2015 MATC Scholars Program: Mr. Juhann Waller
MATC
Author
11/14/2017
Added
28
Plays
Description
Why Graduate School?
Searchable Transcript
Toggle between list and paragraph view.
- [00:00:00.385](classroom chatter)
- [00:00:09.032]Alright people, let's get ready to get started
- [00:00:10.495]so that we can try to make up as much time as possible.
- [00:00:15.473]Hello, I'm Professor Juhann Waller
- [00:00:19.017]from North Carolina A&T, and I am here to give you
- [00:00:21.621]a presentation on
- [00:00:23.551]why to go to graduate school.
- [00:00:27.435]What I want to do is start out with
- [00:00:29.600]a presentation outline, give you an introduction,
- [00:00:31.933]tell you a little bit about myself.
- [00:00:33.487]We'll do learning objectives, learning outcomes,
- [00:00:35.202]and then we'll go through the course map
- [00:00:38.275]presentation on why to do graduate school.
- [00:00:41.639]And then I will do a conclusion at the end,
- [00:00:43.747]and then I'll allow you guys a few minutes
- [00:00:46.144]to ask me questions about the presentation or
- [00:00:49.911]my life in general.
- [00:00:50.744]But I think I have a learning background
- [00:00:53.070]than most of your professors
- [00:00:54.230]that you have at your respective institutions.
- [00:00:57.591]Learning objectives for this presentation is
- [00:01:00.546]to talk about reasons for pursuing an advanced degree,
- [00:01:03.003]considerations to begin the application process,
- [00:01:06.003]complete the application process and gain an admission
- [00:01:08.510]into graduate school.
- [00:01:12.655]Our learning outcomes is to be not (mumbling)
- [00:01:15.151]about why graduate school is important.
- [00:01:19.270]I'm knowledgeable about preparing for graduate school
- [00:01:21.591]and then being fluent about the benefits of
- [00:01:24.242]attending and and advancing in graduate studies
- [00:01:27.234]and career paths as a graduate student
- [00:01:29.205]that's available to you.
- [00:01:31.931]What I'd like to do is do a little activity
- [00:01:36.294]called discovering commonalities.
- [00:01:39.213]What I want you to do is probably get into
- [00:01:41.448]groups of four.
- [00:01:44.284]And groups of four and generate a list of 20 things
- [00:01:46.968]that you know about graduate school.
- [00:01:48.826]And you will have, let's say 10 minutes
- [00:01:52.016]to complete this exercise and at the end of
- [00:01:53.918]this exercise, we'll get a representative
- [00:01:56.037]from each group to go through their list
- [00:01:59.814]of the things you know about graduate school.
- [00:02:03.364]Let's give you (mumbling) to do that now.
- [00:02:06.682]Don't want to do the (mumbling).
- [00:02:08.699]Intermingle with people from other universities.
- [00:02:11.630]I don't want to see all the A&T people together,
- [00:02:15.070]all the University of New Mexico.
- [00:02:18.237](mumbling) I want you to mix it up.
- [00:02:21.501](classroom chatter)
- [00:02:27.172]I will cut this time down.
- [00:02:29.059]Let's do it in five minutes.
- [00:02:31.023](classroom chatter)
- [00:05:14.096]About three more minutes.
- [00:06:18.680]Alright, let's go through the list.
- [00:06:20.398]Who wants to go first?
- [00:06:23.203]How many you got?
- [00:06:25.743]That's close enough. (laughing)
- [00:06:28.938]I'd like 20, but (mumbling).
- [00:06:31.342]Alright, same thing, what university you're from,
- [00:06:33.324]and then go through your eight.
- [00:06:35.417]My name is Ee-Oh-Dah,
- [00:06:36.915]I'm from (mumbling) University.
- [00:06:38.560]Majoring in Mechanical Engineering.
- [00:06:40.523]And I would just say we did.
- [00:06:43.257]Or, we didn't actually come up with 20 things.
- [00:06:47.028]We said that the salary increases
- [00:06:50.054]more than college.
- [00:06:52.132]That after committee scholarships and funding,
- [00:06:54.365]you have networking and closer relationship
- [00:06:56.701]with the people that you're working with.
- [00:06:59.101]Granted, in the workforce, you
- [00:07:00.788]may make those relationships, but
- [00:07:02.569](mumbling) as personal.
- [00:07:06.699]Research-based study and fellowships and TA,
- [00:07:09.448]less amount of credit, more projects,
- [00:07:12.592]less time in school and more conferences.
- [00:07:17.345]And then what I want to do real quick.
- [00:07:19.795]Each one of your group members, say your name
- [00:07:21.495]and what university you're from,
- [00:07:23.026]so everybody can meet everybody.
- [00:07:26.235]I'm Chantelle McCoy.
- [00:07:27.350]I'm from North Carolina A&T State University.
- [00:07:29.703]I'm Civil Engineering.
- [00:07:33.689]I'm Mitra English.
- [00:07:35.617]University of Maryland, Eastern Shore.
- [00:07:37.588](cheering)
- [00:07:38.463](laughing)
- [00:07:39.296]Aerospace Engineering.
- [00:07:40.830]My name is Othello.
- [00:07:42.937]I'm from (mumbling) and Vasilia U.
- [00:07:48.165]Next group.
- [00:07:50.323]You guys.
- [00:07:54.829]My name is Nicholas Buchanan and I go to A&T University,
- [00:07:59.664]and I'm a Civil Engineer.
- [00:08:03.415]And a lot of these things are the same
- [00:08:05.022]as our group had.
- [00:08:06.439]We were saying more research and
- [00:08:08.780]more concentrated research.
- [00:08:11.209]As a Civil Engineer, it's so broad,
- [00:08:13.169]but if you go to graduate school,
- [00:08:14.801]you could do transportation or structural.
- [00:08:17.847]Or you can really get in depth
- [00:08:19.515]with what you want to learn rather than something broad.
- [00:08:22.936]You get your tuition paid with a stipend.
- [00:08:26.154]You get mentors, you get really close to your faculty
- [00:08:29.450]members, who are really
- [00:08:31.112]better for networking skills.
- [00:08:34.546]Stronger resume, higher chance of getting
- [00:08:36.720]a better paying job.
- [00:08:39.785]That's pretty much it.
- [00:08:41.082]OK.
- [00:08:42.675]Group members.
- [00:08:45.136]My name is Denzel Curry, I go to Southern University.
- [00:08:47.967]I'm majoring in Electrical Engineering (mumbling).
- [00:08:50.788]Esther, University of Maryland,
- [00:08:54.076]Eastern Shore, Aerospace Engineering.
- [00:09:02.751]My name is Olivia Empiano,
- [00:09:04.229]I'm part of Mexico State University.
- [00:09:06.782]And we put pretty much the same thing.
- [00:09:09.144]You know, it's expensive.
- [00:09:10.655]It's specific, more to your content.
- [00:09:14.340]I'm not an Engineer.
- [00:09:17.764]I getting my B.S. in Biology
- [00:09:19.961]and I'm going into Education (mumbling).
- [00:09:24.215]It's more research intensive,
- [00:09:25.389]and you can either have a thesis or a project.
- [00:09:27.761]I hadn't really heard that.
- [00:09:29.600]I thought everything was more thesis-driven.
- [00:09:32.556]You get paid for it, if you didn't think of.
- [00:09:34.569]You have a mentor, so you get closer
- [00:09:36.673]to (mumbling) classes.
- [00:09:39.446]You don't necessarily have to teach,
- [00:09:41.518]but you can with that.
- [00:09:42.992]And it's like the working degree.
- [00:09:48.173]Good morning, everybody.
- [00:09:49.631]I'm Craig Beasley, Jr., studying Civil Engineering
- [00:09:52.005]at Prairie University.
- [00:09:56.682]Hello, my name is Kamrie Diller,
- [00:09:58.154]I'm a senior studying Mechanical Engineering
- [00:09:59.989]at Southern University at A&M College.
- [00:10:03.874]I'm Matthew Furby,
- [00:10:04.934]a junior Civil Engineer student at
- [00:10:06.565]North Carolina A&T.
- [00:10:09.629]Next group, let's go in the back.
- [00:10:14.030]Alright, so we came up with.
- [00:10:16.240]Hold on, first some light.
- [00:10:17.542]Sorry.
- [00:10:18.581]I'm Jerry Sanchez from (mumbling) University
- [00:10:21.280]majoring in Mechanical Engineering.
- [00:10:23.846]We came up with
- [00:10:26.806]one, it's expensive.
- [00:10:28.256]Two, it's kind of a long process.
- [00:10:30.574]You're always studying. (laughing)
- [00:10:35.561]It's too time consuming.
- [00:10:37.221]They said a lot of coffee,
- [00:10:38.974]you know, that's gonna happen.
- [00:10:40.843]It's gonna be academically challenging,
- [00:10:44.577]requires a lot of study groups.
- [00:10:46.590]You get paid for what we're gonna be doing.
- [00:10:48.744]A lot of communication skills,
- [00:10:50.647]and then don't get emotional.
- [00:10:55.741]The schedule's pretty relaxed (mumbling).
- [00:10:59.483]Credits (mumbling).
- [00:11:03.984]And more opportunity and there is more pressure.
- [00:11:06.802]OK, and quickly, your group members.
- [00:11:08.757]My name is Muhammad Scully,
- [00:11:11.163]Southern Indiana and State University.
- [00:11:14.752]My name is Eye-Ah-Kole-Aye Ah-Kum-Bay.
- [00:11:18.935]I attend to University of Maryland Eastern Shore
- [00:11:21.089]in Mechanical Engineering.
- [00:11:23.353]OK.
- [00:11:26.950]I'm just sitting in.
- [00:11:27.896]Oh OK. (laughing)
- [00:11:29.222]No, not me, I'm just sitting in.
- [00:11:31.137](laughing)
- [00:11:33.256]Good morning everybody.
- [00:11:34.269]My name is Edward Abraham,
- [00:11:35.796]Civil Engineering student at Prairie View A&M University.
- [00:11:39.696]Our group has come up with 13 different things.
- [00:11:43.664]Number one, graduate school is expensive.
- [00:11:46.526]Number two, it's time consuming.
- [00:11:49.353]Number three, we need to take the GRE
- [00:11:51.798]and the admission depends on your GRE scores.
- [00:11:56.218]Number four, hard.
- [00:11:58.757]Number five, good resume.
- [00:12:02.304]Number six, letters of recommendation.
- [00:12:04.713]Number seven, research experience.
- [00:12:07.043]Number eight, it has its own benefits.
- [00:12:09.267]Number nine, higher pay.
- [00:12:10.983]Number 10, good GPA.
- [00:12:13.142]Number 11, scholarships.
- [00:12:15.130]Number 12, working closer with faculty
- [00:12:17.519]and your professors.
- [00:12:20.026]And at number 13, increase your critical thinking
- [00:12:23.266]and intellectual ability.
- [00:12:24.636]OK.
- [00:12:25.469]Quickly, your group members.
- [00:12:27.501]My name is Mayu Lalters,
- [00:12:29.216]I'm a senior at Tennessee State University.
- [00:12:31.775]I'm a Civil Engineering major.
- [00:12:34.874]My name's James Jones.
- [00:12:36.189]I'm a graduated senior at Tennessee State University,
- [00:12:38.212]Civil Engineering.
- [00:12:40.541]My name's Arturo Dominguez,
- [00:12:42.249]sophomore at Mexico State University,
- [00:12:44.260]and I'm majoring in Mechanical Engineering.
- [00:12:47.885]Thank you everybody for putting that together.
- [00:12:49.827]What we're gonna do, what this presentation is to
- [00:12:52.532]give you some more general information on
- [00:12:55.652]graduate school, so you can put that
- [00:12:57.252]in your tool box to make the decision,
- [00:12:59.210]if you're on the fence, whether to go to graduate school
- [00:13:01.667]or not to go to graduate school.
- [00:13:03.353]That's what we're gonna
- [00:13:05.264]go through next.
- [00:13:09.650]What is graduate school?
- [00:13:11.236]Graduate school provides specialized
- [00:13:12.988]knowledge and training for your chosen field of study.
- [00:13:15.406]Like you said in your groups,
- [00:13:17.526]it gives you more specialized option.
- [00:13:20.538]You get really delve down into the details
- [00:13:23.276]of the field of choice that you like,
- [00:13:25.286]you're excited about.
- [00:13:26.811]What makes you excited, what gets you up in the morning.
- [00:13:30.057]So you get to do in depth studies on that.
- [00:13:32.251]And it provides more depth to subjects
- [00:13:34.453]already taken in your field of study.
- [00:13:36.712]And then, it allows you ability to engage in
- [00:13:40.037]research and other intellectual activities
- [00:13:41.886]to advance and contribute to the
- [00:13:43.724]already scholarly body of knowledge
- [00:13:45.868]that exists out there.
- [00:13:47.989]And then it also requires a personal commitment
- [00:13:50.455]to go to graduate school.
- [00:13:52.997]Like some say, all the coffee, the long hours.
- [00:13:57.577]Graduate school is interesting.
- [00:13:59.099]But everybody can get through it.
- [00:14:02.781]Some of the reasons why I chose to get an advanced degree.
- [00:14:05.950]Number one, personal growth.
- [00:14:07.804]You get to grow as an individual.
- [00:14:09.837]Those long nights, you're drinking all that coffee,
- [00:14:12.280]staying up, it makes you a better person.
- [00:14:14.654]It stretches you, but it never breaks you.
- [00:14:17.232]You get to learn a little bit more about yourself,
- [00:14:20.192]from a personal level
- [00:14:21.984]as well as from an academic level.
- [00:14:24.106]And then it gives you greater employment opportunities,
- [00:14:26.454]because you expand your knowledge base,
- [00:14:28.517]so you're exposed to items that you're not
- [00:14:30.662]necessarily exposed to on the undergraduate level.
- [00:14:33.382]You can also get a greater
- [00:14:35.958]career of excellent opportunities,
- [00:14:38.099]meaning the more knowledge you have,
- [00:14:39.677]you'll be able to (mumbling)
- [00:14:41.309]in the chosen field you may be able to
- [00:14:43.309]advance faster than somebody that just has
- [00:14:46.218]a B.S. degree or just a Masters degree
- [00:14:48.989]based on your body of knowledge.
- [00:14:50.884]Once you finish that degree,
- [00:14:52.830]go through all those late nights,
- [00:14:54.718]you feel a sense of accomplishment.
- [00:14:57.604]Because some of you sitting here thinking,
- [00:14:59.557]I can't go to graduate school.
- [00:15:00.886]It's so hard and such a great task.
- [00:15:03.154]And once you finish that,
- [00:15:04.085]a sense of self, pride,
- [00:15:07.327]a sense of self-preservation.
- [00:15:10.026]And then also, you get greater recognition and credibility
- [00:15:13.518]with that.
- [00:15:15.086]Because again, now you're starting to become
- [00:15:16.650]an expert in a chosen field.
- [00:15:18.663]And so now, people start looking upon you
- [00:15:21.414]or looking to you for that knowledge
- [00:15:23.428]in that chosen field.
- [00:15:26.047]And then also, your field of study requirements.
- [00:15:28.814]You also need to figure out
- [00:15:29.720]what your field of study requirements.
- [00:15:30.985]And then there's also, sometimes at the end of the day,
- [00:15:33.159]a financial award where,
- [00:15:34.766]once you get out to the work force,
- [00:15:36.204]as far as a salary requirement.
- [00:15:39.835]Those are some of the reasons why
- [00:15:42.318]I think pursuing an advanced degree is important.
- [00:15:46.310]Trends in pursuing an advanced degree,
- [00:15:48.094]trends in the economy
- [00:15:50.618]show that the US is becoming extremely dependent
- [00:15:53.383]on seeking a highly educated workforce.
- [00:15:55.410]Years ago, we used to be more of an industrial nation,
- [00:15:58.352]and now we're in a technological ago, so
- [00:16:00.590]the big push is for advanced degrees,
- [00:16:02.968]technological degrees.
- [00:16:04.613]Let's become the technological leaders of the world.
- [00:16:11.008]Between 2008 and 2018, approximately 2.5 million jobs
- [00:16:15.657]will require a Masters, Doctoral or advanced degree.
- [00:16:19.370]That's a fact.
- [00:16:21.201]And the reason for that is because our world
- [00:16:23.401]problems are getting more complex,
- [00:16:24.766]they're not getting simpler.
- [00:16:26.197]We need advanced computer programs
- [00:16:29.532]to be able to run different probability,
- [00:16:32.276]because we're running into complex problems that,
- [00:16:34.584]20 years ago we would have never thought
- [00:16:36.351]that the world could be this complex and complicated.
- [00:16:42.480]Another trend.
- [00:16:43.751]What this right here shows is the unemployment rate
- [00:16:45.907]and the median weekly income.
- [00:16:48.824]2014, so it's last year's data from
- [00:16:51.053]the Labor and Bureau of Statistics,
- [00:16:54.060]one of those agencies.
- [00:16:55.262]You can see if you have less than a high school diploma,
- [00:16:58.261]your unemployment rate is fairly high, 9%.
- [00:17:01.775]I think 2009, you had what everybody was calling
- [00:17:05.043]the Great Recession,
- [00:17:08.891]where a lot of markets contracted and so we had
- [00:17:12.726]a lot of people unemployed.
- [00:17:14.264]I think the unemployment rate hit,
- [00:17:15.670]in some states, 10, 12 and 13%.
- [00:17:18.103]That's very high.
- [00:17:19.614]And so a lot of those folks were probably
- [00:17:21.754]less college educated fall into that 9%,
- [00:17:26.266]but it trickled its way up.
- [00:17:28.065]And as you can see, if you have a Masters degree,
- [00:17:29.808]you have a Bachelors, the unemployment rate
- [00:17:32.588]was about 2.8.
- [00:17:34.379]And then when you get to professional degrees
- [00:17:35.891]and Doctoral degrees it was about.
- [00:17:37.473]For professional degree, 1.9
- [00:17:39.412]and your Doctoral, 2.1.
- [00:17:42.349]And your professional degree would be
- [00:17:44.138]degrees that's required for lawyers, doctors,
- [00:17:47.383]things like that that you have to have that
- [00:17:50.250]advanced degree in order to be able to practice.
- [00:17:53.689]Oh, like medicine.
- [00:17:54.866]And then you can see the income differential.
- [00:17:56.973]As you get a Masters degree, you'll earn
- [00:17:59.138]roughly about $200 more
- [00:18:01.161]weekly and it progresses.
- [00:18:04.166]So, over the term of your career,
- [00:18:06.398]the monetary benefit would be cumulative
- [00:18:10.225]as you go along.
- [00:18:15.153]Other trends is, as you can see,
- [00:18:17.465]these are a list of fields that require
- [00:18:20.108]some type of advanced degree in order to
- [00:18:23.847]be able to practice these fields.
- [00:18:28.848]So, you got economist now,
- [00:18:31.228]psychologist, speech pathologist,
- [00:18:33.585]statisticians, urban and regional planners,
- [00:18:36.650]nurses, librarians.
- [00:18:38.536]So, it's just not for the Engineering and STEM majors.
- [00:18:41.471]It's starting to branch out and touch other
- [00:18:43.538]fields and majors that,
- [00:18:45.387]10 years ago, they didn't require a Masters degree
- [00:18:49.209]to be deemed proficient in that particular field.
- [00:18:55.728]Some of this stuff on this list may be fields,
- [00:18:57.873]for those of you who are not engineers,
- [00:18:59.370]that you want to pursue.
- [00:19:00.668]So, it may be important for you to
- [00:19:02.409]put your foot in the door, that you have to go
- [00:19:04.206]and get a advanced degree just to be able
- [00:19:06.972]to practice those
- [00:19:11.157]fields.
- [00:19:12.733]And we'll go over the soul searching.
- [00:19:14.858]'Cause I think some of you guys
- [00:19:16.205]in this room are probably on the fence of
- [00:19:18.040]whether I go to graduate school, or whether I
- [00:19:20.051]go and start working 'cause I'm tired of being broke.
- [00:19:22.990]How many people are on the fence
- [00:19:24.262]on whether they want to go to graduate school or not?
- [00:19:27.210]Be honest.
- [00:19:28.286]OK, so about half.
- [00:19:31.267]All right, I got another little exercise for you.
- [00:19:34.488]In your same groups,
- [00:19:36.019]generate a list of five reasons
- [00:19:37.559]for attending graduate school and five reasons
- [00:19:39.097]for not attending graduate school.
- [00:19:41.756]And we're going to do this in about five minutes.
- [00:19:47.157]You've got some information,
- [00:19:48.460]so now as you use that information
- [00:19:49.618]to create these two lists.
- [00:19:51.230]Some of the same stuff, or?
- [00:19:52.683]Pretty much.
- [00:19:54.527](classroom chatter)
- [00:20:01.885]You got two lists.
- [00:20:02.894]A list of reasons for going to graduate school,
- [00:20:04.326]or reasons not going to graduate school.
- [00:20:10.552]In each group, I would like a different speaker
- [00:20:12.035]than the one that did it.
- [00:20:15.754](classroom chatter)
- [00:22:40.291]Alright, one more minute.
- [00:23:00.686]Alright, time's up.
- [00:23:02.197]Let's start in the back and work our way
- [00:23:04.088]back around this time.
- [00:23:06.296]We'll do it in reverse order,
- [00:23:07.827]if y'all can remember all that.
- [00:23:09.201](mumbling)
- [00:23:15.609]Alright, let's go.
- [00:23:18.294]If you don't have five, just say what you have.
- [00:23:20.472](classroom chatter)
- [00:23:27.656]OK.
- [00:23:29.212]We didn't finish all this,
- [00:23:30.179]but we have three on each side.
- [00:23:31.899]These are the cons for grad school.
- [00:23:35.206]Better job opportunities,
- [00:23:36.592]advancing your knowledge and social respect.
- [00:23:40.296]Against going to graduate school,
- [00:23:42.763]time, money and stress.
- [00:23:45.515]Time, money and stress.
- [00:23:48.724]Next.
- [00:23:52.057]That's not a good reason for (mumbling).
- [00:23:55.230]We said for the positives,
- [00:23:57.523]better knowledge,
- [00:23:59.387]you become an expert in your field,
- [00:24:02.814]and you get better pay.
- [00:24:05.624]And for the negatives,
- [00:24:09.739]scared of job leave,
- [00:24:12.140]you owe a lot of money
- [00:24:14.925]and socially,
- [00:24:17.149]I guess social reset.
- [00:24:18.171]Yeah, social reset.
- [00:24:19.977]What was the last one, social?
- [00:24:22.520]Social reset.
- [00:24:23.372]I guess you gotta start all over you know,
- [00:24:25.396]making friends and--
- [00:24:26.516]Oh, OK. Yeah.
- [00:24:28.098]Party watch, you gotta reset your party watch.
- [00:24:30.043](laughing)
- [00:24:30.991]That's all you had to say, man,
- [00:24:32.043]just start over for party watch.
- [00:24:33.712](laughing)
- [00:24:36.397]Next?
- [00:24:38.327]Alright, some of the cons we mentioned
- [00:24:41.589]were higher pay,
- [00:24:43.311]more efficient,
- [00:24:45.654]you get to do what you want,
- [00:24:48.543]self-accomplishment,
- [00:24:50.807]and something specific to your job.
- [00:24:53.306](classroom chatter)
- [00:25:02.931]Need to work harder,
- [00:25:04.980]some people might have financial problems.
- [00:25:08.731]And another one was family.
- [00:25:11.318]Some people might have kids, children (mumbling) patient.
- [00:25:14.244]And then, the opportunity to get into grad school.
- [00:25:18.393]It's competitive, things like that.
- [00:25:20.607]Lastly is time.
- [00:25:23.091]OK.
- [00:25:26.571](laughing)
- [00:25:28.386]For our group
- [00:25:30.290]we have four things for why.
- [00:25:32.435]We have higher pay, expanded knowledge
- [00:25:35.297]for job opportunities,
- [00:25:37.386]and we have fun on both sides.
- [00:25:41.328]You can't have fun for both sides,
- [00:25:43.205]either one or the other.
- [00:25:44.203]But you can have fun in (mumbling).
- [00:25:46.117](laughing)
- [00:25:47.781]For the why nots, we have
- [00:25:49.563]time consuming, stressful research and fun.
- [00:25:52.991]OK.
- [00:25:54.366]You put fun in the maybe column.
- [00:25:56.596]Yeah, in the middle.
- [00:25:58.038]Yeah great, OK.
- [00:25:59.039]Well, and you could go for both
- [00:26:01.059]depending on (classroom chatter).
- [00:26:02.668]It can, it can.
- [00:26:06.115]We'll talk about that in a little bit.
- [00:26:08.083]Alright, the last, last group.
- [00:26:10.109]OK.
- [00:26:11.364]For arguments to go to grad school.
- [00:26:13.862]You get a salary increase,
- [00:26:15.604]better opportunities including research,
- [00:26:17.316]and you have the ability to educate others,
- [00:26:19.952]and the knowledge required.
- [00:26:21.419]Our reasons for not going to grad school
- [00:26:23.362]are if you're tired of school,
- [00:26:24.659]if it's an intensity workout,
- [00:26:26.848]you get a government support,
- [00:26:28.223]in terms of having to pay for grad school
- [00:26:30.490]and having to maintain your GPA.
- [00:26:32.432]And if you're not affected.
- [00:26:34.568]How come you were backing him?
- [00:26:37.105]You didn't want him to look at you?
- [00:26:38.504]Oh, I was talking to them. (laughing)
- [00:26:40.089]I heard you, I heard you.
- [00:26:41.750]I get no respect. (laughing)
- [00:26:46.466]Alright so,
- [00:26:48.098]I'm gonna want to come back to that,
- [00:26:50.112]hopefully we have some time at the end.
- [00:26:52.366]'Cause I want to give you a little bit about
- [00:26:54.457]my little life story, and then
- [00:26:56.520]we'll do the questions.
- [00:26:58.196]So, soul searching, at least for me,
- [00:27:00.165]the reasons to pursue a advanced degree
- [00:27:02.744]is increase your earning potential,
- [00:27:04.633]professional growth and development
- [00:27:05.832]in your advancement in career,
- [00:27:07.563]and enjoy gaining knowledge about your
- [00:27:09.466]chosen field of study.
- [00:27:11.609]Those are reasons why you should and
- [00:27:13.730]I don't have a reason why you should not
- [00:27:15.701]go to graduate school.
- [00:27:16.916]To me, going to graduate school is all positive,
- [00:27:18.765]because if it's a field that you truly enjoy,
- [00:27:22.193]love, eat, breathe, sleep,
- [00:27:24.109]then learning about it should not be a problem.
- [00:27:27.013]So, the stresses of not making the bar,
- [00:27:28.915]they should be a non-issue because
- [00:27:31.237]you enjoy what you do.
- [00:27:35.487]Yes sir.
- [00:27:36.345]What if you have family constraints?
- [00:27:38.300]Family constraints,
- [00:27:42.535]there are programs around where
- [00:27:44.316]you can go to graduate school part time.
- [00:27:46.084]So you don't have to be a full time student
- [00:27:47.730]and there are sometimes still assistantships
- [00:27:49.529]available to part time students.
- [00:27:52.245]'Cause there are some graduate programs,
- [00:27:54.304]for example, some MBA programs.
- [00:27:55.886]They require you to be in the workforce
- [00:27:59.142]in order for you to be accepted.
- [00:28:00.956]So those classes are on weekends or at night,
- [00:28:04.278]and then there are now new trends, online study.
- [00:28:07.574]There's opportunity for you to go online
- [00:28:09.827]and get an advanced degree.
- [00:28:11.878]So there are ways around those type of obstacles.
- [00:28:19.385]Another thing about grad school is that
- [00:28:21.753]you get to pace yourself, to some degree.
- [00:28:23.943]Nobody wants to be at school for 20 years, but
- [00:28:25.941]if you have extenuating circumstances
- [00:28:28.454]like you have family or other commitments
- [00:28:29.990]that you need to take care of
- [00:28:31.917]while you're getting your degree,
- [00:28:33.842]graduate school allows for that.
- [00:28:36.616]So like I said, you could be a part time student
- [00:28:38.642]and still work, but keep in mind that the
- [00:28:42.786]assistantship would not be as much
- [00:28:44.760]as if you were a full time graduate student.
- [00:28:48.583]If I may chime in.
- [00:28:50.888]An 80 year lady
- [00:28:54.260]graduated with her B.S. after raising all her kids,
- [00:28:57.405]so how difficult can it be for you
- [00:29:00.114]to do your Masters or PhD.
- [00:29:02.941]Just think about it.
- [00:29:04.041]She took all that time
- [00:29:05.565]and she still had the pursuit of knowledge,
- [00:29:08.386]which is what graduate school is, the pursuit of knowledge.
- [00:29:11.991]And at the end of the day,
- [00:29:13.762]at 80, she got her B.S.
- [00:29:17.025]and celebrated her life, so
- [00:29:19.957]you shouldn't sell yourself short.
- [00:29:23.018]Correct.
- [00:29:23.883]And so, you don't have to do what (mumbling) your B.S..
- [00:29:27.351]There are some people out there that go,
- [00:29:29.201]they get a B.S. in, I don't know,
- [00:29:31.627]let's say, social work, and they start doing that
- [00:29:34.645]for a number of years and they realize,
- [00:29:36.163]I like social work, that's not really my passion.
- [00:29:38.549]And so, then they go back and get a Masters degree
- [00:29:41.264]in another field that is their passion.
- [00:29:43.948]So, just because you got your undergraduate degree
- [00:29:45.919]in civil engineering, mechanical engineering,
- [00:29:48.729]psychology, does not necessarily mean
- [00:29:51.027]that you have to get your advanced degree
- [00:29:52.546]in that same field.
- [00:29:54.383]You can do some more soul searching between
- [00:29:57.001]leaving undergrad and pursuing that advanced degree.
- [00:30:07.317]I got to skip this one.
- [00:30:09.041]What's next, the graduate school process.
- [00:30:13.904]Somebody tried to skip another one, OK.
- [00:30:15.961]The graduate school process is, what you want to do is
- [00:30:19.227]when you're starting to look at graduate schools,
- [00:30:21.138]is look at the research rate and reputations
- [00:30:23.562]of graduate school program that you want to go to.
- [00:30:26.447]Make sure that it has
- [00:30:29.233]concentrations that you're interested in.
- [00:30:31.082]They're doing research and projects that
- [00:30:33.372]get you excited.
- [00:30:35.667]Because then that takes down that stress level.
- [00:30:38.353]Because there's nothing worse than going to work
- [00:30:40.202]every day and going to graduate school every day
- [00:30:42.135]doing a research project that you don't like
- [00:30:44.300]or doing something that you're not excited about.
- [00:30:46.722]Second thing is you need to find out
- [00:30:48.613]what the requirements for admission
- [00:30:50.016]are for that particular university or graduate program
- [00:30:52.918]in your chosen field of study.
- [00:30:55.144]And then you need to ask questions about
- [00:30:57.210]what type of research is being conducted
- [00:30:58.992]by faculty or professors in your chosen field of study.
- [00:31:02.640]And how long are those research projects going to last?
- [00:31:04.812]'Cause you don't want to go,
- [00:31:06.212]you know, they tell you about a research project
- [00:31:07.810]and you're all excited about it and
- [00:31:09.674]they're at the tail end of it and it'll be done
- [00:31:11.615]in two months, and so when you get accepted
- [00:31:13.450]and you think you're gonna have the opportunity
- [00:31:15.110]to work on this research project,
- [00:31:16.541]and it's done and you're getting stuck doing
- [00:31:18.572]that research project that you're not passionate about.
- [00:31:23.768]You also want to find out what student services are
- [00:31:26.290]available at the school
- [00:31:27.506]and with respect with programs.
- [00:31:30.045]You want to find out what type of assistantships they have,
- [00:31:32.917]what type of financial support,
- [00:31:35.009]what type of resources they have.
- [00:31:37.578]Also want to find out,
- [00:31:39.843]and I just touched on what type of financial support
- [00:31:42.705]they can expect for students.
- [00:31:45.107]There are some graduate programs that are
- [00:31:46.957]very heavily research-intensive
- [00:31:48.494]that can pay for your tuition and give you a stipend
- [00:31:52.258]and do some other things and allow you
- [00:31:54.850]to go to conferences and present papers
- [00:31:56.851]and do things that you might be passionate about.
- [00:31:59.225]Whereas other programs may not be that
- [00:32:01.013]research intensive, more teaching intensive.
- [00:32:03.857]Or they're not allowed to,
- [00:32:06.013]they don't have the resources to
- [00:32:07.633]allow you to do those things.
- [00:32:09.935]Another question, we'll go through this quickly is
- [00:32:13.425]how much educational debt does a graduate students
- [00:32:16.585]leave with?
- [00:32:17.581]That's a very important question.
- [00:32:19.089]My philosophy is, when you go in to a graduate school
- [00:32:21.045]and get an advanced degree,
- [00:32:22.100]you should not have to pay a dime out of your pocket.
- [00:32:24.027]They should be paying you,
- [00:32:25.298]'cause you had a resource that they want.
- [00:32:27.916]Your resource is your brain,
- [00:32:29.135]you want to absorb knowledge.
- [00:32:30.339]So, the answer to that question
- [00:32:32.748]should be zero or very minimal.
- [00:32:34.763]You also want to find out how many
- [00:32:36.620]graduate students are within your program
- [00:32:38.834]and complete the program of study.
- [00:32:40.672]Here again,
- [00:32:41.548]circumstances beyond everybody's control.
- [00:32:44.681]Maybe they have family obligations
- [00:32:46.164]or other obligations that come up with.
- [00:32:48.094]You might have some students that
- [00:32:50.108]are in the program longer than others,
- [00:32:51.849]but you want to find out what is the average
- [00:32:53.939]time does it take a person to complete
- [00:32:56.799]the graduate program.
- [00:32:58.293]'Cause I have seen situations where
- [00:32:59.931]we call it the vortex.
- [00:33:01.336]Students get trapped in this vortex,
- [00:33:02.806]and they can't get out
- [00:33:03.764]and they become frustrated.
- [00:33:05.196]When you become frustrated,
- [00:33:06.099]you do not finish your program of study.
- [00:33:09.409]Location of the university
- [00:33:11.460]and associated cost of living.
- [00:33:13.280]For me personally, I do not like the cold,
- [00:33:15.395]so I will not be going to Canada
- [00:33:16.776]to get an advanced degree.
- [00:33:18.734]I'll be going somewhere warm.
- [00:33:20.246]So you can take that into consideration.
- [00:33:22.162]And that goes along with your social life.
- [00:33:26.341]Make sure it's some place that you can
- [00:33:28.048]do the activities that you like to do.
- [00:33:30.314]And then also you want to find out from
- [00:33:31.852]the programs, where are your
- [00:33:33.379]past graduates employed
- [00:33:35.066]to make sure that they are working in fields of study
- [00:33:38.102]related to their degree and that they are getting
- [00:33:40.809]good jobs and opportunities.
- [00:33:43.324]And then you kind of put the expectations
- [00:33:45.337]of that particular program at that university.
- [00:33:49.025]Some programs require you to be a teaching assistant.
- [00:33:51.542]Some programs require you to be a research assistant.
- [00:33:53.435]So you need to find out what the expectations are,
- [00:33:56.216]so that will help you manage your stress level.
- [00:33:58.863]You don't want to go into an institution
- [00:34:00.668]that's a research intensive institution thinking
- [00:34:03.094]I'm going to be a TA or a graduate assistant
- [00:34:06.148]and you don't want to be in a lab.
- [00:34:10.077]Grad school selection process,
- [00:34:12.275]I'm gonna go through this extremely quick.
- [00:34:14.289]Participate in graduate participation conferences,
- [00:34:17.207]like you are.
- [00:34:18.040]Campus visits, become familiar with the
- [00:34:19.892]time table, the deadlines for submitting your application.
- [00:34:22.132]Make sure you have a purpose statement,
- [00:34:23.952]GRE score.
- [00:34:25.463]And GRE varies from institution to institution,
- [00:34:28.045]and from program of study.
- [00:34:30.523]Your transcripts, resume, work experience requirements,
- [00:34:33.713]recommendation letters and GPA requirements.
- [00:34:35.924]So if you're thinking about going to
- [00:34:37.663]graduate school, make sure you kind of
- [00:34:39.112]keep that in mind as you continue your
- [00:34:40.785]undergrad education, 'cause some of those,
- [00:34:43.054]now that you do an undergrad,
- [00:34:44.362]will be a factor on what opportunities there are for
- [00:34:48.040]your graduate process.
- [00:34:50.324]What's next, as far as gaining admission.
- [00:34:52.527]Make sure you can understand the admission process
- [00:34:54.324]at your select your university that you
- [00:34:56.493]would like to attend.
- [00:34:57.578]Your graduate admission committee is mostly
- [00:34:59.885]comprised of professors at that university.
- [00:35:02.640]They'll be some in the department that you'll be
- [00:35:05.392]applying to, as well as some from the
- [00:35:07.550]overall graduate school admissions office.
- [00:35:10.061]Generate and submit a competitive application.
- [00:35:13.033]Follow up and be proactive.
- [00:35:14.906]That is very important,
- [00:35:16.603]and that's for anything in your life.
- [00:35:18.000]Always follow up and be proactive.
- [00:35:19.857]In conclusion, attending graduate school
- [00:35:22.492]offers tangible and intangible opportunities.
- [00:35:24.449]Earning potential is higher than those
- [00:35:26.368]who have just a Bachelors degree.
- [00:35:27.918]Understand the factors that consider prior to
- [00:35:30.715]start your application will greatly enhance your
- [00:35:33.792]chances of putting together a competitive application.
- [00:35:38.109]Again, kind of to piggyback off that,
- [00:35:39.974]you have a support system at your undergraduate level.
- [00:35:42.483]If you think of a university that you want to apply to
- [00:35:45.490]for graduate school, talk to your faculty.
- [00:35:48.429]They may know another faculty at
- [00:35:49.985]that particular university.
- [00:35:51.254]Also, I think they will be happy to review
- [00:35:53.388]your application and make sure
- [00:35:54.818]that you have everything covered and they don't see
- [00:35:57.177]any areas that you can improve your application.
- [00:35:59.163]Especially if you have to write
- [00:36:00.582]a personal statement.
- [00:36:02.268]I think they would be happy to do that for you.
- [00:36:05.818]And also, be proactive about your investment
- [00:36:07.464]and then being made to pursue a graduate degree.
- [00:36:11.810]Realize it's hard work, but you'll make it through it,
- [00:36:14.543]just like you will make it through your undergrad.
- [00:36:17.087]Any questions for me?
- [00:36:18.963]I know I did that really quickly.
- [00:36:24.583]Oh, quiet.
- [00:36:26.008]You said you were gonna give us a personal.
- [00:36:27.602]Okay, personal.
- [00:36:28.562]That's what everybody was waiting for,
- [00:36:30.275]a personal (mumbling).
- [00:36:31.654](laughing)
- [00:36:32.625]OK.
- [00:36:33.458]I think I'm a little different
- [00:36:34.930]from most of your faculty.
- [00:36:36.382]I am a course of civil engineering
- [00:36:40.316]business, or I own my own civil engineering firm,
- [00:36:43.896]and I also teach at North Carolina A&T State University.
- [00:36:47.661]So, I kinda bridged the gap between industry
- [00:36:50.045]and academia.
- [00:36:52.352]And so, that gives me a different perspective,
- [00:36:55.839]and I can tell you, I went and I got a Masters degree
- [00:36:58.498]in civil engineering and (mumbling) development.
- [00:37:01.610]Those skills that I got from my advanced degree
- [00:37:06.840]lends itself to writing your own civil engineering project.
- [00:37:12.230]'Cause here again, problems are more complex
- [00:37:14.065]than they were 10 years ago.
- [00:37:15.536]And so I have went back to some of the classes
- [00:37:18.177]that I have taken in that Masters degree program,
- [00:37:21.193]I've been able to apply them to
- [00:37:24.559]real world problems.
- [00:37:27.442]So, again, in my opinion, I think an advanced degree
- [00:37:31.099]is very important, at least at the Masters level.
- [00:37:34.034]But going all the way up to the PhD,
- [00:37:36.858]it's a beautiful thing.
- [00:37:43.319]Oh, got hands now.
- [00:37:44.718]Yeah.
- [00:37:45.566]Yes, ma'am.
- [00:37:46.604]Oh, me? Yes.
- [00:37:47.827]How do you balance
- [00:37:49.283]being a professor and owning your own business?
- [00:37:52.505]It's tough, it's challenging.
- [00:37:56.208]Time management, a lot of time management.
- [00:38:00.931]Let me get in the back and (mumbling).
- [00:38:02.663]What kind of advice would you
- [00:38:04.027]give someone who has completed their B.S.
- [00:38:06.573]In Civil Engineering, the way it is going,
- [00:38:09.749]who wants to pursue or is thinking about
- [00:38:13.095]pursuing a MBA degree?
- [00:38:17.280]MBAa are a great degree 'cause it teaches
- [00:38:20.639]you the business side.
- [00:38:21.976]It just depends on what you want to do,
- [00:38:23.528]as far as career path.
- [00:38:27.749]If you start out in the engineering field,
- [00:38:29.572]you just start out on a project engineer level,
- [00:38:32.006]and eventually work up to the project management level.
- [00:38:34.516]So in project management, that MBA degree
- [00:38:37.155]will come in handy.
- [00:38:38.770]You'll know some of the stuff that we don't get
- [00:38:42.213]on the engineer side.
- [00:38:43.853]So that degree is really important.
- [00:38:46.758]And it just depends on what you want to do.
- [00:38:49.166]Yes, sir.
- [00:38:50.378]When you're applying for graduate school,
- [00:38:53.387]how would you know whether or not you should get
- [00:38:55.441]your Masters or get your PhD?
- [00:38:57.223]'Cause I know that they're, in terms of like,
- [00:38:59.582]not sure what would be better.
- [00:39:03.721]The progression is you have to get your Masters,
- [00:39:05.610]and then after you complete your Masters,
- [00:39:06.794]then you go back to school and get your PhD.
- [00:39:10.045]Some programs have a Masters PhD mix,
- [00:39:13.958]meaning you'll start your Masters,
- [00:39:16.843]they'll fast track your Masters.
- [00:39:18.506]And so you'll get that degree
- [00:39:19.995]but then you'll continue your project until
- [00:39:21.624]you complete it and at the end of that
- [00:39:23.527]you'll get your PhD.
- [00:39:27.699]Is there a substantial difference
- [00:39:30.618]between the two?
- [00:39:31.777]When it comes to getting a job or something like that?
- [00:39:35.004]It depends on the type of job opportunity.
- [00:39:39.488]Meaning if you go to a company that's
- [00:39:43.003]very research intensive,
- [00:39:44.300]then they may be looking for PhD candidates.
- [00:39:48.050]If you go out into industry,
- [00:39:50.706]they may or may not be looking for a PhD
- [00:39:53.226]level candidate.
- [00:39:54.859]You might get to thinking that you're over-qualified,
- [00:39:56.976]because in industry, well at least for Civil Engineering,
- [00:40:00.379]most degree they look for is typically Masters
- [00:40:05.482]in industry.
- [00:40:06.452]But it just depends on what you're doing.
- [00:40:07.921]Like i said, if you're going to
- [00:40:09.410]a company that does a lot of cutting edge
- [00:40:12.062]things that hadn't been done before,
- [00:40:13.929]then they, nine times out of 10
- [00:40:16.155]have a couple of PhDs floating around.
- [00:40:19.184]So it just really depends
- [00:40:20.959]on what you want to do.
- [00:40:22.334](applauding)
- [00:40:30.190]There is
- [00:40:31.584]an evaluation form,
- [00:40:33.526]so if you'll fill that out
- [00:40:35.390]and make sure we get that back.
The screen size you are trying to search captions on is too small!
You can always jump over to MediaHub and check it out there.
- Tags:
- ntc
- matc
- nebraska transportation center
- mid-america transportation center
- matc scholars program
- scholars program
- graduate school
- unl
- university of nebraska-lincoln
- juhann waller
Log in to post comments
Embed
Copy the following code into your page
HTML
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%; overflow: hidden; position:relative; -webkit-box-flex: 1; flex-grow: 1;"> <iframe style="bottom: 0; left: 0; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; border: 0; height: 100%; width: 100%;" src="https://mediahub.unl.edu/media/8770?format=iframe&autoplay=0" title="Video Player: 2015 MATC Scholars Program: Mr. Juhann Waller" allowfullscreen ></iframe> </div>
Comments
0 Comments