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Show Summary

In this episode, Dr. Miroslava Chavez-Garcia and Dr. Yvette Martínez-Vu discuss the challenges faced by underrepresented groups in graduate school and provide advice for all grad school applicants. They emphasize the importance of finding a good fit in a program and building strong relationships with faculty. They also discuss the concept of imposter syndrome and its role in the admissions process for first-gen applicants. The guests highlight the benefits of taking a gap year (or more) before applying to graduate school and offer advice to their younger selves. 

Show Notes

Welcome to the 575th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for tuning in. The challenge at the heart of grad school admissions is showing that you both fit in at your target schools and are a standout in the applicant pool. Accepted’s free download, “Fitting In and Standing Out: The Paradox at the Heart of Admissions,” will show you how to do both. Master this paradox and you are well on your way to acceptance. You can download this free guide at accepted.com/FISO.

Our guests today are Dr. Yvette Martínez-Vu,a grad school and productivity coach and host of the globally top-rated Grad School Femtoring Podcast. She is also the co-editor of the best-selling Chicana M(other)work Anthology, co-author of Is Grad School for Me? Demystifying the Application Process for First-Gen BIPOC Students, and founder of Grad School Femtoring, LLC, where she coaches first-gen BIPOC folks in reaching their academic and personal goals.

Dr. Miroslava Chávez-García is Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and is currently the Faculty Director of the UCSB McNair Scholars Program. She is author of Migrant Longing, States of Delinquency, and Negotiating Conquest, and co-author of Is Grad School for Me? Demystifying the Application Process for First-Gen BIPOC Students.

Dr. Chavez-Garcia and Dr. Martínez-Vu, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [2:08 ]

[MCG] Thank you for having us.

[YMV] Yes, thank you.

What I’d like to do is first discuss your advice that applies to all grad students, kind of the foundation, and then focus on the specific challenges faced by BIPOC applicants as well as your suggestions for overcoming them. And of course, I’d like to hear how you came to write Is Grad School For Me?

Let’s start with a very basic question: what are good and bad reasons for pursuing a grad degree? [2:35 ]

[YMV] The first thing that comes to mind when you ask that question are all the many bad reasons that sometimes individuals find themselves when they’re applying to graduate school. And when I think about bad reasons, I think about a lot of external reasons that may not be directly tied to what they need to do to pursue the career path in life they want. So I’m thinking someone who’s saying, “Oh, I’m going to apply to grad school because I want to delay my job search because the job market is terrible,” or, “I want to go to graduate school because my friend or my mom told me to do it,” or, “I want to go to graduate school because I have this romanticized view about what it looks like to have a career in academia,” and trust me, behind the scenes, it’s not always pretty.

And then of course there’s some folks who are afraid of facing reality, like post-college reality. They want to keep deferring their student loans and so they find that as another option to do that, and I don’t think those are great.

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We had a son who kind of tried to go down that path and ended up not doing it. He definitely wanted to postpone adulthood. [3:47 ]

[YMV] Now, for the good reasons. I will say that usually when folks ask me, it’s a very personal decision, but there are two solid good reasons to apply to graduate school. The first one is if you absolutely need it to pursue the career that you want and/or to advance in your career. That’s a very good reason.

Second is an intrinsic reason, meaning you feel that sense of calling. You have someone who asks a lot of questions. You might even identify as a scholar. You know that if you don’t pursue this, you will always have that what-if in the back of your head. “What if I had gotten that advanced degree?” If you know it’s always going to bother you and going to be that thing in the back of your head, then that might be a decent reason to apply to graduate school.

Anything else, it’s hard for me to justify.

[MCG] I’ll add one other thing to that.

Something that we discussed in the book is how important it is when thinking about whether grad school is for you and the right decision, so along with wanting to use it for a career move, I think what’s really important to realize that grad school was a place where you gain knowledge in your field, there’ll be the structure for you to follow these steps to achieve your goals and your objectives, and also it’ll be great networking opportunities. You’ll get to meet people who are interested in your field, who perhaps already have connections established, and so forth. So it’s just a good place. That’s kind of a step a little bit further into what you can expect from a doctoral or a master’s program, grad school.

I noticed in your book that you discuss both the good and the bad reasons. In addition to my personal experience, I’ve been an advocate all along that you have to have a goal that justifies the cost unless one can afford to just pursue that calling or interest. Once you have that goal and you have that good reason, or you can justify the calling, how should applicants go about choosing a program and schools to apply to? [6:01 ]

[MCG] I think one of the important things to begin is to look at the specializations within your field. So look at, do a scan if you can of the different programs around the country or just depending on where you’re thinking you’re going to end up or where you’re willing to move to. But look at those institutions, those places, those programs, and do they offer those curriculum or experience that meet your needs and interests? So that’s reall