The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy announced the launch of the Map Your Future Program last month, which will allow senior undergraduate students to reserve a space while they gain professional experience.
The program guarantees students a spot at The Fletcher School after they have gained two to three years of real−world experience, according to Kristen Zecchi, associate director of admissions and financial aid at The Fletcher School.
"We're helping to map out the next four to five years of their life," Zecchi said.
The program, created by Zecchi and Director of Admissions Laurie Hurley, was designed to help undergraduate applicants compete with their more experienced peers. According to Zecchi, The Fletcher School did not want to continue to have to turn away promising applicants who lacked essential work experience.
"We see a lot of very young applicants applying in their senior year of college, and we hate to turn them away because they have a lot of potential," Zecchi said. "This way, we don't have to deny them."
In the past, The Fletcher School operated an informal process that allowed students to defer admission for a year in order to gain work experience, according to Jessica Daniels, associate director of admissions at The Fletcher School. This program will formalize the process, she noted.
"We've always needed to carefully consider the best course of action with our youngest applicants," Daniels said. "This is a course of action that works well for [The Fletcher School] and that always also serves the applicants well."
Typically, The Fletcher School evaluates applicants based on their work experience and international exposure, according to Zecchi. The new program will evaluate the potential that the younger students display, Zecchi said.
"We started the program based on the idea of how many undergrads there are out there who have great potential but just don't have the experience that we seek," Zecchi said. "We want to give them a chance to gain that professional experience."
Zecchi hopes that the program will help reduce the stress of students applying to graduate school.
"It's one less thing to think [about] when they're in Malawi doing the Peace Corps or in New York as an investment banker," she said. "The program alleviates a burden and helps students work toward a goal."
The Fletcher School has no core curriculum, so entering students must have a clear sense of what they want to study, according to Jeffrey Carbone, associate director of admissions at The Fletcher School.
"We want students who can understand what they want to do with their future and how [The Fletcher School] can help them get there," Carbone said.
Zecchi anticipates that enrollees in the Map Your Future Program will fit in well at The Fletcher School after their deferral years.
"The hope is that when they enroll, they will be pretty much indistinguishable from the average [Fletcher] student and will have accumulated the experiences… and interest in what they want to pursue here at [The Fletcher School]," Zecchi said.
The program has received an overwhelmingly positive initial response, Zecchi noted. She claims that the unique nature of a deferral program for an international affairs graduate school has generated some excitement.
"In the international affairs space, this is very unique," Zecchi said. "I think the excitement we're sensing from undergrads and their parents and faculty and grandparents is about the opportunity to solidify their future and hone in on a goal."
