We always look forward to prospective students visiting us at Fletcher, particularly during the semester when guests can get a good sense of what a typical day here is like. I’ll put in a plug for the several “Visit Days” we have schedule throughout the fall, which provide a semi-structured way to spend an informative day at Fletcher.
Read MoreIt’s hard to imagine more of a toe-dipping into the admissions travel season than attending a fair here in town for my first recruitment event of the fall. That’s how the schedule worked out this year, though, and so Monday night I headed over to Boston University for the Idealist grad fair, always a pretty enormous event, given the number of universities in the Boston area.
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Lots going on this week, as is typical with students settled in to classes and the semester in full swing. Here’s a roundup of some of the highlights.
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Things are happening quickly around here, friends. Talk of application deadlines around this time of year may seem a bit of lighthearted japery, but don’t get caught napping. Take a look at the calendar, and note that it’s already mid-September. For those interested in January 2020 enrollment at Fletcher, the clock is ticking. October 10, one short month away, is the deadline for submitting your application!
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This year the LL.M. program welcomes Professor Joel Trachtman as its new Executive Director. I’m happy to share this post from him on the renewed urgency of studying international law, and the many opportunities to do so at Fletcher.
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New student arrival: check. Orientation: check. Official start of classes: check. Things are basically underway here for the 2019-2020 academic year, but without a good convoking, it doesn’t quite feel like the year has officially started. That will all change on Friday with this year’s Convocation ceremony. Convocation is always equal parts formal and celebratory, full of academic pageantry and the good energy of a community happy to be gathered together for the first time of the year. It feels a bit more special than usual this year, though.
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After a busy orientation week, the start of classes is officially upon us. Today is “shopping day,” something of a course bazaar that happens immediately before classes begin each semester. On shopping day, a selection of courses are presented in 20-minute capsule form to allow students to sample them as they build their course schedules for the semester.
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As orientation rolls on, I’ve heard a number of colleagues comment that this year’s class of new Fletcher students are a happy-seeming bunch. That’s not abnormal; orientation is by definition a good-energy event, but I’ve likewise noticed a positive vibe so far this week. It helps that we’ve had idyllic weather (with a stormy afternoon yesterday being the only meteorological blight thus far). As I’ve mentioned before, we’re hugely excited by the arrival of our new students, and it’s great to feel that they’re just as excited to be here.
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Today is one of the most fun days of the admissions year – the start of orientation! With a few exceptions, it’s the first time we’ll meet our new students face-to-face, after having spent the better part of a year working with them virtually as prospective/admitted/enrolled students. Our friends in the Registrar run the arrival and check-in portion of the day, though we eagerly staff the welcome tables for the opportunity to put faces to names with which we’ve been working on paper for the better part of the past year. My guess is that it can sometimes be a bit surreal for students to arrive at Fletcher for the first time, and be greeted by one of us as if they’re a long-lost relative. What can I say? We’re excited to have our new students here.
Read MoreWhile it’s hard to pin down an objectively “busiest” season of the admissions year, the fall months often feel the “buzziest,” if I may invent a term. More than any other season, fall is defined by juggling the most simultaneous tasks, and sometimes makes me feel like my head is spinning. Fletcher students are back on campus, prospective students are visiting and interviewing, and applications are starting to roll in. On top of all that, recruitment travel, a primary driver of the “buzz,” is at its high point.
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