February
8, 2002
Report
Details Postgraduate Educational and Career Paths of Young Alumnae
Where do our students go from here? While figures vary slightly
somewhat from year to year, approximately 27 percent of each Mount
Holyoke graduating class over recent years has continued on directly
to graduate and professional degree programs. A significant number
of young alumnae also wait before matriculating into graduate
programs. Within five years of graduating, 40 percent of alumnae
have entered graduate programs. At ten years out, two-thirds of
graduates have matriculated into postbaccalaureate, graduate,
or professional programs. At the same time, of those graduates
not going on to graduate school, nearly all find employment soon
after graduation.
Information concerning alumnae career and postgraduate education
trends, including an intensive study of the class of 2000, has
been compiled recently by the Career Development Center (CDC)
and provides new insight into both how alumnae are shaping their
lives and how effectively Mount Holyoke is preparing its students
for success and purposeful engagement with the world. Drawn from
an extensive compilation of longitudinal data regarding students
and alumnae trends, the study, "Uncommon Women in Action:
Mount Holyoke College Student and Alumnae Outcomes," provides
a quick portrait of the post-Mount Holyoke choices of alumnae.
"Mount Holyoke's commitment to educating women who have
developed the ability for critical thought, for leadership, and
for communicating themselves powerfully in a global and technologically
advanced environment is clearly paving the way for the ongoing
success of our alumnae," observes CDC director Scott C. Brown,
noting that the outcomes study was informed by the collaboration
of the CDC, the enrollment division, and the Alumnae Association.
"This report demonstrates that, across the board, our students
are taking advantage of superb opportunities."
For example: since 1991, the three institutions into which the
largest number of MHC alumnae have matriculated have been Columbia,
Harvard, and New York University. Other top choices for Mount
Holyoke alumnae are Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, Tufts,
the University of Chicago, and the University of California, Berkeley.
In recent years, Mount Holyoke has also seen increasing interest
in graduate schools overseas. For example, students from the class
of 2000 are now studying at institutions such as the London School
of Economics, the University of Bonn, and Sofia University.
Other trends revealed by the new CDC report include the following:
Between 1998 and 2000, 60 percent of Mount Holyoke students applying
to medical school were accepted, compared to a national medical
school acceptance rate of 43 percent. (Mount Holyoke's Committee
on Health Professions supports the candidacy of all eligible students,
unlike many top schools, which set a grade point requirement on
institutional support.) The medical schools into which the largest
numbers of our alumnae have matriculated include Dartmouth, Georgetown,
the University of Rochester, and Tufts.
Of the 27 percent of graduates from the class of 2000 going on
to postgraduate study, 7 percent have gone to medical school.
Appro-ximately 11 percent of all graduate school attendees from
classes since 1991 have gone to medical school. At the same time,
approximately 12 percent of graduates between 1991 and 2000 have
gone on to law school. And more than 6 percent of graduates between
1991 and 1995 went on to business or other professional school
programs.
Mount Holyoke women can be found in almost every field. Among
top career choices for graduates who graduated between five and
ten years ago, 11.4 percent have gone into fields associated with
communications and technology; 17.1 percent have gone into education
(including teaching and administration at all levels); 11 percent
into finance or business; and 13.6 percent into science or medicine.
More recent graduates have followed similar trends. The CDC report
also details that office's success in coordinating with recruiters
from the corporate and not-for-profit sectors and bringing them
to campus.
The report demonstrates that the CDC has made increasingly successful
use of internships. For example, last summer, more than 160 students
had summer internships at leading businesses and in government,
as well as in nonprofit and cultural organizations, while 110
students participated in January Internships in similar settings.
In addition, the CDC has seen growing success in coordinating
international internships. From 1998 to 2000, Mount Holyoke students
have worked in 127 international organizations in forty-eight
countries outside the United States.
Finally, according to the report, MHC students and recent graduates
have been highly successful in securing major fellowships and
scholarships, often with the assistance of the CDC. From 1991
to 2001, Mount Holyoke students and alumnae have garnered nineteen
Fulbright grants, sixteen Goldwater Scholarships, one Rhodes Scholarship,
three National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships,
and numerous other prestigious awards.
To learn more about the Career Development Center, visit http://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/careers/main/homepage.htm.
The
cThe
Counter is
1,211
|
