by Julia Marie Teti
assistant perspectives editor
If you’re thinking about attending graduate school, but have no time for paperwork, the website GetRecruited.com may be for you. The purpose of GetRecruited.com is to make the process of applying to and entering graduate school easier for both the student and the schools. GetRecruited.com is also meant to help students receive scholarships and financial aid that they are eligible for.
In order to do this, the student simply fills out an on line questionnaire, which is given to graduate schools all over the country. When a school feels as though they have found a student that matches what they are looking for, the school proceeds to contact the student through e-mail or postal mail. From there, all information about that school, such as academic and extracurricular programs, as well as campus life and financial aid packages are sent to the student.
Of course, the students’ privacy is respected. None of the answers provided are sold or given away to anyone who shouldn’t have the information.
If most students are like senior Aimee Sirois, there are key things that prospective graduate students look for. Sirois focuses her concerns around whether or not the program she is interested in, social work, is offered.
“Websites helped me to decide whether or not I wanted to go [to the schools I am considering],” Sirois said.
As for the application process, Sirois received a few from websites because of the convenience that it offers.
Though the GetRecruited.com questionnaire may look lengthy at first glance, it is a straightforward way to contact graduate schools. Plus, it only takes a few minutes out of a senior’s busy schedule.
“GetRecruited.com focuses right on your major. It’s really simple, direct and time-saving,” said Sue Farrell of the Co-op and Career Services office. “In the past, people have paged through the books [in the Co-op office] in order to find schools with their choice of major,” Farrell added.
GetRecruited.com is a new website, established in 2000, which may present pro’s and con’s. Some people may look for something that is already a bit more established. For those people, Nancy Hutchison Director of Co-op and Career Services, presents the reminder that Petersen’s.com has been around for quite some time. It gives phone numbers, MCAT information and sample questions.
“GetRecruited.com is probably a good website to use but there are other sites, too, that have already built a track record,” Hutchison said. “Therefore, they can offer more pertinent information.”
Even though GetRecruited.com is new on the scene, Hutchison feels that it is a reliable website that could be useful.
GetRecruited.com offers an important thought that can be applied to all graduate school websites. Students should complete information on graduate school websites with thoughtfulness and accuracy to enable a more likely fit with their individual needs.”
