In Bangkok?  Join a Fletcher student for coffee tonight.  Or, if you’re in Istanbul, have a Turkish coffee with a student tomorrow (Wednesday) night.  The Coffee Hours are off and perking, with Frankfurt rounding out the first week.

(Note that we used to call these events Summer Coffee Hours, but in recognition that it’s winter in many Coffee Hour locations, we’ve gone season-neutral.)

Not sure whether you should attend a Coffee Hour?  Thinking that you haven’t researched your grad school options enough?  Or maybe you’ve researched them too much?  Or even that you’re an admitted student, so what could be gained?  Fear not!  These are super casual conversations that can range from Fletcher’s curricular offerings to where to find a good burrito near Tufts.  There’s no set agenda — just a conversation between prospective grad school classmates.  I hope you’ll want to join in, wherever you are!

Vacationing students kept busy on their winter breaks by hosting coffee hours.  Extending the reach of the community, we’re thrilled at how successful the coffee hours have been.  Here are a few reports from the hosts.

MA student Aaron drank coffee in Portland.
I hosted my coffee hour at the Public Domain in Portland, Oregon.  Seeing as how it was on the West Coast of the U.S., some of the folks who attended drove an hour or two to make it, including me.  I was expecting three prospective students, but five showed up and a few folks stopped by my table to check out the brochures and Fletcher name tent I had set up.

The biggest question from my prospective applicants was about the Fletcher “profile.”  Not an easy answer, since I’d say there isn’t one — we’ve got musicians, engineers, athletes, lawyers, military officers, journalists, NGO/Peace Corps volunteers, etc.  Your studies and experience are what count, not where you’re from or what you look like.  Another important point of discussion concerned what people do after Fletcher, and my suggestion was to check the list of Prominent Alumni on Wikipedia — you can get a pretty good idea of the alumni network and career fields, and where you think they fit in with your personal goals.

LLM student Chris drank his coffee in Berlin, Germany.
My coffee hour took place in the center of Berlin, at Café Humboldterrassen overlooking the Berlin Dome and the Museum Island, a UNESCO World Heritage site.  The island’s most famous museum, the Pergamon Museum, shares something important with Fletcher — it was completed in 1933, just when our school was founded.  Three people showed up at the gathering, including Tufts alum.  After a brief introduction, I kicked off the evening with some insights from campus life and what makes our school a very special one.  And to be sure, sitting there, telling the others about Fletcher made me realize once again what an extraordinary experience it is to be part of the Fletcher community.  Where else can you have breakfast with a Pakistani, lunch with a Kenyan, go for dinner with a French student, and party with a Chinese, all while your Australian study group fellow is complaining about the winter weather?

MALD student Kate and MIB student Michael joined forces to drink coffee in Minneapolis.
Kate reports, “We had a great group of engaged, curious prospective students, including a sophomore in college.  Pretty impressive to see a young Fletcherite in training.  I really enjoyed sharing our personal stories about how we chose Fletcher, as it reminded me yet again why this is the place for me. It made me excited and anxious to get back to campus.”

And Michael added that, “Nearly the entire groups of six prospective students stayed for the full two hours.  I’ve fielded several follow-up questions from individuals and have made introductions to other Fletcher students as well.”

Sooyeon met students in Seoul.
I took my laptop with me to the Fletcher Coffee Hour, Seoul edition, half expecting to keep myself busy for the next two hours.  To my pleasant surprise, the first prospective student introduced herself three minutes before the scheduled start time, and five others joined her soon thereafter.  The students didn’t come and go, they came and stayed.  Most of the visitors were in the process of finishing up their application (as the deadline was less than two weeks away), but some were considering applying to Fletcher a year or two in the future. They came with many questions, and as I was sharing my personal experience and views of Fletcher, it was a pleasant reminder to me that Fletcher was where I belonged.  For those who came to learn more about Fletcher, I hope I was able to offer some insights that may not come across while looking at a web page, and I hope they were able to gauge whether Fletcher is a good fit for them.

Uninterested in a complete break from Fletcher, our students have once again leaped forward to offer some of their vacation time to meet with prospective students over a cup of coffee.  We experimented with the Coffee Hours last summer, decided they were a big hit, and are excited to be able to connect current and future students again.

There’s a loooooong list of locations for the coffee hours.  Check it out on our web site.

We’re so happy with our coffee hour experiment!  Kristen and Liz created and implemented this multifaceted summer project.  Here’s Kristen’s report:

It has been a hectic couple of weeks, organizing about 25 gatherings across the globe, but we’re pleased to see that both current and prospective students have enjoyed the chance to chat about Fletcher. We still have more events coming up this weekend, so if you are in Houston, Istanbul, or Bangkok, feel free to RSVP and join in!  Student coffee hosts have reported back on their experience.

From Kathleen and Will in Paris:
French rock n’ roll played in the background, as we welcomed three prospective students to an informal Fletcher informational meeting in a bar in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.  The three prospective students came armed with questions, inquiring about the Fletcher curriculum, access to professors, career services, and life in Boston.  Two of the three participants were French citizens, and they appeared excited and nervous about the application process, as well as about studying in the U.S for the first time.  We tried to inject our responses with personal anecdotes that conveyed the vibrancy of the Fletcher experience.

From Laurence in Montreal:
Yesterday I had the pleasure to meet in Montreal with a small group of potential students from different parts of Canada.  We met at Caffè Art Java on Mont-Royal, a hospitable and open place that allowed us to enjoy the beautiful evening weather.  Not three years ago, I remember being in their shoes and going through the painful, yet rewarding, process of graduate school applications.  Questions ranged from the background of the student body, to internships and scholarship funding.  I sincerely hope that I was able to convey my appreciation of the friendships I have made, the knowledge I have gained, and the new opportunities that have been opened to me through the Fletcher family.  Good luck with your applications!

From Min and Sean in Cairo:
Two prospective students attended the event and asked about Fletcher’s MALD, MIB, and LLM programs. The discussion ranged from campus life to how Fletcher prepares students for the career of their choice.  We also talked about life in Egypt, and the two students were generous in offering their advice on how we could make the most of our time in Cairo.  We shared contact details for meeting up in the future.  After the event, we connected the prospective students with current Fletcher students and with alumni with experience in their areas of interest.