On applications

So, it is one of my favorite times of the academic year: When prospective students start getting in touch with me about applying to our program. UW’s Learning Science program is really outstanding (in my opinion, of course!), so I always feel good about recommending that people apply.

My other best piece of generic piece of application advice is:

No matter where someone is thinking about applying, it is a good idea to get in touch with the current graduate students of professors they are interested in working with. You get a much better sense of the program that way, and can (if nothing else) target your application essay better.

What prompted this post, though, was a realization I had as I’ve been talking with prospective applicants this fall. With all the new projects we’ve started up, our work is getting more and more technical and mathematical.

I don’t think that’s really a good thing or a bad thing, just a consequence of moving to work at larger scales. But perhaps a shift worth noting.