All graduate students get fully funded – Part II

Part II. She grew up on a farm in Brazil, her parents did not finish high school and she was not expected to go to the university…This is the second part of our conversation with Dr. Dilma Da Silva, Head of the Computer Science Department at Texas A&M University.

In this podcast, Dr. Da Silva explains in detail what undergraduate students need to do to stand out and maximize their chance of getting admitted into one of the best universities for graduate school.  Some of her tips include:

• Demonstrate that you do more than study
• Focus to get good numbers in GRE
• Get the people to know your goals
• Believe you are good
• Bring your extra to the table

“Diversity is not about social justice, it is good for business”

Dr. Da Silva also helps us to understand the importance of improving diversity in graduate education and in business by providing unique insights and strategies. Innovation is a result of diversity. Her department looks for the diversity of backgrounds, women, African Americans, Hispanics. She is part of the Computer Research Association. They want to increase the participation of students in research and of women in particular. As an example, this program pays for undergraduate students to spend a summer in another institution in the United States. Every year they teach female students how to find an adviser, how to write and read papers, what to do to defend a thesis, and how to get an interview in the industry, among many other topics.

Do you have the “fire”?

Maybe you do not have the best grades, but you know what you want and have the drive. Then, you need to listen to this podcast.

Is it hard for you to look for help when you face difficulty?

Did you know that successful people have learned when and how to get support to reach their goals? We also talk about mentoring and coaching here. Listen to this podcast because this could be the trigger of your breakthrough moment. People need help, even academia high-level people hire coaches to help them improve. Mentoring is fantastic for students and they get the best mentoring by attending to graduate school in the United States. Mentoring is part of the culture here and most foreign graduate students have never enjoyed it and initially, they go through a learning curve.

Don’t miss it, and if you have not listened to the first part, here it is.

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This podcast was produced by Felipe Gonzalez in Costa Rica.

Team Ingear truly believes that improving access to the best graduate education is key for achieving development. If you share this goal, help us!

Musical theme CreativeCommons

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