Heller Admissions Blog Articles in July, 2022

Month: July 2022

Ariel’s Advice for Getting the Most out of Heller

Ariel Wexler, MBA/SID22

The Heller School is community-oriented, an environment that leans towards collaboration over competition. Graduate school is understandably a huge decision for someone and one that any person would want to get the full value from. Admittedly, I was uncertain I would attend Brandeis when I was deciding where to go to graduate school. I applied to 8 different schools and was weighing my options. There are so many factors that go into making such a crucial decision, especially one that will enhance one’s career. I ultimately chose The Heller School because I was able to combine my interest in obtaining technical business skills with a social impact lens in addition to continuing to work within a global scope. The combined dual Social Impact MBA/MA in Sustainable International Development was the best program offering for my interests and career trajectory. Now that I have graduated I can reflect on what made my experience significant and how you can get the most from your studies.

Tips and insights from a recent graduate:

Connect: Developing relationships with professors, administrators, TA’s, and staff is a great way to connect with the greater Heller community. Professors are very friendly and approachable, if you have specific research and or career interest in mind make sure to reach out to relevant individuals that may be able to connect you with networking opportunities and resources in the future. Although I was quite shy during my studies I realize the positive impact introducing yourself to professors and staff can have. It’s also a great way to engage more in the classroom and seek out help when needed.
Get Involved: Getting involved with working groups, on-campus jobs, speaker series, and other extracurricular activities is a great opportunity to get to know your peers better. I took advantage of the following extracurricular activities at Heller: Heller Board Fellows, Heller Startup Challenge, Brandeis Innovation’s Spark Incubator Program, and The Social Impact Case Collection. Getting involved with a program outside of the classroom helped develop my leadership skills and most importantly created a great sense of community and purpose as a graduate student.
Take initiative: If you have a specific passion or interest that you want to explore there is always room to apply them to your studies. For example, at Heller, a majority of course assignments and projects are completed as a team and with your topic of interest. The advantage to this format is that you can tailor the majority of your studies to your passion and something you want to transfer to your career. Secondly, working under a common interest for example; housing justice, financial literacy, agricultural livelihoods, etc. allows you to bond through collaboration with other students. Lastly, The Heller Student Enrichment Funds and the Graduate Student Affairs are two great resources for students to subsidize or fund conference or research projects.
Network: Informational interviews with Heller alumni is a great way to learn more about the job market and what type of career pursuits you may want to take advantage of upon graduation. Boston is a city with cutting-edge industries and innovation, explore the city and attend city-wide events for young professionals and students!

Most importantly, have fun, and best of luck!

Daniella’s Got a New Job!

July 26, 2022 / daniellalevine / 0 Comments

Daniella Levine, MPP ’21

As I’m writing this, it is my last day with Heller Admissions. I graduated with my Master of Public Policy degree on May 22, 2022 and have been lucky to continue working for admissions while I job search. Well, search no further! As of August 1, I will be starting as a Research Associate for the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies. According to the job posting: “The Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies is an academic research center that conducts rigorous policy relevant research about Jewish life and the Jewish community.” Heller has prepared me for this role in numerous ways; today, I thought it might be helpful for prospective students and applicants to see how Heller classes correspond to actual job skills.

Here are some of the Primary Responsibilities, Skills, and Experience listed in the job posting and how Heller helped me prepare for this job:

Participate in all phases of complex research projects including design, data collection, analysis, and interpretation of results AND Assist with survey writing, programming, testing, and administration

In my first semester at Heller, I took a research methods course that walked us through best practices for data accrual. All of our assignments pushed us to create and evaluate survey tools and proposals.

For quantitative researchers: Expertise in statistical software packages (e.g., SPSS, SAS, Stata, R). Familiarity with Stata statistical software and its syntax language is strongly preferred; For quantitative researchers: Demonstrated research experience in survey design, administration, and analysis; Summarize study results through charts, graphs, and presentations; AND Experience with cleaning, validating, and manipulating data

Before two semesters of Applied Regression Analysis and Applied Econometrics, I would have never told you I was interested in pursuing a career in research. It is a vast world of numbers and syntax; a world that pre-Heller me wouldn’t have touched with a ten-foot pole. However, through these courses I’ve found immense fascination manipulating and cleaning data for my own benefit. To see the data align and measure the statistical impact of various social determinants has underscored the work I’ve done over the last two years in graduate school. It’s brought meaning and evidence to the cause I hope to champion and the work that needs to be done. Is STATA my best friend? Not yet, but I’m excited to grow these skills more in my new role and appreciate the courses that provided me with a solid foundation in quantitative research.

Assist in proposal development AND Experience as a task and project supervisor and/or manager

The semester-long capstone project both empowers and challenges students to create and facilitate their own research. From the proposal, to the report, to the presentation, we were solely in charge of the management and success of our capstone.

Conduct literature searches and reviews; Strong and effective written and verbal communication skills; AND Assist in the writing and editing of reports, journal articles, and presentations for both academic and lay audiences

The assignments for the MPP program are structured to imitate tasks you may be asked to complete in a policy-centered job. As such, each paper, blog post, literature review, project proposal, and analysis report I wrote over the last two years are all relevant to this new job. Each one helped me curate a succinct style and confident voice.

Demonstrated ability to work as part of a team, foster consensus, and collaborate with individuals and organizations with a range of interests and perspectives

Every class either requires or encourages group participation; something I was dreading about graduate school. However, again I was proven wrong. In college, a group project meant uneven work dispersal, varying commitment levels, and subsequent late nights. Group facilitation at Heller fostered collaboration. It showed me how to play to people’s strengths, learn from my peers, and identify my place on a team. It proved that group work is not only beneficial, but essential to successful work environments.

For qualitative researchers: Schedule and conduct telephone and in-person interviews, focus groups, and site visits AND Demonstrated research experience conducting interviews, focus groups and/or participant observation

And finally, a quick shout out to Heller Admissions. Over the last year and a half, I have been lucky to work on my interpersonal skills, through conducting interviews and responding to inquiries on all things Heller. This job has taught me how to conduct a tactful and appropriate interview, liaise with our community, and engage in thoughtful and respectful dialogue.

I am most thankful for my experience at Heller and look forward to continue to grow the foundations set in place by my graduate school experience in my career to come.

The Graduate Housing Search

July 21, 2022 / amendez / 0 Comments

Andy Mendez, MBA/SID’23

Moving to a new area can be daunting, but also very exciting! In two weeks, I’ll be moving to a new apartment for my second year of study. All the packing, cleaning, and decluttering has had me thinking back to my original experience moving to the Waltham area last year.

I began very casually looking for housing as early as late January 2021. In that month, I added myself to the Facebook Housing groups, signed up for the graduate housing email listserv, and began doing some very basic research on the neighborhoods in the area, such as Somerville, Cambridge, and Newton. I began responding to apartment listings in earnest in April. At the time, I was in a bit of an untraditional situation. I was technically based in Chicago, where I was doing access to justice work with a legal aid office as part of the AmeriCorps program. In early 2021, my office was still fully remote, so I moved back temporarily to Morocco, where I had completed Peace Corps two years earlier. This move allowed me to save up much more money toward grad school but, at the same time, it meant I could not visit any of the Waltham area listings in person and had to rely on photos and video tours. To give myself an advantage, I reasoned that I would aim to do a summer sublet in the area. This would give me time to get used to Waltham before school started and would allow me to be on the ground to scope out other places for the fall should I not end up liking my summer accommodation.

One of the most stressful things about the housing search is how limited the housing is in the Greater Boston area. Many people will be familiar with the housing crisis that had been affecting large coastal cities in the US even prior to the pandemic. Given Greater Boston’s 118 academic institutions, every year students flock to this area for degree programs and internships. Simply put, the demand is greater than the supply. Starting early allowed me to get a sense of the type of housing available and what areas made the most sense for my budget and commute. In particular, I made sure to note how far each apartment was from grocery stores, supermarkets, and public transportation. The Branda and MBTA apps were really helpful for learning the bus routes. By the time I was looking in earnest in April, I knew roughly what I was looking for.

To stay organized, I created a very basic spreadsheet. On this sheet, I kept track of the contact person (usually one of the current tenants, but sometimes also the landlord or broker), the associated costs (including monthly rent, security deposit, broker fee, application fee), move-in dates, number of roommates, address, and distance from campus.

It was really easy to find roommates who were also graduate students at either the Heller School, the International Business School, or the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences because they are also all looking for housing in the same area close to Brandeis. For me, this has been a great way to connect with people outside of my program.

My biggest piece of advice is this – although housing is limited, you should not feel pressured to take the first thing you find. If you start early enough, you will end up having a few different options to choose between. This will make sure you find accommodation that is really right for you, rather than having to commit to something unsuitable out of desperation. With a little preparation, you can find a great new place to call home.

Ariel Wexler’s Favorite Class: Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation

July 19, 2022 / ajwexler / 0 Comments

Ariel and her project partner holding a large check for $1,000

The Heller Social Impact Startup Challenge on Nov. 7, 2021. (Anna Miller Multimedia for the Heller School)

Before joining The Heller School, I was a recently returned Peace Corps volunteer who served in the agriculture sector in Guatemala. I decided to pursue dual degrees in Sustainable International Development and Social Impact MBA because I was passionate about the ways in which business could be utilized as a force for good in the international development sector. Due to my desire to merge and complement my two degrees, during Fall 2021, I enrolled in Carole Carlson (Senior Lecturer and Director of Heller MBA program)’s esteemed Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation course. The course explores how entrepreneurship has become a driving force in the social enterprise sector and provides tools for how to develop and evaluate new business ventures. Furthermore, this course teaches applied social enterprise business plan development tools.

Throughout the 12 weeks, I learned a breadth of knowledge in the skills, attitude, and strategy needed to fully implement and become a successful entrepreneur in a social impact sphere. An inspiring part of the course included weekly Q&A sessions with passionate social entrepreneurs from across the globe. Through case studies and discussions with seasoned entrepreneurs in the field, we are able to analyze and evaluate what it takes to make it in this sector.

A highlight of this course is forming a team to develop a social venture business plan and present the final pitch to classmates and a panel of judges. It was through this experience that I formed a team with four other inspiring peers surrounding a student’s business concept called The Farmer Foodie, a carbon-negative farm-to-table restaurant. Our team met weekly to refine our ideas and develop our business model. Key topics discussed throughout the course included but were not limited to entrepreneurial leadership, ideation, team building, developing ecosystems, innovation, scaling, managing growth, financing, operations, marketing, measuring social returns, global social entrepreneurship, and designing and delivering an effective business pitch.

Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation was my favorite course that I had the privilege of taking at Heller. Carole Carlson’s passion and depth as a thought leader in social entrepreneurship make it a worthwhile experience. Check out Professor Carlson’s newly published first edition of her Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation textbook here. Additionally, my friend and cohort member Alison Elliott has pivoted The Farmer Foodie business to Everything Cheeze, a cashew parmesan alternative offering that has just launched. Check out their website and social media handles to see how Ali’s business progresses. Participating in this course inspired many of us to go on to pitch at The Heller Startup Challenge, Brandeis Innovation’s SparkTank, and even MassChallenge.

Get Involved! The Value of Student Working Groups

July 12, 2022 / amendez / 0 Comments

Andy Mendez, MBA/SID’23

A university is not only defined by its ranking, degree programs, or faculty members. It is also defined by the quality and vibrancy of its campus community. When I was in undergrad, I worked 31 hours a week in the EdTech department. While I absolutely loved this experience, working this many hours as a full-time student meant that I did not have as much of a chance to become involved in the many student organizations on campus. Coming to Heller for graduate school gave me a second chance to get involved in the campus community.

To understand the landscape of graduate student working groups, I attended a variety of info sessions, as well as the Fall Student Groups Fair held in the Zinner forum. At this fair, e-board (Executive Board) members from active student groups set up a table and talked with attendees about their working group’s mission, activities, and plans for the semester. All the groups had such good energy and were involved in really interesting initiatives. I left the fair wishing there were enough hours in the day to be a part of every group!

During the lunchtime hour sometime later, I attended a follow-up info session with the Brandeis University Africa Forum (BUAF) which was led by two MBA/SID second year students, one of whom had been my TA for the summer Quantitative Fundamentals course. BUAF is a working group of African students and other members of Heller’s community who are interested in African history and the continent’s socio-economic development. Their mission is to coordinate cultural, professional, and social events to provide learning experiences, expand partnerships, and foster a sense of community on campus. I was immediately energized by the BUAF mission. A few weeks later, I was elected as Secretary and my tenure on BUAF’s e-board began!

Although I’m a dual MBA/SID student, I have only been taking one SID class a semester. This means I have not had nearly as much interaction with members of my SID cohort as I have had with students in the MBA program, who I am in the majority of classes with. Being a part of BUAF has allowed me to connect and build relationships with not only other SID students, but with graduate students from other programs who I might otherwise not have had any interactions with. BUAF allowed me to learn from other professionals who’d worked and studied on the continent. By organizing a dialogue series in collaboration with my fellow e-board members Peter Masue, Shiko Rugene, Martin Alexis and Nush Laywhyee, BUAF was able to create space for dynamic, social impact-oriented conversations about current events and their impact on the continent. So far, our Africa Speaks sessions have covered such topics as the political and economic impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war on Africa and the military conflicts in Sudan and Burkina Faso.

By far, the most rewarding aspect of my time with BUAF has been being able to experience the richness of multiple communities, including the larger graduate population at Brandeis, my fellow Heller students, and especially the black, African, and diasporic presence on campus. As a school with Jewish roots, the African community and student body may not be the first thing that comes to people’s minds when you think of Brandeis. However, the work of BUAF is helping people recognize and appreciate that this community is here. It’s active and warm and vibrant and deeply engaged in the work of creating a space outside of classes where students can connect, support each other, and have fun together!

Daniella’s Internship Experience

July 7, 2022 / daniellalevine / 0 Comments

Daniella Levine, MPP ’21

Last summer, I had the privilege to serve as a Policy Intern for the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (you can find tips and tricks on how to secure a summer internship here). A year into CAREs funding from the federal government, the department continued to hear from partner agencies that a subpopulation of renters in Massachusetts could not access support. Known as encargados, these tenants were not listed on a lease and therefore, did not exist in the eyes of the law. This made them ineligible for CAREs support. Most landlords are unaware that these individuals even live on their property, as tenants sign the leases and then rent the space (often at a higher rate) to others. Tenants needed to secure landlord approval to attain rent assistance during the pandemic.

As a Policy Intern, my primary responsibility was to explore and research this issue and propose a policy recommendation to the entire department at the conclusion of my internship. I started by reviewing the current housing policies in Massachusetts and conducting a preliminary search on state-level protocols. After understanding the landscape, I interviewed key stakeholders and partner agencies on the ground to find out their perspectives on best practices. This was not only an invaluable step, but necessary in the process. A policy maker can suggest and implement what they may think is best, but without community input and support, the policy will not succeed. Once I collected all the pertinent information, I met with colleagues to both brainstorm and process as a collective. Finally, I aggregated all of the data and produced a recommendation for the department to use as a foundation for any official decision on how to best support encargados.

Going into the internship, I felt a bout of imposter syndrome. Who was I to recommend a state policy? Yet, by the end of my two months with the department, I was the expert on the matter. I soon came to realize that the purpose of my work was less about the actual syntax of the recommendation, and more about exposing this gap in Massachusetts’s housing policy. This was not just a classroom simulation or assignment, I was in the field working on a recommendation that could benefit hundreds of people. A majority of people in the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development were unaware of this housing inequity and being able to champion it for the state was an honor and a unforgettable experience.

Guide to Resources for Incoming International Students

July 5, 2022 / amandamiller / 0 Comments

Heller’s commitment to our international students makes up a core part of our commitment to equity, inclusion and diversity, which recognizes a broad definition of diversity reflective of differences that include, but are not limited to, age, race, ethnicity, language, nationality, visa status, culture, economic status and background, gender and gender expression, sexual orientation and identity, religion, political views, academic background and interests, abilities, learning styles and pace, physical appearance, and individual personality. International students make up more than a third of Heller’s student population, hailing from 39 countries from all over the world. Because of that, we provide several resources to help international students transition to their new academic and personal environment in the near future. Below, I’ve outlined several resources that international students can consult to help make this adjustment go as smoothly as possible.

Brandeis’ International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO)

The ISSO is undoubtedly going to be your biggest resource for all questions related to your visa, maintaining your student status within the U.S., and working during or after your program. Listed below are some pages that you might find especially helpful at this stage:

Pre-Arrival Information

Entering the U.S.

Graduate Student Orientation – included on this page are links to register for virtual events, like F-1/J-1 Immigration Session: Maintaining Status in the U.S. and Accessing Healthcare at Brandeis: What You Need to Know

Brandeis’ Intercultural Center

The Brandeis Intercultural Center serves as the umbrella office for 17 diverse student clubs and organizations, and provides a welcoming space for international students across campus. The center includes a resource room equipped with computers and printers, a small lending library of cultural books and videos, and a diverse array of cultural publications, as well as a conference room, multipurpose room, comfortable lounges, a patio and kitchen facilities, which students can reserve. They also host a number of events each year that are open to all students.

The University Writing Center

The University Writing Center is a place to talk about your writing and to get an extra pair of eyes on your paper. They offer support for writers of all levels in all subjects, pairing students with other graduate students to offer help ranging from understanding the writing assignment and getting started writing to making edits and revisions on your writing.

ESL Support and Professional Writing Support

Students in Heller’s fall semester Professional Writing course have access to tutors who can support them in both professional writing (structure/clarity/use of evidence/strength of argument) as well as ESL related issues such as basic grammar and vocabulary. If you have ESL challenges or concerns, you can meet with Student Services staff who can help you design and implement a plan to improve your written English, sharpen your listening skills and build vocabulary.

Brandeis’ Counseling Center

This is, I think, the most important resource I’ve listed here. In my previous job, I worked with many international students who struggled with the transition to living and learning in the U.S., and it was sometimes very damaging to their mental health. If you aren’t doing well mentally and emotionally, succeeding academically, maintaining your visa status, and accomplishing your goals becomes infinitely more difficult: there’s a saying in the U.S., “You can’t pour from an empty cup”, that really applies to these situations. I would really suggest that you make use of this resources early and often; counselors can help you work through any feelings of homesickness or stress that you may be dealing with to make sure that you are set up to succeed in your program.