Starting at a New Graduate School
Using Your First Week at University Wisely
Making a flying start at your Graduate School is vital. It can determine how well you'll do. Here are ten key things for your First Week as a Masters or Doctoral Student
Graduate School is different from undergraduate study. Not only is the level of instruction higher, but the speed at which material is delivered is faster. Additionally, the expectations placed on students are higher, and more reading is required in a shorter space of time. Finally, the graduate student is expected to demonstrate higher level conceptual and analytical skills.
To succeed in their studies, a student will need to be comfortable academically, socially, and also with regard to the tutors and lecturers. The first week plays a crucial role in setting up success in these three respects. Here are the ten key things to do in 'Week One'.
1. The most important thing is to attend all induction events, even if you think you know it all already. The truth is that you don’t.
2. Always, but always, attend the first meeting of each and every class. It is at this meeting that friendships will be made, that assignments will be explained, that reading and assessments will be handed out, and that initial questions can be asked without embarrassment. Miss that and you’ve missed your golden opportunity to stand out for the right reasons.
3. Start reading as soon as you can. The books and articles will come flying in thick and fast very quickly, and if you don’t start reading in Week One (or before), you’ll soon fall behind and will never catch up.
4. Plan your assessment schedule for the first semester. You’ll have a lot of work to do and submit within a very few weeks. Early planning will help ensure you don’t have to resort to asking for extensions as you had to when you were an undergraduate!
5. Pick out who you would like to work with (and, even more importantly, who you wouldn’t want to work with) if you will have to undertake group-work. Having to work with someone who doesn’t pull their weight can be one of the worst university experiences. By identifying someone who is conscientious, you can perhaps agree between you now to work together later and, thus, both avoid getting lumbered with the ‘student from hell’.
6. Make sure your ‘working space’ at home (whether you are living at your ‘real’ home or in student accommodation) is comfortable and ready for you to begin reading, note-taking and writing.
7. Buy the recommended/required texts on 'Day One' before the college bookshop sells out of them.
8. Check out the library and its layout, and find out whether there are any special facilities for graduate students.
9. Decide which pieces of assessment you want to start working on first, go to the library and make sure you get the books and other learning materials you need to complete the assessment before the others do.
10. Find one or two people that you get on with and make sure you have a have a coffee with them. Friendships at college are generally made in the first couple of weeks. Make sure you have a social network to plug into both during and after your time at graduate school.
These simple hints will help you get off to a great start. From Week Two, it’s up to you!
