Andrew ('23)

now Graduate Student, Princeton University

My GRAD mentor was far and away the greatest resource for everything on my graduate school application path. He walked me through all of the steps necessary to put together the most competitive application I could, starting more than a year in advance. I have not yet met anyone in graduate school who had as strong of a support system as I did in their application process.

Saarah ('22)

now Graduate Student, Northwestern University

Up until finding this program, I was completely in the dark about how graduate school applications worked, so GRAD effectively unlocked an entire career path for me. My GRAD mentor, and several other participating graduate students, offered extremely valuable insight on my many essay drafts and my application as a whole. Also, in being surrounded by other students applying to graduate school, I was inspired and comforted throughout the application process. Thank you GRAD!!

Johannes ('20)

now Graduate Student, University of California, Berekeley

Applying to a PhD program can be a very intimidating process, but the GRAD program was an amazing resource that made this significantly easier. It was incredibly helpful to get so much good advice from people who had just recently (and successfully) gone through the grad school admissions process themselves.

Anika ('23)

now Graduate Student, California Institute of Technology

GRAD really went above and beyond helping me with the daunting process of applying to graduate school. I was assigned a mentor (Mark) and he guided me throughout the process. I am incredibly thankful to Mark and Anna for their advice and wisdom and for the many great resources that were also made available through GRAD.

Jonathan

Being a GRAD mentor provided a unique opportunity to gain invaluable mentorship experience serving undergrads from a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives, stories, and needs. As I continued my career beyond graduate school, Penn GRAD was major highlight of my CV that elevated me above other candidates, and the lessons learned from the experience have helped me take on greater and more productive leadership roles earlier in my career. While GRAD was a great opportunity to serve others, little did I know just how much I was serving my future self in the process!

Jason

A few years ago, I found it immensely helpful getting guidance from grad students and postdocs, especially as an international student with limited resources on applying to graduate programs in North America. I'm very happy to say that I was also able to assist more junior students in a similar way through GRAD, and had the extremely rewarding experience of running into one of my previous mentees at a conference (in Europe!) recently, who has chosen to continue in academia.

We're always looking to hear from current or interested students or Mentors. Want to join or contribute to FCAD GRAD? Send us an email!

• gradfcad@gmail.com
• With LOVE from Amherst, Massachusetts!