Diversity Preview Weekend is a three day event that brings students interested in EEB, Entomology and SIPS to the Cornell campus, to learn about graduate school before they apply. It specifically recruits students from under-represented groups who may not otherwise have resources available to learn about the graduate school application process. Attendance included financial support up to $600 to cover travel costs, housing and food was provided.
Visiting students get to know the Cornell campus and various graduate programs. Students tour facilities, meet with graduate students and faculty, and learn about how to apply and obtain funding, among other things. They also participate in a number of workshops to help prepare them for graduate school, like resume building and writing personal statements. Among the visiting students were some familiar faces such as Jocelyn Navarro, a Botanical Society of America PLANTS student that Jesus and Chelsea met at Botany 2017.
This event is completely planned and executed by graduate students, and all Specht lab graduate students pitched in. Jesus, Adriana, and Clarice helped with application review in the Fall. Adriana and Clarice participated in the personal statement and CV workshops. Adriana also gave a flash talk on her research of Calochortus population genetics and climatic niche modeling. Clarice presented on a super fun survey of the graduate student climate at Cornell, which included lots of pet pictures. Jesus presented a poster during the graduate student science fair. Rotating graduate students David and Heather helped behind the scenes to make sure everything ran smoothly, by walking students between events and setting up/breaking down.
Our aim in participating in Cornell’s Diversity Preview Weekend is for students to gain comfort and confidence in applying to graduate school. When Adriana participated in DPW 2017-2018, she met a prospective graduate student who applied to Plant Biology at Cornell, was accepted, and will be attending in the fall of 2019! We hope to see many of this year’s DPW attendees at graduate school interviews in the winter, and we’re excited to see them making strides toward their academic goals!
