Surviving Grad School

How to Hone Your Presentation Skills

Published: 15 June 2011
Written by PhdStudent
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Categories: Standing Out in Graduate School, Surviving Grad School
Tags: give a good presentation, presentation skills

Knowing how to give a good presentation and present your ideas effectively is crucial to your success as a graduate student. You should take advantage of any opportunity to present your work because presenting your work (a) helps you cohere your ideas, (b) helps you develop and improve the methods you use to communicate your ideas, (c) allows you to receive feedback about your ideas, and (d) allows you to…

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How to be Effective in Networking

Published: 15 June 2011
Written by PhdStudent
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Categories: Standing Out in Graduate School, Surviving Grad School
Tags: networking in academia, networking tips

Many reclusive graduate students are terrified of the concept of networking, and desperately seek any networking tips that they can get. Even though they know and understand that networking is crucial to their success as academics, many graduate students avoid opportunities to network with other professionals in their fields, perhaps because they don’t understand what networking is or how to go about it. We can eliminate confusion about, as well…

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You Deserve To Be Here

Published: 15 June 2011
Written by PhdStudent
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Categories: Adjusting to Graduate Study, Surviving Grad School
Tags: graduate from graduate school

Many graduate students were among the top students in their undergraduate programs, so competition in graduate school is fiercer than it was in undergraduate school. A very common reaction for many students as they begin their graduate programs is to believe that there was some kind of mistake and that they are not nearly good enough to be in the program with all the other high-achievers. This is referred…

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How to Submit Papers to Conferences

Published: 15 June 2011
Written by PhdStudent
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Categories: Strategies for Grad School, Surviving Grad School
Tags: how to submit a paper

As a graduate student, you should participate in as many conferences as you can because participating in conferences combines the best of all academic opportunities: networking with other colleagues and professionals in your field, having your work reviewed by peers, and having your work published in conference proceedings. If you already know how to submit a paper for a conference, then you know that submitting papers to conferences is easier…

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How to Improve Your Chance of Beating the Competition

Published: 15 June 2011
Written by PhdStudent
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Categories: Standing Out in Graduate School, Surviving Grad School
Tags: advice for graduate students

What is one piece of advice for graduate students that we are most commonly asked for? How to stand out from other students and make themselves the most marketable of the group. There is no doubt about it: competition is intense and stakes are high in graduate school. Increased competition and stakes will follow you after graduate school as you apply for jobs, especially because you will have to compete…

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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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