By Matt Stinson, A’25
This past week, Alliance Linking Leaders in the Education and the Services hosted its annual Graduate School Panel in Fletcher’s ASEAN auditorium where they invited four panelists from various graduate schools to speak in person to Tufts students.
The panel consisted of William Huang, Sophia Warner, Emma Plankey, and Bethany Tietjen. William Huang (A’12) is a second-year Master in Public Policy (MPP) candidate at Harvard Kennedy School interested in economic mobility. Sophia Warner is a first-year Master of Law and Diplomacy student at The Fletcher School. She is studying space strategy, policy, and defense. Emma Plankey (A’18) is currently in the first year of her J.D. program at Harvard Law School. Finally, Bethany Tietjen is a PhD student at The Fletcher School at Tufts University studying climate finance.
The panel answered questions ranging from admissions tips to what they are passionate about studying and researching to how to find mentors in the field. After answering a few of these prepared questions prepared by the ALLIES freshman representatives, Matthew Stinson (A’25) and Emily Pham (A’25), they then yielded questions from the audience providing valuable insight from their experiences getting into and attending graduate school.
The main takeaways from the event include the importance of reaching out to others in the field and finding what one is truly passionate about rather than focusing on a zero-sum game of admissions. They emphasized to truly get the most out of grad school you need to live in the moment and explore your passions rather than constrain yourself to a linear formula of what one is expected to do. This insight was refreshing for the audience as it provided a characterization of your admissions profile as more than just your grades or exam scores.
The panel was a valuable experience and Allies would like to thank the speakers for their time and valuable contributions and Tufts students for showing up and taking the first step on their Grad School journey.