Conferences are held all over the country and throughout the year. I recently attended the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference and came away feeling that I got even more value from the experience than students in a traditional program would.
Below are a few of the reasons that I now believe every online student should make attending conferences a priority.
1. You can attend talks and panels: The talks and Ph.D. defenses held regularly at universities are a great way to learn about how research is done and what’s hot in a field. Conferences offer online students similar benefits, but they’re conveniently packaged as an entire weekend or so of presentations by some of the best people in the world in their respective fields.
Get to know [three academic advantages of online programs.]
2. Giving presentations is both impressive and educational: Giving a presentation isn’t just for people who are already recognized experts in a field. Often, there are events like poster competitions and scheduled lightning talk sessions that are designed as a chance for students to participate, gain experience presenting and add a valuable item to their resumes.
3. It’s a chance for some networking: Online graduate students can’t rely on meeting professors and other students by running into them on campus. A great career requires both the right skills and the right social connections.
A conference is a gathering of people who are passionate about a specific topic, and that makes it a rare chance to create the kind of relationships that can open up valuable opportunities.
Find ways to [pursue research opportunities as an online grad student.]
4 . You can visit the career fair: Career fairs are the best way to connect with a large number of schools and companies in a single day, and going to a conference is the best way to get into one for anyone who isn’t living on a school campus. They’re also a way of getting a lot of interview practice in a short period of time, which is valuable to online students who can’t go to the career services office at their school for practice.
Talking to prospective students about online programs is another fun aspect of career fairs. Some people at the Grace Hopper event were amazed to find out that it’s possible to pursue a master’s degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology online, and others had heard of the program and were already thinking of applying. I enjoyed sharing something that I care deeply about, and I sparked some friendships with people who may become my classmates down the line.
The takeaway: Going to a conference is a way for an online student to gain many of the benefits that students on campus take for granted, without having to give up any of the things that make online programs great.
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4 Ways Attending Conferences Can Benefit Online Graduate Students originally appeared on usnews.com
