July 15, 2016 Summer Horizons: Apply to Graduate School! Guest Speaker: UMBC’s President, Dr. Freeman Hrabowski

Undergraduate students: This workshop is for you! On Friday, July 16, 2016, UMBC will host the annual Summer Horizons program. This program is for undergraduate students (at any school), and for others who are interested in learning more about graduate school admission, particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Career professionals and non-traditional students who are thinking about graduate school are invited to attend, as are students who already have a master’s degree and are now ready to pursue the Ph.D. Parents, family members, teachers, and friends, who have students in community college, high school, or jr. high who want to think ahead to consider graduate education for the future are also welcome to attend.

The 3-hour workshop will feature the following sessions:

• The graduate school application timeline
• The Graduate Record Exam (GRE overview)
• The Statement of Purpose
• Recommendation Letters (and how they are different from character references)

We will also present other topics related to preparing for graduate school.  The Meyerhoff Graduate Fellows program will be a panel hosted by current graduate students, and the keynote speaker will be the President of UMBC, Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski, III. 

(Read about Dr. Hrabowski in Time Magazine: 10 Best College Presidents, World’s 100 Most Influential People. See Dr. Hrabowski talk about UMBC on 60 Minutes. Watch Dr. Hrabowski’s  TED Talk.) 

https://embed-ssl.ted.com/talks/freeman_hrabowski_4_pillars_of_college_success_in_science.html

The 2016 Summer Horizons program is co-sponsored by PROMISE AGEP, UMBC’s Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP), and the Meyerhoff Graduate Fellows Program. The Co-chairs for the 2016 Summer Horizons program are Justine Johnson, Associate Director for the Meyerhoff grad program, and Yarazeth Medina, Coordinator for the PROMISE AGEP program.

 

2016 Summer Horizons Program

• Friday, July 15, 2016
• The 2016 program will begin at 9:30 AM and will end at 12 noon. (Registration and Seating will begin at 9:00)
• The Gameroom, The Commons
• Light refreshments will be served.
• This event is FREE to the public but (participants must register). 

---

AGENDA (subject to modification)

9:00 – 9:30 a.m

• Registration and Breakfast Refreshments

9:30 a.m.

• Welcome and Overview
  • Justine Johnson, Associate Director, Meyerhoff Graduate Fellows Program
  • Sunji Jangha, Co-Director, LSAMP Program

9:40 a.m.

• Preparing for Graduate Study: Timelines and Choices
  • K. Jill Barr, J.D. –  Sr. Assistant Dean of Graduate Enrollment, The Graduate School
  • Gay Warshaw,  Manager, Recruitment and Admissions, The Graduate School

10:00 a.m.

• Elements of the Graduate School Application: GRE, Transcripts, Letters of Recommendation, Statement of Purpose
  • Dr. Renetta Tull, Associate Vice Provost for Graduate Student Development & Postdoctoral Affairs, Director of PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP

10:30 a.m.

The 2016 Summer Horizons program is open to anyone who is interested in learning more about UMBC and the graduate admissions process.

The graduate school preparation material that we will present  is applicable to most U.S. institutions.  Faculty and staff may invite prospective students to this event.  Visitors from out-of-town are welcome to attend. Invitations are  extended to:

• All UMBC undergraduate students

• As part of the PROMISE Pathways project, undergraduate and master’s students  from schools within the University System of Maryland (USM) have a special invitation to attend
•  Students from all summer programs within the DC/Maryland/Virginia (DMV) region

• Students from NSF programs such as LSAMP, AGEP, NSF ERC, RDE etc., at any school

• McNair programs at any school.

• Students from organizations such as SHPE, SACNAS, NSBE, and AISES at any school in the country are welcome to attend.

• Students from any college or university, who are either local or will travel the distance to learn more about graduate school.

• We also invite professionals who are considering returning to graduate school for an advanced degree.

This program is free, but participants must register.

Summer Horizons is co-sponsored by PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP, The Meyerhoff Graduate Biomedical Fellows Program, and The Graduate School at UMBC. For additional resources, including access to funding opportunities: Please visit the Institute for Broadening Participation’s website,  “Pathways to Science,”  and fill out the form in the left corner:  http://www.pathwaystoscience.org/. The website has information on a variety of opportunities, which include as an example, a wealth of information on funding and internships through NASA:  http://www.pathwaystoscience.org/nasa.aspx. Our student participants have taken advantage of this resource in the past, and several have had offers for great opportunities. _________________________________________________________________

Directions and Parking 

To the Main Campus:

From the north, take Interstate 95 to Route 166 (Exit 47B, Catonsville) or take Interstate 83 to the Baltimore Beltway (I-695, west) and then take Exit 12C (Wilkens Avenue, west); follow the signs to UMBC.

From the south, take Interstate 95 to Route 166 (Exit 47B, Catonsville); follow signs to UMBC.

Baltimore-Washington International Airport is only five minutes away. Bus service is available from downtown Baltimore. AMTRAK and MARC commuter trains serve the nearby BWI Rail Station.

Visitor parking is available at metered garages located at Administration Drive, The Commons Drive and Walker Avenue. Locations labelled with a “P” on the UMBC campus map.Meters are enforced Monday through Friday for hours posted. Except for meters, all other campus roadways and lots require a permit. Meters are located on the 1st floor. Credit cards, cash and debit cards accepted.

---

Walking Directions to Commons Gameroom for Summer Horizons Event:

1. Walk from the garage to the Commons Building.
   1. From Commons Garage: Turn left from the entrance of the Commons garage. The Commons building will be the white building with windows.
   2. From the Walker Garage: Walk down the sidewalk towards the UMBC library. Then take the diagonal walkway from the UMBC library to the Commons building.
   3. From the Administration Garage: Walk to Administration Drive. Continue Walking straight. At the Biology Building, turn right. The Commons building will be the white building next to the Biology building.
2. Take the stairs or elevator (located in the center of the Commons building) to the 2nd floor.
   The Commons has several levels:

   1. Ground Floor
   2. First Floor
   3. Mezzanine
   4. 2nd Floor
   5. 3rd Floor

3. From the stairs, continue walking straight on the 2nd floor. The door at the end of the hallway is the Gameroom.

From the elevator, turn right and walk to the end of the hallway. The door at the end of the hallway is the Gameroom.

_________________________________________________________________

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• UMBC President Named In Time Magazine’s Top 100 Most Influential People (baltimore.cbslocal.com)
• Reading material: Tull, R. G., Nino, M.  and Ramoutar, N. (2012).  Preparing for Engineering and Other STEM Graduate/Post-Graduate Masters and Doctoral Programs.  [Spanish Version of Section 4 here: Preparación para Programas de Maestría y Doctorado]

_________________________________________________________________

Partial sponsorship for this program has been provided by the National Science Foundation, University System of Maryland Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) # Collaborative Research: AGEP – T: PROMISE AGEP Maryland Transformation # 1309290,   PROMISE: Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP).  Read more about PROMISE:  https://promiseagep.wordpress.com/publications/. Additional support is provided by The Graduate School at UMBC, and the NIH Meyerhoff Graduate Fellows program.