Representatives from every Eastern graduate program, including 22 external programs, will congregate in the Grand Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Students pursuing graduate school in the future can learn about the different programs Eastern offers as well as what other programs are available.

Bobbi Kingery, an adviser for Career Services, said there will be representatives from every program at Eastern and about 22 external programs present at the Graduate School Information Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Grand Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Kingery said each school will either be bringing the entire office or just representatives from specific fields.

“It’s an opportunity for students to drop-in in between classes, dressed casually, and meet people from these programs and ask specific questions,” Kingery said.

Kingery said this gives students the opportunity to learn about programs from something other than a website.

“It gives them the opportunity to speak to someone face-to-face,” Kingery said. “Although there is a lot of information available on the webpages, the representatives from these programs are often the people who will read the transcripts as they come in. Students can get a feel for what they are looking for.”

Kingery said this is an opportunity to learn what they need to do in order to get accepted to graduate programs.

She said students can ask about different aspects of a program

“It’s an opportunity to get in-depth answers that you can’t get from a website,” Kingery said.

She said students of all classes are invited to attend.

“For underclassmen who are thinking about graduate school, or know they need to go, it’s a great opportunity to walk through and find out what those programs are looking for, because graduate school is competitive,” Kingery said. “A lot of students think ‘oh, I’ll go to graduate school rather than finding a job,’ but not everyone is going to get in.”

Kingery said a full list of programs that will be represented can be found on the Career Services website.

She said for students who want to learn about graduate programs before the information day can attend “Grad School-Is it for Me?” at 6 p.m. in the Charleston-Mattoon Room of the Union.

Kingery said there will be two representatives at the panel and they will talk with students about getting into graduate school.

She said students need to learn what program want.

“The earlier you find out what they are looking for, the easier that process with be and be able to prepare for it,” Kingery said.

Samantha McDaniel can be reached at 581-2812 or slmcdaniel@eiu.edu.