Heller Admissions Blog Articles in December, 2020

Month: December 2020

See you in the New Year…

December 22, 2020 / amandamiller / 0 Comments

Recently, my partner and I have been rewatching The West Wing. If you haven’t ever seen this ’90s and early ’00s classic (you should!), it follows a group of White House senior staff members serving under President Josiah Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen. If you have watched it, you’re probably familiar with one of the most often repeated lines of the show: Josiah Bartlet’s catchphrase, “What’s next?”

It’s a question I’ve been asking myself a lot over the past year, and I don’t think I’m alone in that. We’re in a time of great uncertainty, and planning anything can seem daunting, if not completely impossible. Plans with friends usually include the phrase “when all this is over” or “when things are back to normal”, but no one seems to know for certain when that will be. Everything, it seems, is on hold.

But I’ve noticed that whenever Josiah Bartlet asks “What’s next?”, it’s never in the spirit of defeat, or confusion, or hopelessness. In fact, he usually asks it when he’s just triumphed over one challenge and is ready to tackle another one. Major political scandal? “What’s next?” A slanderous campaign ad from the other party? “What’s next?” Nuclear war resolved at the absolute last second? “What’s next?” Functionally, the phrase signals to viewers the closing of one chapter and the pursuit of a new storyline, but philosophically, it’s about the decision to keep moving forward.

The Heller Admissions blog will be taking a brief hiatus between now and January 5th, and I know I’ll be using that time to relax, reflect, and to come up with new ways to improve the blog in 2021. I hope that you’ll spend the remainder of 2020 in ways that are restful and restorative to you so that we can both greet 2021’s challenges with a Josiah Bartlet-style “What’s next?”

Putting Your Best Foot Forward: Your Resume or CV

Already in this series, I’ve discussed the difference between a statement of purpose and a personal statement; another similar question I get from students is the difference between a resume and CV. For the Heller application, we allow you to either upload your resume or your curriculum vitae, and in fact, these documents will often contain a lot of the same information, but the small differences might have a significant difference on how you choose to structure these documents. Today I’ll be taking you through the anatomy of both, and talk a little about which might be best for you, depending on your situation.

Resume:

Chances are, you already have a resume, as they’re more commonly for job applications. Your resume should, at a minimum, contain your work experience, including key responsibilities and achievements in each role, and your education. Many students also include sections for their skills, awards, publications, and licenses and certifications, if they’re relevant. Typically, work experience and education will come first on your resume (though not necessarily in that order), followed by these additional sections, but as a rule, you’ll want to keep your resume under two pages at most.

In terms of what not to include in your resume, you’ll notice that in that last paragraph, I used the phrase if it’s relevant. This is key, but an often over-looked piece of advice. Many students, in an effort to beef up their resume, will include every piece of information possible, including their babysitting job when they were twelve and which high school they went to. When it comes to the work experience you do list, I recommend that when listing your job responsibilities and achievements, you try to tailor them to the program to which you’re applying. Try to connect the dots for us between your skills-your career objectives-the program to which you’re applying, as much as possible.

A few more things to leave off your resume: although this differs across cultures, in the U.S., you shouldn’t include your picture on your resume, physical characteristics, or personal data aside from your name and contact information. That means you don’t need to list your date of birth, race, religion, or marital status on your resume; in the U.S., making hiring or (in our case) admissions decisions based on any of these characteristics can be considered discrimination, so employers and institutions in the U.S. prefer that you don’t include it.

C.V.:

C.V. is short for curriculum vitae, or “course of life”; as the name suggests, these are typically longer than a resume, and are focused largely on your academic achievements. You should still include your education and work experience (although in a C.V., you’ll generally put the education section first). But in addition to these sections, you could also include your publications, any teaching experiences, conferences you’ve presented at, relevant coursework, certificates you’ve earned, languages, research interests, and any fellowships you received.

A good way to think about the difference between a C.V. and a resume is that a resume is typically meant to highlight your experience and your C.V. is meant to highlight your credentials. With that in mind, I’d like to close with a quick guide on which might be best to use in your application.

A resume might be best if… You have significant accomplishments in the workplace that you’d like to highlight, your primary field isn’t academia, you’ve been out of school for a significant amount of time, and/or you’re not applying to a PhD program (a resume, in other words, might be the more appropriate choice for most applicants)

A C.V. might be best if… You’re applying to a PhD program, your primary accomplishments have been in the field of academia, and/or you’re a recent graduate without much work experience.

Writing the Perfect Statement of Purpose with Andrea Tyree

December 15, 2020 / andreatyree / 0 Comments

Andrea Tyree, MPP’22

Disclaimer: My advice cannot guarantee your entrance into Heller. I’m only an MPP student who has seen the values of The Heller School up close. I’ll show you what I think made my essay a success, now knowing Heller a bit better. This essay reflects my own views as a student and is no way the official guidance of The Heller School.

So, you’re applying to graduate schools and have to convince each school why you’re the ideal applicant. Easy, right? Who doesn’t love talking about themselves?

Me. I don’t. (Which is ironic considering I’m always blogging…)

Luckily, grad school apps are less about “What makes you special?” and more about “What makes what you want to do special?” And if you’re applying to a graduate program, you probably have a good reason for it. So here’s my advice on how to make that reason shine:

Ground Yourself: What brought you here?

What inspired you to go for this degree? Did a professional experience show you the cracks in the system and make you realize that a graduate degree could help you mend those cracks? Or were you so inspired by your undergraduate studies that you want to continue your learning and fine-tune your expertise in order to make a greater impact? Or maybe it was a personal interaction that opened your eyes to all that could be accomplished with a graduate degree? Either way, help the reviewers understand why you want this degree.

For example: I spoke about the two communities that molded me: East Timor (where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer) and the Black community in West Virginia (my home). I expounded on some of the lessons I learned living and working in both of these communities and tied it a sector of policy that I hoped to research. I even included some policy research questions such as: “How does the use of excessive force by the police, and the policies that license it, inhibit the socioeconomic progress of Black Americans?”

Be Honest: What do you know and what don’t you know?

We all come to graduate school with our own expertise. Even if you don’t think you’re an expert in anything, trust me, you know more about certain subjects than most of your peers! Believe that and use it. Show the review committee what you know by stating some facts (or, even better, stats). But no one knows everything about everything. And the review committee will certainly call your bluff if you claim that. So save yourself the trouble and admit to the concepts that you still want to learn more about. You could highlight a particular skill or subject, or you could post a research question to which you’d like to find the answer.

For example: I compared the poverty and disparities facing East Timor and West Virginia: 41% of Timorese live below the country’s poverty line, while 19% of all West Virginians and 31% of Black West Virginians live below the US poverty line. West Virginia only has a Black population of 3.6% yet we’re living in a poverty rate that is comparable to a country that is still trying to rebuild after decades of occupation. How is this so? Could it be a result of power dynamics in both regions?

Say My Name, Say My Name: Who do you want to work with?

Graduate school is not just about the degree or the research you’ve completed; it’s about the connections you make and the things you learn from those around you outside of class. Apply for a program with a list of faculty in mind from whom you want to learn. Research professors from within and outside of your program in order to find the people with expertise most relevant to your interests. Naming faculty within your statement will show the reviewers that you’ve done your homework and that you’re ready to be in this program.

Pro Tip: Reach out to those faculty members before school starts. Heck, you could even reach out to them before you apply; chances are, they’ll answer! Faculty members aren’t usually the ones making admissions decisions, but if you’re interested in their research or you think they brought up a salient point in a recent interview, ask them about it! Being able to throw that conversation into an application shows great initiative. It worked for me, it can work for you too.

Good luck with your application! And remember, if you truly believe that you’re right for Heller (and I’m sure you are), make that shine through your whole statement!

Reflecting on the Fall Semester with Sami Rovins

December 10, 2020 / samirovins / 0 Comments

Sami Rovins COEX/MS ’21

As the Fall semester begins to wind down, I’m beginning to reflect on my greatest accomplishments over the past few months. Some of these accomplishments are big, others are much smaller. Sometimes I get caught up in how tough everything seems to be, on the assignments I didn’t do too well on, or how much work I have left to do in the next few weeks. That’s why I think it’s important, especially when things are stressful and difficult, to think about my successes at Heller so far.

I feel proud that even while I was up to my eyeballs in work for the Global Health Policy & Management program, I managed to begin work on my Capstone paper and presentation for the program I did last year, Conflict Resolution & Coexistence. I feel proud that I have been able to carefully balance both of these large responsibilities. I am writing my Capstone on the need for comprehensive, culturally-competent sex education for women and girls in India. I have been able to utilize some of the new skills and knowledge I’ve gained in the MS program and apply it to my COEX capstone. For instance, I can now better understand a large survey of teens’ knowledge of reproductive health. I now know what a regression is and how to interpret it within studies about sexual health. Being able to marry the skills of COEX and MS has been a big accomplishment for me this semester.

I also take pride in researching and writing a 16-page paper for one of my classes, Democracy & Development, over the course of one week. We were given a broad assignment of researching any topic that related to the class and I chose to write about the influence of various radical women on the politics and philosophy of Malcolm X. I also consider this a big accomplishment because I was juggling my other four final exams and projects at the very same time. In the end, I consider my paper to be a well-researched and well-written success!

My last accomplishment revolves around my ability to maintain important relationships while simultaneously managing finals. In all the madness of finals, it can be easy to forget friends, family, and loved ones. But I know I couldn’t possibly have completed this semester without the help of the people closest to me. I made an effort to make some time to meet friends for a socially distanced visit, to watch a film with my roommate, and to FaceTime with my parents. Reaching out to them for support makes such a difference and I consider it a huge accomplishment to maintain these connections despite the craziness of finals season.

FINALS!: It’s Crunch Time for Doug Nevins

December 8, 2020 / douglasnevins / 0 Comments

Doug Nevins BA ’11, MPP ’21

As another semester draws to a close, Heller students find ourselves in the midst of another finals period. Returning from Thanksgiving break to a marathon session of exams and other assignments is a bit of a rude awakening, but luckily the end is in sight!

In my first year as an MPP student, my midterms and finals mostly consisted of research-based papers and policy briefs. Getting back into the swing of academic research and writing was a challenge after years of being out of school, but ultimately I felt like I was reviving skills I had used frequently in college. Having been an English major, I wrote a lot of essays in college! Exams, not so much. Now, as a first-year MBA dual degree student, I have found myself confronting both papers and exams, both take home and “in-person” (over Zoom). This is a new challenge entirely and has required me to rediscover study skills long neglected since high school. Flashcards? Check. Moments of frustration about a persistently confusing concept? Check.

The best thing about studying for exams at Heller is that everyone is in the same boat and that studying need not be a solitary activity. As much as I have sometimes found that the most productive use of time is to rewatch lecture videos, review textbooks, and drill accounting and econ problems on my own, in general, I have found it even more beneficial to hop on Zoom with a friend or two and go over course content together. This would be my number one recommendation for future Heller students. No matter how well you think you understand a concept, you’ll feel more confident once you’re able to explain it to someone else. I often find that when I study with friends, our collective intelligence (I recommend the Leadership and Organizational Behavior course if you’re interested in this concept!) far exceeds our individual knowledge of the material.

This same principle holds true for writing papers. Part of the appeal of studying public policy for me was the prospect of discussing topics with curious, knowledgeable, and critical peers. This has definitely been the case at Heller, where I know that my MPP classmates will offer insightful comments and feedback on my ideas for research papers and projects. I’m actually looking forward to the last few assignments I have, once I’ve completed my more quantitative finals because I’ll have the opportunity to dig into a policy area of interest.

The finals period is no picnic, but the supportive culture at Heller makes it manageable. Faculty care about our learning and growth, and assignments are intended not to trip us up but to help us confirm that we understand course concepts and can apply them. As weird as it is to be taking exams again, I know this process will help me feel more confident upon leaving Heller that I’ve gained new knowledge and skills. Plus, we have a long, well-earned winter break at the end of the finals period! Good luck to my fellow students – we’re in the home stretch!

Putting Your Best Foot Forward: Writing Your Statement of Purpose Part One

December 3, 2020 / amandamiller / 0 Comments

I think December is the perfect month to write a statement of purpose, and I’ll tell you why. There’s a deeply rooted inclination towards reflection in the winter months: if fall is the time to reap your harvest and spring is the time to plant seeds, winter is surely the natural time to hunker down in your home, and to think about what’s to come. As the past year draws to a close (after what seems like approximately 47 months) and with the new year approaching, it seems like peoples’ thoughts naturally shift to reflection, goal-setting, and of course, resolutions.

This is the perfect mindset to be in when you’re writing your statement of purpose. You’ll notice that I call it a statement of purpose, and not a personal statement. Don’t be misled by articles that tell you they are essentially the same thing: the two are in fact very different. When you applied to your undergraduate institution, you most likely wrote a personal statement, which is much more, well… personal. Most undergraduate programs recognize that at seventeen or eighteen, you probably don’t have as many concrete goals or plans, and that the ones you have now may shift over the next four years. That’s what college is for, to discover yourself and what you want to do! But when applying to a graduate program, we want to hear much more about your skillset, your goals, and answering your specific questions of why this degree and school are right for you.

To write a statement of purpose, that’s where you need to start, and that’s where I think this special time of the year plays a crucial role. Reflect back on your experiences and what has led you to this exact moment. Be as specific as possible: if you want to help people, that’s great, but tell the reader why you want to help people in this way. I would recommend nailing down concrete, specific answers to the following questions:

When did you decide you would need a graduate degree to accomplish the work you want to do? When did you decide that a graduate degree from Heller would help you to best accomplish that work?
What skill-set will you bring to a graduate program? Why are you qualified for this program?
What skills do you want to gain? How will a graduate degree from Heller help you to gain those skills?
What opportunities do you hope this degree will open up? What do you hope to accomplish during graduate school?
What do you hope to accomplish after you complete your degree?

Again, you want to be as specific as possible, both about yourself and the program that you’re applying to. There are millions of students applying to hundreds of thousands of graduate programs this year, but what sets you and your chosen program apart? Think of it in terms of new years resolutions: vague goals like “exercise more” or “save money” almost never work out. Rather, you want to nail down specific things like, “Exercise at least three times a week for at least thirty minutes” or “Save at least 15% of your paycheck every month”.

Over the next week, take some time to pour yourself a cup of your favorite warm winter beverage, curl up on your couch and really take some time to look back on what you’ve accomplished and what you hope the years ahead bring you. Journal out your answers to those questions if you need to. If you find yourself slipping into generalities, try to force yourself to name something concrete that drew you to the program. Next week, we’ll dive into the structure of your statement of purpose, the essential scaffolding that will set your statement.

Heller Reading List: Andrea Tyree Shares Her Favorite Readings

December 1, 2020 / andreatyree / 0 Comments

Andrea Tyree, MPP’22

Recently, an old friend visited my apartment and, as I was showing him around, he noticed something peculiar. I have a stack of books on my desk, some I’ve read in preparation for coming to Heller and some for specific classes. Most of my class readings are online (invest in blue-light blocking glasses, folks) but there have been a couple I’ve purchased or borrowed (thanks Mom!) outright to really annotate. This particular stack included How to Be Antiracist, The New Jim Crow, From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation, and Hillbilly Elegy.

Noticing this stack, my friend stopped and laughed out loud: “One of these things does not belong.” He wondered why in the world Hillbilly Elegy was included in a stack of social justice literature? Why would professors at Heller, a quite progressive institution, have us read such a biased and inaccurate portrayal of the Appalachian region? (P.S. The new Netflix film is worse.)

“Because,” I beamed with pride, “we tore it apart in my Assets and Social Policy class.” I picked up the book and showed him the countless tabs I had placed throughout the book where I found faults in the author’s storyline and argument.

Now I know I’ve already written about my Assets and Social Policy course, but this course has some of the most enlightening and engaging readings. From learning about the cultural wealth and capital that communities of color have built as a result of systemic oppression (“Whose Culture Has Capital?”) to examining the role of gender-based violence on women’s assets and wealth (“The Role of Sexual Violence in Creating and Maintaining Economic Insecurity Among Asset-Poor Women of Color”), I’ve gained knowledge in this course that I’ll carry with me throughout my life.

Yet my favorite lesson focused on rural poverty—a form of poverty not often acknowledged in social and racial justice conversations—centering on an analysis of Hillbilly Elegy. I warned my classmates ahead of time, “Y’all, as a native West Virginia, I have to represent the thousands of us who cannot stand this book. I’m about to go in on J.D. Vance (the author).”

And go in I did.

Our professor, Jess, created space for a thoughtful and critical conversation on the narrative of poverty within this book. We analyzed how the author placed the responsibility of poverty on Appalachian communities, identifying it as a character flaw rather than the result of generations of systemic oppression, resource drain, and lack of external investment in these communities. We addressed our personal and societal biases against rural, impoverished America and discussed ways to invest in it.

It was one of the first classes where I truly felt seen and heard. I’m grateful that my peers were able to analyze and critique a novel that feeds into the negative narrative about rural America and, specifically, Appalachia. And I’m proud of how I stood strong for my community. It’s moments like those that remind me of why I chose Heller and excite me for what’s to come.