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!
Read MoreFor all you go-getters out there, the long-awaited moment has arrived. After a few weeks of buffing, shining, getting a new coat of paint and so forth, the admissions application for 2020 is online!
Read MoreI thought it would be worth giving readers a heads-up that the online application for admission will soon go offline for a few weeks for some annual updating and maintenance.
Read MoreI’m happy to relay an important update for those planning to submit applications during the upcoming admissions cycle: GRE and GMAT scores are now optional for all Fletcher degree programs.
Read MoreReaders, does it seem a bit bonkers to start talking about the application process for 2020 enrollment so soon after I’ve just been jabbering in this space about commencement? It certainly feels a bit bonkers, but then that’s life in admissions. Here we are still in the first half of 2019, months removed from welcoming new students this fall, and our heads are already deep into 2020.
Read MoreI frequently find myself telling prospective students to expect to hear the term “holistic application process” bandied about as they apply to grad school. It’s pretty much an industry-standard trope these days, and I sometimes worry it can come across as a chunk of highfalutin jargon that sounds official without actually meaning anything, like “solutions,” “cross-functional,” or “leverage” used as a verb. In the admissions context, “holistic” means that there’s not a single attribute upon which a decision will consistently hinge for all candidates, and that all the information we request in an application meaningfully contributes to an applicant’s case for admission.
Read More
Thanks to all of you who submitted applications at last week’s deadline! We realize we ask you to commit substantial time and effort to gathering all the materials the application requires, and to figure out how you can put forward your strongest possible case for admission. The moments leading up to that fateful “submit” click can feel like the culmination of a long process, but in the moments just after doing so the hush is almost deafening, to paraphrase Spinal Tap. So, what now? Are you just supposed to, like, wait around until further notice?
Read MoreIn an ongoing effort to provide a bit of helpful insight to the various pieces of the Fletcher application, today I’ll turn to the application form itself. This portion of the application may feel like a formality, a bit of necessary throat-clearing before the “good stuff,” but there’s a lot of detail that we learn about an applicant here, and it’s important that you complete it fully and accurately. I like to think that the form is mostly straightforward and self-explanatory, but there are a few segments that can cause mild confusion or uncertainty for applicants. I’ll do my best to give a bit of context for a few of these.
Read MoreFor those of you planning to apply by the January 10 application deadline, you should by now have lined up recommenders. If you haven’t yet done so, don’t panic, but also don’t delay any longer! January 10, while still well over a month away, is effectively closer than it seems. Keep in mind that many people – particularly potential academic recommenders – are likely entering one of the busiest times of the year, both professionally and personally. Final exams, holiday preparations, and related travel will be occupying a lot of bandwidth for many; it’s reasonable for them to need as much notice as possible, and probably a few reminders to submit their letters, too.
Read MoreAny line of work has its points of repetition. McDonald’s cashiers take a lot of orders for Big Macs, flight attendants can do the safety procedures shtick in their sleep, and Death Star platform workers quickly learn when to duck if they want to make it in a tough industry. Admissions officers read a lot of application essays. Like, a whole lot. Unsurprisingly, many of them cover similar themes. As fall application deadlines begin to approach, I hope a brief discussion of some of the more common tropes we see will be helpful as you begin to craft your own essays.
Read More