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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Believe it or not, you can still excel in graduate school even if you have a job on the side. Of course, you need to practice proper time management to be able to finish everything at its right time. First off, you need to know if you really want to go through graduate school. Then, take a part-time course only if it is absolute necessary, such as in cases when nobody else will pay for your tuition other than yourself.
Get organized
If both your priorities and your time are in order, life in graduate school for a part-time employee like you will go much more smoothly. For your stuff, make sure that you do not have a messy study area where you still have to hunt for a handout or a textbook. For time, you need to keep an updated calendar or date book, where you can write all your schedules. Make sure that you have properly marked the things to do and things that have already been done. Also, it would help if you identify the things that need to be prioritized so that you do them first.
Do not procrastinate
If you wait for the last minute to do your work, you will end up swamped with things to do. So, better perform on schedule. The time you have wasted in doing nothing substantial further removes time from your already cramped schedule.
Be flexible
If schedule changes cannot be helped, do not panic. Anticipate possible emergencies, distractions, and even illness. So, it is really important to avoid procrastination; you never know what may happen tomorrow, so do what you can today. If you work part-time, you may want to put in extra hours in your job so that you’ll have fewer working hours on those critical school days.
Know your limitations
Even though time management helps, work overload can make you sick or so stressed out that you can no longer function. So, learn how to refuse activities that will not really benefit your studies or your job. Though those activities may sound fun, or maybe even noble, you have to think about your health as well. Refusing some of these activities allows you to have valuable free time for rest and recreation.
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Citations are always required when it comes to writing graduate school papers. And as they are easy to input, citations should be written properly. Doing so does not only reflect responsibility over small details on your part but also seriousness over graduate school requirements. Below are the basics you must know about writing MLA, APA, and Turabian citation styles.
When do you use which?
Professors or instructors in graduate schools have their own preferences of what citations students should use. Usually, professors state their preferences at the start of classes. But if they fail to do so, ask them before using the citation appropriate to your field of study.
Without your professors’ instructors, use the MLA citation for humanities, arts, history and literature papers. Use the APA citation, on the other hand, for social sciences, education and psychology papers. Finally, the Turabian citation is used by for all subjects.
What is the format of MLA, APA, and Turabian citations?
Below are ways to cite common sources. But for more detailed information, visit scholarly websites.
Books
MLA – Author 1 Last name, First name and Author 2 First name Last name. Underlined book bitle. Place of publication: Name of publishing house, Year of publication.
APA – Author 1 Last name, First name Initial., & Author 2 Last name, First name Initial. (Year of publication). Italicized book title. Place of publication (city/state): Name of publishing house.
Turabian – Author 1 Last name, First name, and Author 2 First name Last name. Year of publication. Italicized book title. Place of publication: Name of publishing house.
Internet sources and magazine articles
MLA – Author Last name, First name. “Article title.” Underlined title of book. Year of publication. Place of publication. Day of access month. Year <web address>.
APA – Author Last name, First name initial. (Year of publication). Italicized title of article. Retrieved month day, year, from Title of book Website: web address
Turabian – Author Last name, First name. Year of publication. Italicized title. Place of publication: Name of publishing house. On-line. Available from Internet, web address, accessed day month year.
Encyclopedia
MLA – Author Last name, First name. “Topic.” Underlined name of encyclopedia. Ed. Name of editor. Number of volumes. Place of publication: Name of publishing house, Year of publication.
APA – Author Last name, First name Initial. (Year of publication). Topic. In italicized name of encyclopedia (Vol. Number, pp. Pages). Place of publication: Name of publishing house.
Turabian – cited in the text and placed in parentheses (Author Name, “Topic,” in Name of Encyclopedia, Year of publication ed.)
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Many self-help articles discuss tips on how students can survive and excel at school. To give you something new, here’s a list of habits that are common among highly unsuccessful students and what you can do to avoid such tempting habits.
Not looking at the bigger picture
Highly unsuccessful students do not look at the bigger picture. For them, failing an exam isn’t a big deal because it’s just one exam. They don’t think much about getting excellent grades because for them, the main goal is to just finish their studies. When you apply for college or graduate school, having high grades has an impact on your chances of getting accepted into your dream college or graduate school. Whether you plan to finish college, get a master’s degree, or become a doctor or a lawyer, remember that your grades reflect your academic performance.
Acting on impulse
Making hasty decisions usually lead to more problematic results. This is why one habit you should avoid as a student is acting on impulse. But this doesn’t mean that you have to rigidly stick to plans and lead a boring life at school. To excel at school, you should learn which tasks should be planned and which are best done spontaneously. One example of a task that should be planned well is thinking of a thesis topic. When thinking of a topic for your thesis, it’s always better to consult your counselor, professor, or parent. Their advice can greatly help you come up with a good thesis topic.
Dwelling on negativity
Failure is part of life. But if you dwell too much on your failures in school, you won’t get anywhere. If you got a low grade on an essay, learn from that experience and make a promise to not commit the same mistakes. Do not be discouraged by your failures in school as you can learn a lot from your mistakes.
Procrastinating
Procrastinating is one tempting habit that unsuccessful students always do. Putting off school work especially during a lazy weekend is tempting, but this usually leads to one-night cramming sessions. Some students work best under pressure, but most use this as an excuse to avoid doing school work. If you have a free afternoon but you don’t want to start preparing for that presentation yet, why not visit a museum? Strolling through the halls of a local museum can help you unwind and get ideas for the presentation at the same time.
Being mediocre
A habit that’s very common among students, reveling in mediocrity are exhibited by students who no longer aim to excel at school. They just do the tasks assigned to them just to pass the subject and graduate. Take note that a mediocre performance leads to mediocre grades. And if you’re planning to go to college, law, graduate, or medical school, mediocre grades just won’t do. So if you’re given a two-page essay as homework, do your best and let your teachers see your potential.
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Quality graduate school education doesn’t come cheap. Especially for students whose families earn a meager income, applying for graduate school can take extensive financial planning just to accommodate the anticipated expenses. The good news is, there are financial aid institutions and organizations that grant loans and scholarships to get you through graduate school.
FAFSA
An option that a lot of students go for is to apply for government-funded financial aid through FAFSA or Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Just make sure that the graduate school you’re planning to go to is a participant of federal student aid programs, and that you meet the standard requirements set by FAFSA before you start filling in the application form.
In-house financial aid programs
Most graduate schools have in-house financial aid and scholarship programs which you can avail of, depending on the major or program you enrolled in. The FAFSA is used by universities to gauge and determine a student’s financial situation and aid eligibility. This however, only applies to schools and universities that are participating members of the federal student aid.
For private schools and institutions, additional application documents may be required from students to be eligible for institutional financial aid. These documents usually include the graduate admission essay, in which students can explain their economic and financial status. Some grad schools don’t have in-house financial aid and scholarship programs. Instead, they establish tie-ups with funding organizations to help their students cope with the financial demands of graduate studies. Below are examples of these external funding organizations for various fields of study:
Gates Millennium Scholars
The Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) was initially an offshoot of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates Millennium Scholars has been providing scholarships since 1999 and have paid for the education of more than 12,000 students. The goal of GMS is to help students of racial minorities have access to quality education by reducing their financial woes. The GMS also aims to increase the representation of such target groups in various academic disciplines such as engineering, mathematics, health sciences, etc.
American Association for University Women
American Association for University Women (AAUW) – The AAUW Educational Foundation provides fellowships and graduate study grants to women, regardless of race, religion, and socio-economic background.
The Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation offers fellowship grants and aid for graduate students from different races and background planning to earn doctorate degrees. The foundation however, only offers these grants for specific majors and academic disciplines including Engineering, Computer Science, History, Earth Sciences, etc.
The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation
Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation – provides financial aid of up to $30,000 for graduate studies, fellowships, and leadership trainings for students who wish to take advanced degrees in public service disciplines.
NASA Aeronautics Scholarship Program
NASA Aeronautics Scholarship Program awards scholarships to students who plan to pursue graduate studies in the fields of Aeronautics, Aeronautical Engineering, Computer Science, Mechanical and Electric Engineering, and other related fields. The NASA ASP awards grants of up to $11,000 per school year plus an annual stipend of $35,000.
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Rankings of business schools and graduate school programs can be quite controversial and trifling. To date, there is no single authoritative body that ranks graduate school programs in the US. Different organizations and institutions employ different methodologies in gathering and analyzing their data, which consequently yield varying results. The methodologies used are often based on certain criteria, like tuition amount or fees and number of enrollees.
Another factor that makes ranking compilations problematic is that the ranking results published by magazines and organizations are often disaggregated into different fields of study. The university that offers the best computer and engineering graduate school programs may rank quite low in their business and medical programs. So to make things easier, here is a compilation that lists five oft-cited top graduate school programs in the US (in no particular order) according to different academic disciplines.
Top five graduate school programs: Computer and Engineering
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
2. University of California – Berkeley
3. Schulich School of Engineering of Stanford University
4. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC or U of I)
5. California Institute of Technology (CalTech)
Top five graduate school programs: Business and Administration
1. The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management
3. Harvard University – Harvard Business School (HBS)
4. Kellogg School of Management – Northwestern University
5. Stanford University Graduate School of Business
Top five graduate school programs: Law
1. Yale University Law School
2. Harvard University Law School
3. New York University School of Law
4. Stanford University Law School
5. Columbia University Law School
Top five graduate school programs: Medicine
1. Harvard University Medical School
2. The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
3. Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
4. University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
5. University of California – San Francisco School of Medicine
The medical school rankings results published by US News and World Report were arrived at by combining two criteria; the research and primary care facilities and programs of medical schools. As for business school rankings, results are often disaggregated into varying types of MBA programs: full-time, executive, dual, part-time, online, etc.
As you will see on the lists above, Harvard University and Stanford University are among the top universities that offer prestigious programs in various fields. Their excellence in diverse disciplines is one of the reasons why they remain as two of the most exclusive Ivy League schools in the US. Harvard and Stanford are known for their highly selective admission procedures and criteria, and have alumni rosters that boast of Nobel Prize winners, politicians, CEOs, Pulitzer Prize winners, and personalities who are recognized in their respective industries.
Whether you will be applying for graduate studies in law school, medical school, MBA, engineering or other programs, you need to write a graduate admission essay. If your records in college are not that outstanding, coming up with a well-written graduate admission essay can help you get into the graduate school of your choice.
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