Masters in Applied Positive Psychology Interest from India

I received an e-mail the other day from a young woman in India who's interested in the MAPP program.  She's given me permission to share, and I thought it might be of interest.  Looks like the next MAPP class could be pretty amazing!

Hi Dave,

How are you doing? Great to read all your blog postings and especially those on positive psychology! Let me start by introducing myself - have a lot of curiosity and interest in positive psychology and have completed my masters in Applied Psych & Bachelors in Psych as well! Currently working in HR (have about 3 years of professional work ex), in Bangalore, India. Infact my masters thesis was on searching a taxonomy for good life or happiness.

The reason I am writing to you (and hoping you mail back :) is coz I am really keen on the program at UPenn and am planning to apply for the same within the next month! (FYI - I had applied last year as well, but my application wasn't successful). So, through sheer curiosity & determination :) I am hoping things work out for the next batch. Just had a couple of basic questions - how has the program been so far? (is the 3-4 days a month model working for you? What do you do the rest of the days?), what are you or others in your batch planning to do afterwards (in terms of career/further studies), research interests and any tips at all on the application itself..

I know this is a really busy time for you - but would love to hear more about the program, your (and others) interests & experiences...

Thanks Dave - look forward to your email :)

Cheers

Radhika

My reply:

I am so glad you wrote!  I'll be glad to share my experiences with you.

Let's see .... where to start?

Well, first, the program is very high quality.  We are meeting and learning from some of the real leading folks in the field, and I am finding that the "UPenn" and "Seligman" names open doors when we want to talk with folks about Capstone projects.

Second, the workload is challenging for me, and I think others in the class with full-time careers and families are finding it similarly challenging.  I can't address how those who are approaching it as full-time students find it, but I'll see if a couple of them might share their experiences with you.

I think individual plans for afterwards depend on the current position of each person.  I want to use my knowledge to help get the CLE Commission I work for here in TN (see www.cletn.com) to put some effort into using the knowledge to improve the lives and performance of TN attorneys, though after a Commission meeting I had yesterday, that's going to be a longer project than I had hoped.  Some of the younger students are planning to go on to a PhD program.

Tips on the application:  share what it means to you, why it excites you, what your dreams are.  Also share what your thoughts are as to how this degree would enable you to do things that matter to you in your profession (what is that, btw?).

Again, thanks for writing.  Hope it goes well for you.

Comments

[Jessie]

Hi Dave,
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and experiences on the MAPP program. Pls continue to post your thoughts from time to time. I'm from Singapore and have developed a keen interest in positive psychology in the last few months. I'm also considering the option of applying for the next MAPP prog. I personally believe that positive psychology is a means to improving the well-being of many people. However, I have yet to sort out in my mind how and in which context i intend to apply it in the future. In fact, i envy you for knowing clearly what your plans/goals are after the course. Hopefully, things will be clearer to me soon, but meantime, it feels good to know that there are others out there who are also keen in pos psy and MAPP. And if things work out, i look forward to meeting other amazing people like you and Radhika in upenn. Take care!