The Idealist Graduate Degree Fairs are off to a tremendous start! We’re beginning the season with a tour of the Northeast.

Last week’s fair in New York City was barely fazed by the intense thunderstorm and tornado warnings. A line formed down the block as we welcomed almost 2,000 individuals to connect with representatives from 200 graduate schools.

On Monday we set up shop in Providence, one of the smallest cities on our tour. Dedicated volunteers from the Urban Education Policy graduate program at Brown University helped us run the event smoothly. About 250 prospective students chatted with 76 grad schools.

The next day we headed 40 miles north to Boston University, where they served better-than-average chowder in the student union while the Red Sox played right down the street. Over 1,200 grad school seekers got the chance to meet with 180 grad degree programs – this student-filled city always makes for a busy fair (below).

Next, we’re coming to Pittsburgh (tonight, September 23) and Philadelphia (September 27). Hope to see you there!

Staff photo from the Boston fair

[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

Thinking about going to grad school? Our 2010 season of Graduate Degree Fairs for the Public Good kicks off this Thursday in New York City, and we’ll have stops in six more cities in September alone. (Yes, we are trying to get lots of rest this week!)

From Flickr user GypsySeoul (Creative Commons)

First up (click on a city name and fair date to learn more or RSVP):

• Providence, RI — Sept. 20
• Boston, MA — Sept. 21
• Pittsburgh, PA — Sept. 23
• Philadelphia, PA — Sept. 27

…And you can browse the whole list of cities and dates on this page.

If you’re in one of these cities, we hope you’ll stop by to meet admissions representatives from degree programs including social work, public policy, public health, law, and many more. All of the fairs are free to attend; run from 5:00-8:00 p.m.; and offer a panel discussion covering topics about applications and financial aid that lasts from 6:00-7:00 p.m.

If you can’t make it, you can peruse our Graduate Education Resource Center, and connect with some of our exhibitors via Twitter using this list.

[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

Every year, we host a series of events we call Graduate Degree Fairs for the Public Good. Registration is now open for our 16 fall fairs, and we hope you’ll join us for one in a city near you!

We believe that if you’re considering a graduate education, it can be very helpful to meet with admissions representatives before you apply. At each of our fairs, you can learn more about local, national, and international programs focusing on Nonprofit Management, Public Health, Public Policy, Social Work, Education, International Affairs, and many other fields; find out how their admissions processes work; and understand how to make yourself a strong candidate if you decide to apply.

We’ll be all over the United States this year, and even swing up to Toronto. Even the smallest fairs will have 50 schools represented; the largest will feature 200 programs! All of the events run from 5:00-8:00 p.m. and are wheelchair accessible.

The fairs are free to attend, but we do ask that you RSVP. For more details and to sign up, visit idealist.org/gradfairs.

See you soon!
[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

By Flickr user Ton Rulkens (Creative Commons)

If you visit our site often, you probably know that we run a series of graduate degree fairs every year. The idea is to bring together prospective students with representatives from all sorts of graduate programs whose graduates go on to serve the public good.

To complement the fairs (or to supplement them, for those who can’t make it in person), we have created a series of “degree overviews” — snapshots of several types of graduate programs you may be considering.

Today we’re spotlighting our public health degree overview. Public health is a multidisciplinary field that spans areas from maternal and child health to global health and health education, and encompasses a half dozen other specializations in between. This broad field focuses on improving the health of people and communities through research into illness and injury prevention and through efforts to promote healthy lifestyles and habits.

As a graduate student of public health, you will learn about the issues that affect population health and how to address and prevent the health problems that arise within a community. The flexibility of this field also allows for some interesting and surprising degree combinations: have you ever thought of a public policy and dentistry dual degree? Or public policy and occupational therapy? The possibilities abound.

To read more, or to access our full downloadable overview, click here.

We’re also getting excited about our graduate fairs in the United States (and in Toronto, Canada!) this fall. New York is first up, on September 16. Learn more about our fairs here, and mark your calendars now!

[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

By Flickr user Kim Rodriguez (Creative Commons)

If you visit our site often, you probably know that we run a series of graduate degree fairs every year. The idea is to bring together prospective students with representatives from all sorts of graduate programs whose graduates go on to serve the public good.

To complement the fairs (and to supplement them, for those who can’t make it in person), we have created a series of “degree overviews” — snapshots of several types of graduate programs you may be considering.

Today we’re spotlighting our education degree overview. A graduate degree in education can take various forms (or be paired with a degree in another area of study), and can prepare students for a range of careers spanning from teaching to counseling, public policy, and even athletics. This versatility is appreciated by a number of different possible employers. While schools may be an obvious choice, many nonprofits, governmental agencies, museums, and companies also count amongst the employers that value the skills or specialties a teacher may bring.

To read more, or to access our full downloadable overview, click here.

And don’t forget, we’ll hold more graduate degree fairs in cities across the United States (and in Toronto, Canada) this fall, starting with New York, NY on September 16 and Providence, RI on September 20. Learn more about our fairs here, and mark your calendars now!

[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

If you visit our site often, you probably know that we run a series of graduate degree fairs every year — and the 2010 series kicks off this week! The idea is to bring together prospective students with representatives from all sorts of graduate programs whose graduates go on to serve the public good.

To complement the fairs (or to supplement them, for those who can’t make it in person), we have created a series of “degree overviews” — snapshots of several types of graduate programs you may be considering.

Today we’re spotlighting our nonprofit management degree overview. While nonprofit organizations can differ wildly in the communities they serve and the people they engage with, they have a few basic characteristics in common. Nonprofit organizations all work towards a mission, whether broad (“abolish world hunger”) or narrow (“improve community resources in our neighborhood’), that serves the common good. Nonprofits also all have managers behind the scenes making this good work possible. Nonprofit management degree programs educate future nonprofit leaders in general operations, human resources, strategies, and fund development, amongst other skills essential to making a nonprofit run effectively and efficiently.

To learn more about nonprofit management, click here.

Better yet, if you are in New York City or Washington, DC, come visit us at our upcoming fairs this week! We will be in NYC tomorrow, June 15, and in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. Click here for more information on our grad fairs.

[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

If you visit our site often, you probably know that we run a series of graduate degree fairs every year. The idea is to bring together prospective students with representatives from all sorts of graduate programs whose graduates go on to serve the public good.

To complement the fairs (or to supplement them, for those who can’t make it in person), we have created a series of “degree overviews” — snapshots of several types of graduate programs you may be considering.

Today we’re spotlighting our journalism degree overview. As a field of study, journalism is designed to train graduates to be ethical, objective, and critical writers, with the skills and knowledge needed to pursue careers working for newspapers, broadcast stations and magazines, publishing outlets in the online community, and any setting that involves the relaying and reporting of information.

Journalism is a rapidly changing profession with many possibilities in new and traditional media. With a shift to more up-to-the-minute online format and the participation of everyday people in reporting, journalism is slowly becoming more egalitarian. Journalism-as-public-service has been the root of reporting since its early days. From Benjamin Franklin’s anonymous anti-colonial articles in revolutionary newspapers, to Edward R. Murrow’s on-site World War II reporting, to recent Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism on the war in Iraq—journalists expose truth and bring issues to light that might have otherwise stayed out of the public view.

To learn about the diversity of options within, and versatility of, journalism training programs, click here.

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Related post: Considering a Public Interest Law Degree?

[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

Our final Nonprofit Career Fair of the season will take place in Cleveland, Ohio this Tuesday, April 20, at Case Western Reserve University. If you’re in the Cleveland area, stop by to learn about career opportunities including jobs, volunteer gigs, internships, and more. Please RSVP if you plan to attend; the fairs are free and open to the public but it helps us if we have a sense of the number of attendees ahead of time.

If you can’t make it to the fair in person—or even if you can—be sure to take a look at The Idealist Guides to Nonprofit Careers. The Guides come in two flavors, one for folks just embarking upon their careers, and one for sector switchers, and they’re now available in bookstores around the United States. Chapters include “The foundation of a successful job search and career,” “Resumes and cover letters,” “A career search doesn’t end when you get a job,” and “The challenges of the job market.” If you read the book, we’d love to hear what you think!

[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]

If you visit our site often, you probably know that we run a series of graduate degree fairs every year. The idea is to bring together prospective students with representatives from all sorts of graduate programs whose graduates go on to serve the public good.

To complement the fairs (or to supplement them, for those who can’t make it in person), we have created a series of “degree overviews” — snapshots of several types of graduate programs you may be considering.

From the UC Berkeley law school, via Ingrid Taylar

Today we’re spotlighting our public interest law degree overview. Public interest law refers to legal practice and education that benefits issues such as civil rights and civil liberties, people living in poverty, environmental protection, immigrants’ rights, women’s rights, and consumer rights. Public interest lawyers can work in a wide variety of roles, including as advocates and lobbyists on issues they care about; policy makers and legislators; and legal counselors representing clients directly.

To learn more about public interest law, what to look for in a law school, and challenges associated with this type of degree, click here.

[This blog entry appeared on an older version of Idealist; any broken links are a result of having re-launched our site in Fall 2010.]