Preparing Your Statement of Purpose

A blog post from SOLES Ambassador and PhD in Leadership Studies, Elizabeth Castillo: photo credit: CC (Creative Commons) by Calsidyrose Pursuing a graduate degree requires a major intellectual, financial, and emotional commitment. To get the most out of your investment, Continue reading

Ace-ing the Interview!

Admissions interviews can be really tough for many of us. It is an opportunity for you to present yourself to the university faculty. In other words, you need to know how to market yourself. Last Friday, I was fortunate enough Continue reading

Permission Slips

I was on the brink and I think everyone could tell. I silently wished myself away into Zachary’s office to talk to him but he was missing. I needed to plan out my class I was set to teach in two Continue reading

Destination Doctorate: Finding your path

If you’re pondering the possibility of embarking on this doctoral journey, or have just started the program, I say: follow your dream. What gives me the “creds” to share? To date, I’ve successfully combined a challenging job (the way more Continue reading

Graduate School and Christmas Music

At least once a week I find myself saying the phrase, “A PhD is, first and foremost, a research degree.” In my role and simply as an advocate for my program I often get asked about my experience in the Continue reading

My Advice for Incoming SOLES Students

I graduated in May from USD with my M.A. in Counseling, with a School Specialization. I am currently living at home in Orange County, working as the director of a summer program, but will be moving back to San Diego Continue reading

Famous last words: Farewell to the Class of 2013

I did not graduate this past weekend; but I still felt very something about the timestamp.  Likely because it was with this class that I began my own program. Two years ago I graduated from my own Masters program, fretted over Continue reading

3 Benefits of Attending USD

There are many reasons why I love USD! However, the following three reasons are why I selected USD over other graduate school programs.   Class size: I went to Arizona State University for undergrad. It was an amazing experience but Continue reading