Profesora mamas - grad school application

[meemee]

first let me apologize. my thoughts might be all over the place.

how important is it to have a mentor in the school you want to apply at? does the mentor carry maybe 50% of the weight for admission into school? or more? or less.

i have an unique situation. i have a foreign degree. and i have been going to a community college to get my second bachelors. but after changing majors several times i am finally home. but the univ wont take students for second bachelors. they want them to apply to grad school. latest California issue due to budget cuts.

which is fantastic for me. i can take just the required undergrad classes as deficiencies.

however i am so freaked out. that based on my unique education background i wont be able to get into grad school (i cant apply till next year because i am still waiting for my transcript so i will take the GRE next year too). and i have no idea how to pursue my area of interest without education.

i have found a prof to talk to at the univ but NOT the one under whom i would study. because my area of focus is much different than hers.

my fear lies on the fact that i dont have a bachelor's history established here in this country. but i do have a couple of proffs who would write me great letters of rec. in fact i have about 7 of them from different fields (i know i wont need all of them).

i would also like to go straight into a Ph. D program instead of just an MA.

could i be honest with her and tell her that if i had the freedom to choose any univ anywhere in the US i would NOT be choosing her univ but am doing so because of family reasons?

[Geofizz]

Originally Posted by meemee

how important is it to have a mentor in the school you want to apply at? does the mentor carry maybe 50% of the weight for admission into school? or more? or less.

Depends on the program and university. It also depends upon how the position will be funded.

Originally Posted by meemee

i have an unique situation. i have a foreign degree.

That shouldn't matter. We accept only about half our students from domestic universities. The rest come from throughout Europe, South America, and Asia. The university has a system for evaluating the legitimacy of transcripts and degrees.

Originally Posted by meemee

(i cant apply till next year because i am still waiting for my transcript so i will take the GRE next year too).

Deadlines are generally December or January. That's plenty of time to get the transcripts (and they can arrive a tad later if that's what happens). GRE scores are good for 5 years. Also investigate if you need the TOEFL.

Originally Posted by meemee

and i have no idea how to pursue my area of interest without education.

I'm not sure what this means, but if you have a bachelor's from another university, that generally suffices. Changing fields is fine, particularly if you got some of those courses from a comm coll.

Originally Posted by meemee

i have found a prof to talk to at the univ but NOT the one under whom i would study. because my area of focus is much different than hers.

You need to talk to the PI and the chair of grad admissions for the department. You will get the answers you need from them and really, only them.

Originally Posted by meemee

could i be honest with her and tell her that if i had the freedom to choose any univ anywhere in the US i would NOT be choosing her univ but am doing so because of family reasons?

That's a really bad idea. I would never accept a student who I thought wasn't fully on board with me, my research area, or the university. That generally leads to a bad and painful experience all around.

[meemee]

Originally Posted by Geofizz

I'm not sure what this means, but if you have a bachelor's from another university, that generally suffices. Changing fields is fine, particularly if you got some of those courses from a comm coll.

thanks geofizz!! what i meant by the above was that research is the only way i see to be involved in indigenous issues AND be taken seriously. i know i can be an activist without an education (by education i mean a ph d) but i want to do research that will change policies. or bring things to light. or even go down to the countries i want to work in. which at this time looks like central america.

i see ph d as the easiest route to getting to my goals. i enjoy studying and research so it would be my chosen route too. kwim?!!! i looooove school.

[Carita]

geofizz had great responses - GL!