that somewhat aligned with my interests. During this research process, I learned a few things that had to do with both my academic and personal life.
- What matters is if the school I’m looking into even has the program I’m interested in.
- Some grad programs have prerequisite classes.
- UCs have very different programs for CSUs
- I had to consider how I would get to school (public transportation vs. car).
- I had to consider how far away from home I was willing to go.
- I had to consider the costs (UC vs. CSU vs. Private).
My boss, who has become a mentor, advised me to think about many of these things. Talking to people (my friends, co-workers, boss/mentor, academic advisors, TA’s, and professors) were all a part of my research process. Whether it was to share my stress about looking into grad school or to gain insight about their thoughts and grad school experience, talking to others was very helpful.
It was stressful. I felt overwhelmed looking at different programs and what they required. At first, I would take screenshots on my phone of programs that looked interesting. I then realized that this system wasn’t working and somehow made me more nervous. So, I created a file on my “Bookmarks” tab on my laptop. When I would see a potential grad school, I would add the site to my “Grad School” file. Doing this was based on advice I received from a previous TA. I asked her what her experience with grad school was and she told me that she created an Excel sheet and wrote the name of the schools/programs, costs, how far the school was from her loved ones, how long the program was, etc. I tried Excel but it didn’t really work for me, so I decided to create a file on my laptop.
Tip #2: Find your support system: talk to friends, co-workers, your family, mentors, academic advisors, TA’s, professors, etc. (ex. I asked different professors and TA’s about grad school and their experiences. Go to office hours!) It is always great to get insight from different people, especially when they know you well.
Tip #3: Find an organization system that works for you to organize information about grad school. (Excel, Word, Google Docs, a file on your laptop, notebook, etc.)
Next Steps
Now that I have researched grad school during my junior year, I feel less stressed about my senior year because I am more familiar with my career path. My plans for this summer are to transfer the information I’ve gathered about grad school (currently found in my “Bookmarks” tab) to a notebook. I know doing so will help me better organize the information that is important for me, similar to what my previous TA told me she did on an Excel sheet. I also plan on looking into graduate applications and what those will require me to do. Right now, I’m looking into becoming a School Counselor or School Psychologist and working with teenagers/young adults. At the end of my first semester of junior year, I was only looking into Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT). However, I decided to think about my other options this past semester. This allowed me to realize that MFT is not the program for me as I want to apply my experiences and knowledge in a different context. This is where I’m currently at, and I’m eager to soon start a new beginning, one that will take place thanks to my experiences at UC Merced.
Tip #4: Look up the job responsibilities of the career you’re looking into. This can help you get a better understanding of what you would be doing as a professional.
Hopefully sharing my experiences about looking into grad school has given you ideas about what to consider for your own academic journey.
Writing with Bobcats 