Advising

Information for Seniors on Planning for Life after Duke

If you are a senior and will be graduating in December of this year or May of next year, it is time to plan for your future. I have placed a considerable amount of material on our website concerning careers which I hope you will find helpful. Let me summarize some procedures and resources that may be of specific help to you.

If you intend to pursue medical school or a related area, you should be registered with the Health Professions Advising Center, 011 Allen Building and should be working closely with Dean Daniel Scheirer and his staff.

If you intend to get a job in the field of chemistry or a related area, you should be registered with the Career Development Center located in Page Building. They have computer listings of companies that will be interviewing on campus, job openings, etc. They have sessions on writing resumes and can provide practice in interviewing techniques. They also have a library containing both books and videotapes dealing with careers. If you are interested in employment, you should immediately contact the Career Center (110 Page Building). You need to get involved in writing a resume, working on interview techniques, arranging for interviews, etc.

If you intend to go to graduate school in chemistry or a related area, you should be in contact with Dean Nijhout who is the advisor for graduate study. You should also be writing or emailing graduate schools to get information, application forms, determining the need for taking Graduate Record Examinations, etc. Let me remind you that almost all graduate programs in the field of chemistry will offer you support as a teaching assistant and so advanced study in chemistry need not cost you anything!

There are also a number of fellowships which pay part or all the cost of advanced studies. As soon as I receive the information on availability of application forms and deadlines, I will post it on our website. Usually we will receive this information in September so watch for it. Deadlines are usually in October.

To help in the selection of graduate schools, I would recommend the ACS Directory of Graduate Research. This publication can help you determine the kinds of research being done at the various institutions that may be of interest to you. The book contains lists of faculty members and their research interests for all the schools in the U.S. that grant the MS and/or Ph.D. degree in Chemistry. For each faculty member, there is a bibliography of his/her most recent publications. This book is now available online.

A number of graduate schools have web sites that make available a considerable amount of helpful information.

Many graduate schools will require that you take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and so you need to include that in your plans. Dates, deadlines and sample exam questions for the general exam and information about the new part of the exam that involves submitting writing sample are available from their web site.

To get information and/or application forms from specific graduate schools, you should fill out their email request forms or write them at the addresses given in either of the above ACS publications, listed on the Web site, or return one of their own post cards. We will be posting recruiting flyers on the second floor bulletin boards as we receive them. Besides providing information about the schools, most of the flyers have a post card which you can use to obtain information about their graduate program.

Once in a while, we receive a request from an industrial or an academic recruiter for a list of names, addresses, and GPA's of our graduating senior majors. The recruiters use these lists to identify seniors who are of particular interest to them. Graduate or professional schools will send you brochures about graduate programs in chemistry or related areas. Industrial recruiters will send you information about career opportunities and will inform you if they will be recruiting on campus.

If you would like to have your name, address, and GPA made available to recruiters who request such information; please complete the form (pdf) return it to the DUS Office, room 1222 French Family Science Center. [We do not release information of this type without the student's permission.]

Members of the faculty, the co-DUSes or ADUS will be happy to discuss post-graduation plans with you.