UCF Scholars Participate in UC Edge and Graduate School Visits

Five scholars from the University of Central Florida traveled to California earlier this semester to participate in the University of California EDGE Graduate Recruitment Day (UC EDGE). The scholars also took time to conduct graduate school visits at the University of California at Riverside and University of California at Irvine. The trip provided scholars with the opportunity to attend workshops on preparing graduate school applications speak with graduate school recruiters from the UC system and visit with prospective summer research programs.

The trip began a day early for Rolando Flores, Jr. Born and raised in Rancho Cucamonga, California, Rolando was excited to return home and visit the University of California Riverside (UCR). The afternoon at UCR began with lunch with Maria Franco-Aguilar, Director for Academic Preparation & Outreach in the graduate division. After a tour of the campus, Rolando had the opportunity to visit with two faculty in the Sociology department.

The next day, the five scholars, Rolando Flores, Jr.; Lilian Milanés; Esteban Santis; Monica Thomas and Ivan Trivino, were welcomed to the University of California at Irvine by the Director of Outreach, Recruitment & Retention, Raslyn Rendon, and the program’s coordinator, Daniel Fabrega. In addition to a tour of the Irvine campus, the scholars were introduced to the various funding opportunities, housing options, and support resources available for graduate students. In the afternoon, scholars conducted faculty interviews. The scholars also had the opportunity to hear from Dr. Susan Coutin, the Associate Dean of the Graduate Division about the how to submit a strong graduate school application. The day ended with a conversation with Dr. Frances Leslie, the Dean of the Graduate Division. Dean Leslie spoke with the scholars about the application process, the different programs at UCI, and everything that UCI offers graduate students.

The following day the scholars visited the University of California at San Diego to take part in UC Edge. The event included numerous McNair Scholars from various universities in California and the University of Central Florida. After the registration and breakfast, the scholars sat down and participated in workshops focused on the different aspects of the graduate school application and the various options for fellowships (Ford, Javits, Fulbright, NSF, and UC Diversity Fellowships). The event ended with the scholars taking part in the UC recruitment fair. The ten UC schools (Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz) invited scholars to ask questions and sign-up to receive further information about prospective graduate programs.

The visit to California served as an invaluable experience for the scholars. The scholars now have more options regarding their future plans for graduate school. More importantly, all of them returned to Orlando with a greater understanding of the challenges awaiting them in the fall as they begin their fellowship and graduate school applications.