How to Survive Grad School
- 1). Choose the correct academic advisor. You want to make sure that the advisor that you work with is one that you will get along well with (since you will be working closely with him for years) and one that shares your same academic and research interests. It is also good if your advisor is well respected in his field because that will make your work with him that much more respected too.
- 2). Know exactly what is expected of you in grad school. This will likely include taking a certain number of classes and getting high enough grades, teaching courses in your department, conducting research and writing a thesis. It is important to know these requirements and their due or completed by dates because if something falls through the cracks, you may not graduate on time. Your academic advisor or the graduate department director can go over these requirements with you.
- 3). Set goals for your research, coursework and teaching duties on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Go over your goals and time management plans with your advisor. Make sure that you are both on the same page with when things have to be completed.
- 4). Pick the right thesis for you. Writing a thesis is possibly the biggest thing you will have to do in graduate school. You will be spending lots of time working on a thesis, so make sure you pick something that interests you. It is also a good idea to pick a topic that has a well-defined focus and is actually a researchable topic. If your thesis is too broadly based, it will be difficult to actually complete in a reasonable amount of time. Your academic advisor will help you choose a thesis topic.
- 5). Manage your time well and stay organized. With so many requirements and things that you have to do, you need to manage your time and stay on top of things. Use a calendar to write down all of your course times, the times and days you have to teach, dates of examinations and thesis deadlines. Set goals for your research, coursework and teaching duties on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Go over your goals and time management plans with your advisor. Make sure that you are both on the same page with when things have to be completed.
- 6). Study hard and work hard. In graduate school, your advisor and course professors will expect your to do well and get good grades. If they did not expect this, you probably would not have been admitted to grad school. This means that you are going to have to study hard, work hard and stay focused.
- 7). Ask for help. If you are having trouble with your research, problems in a class or difficulties with your teaching, talk to your advisor. Small problems can turn into very big problems if they are not addressed early on. Your advisor, your course professors and the graduate department chair are all there to help you.