by Xochitl Campos
Daily Lobo
Alumnus Jay Cutts said understanding how students think is important to their success.
"I've found that one of the biggest obstacles that people face is that they don"t know what to do," he said. "They haven't known what to do for the last four years."
Cutts will host a free seminar from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at Bandelier Hall to help students prepare to apply to graduate or professional school.
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Cutts also offers to communicate with students via e-mail to give one-on-one education and career advice.
Cutts, who has a master's in special education from UNM, has a planning calendar on his Web site that goes from freshman year in college to a master's degree.
Cutts said the most important thing students need to monitor early in their college career is their GPA.
Students should begin preparing for exams and applications to graduate schools the summer before their senior year, he said.
"Usually, there is a particular summer when people need to be getting their things together," he said. "So, people know when they can finalize their preparation for their exams or prepare their personal statements for applications."
He said students should start thinking about graduate school their first year in college.
"Career exploration is something that should be done really early," he said. "That way, as a freshman or a sophomore, you will be that much further ahead."
Andrew Velie, a senior studying art studio, said that as a freshman, the idea of graduate school never crossed his mind.
"At the beginning, I was just focusing on what I wanted to do," he said. "It wasn't until I figured that out that I let it enter my mind."
Preparing for graduate school as a freshman is a good idea, but only if you have a clear idea of what you want to do, Velie said.
"For people who don"t necessarily know, their first step should be figuring that out," he said. "It is really only realistic depending on the person"s situation, like if they enter college knowing exactly what they want to do."
Study guides for tests such as the GRE and LSAT are sufficient for some students, said Paul Burger, a former UNM graduate student.
Burger said Cutts' seminar would be helpful to students who aren't good test takers.
Cutts said helping students overcome problems like test anxiety is something he has always been interested in.
Cutts, who has been advising students for 17 years, said his experience puts him ahead of the competition.
"From my standpoint, it is a dramatically different thing I"m doing," Cutts said. "Commercial companies hire someone who took the test and did really well for them. It is a very part-time thing, and they don't have the same experience."
