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Category: experiences

Student Tip: Graduation Terminology

As a Northwestern student expecting to receive a degree, it will be helpful to understand two terms associated with graduation: Commencement: the university-wide ceremony at which speakers address all students, and the university President verbally (and thus only ceremoniously) confers degrees upon the students. For the MSC program, names of the previous year’s cohort are

New Student Tip #3

Tip #3: Travel lightly. If you arrive at the MSC program with some work experience (as most–but not all–of us do), you are probably used to having some space to call your own at your workplace. This space is likely where your personal items and coat get stashed for the day. In other words, you

New Student Tip #1

Tip #1: identify a few speed reading strategies, and start practicing them. Shown here: coursepacks for just three courses. Not pictured: the myriad documents I read electronically on my iPad. As Professor Rick Morris said, “Graduate students need to be efficient.” Reading every word of the assigned articles and case studies in this program would be

The Spring Quarter Slide (With Apologies to the Trees)

It happens every year. My favorite group of trees on the lakefront come alive with beautiful, delicate, fragrant blossoms in spite of the winter weather they endure. Half of them white, half of them pink, their branches positively exploding with flowers. I make a point of walking through them every day this time of year, a seasonal

The Aftermath

Prospective MSC students often ask about workload in the program. “How do you deal with it?” “Do you have time to do anything?” The answer is: you just deal, even if you can’t really articulate how it all gets done. I like this shot of the aftermath of an evening group work session in the

The Ice Rink is OPEN!

I recently read an article in The Daily Northwestern indicating the general student consensus on Winter Quarter is that it is something to “get through.” The author of the article had additional thoughts, and I concur. It’s so easy and predictable to love warm, sunny weather. But in Chicago, we usually just grow a winter

2015 Alumni Panel | Leveraging Your MSC Degree

On February 7, 2015 a panel of MSC alumni spoke to current students during a lunchtime presentation about how to best leverage the MSC degree. Panelists included: Penelope Johnson, MSC 2013 (moderator);  (L-R at table) Toby Cortelyou, MSC 2012; Aspasia Apostokis Miller, MSC 1994; Mary Kelley, MSC 2011; Jason S. Kenne, MSC 2012; and Brandon

MSC 30th Anniversary Symposium

The 2014-2015 academic year marks the Master of Science in Communication program’s 30th anniversary. In honor of this milestone, the program is hosting a symposium of academic engagement, exploration of emerging ideas and networking for alumni on Saturday, October 11, 2014. The symposium will feature faculty and alumni sharing innovative practices and inspiring stories. Attendees

Connecting the Dots

What’s really cool about MSC is the way in which material from professors and guest speakers alike always seems to fit together; everything is related and relevant, it seems. This was particularly true this past Saturday. The second half of this term in our core course, Strategy in the Global Economy, is focused on the

Halfway

All of a sudden, there are only three weeks left in the quarter and less than six months left in the program. Whoa. Where did the time go? The past five months have felt like such a blur — though a good blur. Making the decision to apply for grad school has turned out to