Getting into Graduate and Professional School: Insider Knowledge

Wednesday, Oct 21, 2015
4p-5:30p
Young Research Library (Main Conference Room)

Applying for graduate school? Want to know more about what makes a student competitive for graduate/professional programs?

This panel discussion will feature speakers from various fields (professional and academic) who can answer questions about how students can make themselves competitive for graduate and professional schools. These experts will share what makes a good application and what their admissions committees are looking for in an applicant. The panel will also discuss the goals of their individual programs, what they hope each graduate student will gain after graduating from their respective programs, and job prospects for their graduates.

If you are an undergraduate student who plans on applying for graduate school, this event will provide exclusive insight on how to improve your chances of getting into the program you want to attend.

About the speakers:

Professor Héctor Calderón is a specialist in Spanish American, Mexican, and Chicano literature and cultures. At UCLA, Professor Calderon was founding Chair of the César E. Chávez Center (1994). He has also served as Director of the University of California, Education Abroad Program’s Mexico Study Center (2004-2008) and founding Executive Director of la Casa de la Universidad de California en México, A.C. (2006-2008). Prior to coming to UCLA in 1991, Calderón was Professor at Scripps College (1989-1991) and Associate Professor at Yale University (1983-1989). Professor Calderón has a Ph.D. in Latin American Literature with a Minor in Comparative Literature from Yale University (1981) where he studied with Peter Brooks, Alfred J. MacAdam and Emir Rodríguez Monegal. As a graduate student at Yale, he was accepted to The School of Criticism and Theory (1978) working with Wolfgang Iser and Fredric Jameson. He has been Visiting Scholar at the Stanford Humanities Center (1986-1987) and Visiting Professor in the Department of English at Harvard University (1996-1997).

Christy Mallory oversees state law and policy work at the Williams Institute.  In that capacity, she focuses on a variety of topics, including sexual orientation and gender identity non-discrimination protections, state-level recognition for same-sex couples, and other state and local level laws and policies impacting LGBT people.  Her work has been published in several media outlets, journals, and books including When Mandates Work (UC Press, 2013), the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review, the LGBTQ Policy Journal at the Harvard Kennedy School, and the Albany Government Law Review.  Christy received her J.D. from UCLA School of Law and her B.A. from the University of Arizona.

Mark A. Peterson is the Chair of the Department of Public Policy (and previously served as chair from 2002 to 2006).  He is a Faculty Associate of the Center for Health Policy Research and the Institute for Society & Genetics; Co-Director of the Policy Core for the Center for HIV Identification, Prevention, and Treatment Services; and currently is on the faculty advisory committee of the Center for American Politics and Public Policy and a member of the Community and Policy Advisory Board of the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars program at UCLA.  He was previously served on the faculty boards of the Center for Policy Research on Aging and the Institute for Social Research.  He is also currently a member of the University of California’s Academic Senate Task Force on the Future of Health Benefits and was on the University of California Office of the President’s Health Benefits Working Group.

About the moderator:

Carlos V. Grijalva is a Associate Dean of the Graduate Education and Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience.

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