November 17, 2009
The Statement of Purpose
Writing a Statement of Purpose for graduate school can seem a bit tricky.
What should you write, how should it begin, what does it need to convey?
These are all good questions to be asking.
The main thing that your personal statement should convey is why you want to attend graduate school at the particular program that you are applying to. It should demonstrate that you have academic and professional goals, that you are familiar with the program you are applying to, and that you would be a great addition to their program.
So, for example, if you are applying to SI for the Archives and Records Management (ARM) specialization your personal statement should convey why you want to study ARM, why you want to study it at SI, and what you hope to get out of the program. You are going to have to be specific and detailed, but clear and concise because you don't have a lot of space. The personal statement conveys, not only your educational and career goals, but also your ability to communicate well in writing.
Once you have a draft of your statement, I recommend having a few people whose opinions you trust read it over. These can be professor, employers, or friends and family. They can give you feedback on the content of the statement, and also act as proofreaders. You don't want to send in a personal statement with spelling and grammatical errors or typos.
Finally, it's always good if you can include some kind of personal story that connects to the more targeted information about why you want to study a particular subject, and why you want to do it at a certain institution. After all, it's a personal statement, right?
Often, writing a personal statement can help you clarify your own career goals. Think of it as an opportunity to get to know yourself and what you want out of life a little bit better. You might even decide that graduate school isn't for you, or isn't for you right now, or that your real passion lies elsewhere. That's OK. Graduate school is a big investment of time, money, and effort. The clearer you are about what you want to do and why, the more you will get out of your education and the better prepared you will be for the job market when you finish.
Posted by alexisan at 11:07 PM | Comments (0)
November 12, 2009
Taking the GRE
SI requires the GRE, and you might be somewhat intimidated by it. There are, however, ways that you can prepare for and improve your performance on the test.
The first thing you should do is take a practice test to see how you would do on the test without any preparation. This will help you assess your strengths and weaknesses and decide how to focus your study time.
If you are very self-disciplined, the best way to prepare for the test is to buy a prep book or two and design your own study plan. Most GRE preparation manuals will give you the same advice and materials that expensive test prep courses will. They will explain the test as a whole, the separate parts of it, and, mostly importantly give you strategies for answering the various types of questions on the test and managing your time.
The advantages of taking a test preparation course is not that you will learn material not available elsewhere, but that the course itself will provide structure to your learning experience. It's a great option for people who need that structure, and also provides you access to an instructor who can provide additional help if you are running into trouble. Some test preparation companies also offer additional resources, such as additional practice tests and exercises. In order to get the most out of a course, you need to do the homework and practice your test-taking while in the course.
The GRE isn't as scary as it might seem right now, and if you take time to assess your strengths and weaknesses, and learn how the test is designed you can improve your scores substantially.
Posted by alexisan at 12:14 PM | Comments (0)
November 06, 2009
Choosing Classes
It was easy to choose classes for my first term here at SI since I realized that I wanted to specialize in Archives and Records Management (ARM), and pick up technology skills. Two of my classes this semester are foundations courses that are required in the first semester: SI 500: Information in Social Systems: Collections, Flows, and Processing and SI 501: Contextual Inquiry and Project Management. I also decided to take SI 502: Networked Computing, which is the introductory technology course. If you read my previous post, you will know that I love it. Finally I am taking SI 580: Understanding Records and Archives, which is the foundational course in Archives and Records Management.
This has provided a solid foundation for thinking about where I want to go next during my time at SI. I plan to take SI 539: Design of Complex Websites next semester to continue building on my technology skills, and in the fall I will take a course on databases. I'll also be taking a half semester class in data manipulation next semester, SI 601 as well as a course in Web archiving. Finally, I will be taking SI 632: Appraisal of Archives and SI 643: Professional Practice in Libraries and Information Centers to round out my selections.
These are only some of the many choices that I had, and they make sense to me for professional reasons. I want to specialize in archives, and have an interest in academic libraries, especially special collections libraries so these courses made a lot of sense, but they certainly are not the only courses I could have chosen. For example, there is a course in electronic records management being offered next semester, which would appeal to those interested in government or private sector work, which would also be a good fit for an ARM specializer. The lesson here is to choose courses effectively, and also to choose those courses that make sense for the job you want to be doing when you leave SI.
Posted by alexisan at 01:13 PM | Comments (0)
October 27, 2009
Surprise!
Before coming to SI, I was nervous about many things, but, mostly, I was anxious about the technology requirement.
You see, I come from a humanities background, and have spent the past decade of my life in the history profession. Historians, you might guess, are not known for their technological prowess. So, I was somewhat afraid of SI 502, or what I like to call "the computer class." Me program a computer? Understand how the internet works? Are you kidding?
Guess what? SI 502 is my favorite class of all the foundations. I find computer coding fascinating. It is both logical and creative, and there is something intensely satisfying about being able to make a computer obey your will. Instead of being afraid of computers, now I want to know more, and am planning a fairly technologically intensive program of study for a person concentrating in archives.
So if you think of yourself as somewhat of a technophobe and are nervous, anxious, or even downright scared of all the technology involved with SI, relax a bit. You might not end up concentrating in Human-Computer Interaction, but I am willing to bet you'll be more interested in and relaxed around computers when you leave SI than you could ever have imagined!
Posted by alexisan at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)
Hello World
This is my University of Michigan School of Information Admissions blog.
Posted by alexisan at 12:09 PM | Comments (0)
