Dean Huang Emails Seniors About Post Grad Plans

Dear Members of the CMC Class of 2010,

I hope this email finds you doing some interesting things, and getting excited about returning for your senior year.

It won’t be long before we start the fall semester, which brings me to the point of this special email. Please take a moment to review this information, as it contains information and deadlines about your life after CMC.

My colleagues and I have noticed, over our years of work at CMC, that some students will come back to campus having done some thinking about their lives after college, and they may also have a plan for how they want to approach those interests. Others have not done much thinking or planning, and they suddenly find themselves falling behind their classmates. Regardless of your level of preparation up until today, we’d like to make sure that you have everything you need to advance to the next level of your post-college planning. (Special information for international students is also at the bottom of this email.) Here are some important pieces of information.

For Those Who May Intend to Enter the Job Market: Employer information sessions begin the second week of the fall semester, so you really need to get going! Don’t be embarrassed if you don’t know how the process works. Instead, you need to spend some time reviewing the resources at the CMC Career Services website (http://cmc.edu/csc/). Register for CMConnect and check it regularly. Then, under the section entitled, “Who’s My Counselor?”, you will find the name of the staff member in Career Services who will help you. You can schedule a meeting with your career counselor by calling (909) 607-7038. Whether you are an advanced job seeker or someone who is just starting out, there’s always more to learn, which will help polish your candidacy so that you are completely prepared and ready.

For Those Who Intend to Enter Graduate School: Hopefully you are planning for the standardized test that you’ll need to take (if you haven’t already taken it), and assembling a list of universities you will apply to. No one is better at advising you about graduate study than your faculty members, as they will understand the strengths, weaknesses, and subtleties of the different universities that you are considering. The Career Services website has links to the pre-law guide, the Joint Science Center’s pre-med guide, Professor Pitney’s webpage, and a number of other terrific resources. (Go here: http://cmc.edu/csc/, and select “Links”, “Pre-Law”, or “Medical” on the right column.) Also, if you don’t know which faculty members to ask about your graduate school interests or need any other help, contact Career Services at (909) 607-7038.

For Those Who May Be Interested in a National Award or Fellowship: There are many opportunities for graduate study, travel overseas, or both. I can’t fully explain the 22 we have on our website, so I have chosen to describe one of them to get you excited here:

· The Fulbright program will pay you to have an international experience next year, as well as give you the impressive credential of having been a Fulbright Scholar. (See www.fulbrightonline.org.) The US State Department awards about 1,500 Fulbright awards each year to college students who are US citizens. The Fulbright deadlines are very early in the fall semester, and you need to have started thinking and planning by September so that you are ready by the time you return to campus. (For CMC’s Fulbright calendar, email Ms. Joke Johnson at: jjohnson@cmc.edu.)

Information on all 22 National Awards and Fellowships that CMC participates in can be found here: http://cmc.edu/academic/nationalawards/ . The CMC Liaison on National Awards and Fellowships is Ms. Joke (“Yo-kuh”) Johnson (jjohnson@cmc.edu, Center Court B-17).

For Students Who Are Seeking to Travel, Perform International Service or Missionary Work, or Work Overseas: There is a new website which contains information on thousands of overseas opportunities, updated daily, which can be sorted by country or field. It’s called GoinGlobal.com, and the CMC Career Services Center has a subscription. (To get a password, call or stop by Career Services, Heggblade Center 2nd Floor, (909) 607-7038.) Be sure that you are fully aware of the travel and immigration issues surrounding your work overseas. Some countries will require immunizations, special visa applications, and have rules about the kind of work you are doing. You should also check the U.S. State Department’s website for travel advisories and safety precautions. (See http://www.state.gov/travel/.)

For Those Who Aren’t Sure What’s Next: You need to get going! You haven’t really missed anything yet, but you will soon if you procrastinate. We have lots of resources and diagnostics for students like you, and perhaps the “perfect” opportunity is waiting for you. Again, we strongly recommend that you review the Career Services website (http://cmc.edu/csc/) and then contact your Career Counselor (at (909) 607-7038) about next steps.

Special Information for International Students: The process of entering graduate school in the United States is very similar to the application process for undergraduate education. But with regard to working in the United States after graduation, there are some limitations on the length of employment or practical training for visa students. (The length of employment varies depending on your visa status.) If you are unclear about your employment status, please considering contacting one of the staff members at International Place (http://iplace.claremont.edu/iplace/main/contact.php) for more information. Also, many of the awards and fellowships that you may hear about are only open to U.S. citizens. However, most nations have various relationships with other countries, and an Internet search may result in identifying awards and fellowships that you are eligible for.

What’s the next step for you? We want it to be one that you’re very happy with, and we’re here to help. You probably noticed that many of these resources encourage you to use Career Services; you really should make sure you’re using all of their resources.

You can do this; now go out and execute!

Best wishes, and see you soon,

Jeff HuangVP & Dean of Students