Streamlining the grad school application process
Introducing Harvard’s Master in Design Engineering (MDE)
The Master in Design Engineering (MDE) is a new program at Harvard focused on training multi-disciplinary leaders to address the world’s most complex technical and social problems. The program is unique in that it is Harvard’s first collaborative degree, hosted by both the Graduate School of Design (GSD) and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). The MDE administration seeks out students intent on solving problems through interdisciplinary teams, and thus designs classroom settings where architects, engineers, computer scientists, and artists address root causes through collaboration and prototyping.
The MDE program, started in 2016, is in its infancy, and this is reflected in its administrative and communicative infrastructure. At the core of the program’s communication strategy is the mde.harvard.edu website. The site, at first glance, offers an overview of the program and its ethos. A simple navigation bar on the homepage links viewers to pages outlining the structure of the curriculum, introducing the network of students, faculty, and professionals in the current cohort, and, most importantly, providing information on how prospective students can apply for admission.
At its core, the website is a tool for prospective students seeking to apply to the program. The site specifically calls out the student experience and links to projects developed by past and current cohorts. For a prospective student, the site tells you what you need to know: this is the program and everyone involved. Yet from the lens of a prospective turned current student, the site could provide better calls to action, especially those that offer more intimate knowledge about MDE and facilitate connections between prospective students, current students, and program admins.
The Goal of Prospective Students
Prospective students are often excited by the program because it is part of a new wave of collaborative degrees aimed at social impact. These students may stumble across this new and obscure degree at Harvard and wonder how it will help them become more effective leaders. From this lens, prospective students have a few functional jobs:
1) They seek out information to learn about the program
2) They hope to contact current students to understand the daily experience
3) They seek clarification from admission on application procedures and financial aid
4) And they go through the process of submitting an application, replete with a portfolio and numerous written statements
From my own experience, the journey from initial discovery to application was daunting. The MDE site offered basic information on program design and expectations, but it lacked more rounded information such as the student profiles that thrived best, how much flexibility there was in the elective structure, and how students with multiple years of industry experience should consider the transition back to academics. To answer these unknowns, I personally cold-emailed 3 MDE students through LinkedIn and prepared an interview template for each conversation. As someone very motivated to join the program, I was up for this task, but for anyone with less clear intentions, I imagine this site alone does not fill all the information gaps in the application process.
An improvement the site could offer prospective applicants would be facilitating contact from prospective students to current students and the program administration. At the moment, prospective students seeking a human being can scroll to a contact link hidden at the bottom corner of the main page. This link redirects the user to another page with multiple contact options: open houses, program manager, and admissions office. As a prospective student stumbling on this site, I may be uncertain as to the difference between the program manager and the admissions office and may opt to wait for the next open house. These options create an emotional barrier which delays a user’s understanding whether or not the MDE program is right fit for their graduate school needs.
A potential feature addition could be a calendar function which allows you to schedule meetings with existing students or faculty. This could improve the site’s value proposition by offering prospective students a simple tool to gather additional context on MDE. Additionally, it could empower current students to be co-creators of value. There are 40 students in the first and second year MDE cohorts, many of whom went through an emotional journey of learning about programming, applying, and transitioning to Harvard. Many are willing and ready to share their experience. A simple call to action, such as a link to a Calendly schedule on the front page which offers available time with current students or program admins, can serve as a MVP. This prototype might facilitate access to the MDE network, which is the desired gains of prospective students. Additionally, it may broaden interest and boost application volume because the program will feel less remote, less distant — an unexpected gain for the administration.
