Surviving Classes in Graduate School

Surviving Classes in Graduate School

thesassplug

26 Oct, 2023

This is a series of letters to a new graduate student, where we share learnings from our experience, and things we wish someone shared with us. In this letter, we will cover strategies for survival of classes in graduate school, and give you tips on advisor selection. Read the previous letter

Welcome back

Let me guess, you are pretty overwhelmed after having spent a month in classes. As a 4.0 college grad, you knew what it meant to work hard. You were the champion of working hard. But classes in grad school are very different. Working hard has a different meaning now. You’ve never sat in a class with so many smart people. To make matters worse, everyone else seems to understand everything that is being taught at a much faster rate than you.

Here’s a secret. Half the class is just as lost as you are. Everyone is having the same thought — “how did I end up here?“. Don’t panic though, we will provide 2 survival tips to help you navigate this period.

Graduate School Survival tip #1 — “Find your tribe”

Your tribe are the people who will invite you into their study groups. You might be lucky to be in a class that has people who look like you, you might not be so lucky. Nonetheless, you need to insert yourself into group study. Doing homework in a team and studying together will reduce the load in half. You’ll thank us later. Keep in mind that you don’t have to be best friends with said people, you just need to do what you need to do, to get to the finish line.

family taking a group photo
Tribe is like family. Find yours.

Graduate School Survival tip #2 — “Your grades don’t matter … (much)”

You don’t need a 4.0 to get that internship or be considered for any scholarships/fellowships. Other skills beyond your academic merit matter more at this time in your career. Being in a graduate program is proof enough that you are academically qualified for any place you want. So don’t stress about it.

Do what you need to pass classes, but that’s all. Don’t go above and beyond for an A. Make the A but don’t lose sleep if you can’t make the A, aim for a B. If you make a B in your class, it means you’re pretty much average like the rest of the class. This is the one time you’ll hear us say it is okay to be average, because in Graduate school it really is. Other things like research, networking, and mentoring will be the keys you need for the finish line. Trust yourself and the process.

~Speaking of research

How has it been meeting with different professors and figuring out which lab you are going to join? Of course it is important to find someone working on a topic or project you are super interested in. More than that though, the most important thing about joining a research lab is ensuring that you and your potential advisor get along. Here’s the thing, the PhD journey is very similar to a marriage. If you pick a good and supportive advisor/partner, you will have an enjoyable experience. If you don’t, it’ll be a lot harder. So make sure you ask current graduate students about their advisor’s personal style. You can grow to love a research topic, but you cannot grow to love an advisor that is awful to work with.

To help you along the way, we’ve crafted templates, sample emails, and potential question lists to help you connect with potential research advisors and their current graduate students.

See you next month!

By the way sign up here to never miss a blog post

* indicates required