Graduate School: The Next Level
Graduate School: How Different Will It Be From College?
In previous posts, we've discussed the differences between college and high school. But what about graduate school? Graduate school is just like college, right? The adjustment to graduate school will be nowhere near as traumatic as the transition from high to college, will it? Wrong. It can be a pretty big adjustment, even when, or perhaps especially, when a student goes straight to graduate school from college. Those who expect graduate school to be more or less an extension of college are in for a surprise. But once you get used to the changes in store for you, you will come to appreciate the ways in which graduate school differs from college. Though you will be nostalgic for the good old days of dorm life and frat parties and studying with friends in the dining hall at your alma mater, you will soon embrace the more adult atmosphere of graduate school.
In some ways, the adjustment to graduate school is much like the adjustment to college, only "more so." If you were shocked as a college freshman that your classes only met two or three times a week, wait until grad school. Most grad school seminars meet only once a week for two or three hours. You will likely have only one assignment for the whole semester in a graduate school seminar--a final paper, generally a 20 to 25 pager. So you'd better make that final paper good!
You will note a tendency towards specialization as you advance in your academic career. It happened in college: you spent a year or two taking a variety of different classes before choosing a major and concentrating your coursework in that field. In graduate school, you'll be studying one general subject area, whether it be psychology or art history or economics. Look at it this way: there is no math requirement in a master's degree program in English. The point of a liberal arts education at an undergraduate institution is to immerse the student in a variety of different disciplines and expose him or her to many different ways of thinking and approaching the problem. Though a college student chooses a major, the coursework in the major field is, to some extent, meant to consolidate the different methods and approaches that have been gleaned through the student's work in the general liberal arts. But, while you go to college to be a generalist, you go to graduate school to become an expert. That is pretty obvious. If you choose to go to graduate school to study philosophy, it is generally because you like philosophy and want to learn more. But while you may think you are prepared for "all philosophy, all the time," the switch to a more homogeneous curriculum can at first seem odd and take some adjusting.
If you get as far as graduate school, then you are most likely a serious student who is used to getting fairly good grades. Perhaps you are even used to being at or near the top of your class. While you might have looked around you in your college classes and felt a subtle sense of superiority, assuring yourself that you were "smarter" than most of the other students, you will not be able to do that in graduate school. You will find that graduate school is populated by smart people, all of whom are serious about their work. Especially in competitive graduate school programs (some programs admit ten or even fewer students per year), there will not be a "top" or "bottom" of the class in the same sense that there was in college.
Again, just as more was expected of you when you entered in college, expectations ratchet up again once you reach graduate school. At your college, a B was most likely an "acceptable grade" and students probably did not start to feel panicked or discouraged until they got a C on an exam or as a final course grade. On the other hand, a C could mean the end of your graduate school tenure in some programs. In many programs, especially in the humanities and social sciences, the majority of the students expect and receive As and a getting a B is the equivalent to making it through "by the skin of your teeth."
Your relationship with your professors will be much different as well. Your professors will see you not only as students but also as fellow scholars and potential future colleagues. They will expect you to come to office hours-- but to bounce around interesting ideas, not to ask for help on your homework. Remember the large classes with 100 or more students that you took as a freshman? Remember how you'd listen to the professor lecture in a large hall and later go to a lab or a discussion group led by a graduate teaching assistant? Well, now that graduate teaching is you.
If you were someone who enjoyed the social aspects of college life, you may feel initially disappointed in graduate school life. You will make friends, but you probably won't be living in a dorm. More likely, you will wind up in a "graduate residence" (generally an apartment building owned or leased by your university) or an independent apartment building somewhere. And people just don't hang out together in graduate school the way they do in college. Why not? Because they've got a lot of other stuff going on. And so will you. In addition to classes, you will most likely be serving as a teaching or research assistant. Both teaching and research take up a lot of time. Teaching, especially, can be particularly challenging for newcomers. Some graduate students have other part-time jobs outside of school. They also keep themselves busy frequenting conferences and events related to their discipline. And you will find that the demands of adult life begin to make their claim on you and your fellow graduate students. Many of your classmates will be married and have children. Though you'll still go out for drinks and get invited to parties, it won't be the same as those frat parties of yore. Still, you know what? Being an adult isn't so bad. Yes, there are more responsibilities, but that is more than outweighed by what you gain as an adult. As a graduate student, you will sense yourself becoming smarter, wiser and more confident in yourself, both as a scholar and as a person. A whole new world will open up for you. Adulthood can be lots of fun. You'll see!
In previous posts, we've discussed the differences between college and high school. But what about graduate school? Graduate school is just like college, right? The adjustment to graduate school will be nowhere near as traumatic as the transition from high to college, will it? Wrong. It can be a pretty big adjustment, even when, or perhaps especially, when a student goes straight to graduate school from college. Those who expect graduate school to be more or less an extension of college are in for a surprise. But once you get used to the changes in store for you, you will come to appreciate the ways in which graduate school differs from college. Though you will be nostalgic for the good old days of dorm life and frat parties and studying with friends in the dining hall at your alma mater, you will soon embrace the more adult atmosphere of graduate school.
In some ways, the adjustment to graduate school is much like the adjustment to college, only "more so." If you were shocked as a college freshman that your classes only met two or three times a week, wait until grad school. Most grad school seminars meet only once a week for two or three hours. You will likely have only one assignment for the whole semester in a graduate school seminar--a final paper, generally a 20 to 25 pager. So you'd better make that final paper good!
You will note a tendency towards specialization as you advance in your academic career. It happened in college: you spent a year or two taking a variety of different classes before choosing a major and concentrating your coursework in that field. In graduate school, you'll be studying one general subject area, whether it be psychology or art history or economics. Look at it this way: there is no math requirement in a master's degree program in English. The point of a liberal arts education at an undergraduate institution is to immerse the student in a variety of different disciplines and expose him or her to many different ways of thinking and approaching the problem. Though a college student chooses a major, the coursework in the major field is, to some extent, meant to consolidate the different methods and approaches that have been gleaned through the student's work in the general liberal arts. But, while you go to college to be a generalist, you go to graduate school to become an expert. That is pretty obvious. If you choose to go to graduate school to study philosophy, it is generally because you like philosophy and want to learn more. But while you may think you are prepared for "all philosophy, all the time," the switch to a more homogeneous curriculum can at first seem odd and take some adjusting.
If you get as far as graduate school, then you are most likely a serious student who is used to getting fairly good grades. Perhaps you are even used to being at or near the top of your class. While you might have looked around you in your college classes and felt a subtle sense of superiority, assuring yourself that you were "smarter" than most of the other students, you will not be able to do that in graduate school. You will find that graduate school is populated by smart people, all of whom are serious about their work. Especially in competitive graduate school programs (some programs admit ten or even fewer students per year), there will not be a "top" or "bottom" of the class in the same sense that there was in college.
Again, just as more was expected of you when you entered in college, expectations ratchet up again once you reach graduate school. At your college, a B was most likely an "acceptable grade" and students probably did not start to feel panicked or discouraged until they got a C on an exam or as a final course grade. On the other hand, a C could mean the end of your graduate school tenure in some programs. In many programs, especially in the humanities and social sciences, the majority of the students expect and receive As and a getting a B is the equivalent to making it through "by the skin of your teeth."
Your relationship with your professors will be much different as well. Your professors will see you not only as students but also as fellow scholars and potential future colleagues. They will expect you to come to office hours-- but to bounce around interesting ideas, not to ask for help on your homework. Remember the large classes with 100 or more students that you took as a freshman? Remember how you'd listen to the professor lecture in a large hall and later go to a lab or a discussion group led by a graduate teaching assistant? Well, now that graduate teaching is you.
If you were someone who enjoyed the social aspects of college life, you may feel initially disappointed in graduate school life. You will make friends, but you probably won't be living in a dorm. More likely, you will wind up in a "graduate residence" (generally an apartment building owned or leased by your university) or an independent apartment building somewhere. And people just don't hang out together in graduate school the way they do in college. Why not? Because they've got a lot of other stuff going on. And so will you. In addition to classes, you will most likely be serving as a teaching or research assistant. Both teaching and research take up a lot of time. Teaching, especially, can be particularly challenging for newcomers. Some graduate students have other part-time jobs outside of school. They also keep themselves busy frequenting conferences and events related to their discipline. And you will find that the demands of adult life begin to make their claim on you and your fellow graduate students. Many of your classmates will be married and have children. Though you'll still go out for drinks and get invited to parties, it won't be the same as those frat parties of yore. Still, you know what? Being an adult isn't so bad. Yes, there are more responsibilities, but that is more than outweighed by what you gain as an adult. As a graduate student, you will sense yourself becoming smarter, wiser and more confident in yourself, both as a scholar and as a person. A whole new world will open up for you. Adulthood can be lots of fun. You'll see!
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