Surviving Grad School

The Perks of Teaching in College and Being a GTA

Published: 11 March 2013
Written by PhdStudent
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Categories: Surviving Grad School, Teaching in Grad School
Tags: teaching in college

Teaching in college is one of the many opportunities for professional development that most graduate programs offer. The level of responsibility for graduate teaching assistants can range from assisting faculty members (i.e., grading papers, copying tests, covering lectures while professors are out of town) to being the primary instructor responsible for the course, or even teaching an online course. Teaching in college is a great way to get some valuable…

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Refinance Student Loans

Published: 4 March 2013
Written by PhdStudent
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Categories: Paying for Graduate School, Surviving Grad School
Tags: refinance student loans

Some students choose to refinance student loans to reduce their student debt and monthly loan payments. Students can refinance their loans through various ways, such as consolidation. Students should consider several things before refinancing student loans. For example, federal and private loans should be refinanced separately. Federal loans have lower interest rates than do private loans because government lenders know that students’ incomes will increase as they continue their educations.

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Increase Your Reading Speed and Comprehension

Published: 25 February 2013
Written by PhdStudent
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Categories: Strategies for Grad School, Surviving Grad School
Tags: how to read fast, improve reading, reading comprehension strategies

Almost all students have had some experience like the following: one professor assigned you 800 pages to read, and another assigned you 900 pages to read, both of which must be read by the next class on the same day. Besides the 1700 pages of reading assignments, both of those professors also assigned other homework, such as annotating the content of those 1700 pages. Now, you are left in a…

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Prioritizing vs Procrastinating

Published: 15 June 2011
Written by PhdStudent
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Categories: Strategies for Grad School, Surviving Grad School
Tags: graduate school organization, how to prioritize

Graduate school organization is a key to graduate school success! Most of your time spent as a graduate student will be a delicate act of balancing and doing multiple things at the same time, but sometimes, some tasks will require more attention and focus than will others. Consequently, you must learn how to prioritize and to plan tasks to be successful as a graduate student, especially because you probably have…

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Helpful Tips for First-Time Graduate Teaching Assistants

Published: 15 June 2011
Written by PhdStudent
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Categories: Surviving Grad School, Teaching in Grad School
Tags: graduate teaching assistant, lectures

You got your bachelor’s degree. You got into graduate school. Now, you find yourself with your first teaching assignment. For some grad students, this is an exciting moment for which they have been waiting a long time. For others, however, being assigned to teach is terrible news, and dread the idea of having to give a lecture. Some graduate students chose to go to grad school to further their educations…

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Reading for Detail

Published: 15 June 2011
Written by PhdStudent
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Categories: Strategies for Grad School, Surviving Grad School
Tags: read in detail, reading for detail

Reading for detail can be a daunting and challenging task but proves important in graduate school. Time is valuable, so reading things repeatedly is impractical. Here are a few tips and tricks to understand what you are reading the first time. Staying engaged in what you are reading is vital to reading for detail. How can you stay engaged in the reading? Annotating the writing as you read forces…

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Maintaining Large Classes

Published: 15 June 2011
Written by PhdStudent
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Categories: Surviving Grad School, Teaching in Grad School
Tags: classroom management

Think back on your undergraduate career, do you think your professor or GTA had good classroom management skills? Do you remember sitting in the back of a large lecture hall talking with your friends, texting, and taking notes that consisted of nothing more than doodles? If this was you, you were probably thinking that no one even noticed you—you were just one person in a room of 300. The beautiful…

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Loans for Graduate Students

Published: 15 June 2011
Written by PhdStudent
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Categories: Paying for Graduate School, Surviving Grad School
Tags: loans for graduate students

Higher education can be funded through a variety of resources, including loans for graduate students. For students who exhibit financial need, Perkins Loans are a viable option. Though debt from Perkins Loans can be excused under some specific situations, this debt must be paid back like most other student loans. The policies of student loans for graduate students are constantly being amended. Types of repayment and consolidation and interest…

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Teaching in the Virtual Classroom

Published: 15 June 2011
Written by PhdStudent
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Categories: Surviving Grad School, Teaching in Grad School
Tags: teaching an online course

How is teaching an online course different than teaching a regular course? Education is changing in many schools and programs worldwide. In recent years, the number of courses and entire programs–both undergraduate and graduate–that are being offered online has dramatically increased. As a graduate student, you will likely be either assisting or teaching an online course at some point in your graduate career. There are some important differences between teaching…

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Relaxation Techniques

Published: 15 June 2011
Written by PhdStudent
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Categories: Managing Time and Stress, Surviving Grad School
Tags: life as a graduate student

During graduate school you could be demanded to write a term paper, finish your research assignments, and plan a birthday party for your best friend all in the same day. Because you are so busy, you probably find yourself overly stressed from time to time. Although having a little stress in your life as a graduate student is a good thing and results in high productivity, too much constant stress…

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