Honor societies are not formed to establish social status, but they are formed to celebrate the achievements and enrich the academic lives of its members. Though such societies may have Greek names, they are not equivalent to a fraternity or a sorority. An honor society’s goals go beyond partying and other social activities. Here are a few privileges enjoyed by members of honor societies.
Sense of accomplishment
Being merely invited to an honor society confirms your status as an achiever. So, you feel a sense of accomplishment when you are confirmed as an honor society member. It is a recognition of your past achievements and an opportunity to continue on the same stance.
Resume add-on
Being a member of an honor society helps you improve the weight of your resume. This is especially true if you have just graduated and are still planning to get a good-paying job. Though an honor society provides the additional benefit of not being involved in many time-consuming activities, you must still show some effort in contributing to the group. If not, the resume inclusion is quite empty and superficial.
Added educational information
Honor societies provide their members helpful information regarding the members’ majors. The members are able to make the most of their chosen degrees and of their possible careers after graduation. The interaction among members of the honor society lets one see the many options available to him or her after obtaining that graduate diploma.
Publication
Because honor societies aim to make people interested in different degrees, school papers per department are published. This is to psyche students up about their career choice or to encourage prospective students. Usually, these department ask for the help of honor societies in their publications. Thus, honor society members are able to hone their craft as writers for these publications.
Career advancement
Career and degree advisement provide society members with proper training in professionalism and ethics. This will help them do well after graduation through being able to shift comfortably from school to the working arena.
Networking
Membership in honor societies do not only link students within the same university. The students are also linked through a national network of colleagues. Not only are the members able to participate in their school’s learning community, but they also interact within a wider region as well.
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Though the academe is not as tough as the corporate environment, it still suffers from office politics. Because the need for promotion exists in any average working place, power struggles among co-workers and colleagues can still occur; power struggles are also evident even in school. There will be alliances and even pure non-job related antagonism between two or more people. Sometimes, this happens when people are constantly working closely. These rifts, however, can be prevented. Here are a few things to keep in mind to stay away from office politics in the academe.
Being transparent
Office politics in the academe can produce a certain degree of dishonesty in people. Co-employees with hidden agendas may give you their best smiles, but are actually badmouthing you to the dean or the principal. To avoid this, do not join them in their fun. Instead, show your real self. Even if others have hidden agendas, do not harbor one.
Showing flexibility
Like in any other setting, you will be dealing with people who have strong opinions and personalities. You may even be someone who is quite opinionated yourself. However, dealing with different kinds of people will require you to broaden your point of view so that you see others’ perspectives as well. Flexibility will also enable you to bond with everyone, not just with your own clique.
Demonstrating tongue discipline
Gossip will never result in anything positive; in fact it is counterproductive. Though people may talk ill about you, respond by telling only the truth. Playing against your enemies at their own game makes you as bad as they are. While gossip from others may taint your reputation on the surface, gossip from you will truly ruin your being. When you gossip, you are perceived as someone who can never be trusted.
Taming the ego
Sometimes a high sense of self can mean trouble. If competition for a promotion becomes too intense, learn to keep your humility. Self-promotion can be subtly done by doing your job well. If, for example, the promotion went to somebody else, congratulate him or her. This way, you are perceived as someone who is not only humble but is secure and confident about your capabilities.
Working on credibility
Even if gossip is continuously aimed at you, a strongly built credibility will protect your reputation. You can be credible by combining transparency with consistently good outputs. Through credibility, you gain trust and, in time, respect.
Doing your job
You are in the academe to teach, to do research, or to study. Do your thing. You do not have to resort to office politics to gain a promotion or get a good score or evaluation. Being conscientious with your job will get you there.
Make peace
Do not harbor grudges. Instead of gossiping, calmly and directly approach your detractor. Explain that you do not want to play the game of office politics, and that you will not respond in a similar manner. Make sure that you do this without a hint of arrogance.
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Popular American universities prove their reputation by ranking high in the graduate divisions of humanities and literature. Humanities and literature programs from three Ivy league schools have made it to the top five. Berkeley tops the humanities list in 2008, while Harvard comes in second. However, in the general English department, Harvard is on top while Berkeley is second. The three other universities in the top five have also reshuffled their rankings. So, the following list is in no particular order:
Harvard University
Harvard offers unique humanities programs, including a specific take on the Classics. The humanities sector also provides focus on several cultures, not only providing degrees on European literature, but also providing studies in East Asian, Near Eastern, Tibetan and Himalayan culture and literature. You can also take up a modern area by pursuing a degree in film studies instead, or you can also explore prose and poetry by taking a graduate degree in comparative literature.
University of California – Berkeley
Berkeley’s humanities graduate degrees include broad ones, such as Art degrees. It also offers the Classics, somewhat similar to what Harvard offers. UC-Berkeley offers a wide range of degrees in terms of modernity. For example, notice the contrast of a History of Art degree and an Urban Design degree. The university also offers several language programs, including Spanish, Italian, Japanese and Slavic languages.
Stanford University
Proud of its achievements in world rankings of academic programs, Stanford continues to provide quality graduate education. The departments of core humanities, fine arts, and languages and literature are included in the school of humanities and science. Stanford’s humanities departments include Drama, English, History, and Divisions of Literatures, Cultures and Languages.
Yale University
Yale’s graduate students have an opportunity to participate in the institution’s non-degree programs as well. The university’s humanities and literature degrees include in-depth studies of cultures, such as in African Studies and East Asian studies. It also combines language and literature studies, as is evident in degrees such as Italian Language and Literature, or Slavic Languages and Literature.
Princeton University
Princeton aims to provide its students ample knowledge at a short period of time. So that focus and attention can be given for each student, classes have a limited number of students. Though its humanities and literature graduate programs do not include theology, its graduate programs include near eastern studies.
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Stress is part of life; so people should be capable of coping with stress brought about by the demands of school, work, and personal matters. After all, graduate students are generally high achievers. If you are in graduate school, you probably have a love and deep appreciation for learning. However, even if you do love learning and had straight As through college, graduate school may be tougher. It also becomes tougher if you have a very high expectation of what you can do or should do.
Employ time management strategies
Stress can truly pull you down if you do not know how to manage your time. You have probably noticed that most pieces of advice related to stress deal with time and managing it properly. Here are some of them:
* Do not procrastinate – If it takes you too long to do coursework, you will end up with less time in your hands.
* Set priorities – You have to prioritize work with impending deadlines, rather than those that can wait for longer. Set a timetable so that you will not neglect anything.
* No cramming, please – If you cram, you will end up stressed and unable to do quality work.
* Say NO – If you put in too many things to do in your calendar, you may suffer a burnout.
Exercise
While doing exercise may seem like a time-consuming task, it is actually a very effective stress-reducer. It makes your body fitter to withstand different stress-causing factors. So, take some time off, at least for an hour three times a week, to exercise.
Do not make all-nighters habitual
Though staying up all night does provide you with more time to study, you may end up becoming unproductive and unfocused during your classes because your body and mind feel tired. You need your sleep to think and function better.
Do not skip meals
Going to graduate school does not mean you have to forgo healthy eating habits because you no longer have the time to prepare healthy dishes. Remember that eating nutritious foods will keep you going. Skipping a meal never does anyone good, even if that person is on a diet. Skipping meals actually slows down your metabolism, making you store fat more quickly. As a graduate student, you need food to keep your body health and strong.
Self-analyze
Keep a journal where you can record how you are doing in graduate school so far. You may find something that will need attention or improvement.
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The best social sciences programs in the United States are offered by top-ranked universities. These universities include some that belong to the Ivy League, such as Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. The top five universities per specific social sciences vary, but some are fairly consistent with all their programs. These universities are the ones that made the list of universities offering the five best social sciences programs.
University of California – Berkeley
UC-Berkeley’s social sciences programs have proven themselves to be competitive. The university is able to reach the top five for each program, creating for itself a strong overall social sciences department. Even the institution’s other graduate programs have consistently made it to the top ten of best lists. It prides itself for its community of culturally diverse students.
Yale University
Yale offers doctoral degrees for its social sciences programs. The graduate division of this Ivy League school provides more-than-adequate information to its prospective students regarding its graduate academic programs, the faculty, and specializations. This is to show these interested individuals about what life is really like when pursuing higher education, especially at Yale.
Stanford University
Stanford University has six social sciences departments. These are anthropology, communication, economics, political science, psychology, and sociology. The social sciences department belongs to the largest Stanford school, the school of Humanities and Sciences. This school includes both social and natural sciences. Stanford University has one of the best social sciences graduate programs in the country. Its faculty members come up with significant research in various academic journals.
Harvard University
Harvard’s social sciences department belongs to a large school, the School of Arts and Sciences. Like Stanford, the school includes humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Harvard offers non-degree status to graduate students. This includes the Visiting Fellow status for students who only need to finish their dissertation at Harvard because they have finished their course work at other universities.
Princeton University
Princeton offers a great environment for graduate studies, plus it promotes a healthy professor-student relationship for better learning. The Ivy League school also provides financial support for deserving students who cannot afford the tuition. Princeton offers interdepartmental and joint degrees for students who have many interests.
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In the United States’ 2008 rankings, there are five universities with over-all excellent performances, which are hailed as having the best offerings of engineering and sciences graduate programs. So, for those who want to pursue a graduate degree in engineering or in any other related sciences, the following universities may be just for you.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
MIT has consistently proven itself as an institution that offers one of the best engineering courses. It has also been known to offer other competitive degrees in the sciences. There are many specialized degrees in the sciences that one can take up from this institution, and its students are mentored by top scientists and engineers in the world today. If you want a university with a proven track record in engineering, a budding sciences department, and over a century of experience, MIT is for you.
Stanford University
Stanford University offers one of the best Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering programs in the country. Its 2006-2007 enrollment showed a very strong graduate school enrollment; the number of graduate students exceeded the number of undergraduates. Its graduate academic programs are known as one of the most competitive in the world today.
University of California – Berkeley
UC Berkeley places a strong emphasis on innovation, and prides itself with its internationally recognized faculty. Early UC Berkeley alumni provided the microelectronics to Silicon Valley and was part of the structuring of Hoover Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge. It boasts of seven topnotch engineering departments.
Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia Tech’s 2007 enrollment saw 3,559 graduate students into its engineering department. Its students are not only highly competent, they are also active in Greek organizations and sports conferences. So, you can be rest assured that there is room for holistic development.
University of Illinois (Urbana – Champaign)
In 2007, the University of Illinois’ engineering graduate program ranked fifth in the nation. Among its individual engineering and science programs, the program Physics with a focus on Condensed Matter ranked the highest at number one. The University of Illinois’ civil engineering graduate degree is also a top ranker. There is no program ranked below 20. Its lowest ranked degree, Industrial/Manufacturing, is at number 16.
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The path to achieving a doctorate degree, or PhD, may be filled with long hours doing paperwork and research inside dusty libraries, the confines of your own home, or in actual field scenarios. A PhD will also require several years of formal studies. Getting that PhD diploma may be tough, but for the true academic, the rewards are all worth it.
Career advancement
When you get a PhD, you will be offered many jobs in relation to your field. If you are already working, expect a promotion as soon as you get your doctorate degree. You will also be getting more prestigious offers from outside your present workplace.
Increased earnings
With the higher position comes the higher earnings. During your PhD studies, you are slowly building up your earning potential. After years of study, you will now feel the impact through a more bulky salary.
Higher learning
For passionate academicians, learning in itself is enough reward for their efforts. If you are the sort to truly care about discoveries in relation to your field, whether it is in the arts and humanities or in the pure and applied sciences, you are bound to be thrilled and excited with your daily academic pursuits. Also, your PhD gives you the credentials and respectability that will enable you to request for funding in order to conduct further research. You may be psyched to delve deeper into areas that few people have studied, whether it entails exploring the world through expeditions or poring through fragile texts of poetry.
The outlook and lifestyle
You do have to possess a certain disposition to be able to benefit fully from a PhD. If you are a serious learner, you will immediately fit into the world of graduate studies. You must have most of the following traits for you to make the most of studying for that doctorate degree:
- highly literate
- a self-starter and an independent worker
- persistent
- industrious and conscientious
- practical and tight with budget
- capable of enjoying intellectual activities
- have a love for learning and discovery
- willing to give up parties
If you have most, if not all, of the above traits, merely getting your PhD is a benefit.
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Graduate school education can be expensive. Because of the cost of tuition, may graduate students opt to get student loans. While student loans may seem a godsend to students with limited financial resources, a significant number of graduating students are burdened with thousands of dollars in debt. So, paying off students loans can be pretty tough on the new graduate. There are many ways to pay for the debt, however.
The deferment option
Paying off thousands of dollars is difficult enough. To do this when you are unemployed, or just plain economically troubled, is a worse scenario. So, if you have not yet found a stable job to pay for both your debt and your daily necessities, you can request to postpone paying for them or apply for deferred payment. This is not to say you are completely abandoning your responsibility to pay; you are just asking for more time.
Longer loan term
Another way to extend your deadline of payment is to ask for a longer loan term. More likely, this will entail higher interest rates, but this will also enable you to pay less per month. You may be needing a longer loan term plan if you are not yet earning enough.
Lower loan rates
When you are still picking loan offers, carefully study the terms you are agreeing to. Included in these terms are the loan rates. Make sure that you choose a good loan term – one that is offered at low rates. High interest rates may leave you with so much more to pay off even when the payment for the initial loan amount has already been done.
Debt repayment services
If you have many student loans to pay off, you can hire the services of companies that specialize in debt repayment or consolidation. You will not worry yourself about scheduling payments; your debt repayment service will be in charge of this.
Community work
Do you know that volunteer work can erase your student loans? Well, that is the good news for graduates who can no longer think of any other way to pay their loans. You may get grants by joining organizations, such as Teach for America and Americorps. They will be paying off your loans for you. Do your part by fully and sincerely contributing your time to the organization of your choice.
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If college was a challenge, graduate school will prove to be more so. With more advanced courses and heightened expectations, time seems to become a rarer commodity by the minute. Now that you have survived college and are in graduate school, you are expected to have much better time management skills. So, you know that more work will be piling up at this stage.
It’s all a matter of organization
Because graduate school is less structured than college and you have more freedom to do what you want, you have to extend extra effort to discipline yourself. You have to keep a time table or a calendar, however tentative, of study periods, classes, and other activities. If you are planning to take a break some time next week, make sure that you are through with necessary school work before declaring yourself free and indulging in these social events. Divide complicated goals into manageable parts so that you can tackle them better. Doing so prevents you from being intimidated by the volume of school work to be done.
Prioritize
There will be tons of work to do at graduate school, especially if you are also working part-time. So, better come up with your things-to-do list and list the items in decreasing priority. Priority depends on the work’s deadline and weight on your GPA. Spending too much time on a requirement that’s only a fraction of your grade may seem impractical in the long run especially if you have many other requirements to complete.
Learn to strike a balance
While mediocrity is never promoted in any field, perfectionism can also weigh you down in graduate school. It is an excellent characteristic to be meticulous, but being too perfect can also be a problem especially if it’s not too realistic. If you cannot figure out how to write a research paper perfectly that you end up missing the deadline, then that is a problem. So, if you know that an assignment will require extra time and attention, start doing work on it as soon as you get it.
Have room for flexibility
Again, graduate school is working with less structure than college; it has an open or loose schedule depending on your field. So, even if you have a calendar, things can still happen between schedules. To avoid becoming overwhelmed, make sure that you do you work as soon as you get the assignment. This way, no surprise arrangement can make you feel lost.
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Though you are working as a teaching assistant in a respectable institution, you can still fall prey to sexual harassment. Even a consensual relationship between you and your professor can turn sour and stifling that it can actually be considered a form of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment creates an uncomfortable and unproductive environment. So, you must try your best to read the signals early on to prevent it.
Preparing yourself
When you apply for a teaching assistant position, be aware that sexual harassment does occur in any working place, even in the academe. Be watchful for subtle differences in relationships. If you are from another country, inquire about what to expect to prevent miscommunication concerning these issues. This is because in some cultures such as your own, the relationship between man and woman is quite different. So, perception of what is sexual harassment may be different as well.
Recognizing subtle signals
You do not have to be sexually assaulted in order to be considered sexually harassed. If you are being asked for a date by one of your professors, ask yourself if you’re comfortable with or if it makes you feel ill at ease. If you feel the latter, you may have been sexually harassed already. Be on the watch for your professor’s lingering touches, insistence on sitting close, or too-cozy hugs. A good rule to observe is that if an act makes you feel uncomfortable, then let the person doing it know how you feel.
Non-sexual attack on gender
Some professors are not even aware that they have sexually harassed a student or a teaching assistant through gender attacks. In situations where there is sexual harassment, whether a professor is sexually attracted to you or not is irrelevant. He or she may be showing a preference for students or teaching assistants of his or her own gender. He or she may be making fun of your gender. If you are a woman, he may be making jokes about women being the weaker gender.
Blatant examples
It may be a leer or lewd language, but you can easily confirm some forms of sexual harassment. Your professor may already have increased his or her advances through blackmail that involve sexual favors. Or he or she may have actually physically attacked or even raped you.
Your part…
Though you cannot really guess which institution is harassment-free, you can do your part by dressing and acting decently. Most people will tell you that you must not appear suggestive and lewd, but regardless of how you dress and behave, there’s no justification for being sexually harassed. In the case of unprovoked harassment, report it immediately before it gets out of hand.
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