Brown School Student Experiences

​The Brown School’s MSW and MPH program applications both require three letters of recommendation from professional and/or academic colleagues. For folks currently in school or working with a supervisor they love, the choice in who to ask for these letters may be obvious. For others who have been out of school for awhile or who haven’t had a good supervisor in a few years, it may feel really daunting to ask people to speak on your behalf for an application that is important to you. So,  who should you ask to write your recommendation letters? Someone who knows you … and likes you. While it may seem like a good idea to ask the professor who gave you an “A” in Politics 101 (a...

​By the end of my first semester at the Brown School, I had a portfolio full of well-researched content about the strengths and challenges of displaced populations. This portfolio only existed because of a piece of advice I picked up during orientation week at the Brown School, which I believe is worth passing along to successive MSW cohorts: Pick a social issue you’re passionate about or interested in, and use that topic for every foundation course assignment that you possibly can. If you’ve tuned in to Admitted Student Zoom Panels in the past, you may have heard me talk about this approach. I don’t know who shared it with me. Was it a wise second-year student? A well-meaning professor?  I...

​How do you find housing and a roommate in St. Louis? Here are some of my recommendations. Selecting a graduate school, navigating all of the finances involved, and potentially moving cities or even countries can be incredibly stressful. Many prospective students are wondering: where will I live and who will I live with?  If you went away to your undergraduate college or moved far from home in between your undergraduate career and starting at the Brown School, you may have experienced this stress before – maybe your university randomly paired you with another freshman, or maybe there was student housing that you and your friends could choose between, or maybe you just looked on Facebook for an apartment listing within a few blocks of your job.  Grad...

​​It is both thrilling and challenging for international students to study in a different country with different cultures.  As an international student myself, I understand that prospective international students may have some worries or uncertainties about how to make a positive transition to the United States. I hope these following tips can help you gain an insight into the supportive atmosphere in the Brown School and feel more prepared and relieved. 1. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SUPPORT PROGRAMS IN THE BROWN SCHOOL To help us have a positive transition at the beginning semester, the Brown School provides a lot of support programs, ranging from language proficiency class, professional development workshops, and academic writing workshops. These can quickly make international students feel comfortable...

​As I remember opening my acceptance letter to the Brown School, I remember feeling a sense of relief. I got in. Wide-eyed and full of elation, I thought of all the possibilities awaiting me in St. Louis. The relief and excitement of getting into graduate school settled once I arrived on campus. As I unpacked my belongings; settling into this new chapter of my life, I began to think about the reality of my future here. And the longer I did that, the overwhelming feeling of self-doubt began to plague my mind.  I began to question if I deserved to be here, if I worked hard enough to get here, and if I was taking up space.  DEFINING IT I couldn’t...

​Okay, so my title is a little bit of false advertising. There’s not a secret to getting in (at least as far as I can tell – and trust me – I asked).  But, with the Brown School’s commitment to a holistic review process, it’s nearly impossible not to wonder: what are they really looking for in applicants? It feels like surely there’s some trick to gaming a holistic review – that one aspect of the application must outweigh the rest.   I remember working on my application and trying to decide how to prioritize. Would they care more about my personal statement or my analytical essay? Who should I ask to write my letters of recommendation? Does my undergraduate GPA even matter or should I focus...