About Us:
Our mission is to connect aspiring graduate students with mentors who can empower them with the tools to succeed in their graduate school applications and beyond. The MAGIC program especially seeks to support those from underrepresented, historically marginalized, and first-generation backgrounds, but is open to all.
History:
In the summer of 2020, a group of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty from Psychological Sciences and adjacent fields piloted a mentoring program designed to support underrepresented, historically marginalized and first-generation students (and former students) who were considering applying to PhD programs (at any time in the future, not just for the current cycle). Each mentee was matched with both a UConn faculty member and a graduate student or postdoc mentor in their area of interest. While many of our mentees came from UConn, nearly half came from other institutions—across the US and abroad.
Mentors provided guidance on topics such as choosing a program, preparing CVs, personal statements, and funding graduate school. We also held an online orientation session that included tips about how to get the most out of mentoring meetings as well as general information about applying to PhD programs. To further support mentees, we created a virtual library of sample application materials and other informational resources.
Due to the pilot’s success, the program was formalized in summer 2021 and renamed Mentoring Aspiring Graduate students and building an Inclusive Community (MAGIC). As the program grew, we expanded our offerings to give mentees greater flexibility and access to mentors, introducing “drop-in mentoring.” Through this option, mentees can browse our mentors page, and (using provided templates if they wish) directly email those who have indicated that they are available for drop-in mentoring.
Goals:
Our goal is to develop a large and diverse network of mentors who can support mentees throughout the process of preparing for, investigating, and applying to doctoral programs. We aim not only to support students who are actively preparing applications, but also to help those who are earlier in the process of deciding whether a graduate program is right for them.
We also aim to create a sense of community among our mentors and mentees, and to provide opportunities for peer-to-peer as well as mentor-mentee networking. Through involvement in MAGIC, we hope that our mentors will develop a deeper awareness of the challenges that our mentees may face as they pursue a doctoral degree. Our long-term goal is to help create a more inclusive and diverse community of researchers.
While our program currently focuses on Psychological Sciences and adjacent fields, we aspire to serve as a model for any other fields aiming to increase diversity among doctoral students. We are also eager to share our experience with other universities interested in developing similar mentoring programs.
What We Do:
MAGIC connects students and former students who are considering PhD programs in Psychology and related areas (e.g., Cognitive Science, Neuroscience [including Cognitive, Animal, and Human], Linguistics, Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences, and Educational Psychology) with mentors who provide one-on-one advice through video chats.
Our mentors—faculty, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows—are committed to helping underrepresented, historically marginalized individuals get into and succeed in PhD programs. While the program especially seeks to support these groups, it is open to all. Mentors often provide guidance on topics like choosing a grad program, preparing CVs, writing personal statements, navigating funding, and understanding the application process. Mentees also have access to a library of resources, including CV and personal statement examples, and fellowship information.
Each year, MAGIC hosts an orientation session to help mentees learn how to connect with mentors, set expectations, and get the most out of mentoring meetings. The session also provides general information about applying to PhD programs.
In addition to one-on-one (“formal”) matches, MAGIC offers “drop-in” mentoring, where mentees can directly reach out to mentors who have volunteered to provide ad-hoc guidance. By combining formal mentorship with drop-in options, MAGIC allows mentees to access support in the way that works best for them.
Feel free to share this flier advertising our program with anyone who might be interested!
Sign-up to become a mentee or mentor
Important Note:
MAGIC is a volunteer program organized and operated by UConn staff, graduate students, faculty, and post-doctoral researchers. Although we hope that the advice that our mentors provide will help our mentees become more competitive applicants to any graduate program, participation alone will not influence admission into a UConn graduate program.
Because our mentors come from the UConn community, their advice will likely be most applicable to graduate study within the United States (although some mentors have experience with graduate study in other countries). All advice provided by mentors is informed opinion—different fields (and sub-fields, and labs) may have different expectations. Mentees are welcome to meet with multiple mentors within their sub-field of interest to expand the scope of information and opinions.
Currently, MAGIC is appropriate for prospective students interested in applying to PhD programs in Psychological Sciences, Cognitive Science, Neurosciences (including Cognitive, Animal and Human) or a related area (e.g., Linguistics or Speech and Hearing Sciences). We hope to expand to other fields in the future.
The MAGIC organizing team may occasionally solicit feedback on the program. All information shared in these feedback forms will be confidential within our team and we will only use this feedback to improve our program to better serve the community.