Tips for Completing a Well-Rounded Application

The January 15th early application deadline is now less than a month away! We know you're busy working on your application and wanted to provide some tips for making it the best it can be. We’ve recently written several posts related to navigating the admissions process, funding, and asking for letters of recommendation. Below are some additional tips and thoughts to consider before hitting the submit button on your application.

Make sure all your application materials are in order

Review the admissions requirements page and make sure you have all the required elements:

• Online application

• Resume
• Transcripts
• GRE Scores
• TOEFL or IELTS Scores (International Students only)
• 3 Letters of Recommendation
• Statement of Purpose
• Personal Statement

The admissions team requires each one of these elements for review, so it is important that they have all been completed.

Be sure to pay special attention to the elements of your application that may be outside of your immediate control, like the letters of recommendation and test scores. Following up with your writers and the testing agencies through email or phone to ensure everything has been completed and sent to the correct place can provide reassurance. You can also check the status of your application here.

What does your application say about you?

The admissions review committee takes a holistic approach in evaluating each prospective student's application. This means that the admissions team is looking at all elements of your application to see how well you fit with the school's mission statement, your potential for leadership, what you see yourself doing in the future of the field, and other related factors. Please read this post on writing the personal statement and statement of purpose for more tips.

Answering the five questions listed under the Statement of Purpose on the admissions requirements page will allow you to address these factors and give the admissions review committee an idea of how you believe you can further the field of information. Make sure that you have expressed yourself clearly in this section and answered all of the questions posed.

Once you have your essays written, remember to proofread your statements and have a friend review them as well. I remember writing my own personal statement and struggling with what direction to take but what helped me most was imagining I was on the admissions committee reading my statements for the first time. What did I now know about the applicant based only the application? How does this person fit within the field of information? What has the applicant done in the past to ensure future success? Is the applicant a good fit for the school? After you've read your statements, make sure they tell your story, who you are, what you bring to the table, and what you hope to achieve by earning your MSI.

For specific questions about the application process, you may contact the admissions team at umsi.admissions@umich.edu. The admissions office will be closed for the holidays from December 24th to January 2nd. The team will respond to emails as soon as possible when they return to campus the week of January 5th. In addition, please understand that the time it takes to make an admissions decision may vary due to the busy application season and the number of applications the team receives. For general questions about the program or Ann Arbor and to connect with prospective and current students, please check out the UMSI Prospective Students Facebook group.

Funding and Scholarship Reminder

It is never too early to start thinking about funding for graduate school and the time to start is now!  There are many options available to help finance a master's degree at UMSI.

We posted similar information in October, but want to check in and remind you of the resources we've compiled and encourage you to start looking and applying for scholarships now.

Brief reminders (details below): 

• All students are considered for UMSI merit scholarships, and those who apply to UMSI by January 15, 2015 will receive priority consideration.  

• Check out our external scholarship spreadsheet.  UMSI is often able to match or double match funding awards from external scholarships.  Many of these deadlines are coming up soon, so don't delay!

• 
  

• Funding your degree

• Scholarships

• Matching funds and preferred admissions

• Diversity scholarships

• External scholarships

• Assistantships

• UM and Federal programs

• http://si.umich.edu/academics/funding/student-employment

• University Library Associate assistantship (separate application, due Jan. 15!)

• Bonk assistantship (separate application, due Jan. 15!)

• Achievement Fellowship

Details

UMSI Merit Scholarships

UMSI merit scholarships range from partial to full tuition coverage, with possible additional benefits, (regardless of residency status) for four semester of full-time MSI coursework.

We go through 3-4 rounds of UMSI Scholarship offers throughout the term. We hope to complete the first round in late February/early March. The second round will be in mid- to- late April, with a possible third round in mid- to- late May.

The first round of UMSI Scholarships are entirely merit-based. Subsequent rounds will always have merit as the primary factor for consideration, but we will also look at your motivation to attend UMSI. These factors can be demonstrated by professional, consistent communication with us. You are welcome to submit an additional letter/email for the admissions committee's consideration. I've seen previous admissions committees look at your excitement about UMSI, your efforts in applying for external fellowships, anything particular about the nature of your need, the connections you make at MSI Visiting Days (in March, for admitted students), the professionalism of your interactions, and other things for the subsequent rounds of UMSI Scholarship.

Merit is still the primary factor, and by merit we mean the strength of your statement of purpose and personal statement, your letters of recommendation, your internship/research/work experience, your academic record including your GRE, demonstration of leadership, service, comfort with ambiguity, etc. It is NOT just your GRE/GPA.

UMSI matching funds for external tuition awards
UMSI master's students who receive scholarships administered by external sources, such as associations, foundations, and corporations, are eligible to request matching funds from the School of Information.

UMSI students who receive an external scholarship prior to their first term of enrollment or through their first year (12 months) of enrollment are eligible for up to $10,000 in matching funds, depending on the award amount, the level of funding already awarded by UMSI, the remaining unmet need for cost of attendance, and the availability of funds remaining in the annual matching funds budget. Admitted students who receive an external award should submit the original award statement (keeping a copy for personal records) with a request for matching funds to umsi.admissions@umich.edu. 

Scholarship Announcements
This spreadsheet of external scholarships will be continually updated throughout the winter and early spring.  Please check back for more opportunities, and we will continue to alert prospective students of these as we learn of them. 

Links from UMSI website:
Please note the University Library Associate scholarships and Bonk Assistantship require separate applications, due January 15, 2015.  The applications are now available.

Letters of Recommendation

We know prospective students often have many questions about letters of recommendation... who to ask? how to ask? when?

I've pulled together two posts from the last two years in which we can help answer some of those questions...

Check them out here:

http://msi-admissions-umsi.blogspot.com/2012/11/asking-for-letters-of-recommendation.html

http://msi-admissions-umsi.blogspot.com/2013/11/asking-for-letters-of-recommendation.html

Ann Arbor Data Dive 2014

My name is Jeff Bennett and I'm a first year MSI student and a UMSI Peace Corps Coverdell Fellow. Prior to beginning this program I live and worked in the Dominican Republic for two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer encouraging the use of Information and Communications Technologies to support literacy education. UMSI was a natural fit for my interests within graduate education because of the school's emphasis on community service opportunities. My transition to graduate school here has allowed me to get real world practice with the skills I am learning in a service context.

Along these lines, this past weekend I had the privilege of participating in Ann Arbor Data Dive (A2D2), a weekend event that brings together students and community members to help nonprofits receive much needed data analysis and allows students and community members to learn from the manipulation of real world data sets.

Back in September my team met with our client representative, Kate, with Safe House Center for the first of many meetings to prepare the organization’s data for the actual dive. We learned about the organizations vision, to help survivors of domestic violence, and about the organizations seemingly endless list of programs. Not only does Safe House provide shelter for survivors of domestic violence, they work with hospital outreach, operate a crisis hotline, and provide LGBT community services. As government funding for Safe House has been decreasing over the past several years, it has been extremely important for the organization to increase donor giving to compensate for the loss. Kate worked with us to learn how to get the best donor data possible out of their current system and our student team cleaned up this donor data to prepare it for analysis.

Data Dive is an incredible service engagement learning opportunity. From participating I learned not only more about data analysis through work with great team players, I also learned a great deal about managing a real world client relationship. Information is a great field to be in because it combines both these hard and soft skills to produce compelling results that “real” people can understand and use.

In the end, we were able to give Kate future predictions of potential recurring donors who may lapse. From this list, it will now be possible for Safe House to target individual donors for more personalized appeals. Additionally, trends within donor giving were presented and it became clear that some organizational campaigns were much more effective than others. This information will should allow Safe House Center to generate more revenue in the coming year. But perhaps more important than any actual data analysis, we were able to give Kate some clear recommendations for best practices going forward. Safe House Center now has a clearer tool kit with which to collect their data going forward which will hopefully be allow sustainable growth in their donations to occur.

With all that was accomplished in just one weekend, I am excited about the prospect of continuing to work with Safe House going forward to implement some of the solutions we talked about. Fortunately, with sustainable projects in mind, there are plans to continue this relationship between Safe House and the UMSI community.

One of the reason’s I choose to attend UMSI for my MSI degree was that I truly felt there is no better place for someone interested in service opportunities to learn about the Information field. Now that I am here several months into my first year as an MSI student, I see even more clearly how important it is for those of us who work as Information professionals to give back our services to organizations who truly need them. And the opportunities to pursue projects similar to Data Dive here at UMSI really do seem endless.

If anyone has any questions about Data Dive, what it's like to be a Coverdell Fellow at UMSI, or service engagement opportunities here in general, please feel free to contact me at jeffcb@umich.edu any time.

Navigating the UMSI Admission Process

Let’s admit it - applying to grad school can feel a bit overwhelming at times. Deciding on what schools to apply to, deciphering what each school requires and wrangling letters of recommendation takes a lot of time and effort.

This guide will aim to break the process in helpful bites and point you in the right direction.

Investigate

UMSI has created lots of resources to help paint a picture of life during and after your time at UMSI. Our website has so much information on the courses and specializations, faculty and their research areas and all the great student groups.

Why should I get a MSI?

What kind of courses can I take?

Outside of class, what will I do?

What service engagement opportunities are there?

What kind of career will I have? (see the 2014 Employment Report here)

What are some funding options?

What is Ann Arbor like?

Apply

So you can see yourself thriving at UMSI and enjoying living in Ann Arbor. Now it is time to pull together a complete application that tells your story.

Deadlines

Requirements

Frequently Asked Questions

Connect with us

Still have questions about the program or the application process? We want to hear from you! Sign up for our mailing list to get updates like this one or contact directly at umsi.admissions@umich.edu.

Remember that you are not alone in applying to this program. We have set up a Facebook group for students just like you to get to know each other and ask questions.

Online information sessions for prospective UMSI students!

UMSI will host online information sessions that will present basic information about the program and answer any questions you may have.

Join us for one of the following sessions:

     - Thursday, November 13, 10:00-11:00 a.m. EST

     - Tuesday, November 18, 3:00-4:00 p.m. EST

     - Friday, December 5, 12:00-1:00 p.m. EST

Alissa Talley-Pixley will be presenting, and there will be a current student or two to help answer questions. Please RSVP here now, and closer to the session, you will receive information about how to join online.

Check out the recruiting events calendar to see all upcoming events!

Global International Engagement Program 2014

This summer, I worked alongside two other UMSI students on a website to connect human rights lawyers in India as part of the Global Information Engagement Program. GIEP connects graduate student teams with different partner organizations in India to develop a solution to an existing information related problem. The GIEP program counts as your PEP credit/summer internship. Other student projects included: creating an accessible website for the disabled and their community, creating data-drive performance metrics and tools to improve the quality of care in the "Be Well" hospitals, among several others.

The student teams learned about our project partners in November and started communicating with them via Skype and Google Hangout to better understand the nature of the problem. Since I am interested in UX Design and research, I was able to apply many of the skills and techniques I have been learning in class to this project: including interviewing, wireframing, prototyping, and user testing to gain user feedback and inform the design of the project.

Throughout the winter semester, we scoped the project, researched, and created wireframes and prototypes to prepare for our arrival in India. Once in India, we worked alongside our project partners to see first-hand how they work on a day to day basis.

Because our clients are human rights lawyers, we continuously saw them rush to the aid of others. We watched as they assisted slum dwellers as the city attempted to evict the residents as well as protected sex workers, victims of rape, and other marginalized citizens. Although these human rights lawyers do so much for others, they don't always have access to the resources they need. By creating this website to network human rights lawyers, they can now share resources, knowledge, and connect with human rights lawyers across the country. And by working side by side with our client, we were able to better understand the problem, get feedback, and conduct user testing with several human rights lawyers and the future administrators of the site to make the site more intuitive and user friendly.

When I first moved to Ann Arbor more than a year ago, I never imagined that I would live in India for two months, let alone work with an amazing project partner. If you are interested participating in the program, applications for the GIEP program are open until November 1st.

Funding and Scholarship Resources

While the start of the school year may feel like a long way off, you may already be thinking about how to fund your graduate school education -- and you should be!  All students who apply are considered for UMSI merit based scholarships, and those who apply by January 15 receive first consideration for these scholarships.  

There are also several external scholarships that you can apply for before admission.  Many of these scholarships have deadlines in November and December, so please check out our external scholarship spreadsheet for specific deadlines and requirements.  In addition, UMSI is often able to match funding awards from external scholarships.  Graduate school can be affordable, so please take a look at all of the funding resources detailed below.  

UMSI Scholarships

UMSI merit scholarships range from partial to full tuition coverage, with possible additional benefits, (regardless of residency status) for four semester of full-time MSI coursework.

UMSI also offers UMSI Achievement Fellowships.  We go through 3-4 rounds of UMSI Scholarship offers throughout the term. We hope to complete the first round in late February/early March. The second round will be in mid to late April, with a possible third round later in May.

The first round of UMSI Scholarships are entirely merit-based. Subsequent rounds will always have merit as the primary factor for consideration, but we will also look at your motivation to attend UMSI. These factors can be demonstrated by professional, consistent communication with us. You are welcome to submit an additional letter/email for the admissions committee's consideration. I've seen previous admissions committees look at your excitement about UMSI, your efforts in applying for external fellowships, anything particular about the nature of your need, the connections you make at MSI Visiting Days, the professionalism of your interactions, and other things for the subsequent rounds of UMSI Scholarship.

Merit is still the primary factor, and by merit we mean the strength of your statement of purpose and personal statement, your letters of recommendation, your internship/research/work experience, your academic record including your GRE, demonstration of leadership, service, comfort with ambiguity, etc. It is NOT just your GRE/GPA.

UMSI matching funds for external tuition awards

UMSI master's students who receive scholarships administered by external sources, such as associations, foundations, and corporations, are eligible to request matching funds from the School of Information.

UMSI students who receive an external scholarship prior to their first term of enrollment or through their first year (12 months) of enrollment are eligible for up to $10,000 in matching funds, depending on the award amount, the level of funding already awarded by UMSI, the remaining unmet need for cost of attendance, and the availability of funds remaining in the annual matching funds budget. Admitted students who receive an external award should submit the original award statement (keeping a copy for personal records) with a request for matching funds to umsi.admissions@umich.edu

Funding Links

http://si.umich.edu/academics/funding/scholarships

http://si.umich.edu/academics/funding/diversity-scholarships

http://si.umich.edu/academics/funding/external-scholarships

http://si.umich.edu/academics/funding/assistantships

http://si.umich.edu/academics/funding/resources-u-m-and-federal-programs

http://si.umich.edu/academics/funding/student-employment

http://www.si.umich.edu/academics/funding/university-library-associates

https://www.si.umich.edu/academics/funding/bonk-assistantship

https://www.si.umich.edu/programs/master-science-information/funding-your-degree/umsi-achievement-fellowship

Scholarship Announcements

This spreadsheet of external scholarships will be continually updated throughout the winter and early spring.  Please check back for more opportunities, and we will continue to alert prospective students of these as we learn of them.  

Please note the University Library Associate scholarships (for students interested in working in academic libraries) and Bonk Assistantships (for students interested in special collections, digital preservation or archives) require a separate application, due January 15, 2015.

Videos from Connect with UMSI

Last week we held Connect with UMSI events for prospective students.  Check out videos of the presentations here.  You can view the Opening Session with Dean Jeff MacKie-Mason, videos about career development and service engagement, admissions and funding, and about our academic programs.  This can be a great way to get a taste of the content from the sessions.  Keep in touch with us if you'd like more information or to connect with a current student!

Busy Fall Break for UMSI Students

Photo from Joyce Sakata

Fall break means getting ready for midterms for most UMSI students, but it also gave some an opportunity to travel outside of Michigan to experience some great events. A few of our students made their way to the Grace Hopper Celebration in Phoenix, and 35 more made their way to the east coast for the annuual NY Innovation Trek.

Joyce and Michelle made their way to the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women In Computing - it is known as the world's largest gathering of women technologists.

If you want a taste of the action at this year's conference you can check out the archived streaming sessions here. 

Photo from Natalie Yee

Our students also went on the NY Innovation Trek and pitched to famed innovative organizations like Twitter, TechStars and StartUp Health, Next Big Sound, New York Public Library, and JSTOR.

If you're interested in catching up on all the sights of the trip check out the UMSI twitter and Facebook and the hash tags ‪#‎umsinytrek‬ and ‪#‎umsiinnovate‬! If you have any questions about this trip or the entrepreneurship program at UMSI please ask!

Why I chose an iSchool

Hello! My name is Jola Bolaji and I am a first-year MSI student here at UMSI. I came here from sunny California for one reason – to attend an iSchool – specifically UMSI.

I started my undergraduate career as a hopeful computer science major. But I did not find that completely fulfilling. I was being taught a lot of coding—but that was about it. I wanted to add more to that. I took an elective course about social issues in computing and realized that was more to computers (and technology in general!) than coding. There are design issues. There are social issues. Technology is not just new software and smartphone apps. It can also be technology in third-world countries and Maker movements for children in schools.

So when I began looking at graduate programs, I was looking for diverse programs with a wide range of opportunities. UMSI’s mission – to “create and share knowledge so that people will use information – with technology – to build a better world” resonated with me. As I found out more about UMSI, I learned that there are so many opportunities to do just that here. The interdisciplinary curriculum at UMSI encompasses many classes taught by faculty from various backgrounds – user experience; web development; psychology; and information economics – just to name a few. UMSI goes beyond schooling in the classroom and encourages community outreach, entrepreneurship, extracurricular activities, and real-world experience.

An iSchool like UMSI is more than just computer science. An iSchool like UMSI is more than just library science. An iSchool is both of those things and much more. Here at UMSI we are truly the intersection of “people, information and technology.”

Facebook group for prospective MSI students!

The Facebook group for prospective MSI students for fall 2015 is now live! To join visit:  umsi.info/fall15facebook

The group is a great place to ask questions about admissions, the school, our programs, the city of Ann Arbor, and to share information with one another. You can engage with staff, current students, and other prospective MSI students to learn about the culture of the school and whether UMSI might be a good fit for you! We'll be sharing events and updates from campus to give you a look into the community here at UMSI. We hope you'll join the conversation!

UMSI at AmeriCorps Virtual Grad School Fair

Have you served your community as an AmeriCorps member?

The University of Michigan School of Information will be attending the AmeriCorps Alums Virtual Grad School Fairs on September 26th and 30th.

As a graduate student, UMSI offers many opportunities for you to continue improving and engaging communities by connecting people and technology in valuable ways including:

• Citizen Interaction Design
• Global Information Engagement Program
• A2 Data Dive
• Student Groups involved in the community

Here's the best part: the School of Information works to match your education award up to $10,000! (see link for more details)

If you haven't already, you can register online for the fair here. We hope to see you there!

Events for prospective UMSI students! RSVP for Ann Arbor event & see where else we'll be!

UMSI will be hosting two events in Ann Arbor to help prospective students learn about the school.

The event on Thursday, October 16 (held from 5:30-7:45 p.m.) will be a chance to learn about the programs, admissions, funding, and career development in a shorter version of our Saturday event.

The Saturday, October 18 event (1:30-5:00 p.m.) will be a bit more in-depth on each of the above topics - with a specific portion of the day dedicated to doctoral studies - and will allow you a chance to engage with faculty and current students, in addition to hearing from staff throughout the afternoon. Both events will be held in Palmer Commons, just a short walk away from North Quad. Click here for more information and to RSVP.

UMSI will also be at several fairs this fall.  See our recruitment calendar below to see if we'll be at a location or fair near you!

If you'll be at one of these fairs, stop by and see us. If not, please remember you can always email umsi.admissions@umich.edu for more information about our graduate programs in Information.

I found the right fit: My first week at SI

Hello! My name is Charlie Kelley and I am a first-year MSI student and one week into my graduate school career.

My path to the School of Information has felt like a long one at times. I have been interested in attending graduate school since I earned my undergraduate degree, but never found the right fit. I have always been passionate about communities and became more interested in technology through my work experience, but never knew how to describe what I wanted. Was it an urban planning degree? Was it a computer science degree? Was it business?

After one week at UMSI I can tell you something you will hear over and over again is our mission, that we value three things and how they interact: People, Technology and Information. This intersection of values was exactly what I had been searching for and this first week showed my I was not alone in that. In my first 502 course, Dr. Chuck described the SI faculty as the “island of misfit toys” - as professors who have broken out of their silos in the academic world who see the sum of connecting these three values is much greater than the individual worth of the parts. 

You are probably wondering what exactly a Master’s of Science in Information is and if it’s worth pursuing. I can tell you that if you are curious, if you have more questions than answers and you care about connecting people to information in valuable ways then you should stay tuned. Over the next months we will be giving you snapshots of life in the MSI program, events to get connected to UMSI and hopefully you will decide if SI is right for you. 

After one week of meeting my cohort who amaze me and being introduced to professors and topics that will challenge me, I know I have made the right decision.

UMSI Master of Science in Information Application is Live!

Just a quick note that our MSI application for fall 2015 is live and available.  Check out information about the application deadlines and apply here:  https://www.si.umich.edu/programs/msi/admissions/msi-admissions.

The early deadline for fall 2015 is January 15, and in the meantime we'll be blogging about different parts of the application, UMSI events, financial information, and more!  Keep checking the blog for more information, or Register with us and you'll receive weekly messages too!

Please also feel free to email umsi.admissions@umich.edu or alissat@umich.edu with any further questions about our program.

We look forward to staying in touch this fall!

CHI 2014

Last week was the ACM CHI Conference: an international HCI Student Design Competition. This year, sixty-six teams across the world entered the competition with projects related to the theme: Body Data. Several UMSI student teams participated in the Design Competition, with five teams making it to the top 12 semi-finals. Each team presented a poster and five minute presentation in front of three panels of judges. Two of our teams, Beam and InnoMotion, made it to the final four - where they were asked to present a ten minute presentation and powerpoint before final judgements were made. Beam and InnoMotion took first and third place. We are so excited to have two teams make it to the final four!
  
As a first year student, I never thought I would participate in an international competition, let alone be a part of the first place team. It really has been a crazy week. We spent the week attending presentations, writing scripts, developing our powerpoint presentation, and practicing practicing practicing! It was a lot of hard work and we spent several nights working late, but we are so glad to have been a part of it. All of the teams from UMSI were incredibly well received and did such amazing and innovative work.

I hope this gets you all excited for the fall semester and the 2015 CHI Competition.  Next year's conference will be held in Seoul, Korea!

Finalist Teams: Beam and InnoMotion