Cal State Long Beach’s Graduate Studies Resource Center held the Application to Admission workshop Tuesday afternoon, where students were able to learn about the process of applying to graduate school.
Yesterday’s workshop was part one of a six-part series the resource center is holding, called Beyond the Horizon: Graduate School Aspiration. At the events, undergraduate students learn how to prepare for the upcoming application process and as well as requirements.
Jose Miguel Martinez, assistant director of graduate studies resource center, explained that these workshops exist for the students who want to go to grad school, or are even just thinking about it.
He said that the purpose of the center is to provide assistance and answers to students during the application process.
“The reason we exist is to help support students who want to go to grad school. We help them in the process, but part of that is outreach,” Martinez said. “A lot of students don’t know what the process is — we do these workshops to start reaching out to them. If we can plant the seed, they can follow up with us later and try to get more information about it.”
Most grad schools require students to take the Graduate Records Examinations, depending on what program they wish to enter. However, Martinez said some universities are trying to work away from GREs, but it won’t happen anytime soon.
According to the Peterson website, an academic site that offers test prep, the GRE is much like the SAT and ACT – a broad assessment of a student’s critical thinking, analytical writing, verbal reasoning and quantitative reasoning skills.
“I think students go to grad school for a lot of reasons — mostly to get their certain type of degree they need for their field later on in their life,” said Kurcel Joseph, a senior double majoring in communication and sociology.
Senior organism biology major Juilet Linzmiere said that before deciding to take the GRE, she needs to do more research on schools and programs she wants to apply to.
“For grad school, you have to know what you’re researching and have your interest, so I think I’m going to take a year off — [intern] or volunteer,” Linzmier said.
Martinez said some students might overthink the test — but the key to succeeding is to learn how to take the test and break it down. During the workshop, Martinez told attendees to buy GRE preparation books, take practice tests and download vocabulary apps to better articulate themselves.
The next grad school workshop will be held Monday from noon – 1:30 p.m. in University Student Union room 304.