S02E05 -- A Creative Solution to Applying to Graduate School and Increasing Your Chance of Admission, and Interview with Undergraduate Jessica Gregg.

Summary: Tommy Coleman and Chris Silver interview undergraduate double major Jessica Gregg. Jessica is a Psychology as well as Criminal Justice and is one of the initial undergraduate research grant awardees of UTC’s URACE grant. In this episode, Jessica discusses her journey to higher education coming from a working-class family as a non-traditional student. Jessica discusses her laser focus on going to college and eventually graduate school. She discusses the challenges of having no one in her family to help guide her through the college process. Jessica discusses having to navigate her undergraduate years while also caring for her sister and family. She discusses applying to graduate school and how she capitalized on her double major to increase her chances of admission. She discusses some of the lessons learned by applying for graduate school. She discusses the challenges of expectation management with her family, finding funding while working, and the struggles of not being the typical prototype undergraduate and the toll it has on stress and achieving one’s goals. Jessica concludes by sharing lessons learned that could help others in their journey. Finally, the cohosts give a shoutout to a past undergraduate guest Hannah who has started to receive invitations to interview for doctoral programs. Congrats.