Your primary responsibilities will depend on your mentee’s individual needs. At a minimum, you are expected to maintain consistent communication and provide constructive feedback on their application materials. Additional support, such as offering general advice about graduate school or conducting mock interviews is encouraged if time and capacity allow.

Once you are paired with your mentee, reach out via email to introduce yourself. Explain the general process about how this mentorship program works and your role as their mentor. Be sure to set clear clear expectations from the start.

If your mentee does not respond within three days of the initial pairing email, please reach out to Angelina Baltazar (angelina.baltazar@pennmedicine.upenn.edu) or Fernanda Holleman (fernanda.holleman@pennmedicine.upenn.edu). We will assume the mentee is no longer participating in the program and may assign you a new mentee if appropriate.

• Actively listen: understand what your mentee tells you and act accordingly by providing advice, feedback, or a concrete resource.

• Maintain active communication: Mentors and mentees are both extremely busy. Thus, it is essential to be available via your preferred communication method with your mentee. Create a trusting environment where your mentee feels comfortable talking with you.

• Hold accountability: If you feel your mentee’s goals or agreed-upon deadlines are not being met, it is encouraged that you communicate this respectfully and empathetically with your mentee.

• Be resourceful: Utilize your network and resources to provide your mentee with valuable connections and opportunities.

• Celebrate the successes: As your mentee reaches milestones—big or small—take time to celebrate their progress. Graduate school applications can be daunting, so recognizing their hard work and dedication goes a long way.

It is imperative that as the mentor, you set clear expectations with your mentee early on and continue using good communication with them throughout the program. When you first get in contact with them, share your preferred method of communication. Ask your mentee their goals, needs, and expectations from this mentorship program. Arrange how many times you will go back and forth on their application materials with them (typically 1-3 times is sufficient) and the expected turnaround dates for both edits and feedback.

We recommend aiming to review and return application documents within 5 days as a general guideline. Be sure to set expectations upfront and let them know as soon as possible if your schedule or workload changes. If you anticipate a longer turnaround time, just keep them informed because timely and transparent communication goes a long way.

Additionally, it is suggested you come up with a timeline goal regarding when your mentee will send you the next round of edits.

You are not required to review your mentee’s application materials multiple times. However, if your mentee requests additional feedback and you have the time and capacity to do so, you are welcome to provide further support. Just be mindful of the application deadlines when coordinating revisions and feedback.

When editing your mentee’s application materials, make sure you do not directly edit their documents. Instead, use the Track Changes/Suggesting and Comment features on your word processor. Similar to how you would review and edit a manuscript, make sure you are not rewriting their entire CV or research statement. Rather, make constructive comments on how they can be more descriptive or tighten up their writing. While it can be helpful to provide an example of how they can improve a sentence or two throughout their writing, try not to get too lost in the semantics, especially at the early stages of providing feedback. It is often more useful to provide broader, yet pointed feedback about what application reviewers are looking for and why framing something a certain way may improve their application. Above all, make sure you deliver feedback with empathy and respect.

Since everyone’s schedules vary, synchronous meetings are not required as long as you are able to provide thoughtful feedback and guidance. If you or your mentee would like to meet, feel free to coordinate a time that works for both of you. Flexibility and clear communication are key to making the mentorship effective.

Of course! While sharing your own application materials is not required, especially since these essays can be personal, it may be helpful for your mentee to see an example of how to organize information and reflect on past experiences. If you are not comfortable sharing, that's completely fine. Feel free to direct them to the example documents provided on this website instead [insert hyperlink].