Dear Prospective Graduate Student:

Congratulations on making significant strides to advance your scholarly pursuit! The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Graduate College is excited to share the call for 2024 ASPIRE Illinois with you. We have designed ASPIRE Illinois to empower students to submit competitive applications by providing supplemental pre-application support from professionals with years of varied experience in each part of the process. The benefit of this is that you will be poised to receive guidance, tips, and tricks to submit an effective and impactful graduate application packet, all while gaining insight into what it means to undertake the next step of your academic career!

ASPIRE Illinois Summer Webinar Series

It benefits you to be proactive and begin considering the application process early. Our webinars are designed to equip you with best practices for submitting competitive graduate school applications. We will cover a range of topics, from writing a compelling personal statement to locating potential funding opportunities and maintaining your mental health throughout the process. These webinars will also introduce you to other resources offered through the Graduate College.

The ASPIRE Illinois Summer Webinar Series will be held weekly at 7:00 p.m. CST from June 27 to August 8, 2024. You can sign up for the webinars here. 

The great part is that there is no fee or cost to participate in the webinars; you can join in from anywhere. After completing the webinar signup, you will need to complete a short Zoom registration. Once registered, you will receive a confirmation email with all the information to join the webinar session. . 

Webinars topics include:

  • June 27: “So You’re Interested in Graduate School at Illinois? Let’s Navigate the ASPIRE Application!” 
  • July 2: “Applying to Graduate School”
  • July 3: “Writing Personal Statements and Getting Recommendations that Work!”
  • July 11: “Personal Branding & Social Media”
  • July 18: “Funding Graduate School” 
  • July 25: “Values-Based Career Decision Making”
  • August 1: “Can I Really Do This? Combatting Imposter Syndrome”
  • August 8: “We All Have a Story and You Can Do It! – The Recap”

Note that two sessions will occur in the second week.

 Become an ASPIRE Illinois Candidate

To be deemed an ASPIRE Illinois candidate, you must complete your ASPIRE application by the August 9th deadline. This includes a 150-word interest statement and your unofficial transcript. This special designation and a thoughtfully and thoroughly completed application packet advance you toward receiving a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign application fee waiver, connect you with administrators and faculty in your program of interest, and, if selected, allow you to attend a special in-person fall campus visit. ASPIRE candidates who attend the Summer Webinar Series, participate in the on-campus visit, and are admitted to a qualifying* graduate program at Illinois are eligible for nomination for a prestigious Graduate College ASPIRE Fellowship. 

2024 ASPIRE Illinois Campus Visit 

ASPIRE Illinois candidates are invited to attend an in-person visit program in the fall to learn about our world-class and highly ranked graduate programs, tour our campus and facilities, and experience the culture and community offered to graduate students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The Graduate College at Illinois covers hotel accommodation, meals, and transportation expenses for those invited to the visit. We are excited to host the 2024 ASPIRE Illinois Campus Visit on September 29-30, 2024. Additional details can be found at https://grad.illinois.edu/diversity/aspire.

I hope you will join us for the ASPIRE Illinois Summer Webinar Series in the coming weeks. If you have any questions, please contact me at GradDiversity@illinois.edu.

All the best,

Danté Studamire

Assistant Director for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

 

*Self-supporting and cost-recovery graduate programs are ineligible.