#advice for grad students

[racefortheironthrone]

Advice About Grad School

Public history guy and yes, I think I did get a little confused. Sorry about that.

Any advice about grad school would be amazing! I’m going in on a graduate assistantship, but it’s been a few years since I finished my B.A due to life issues and I’m a little concerned about getting back into it.

Advice about grad school I can do.

The first piece of advice I can give is that you should not go to grad school unless you are fully funded. In the past, pursuing graduate education was a pretty reliable ticket into the ranks of the economically secure if not the outright affluent, but unfortunately the transformation of academic job markets over the last 10+ years has meant that even a PhD is less and less reliable, as full-time jobs became scarcer and competition for those jobs increases. 

So it’s of vital importance that if you want to pursue a PhD for non-monetary reasons - whether it’s a particular topic that you find fascinating, or whether you love teaching in a university setting, or whether you love archival research and uncovering previousy unseen documents, or whatever - that you don’t go into debt in the process. A PhD in history requires on average of eight years where you can’t work full-time because of coursework and reading and research and teaching, and where university jobs don’t always pay the most, so it’s going to be an economically stressful time. You don’t want to make it worse by having to take out loans to pay tuition, health insurance, and living expenses, so make sure that the package you’re offered provides enough in the way of tuition remissions, living stipends, and/or university employment to cover your entire time at grad school. 

The second piece of advice I have to give, and here I’m speaking as both a former grad student and a former grad student union activist, is to not self-exploit. One of the things that you will find in grad school is a dizzying array of activities that all seem like important opportunities - research and publication collaborations with professors, invitations to attend workshops and conferences, offers to teach more advanced discussion sections, offers to be a part of student academic journals, offers to be a part of departmental student governance, etc. And then of course there’s wanting to do a good job as a teacher, and you can always spend more hours in classroom prep or written feedback on assignments or more office hours, and so on. 

The larger point is that there’s a lot of social pressure to say yes to all these requests and they can all feel potentially highly useful and important to your future prospects, but one of the most important things you have to learn as a graduate student is when to say no. There are only so many hours in the day and getting your own work done so that you actually complete your PhD on time really has to be your first priority. So one of the most valuable skills you can pick up as a graduate student is a sense of which opportunities really are worth the time commitment and the ability to tactfully decline offers that are not. And when it comes to teaching in particular, remember that you’re only getting paid to work a certain number of hours a week - if you put in extra hours over that, you’re giving your employers overtime for free. 

The third piece of advice I can give is to practice self-care. As I’ve already suggested, grad school can be a very stressful time: not only is there a lot of high-stakes academics and long-term job market issues to worry about, but there’s also stress about low wages, high rents, long hours, and commute times, and then there’s also the stress of your daily life. And sadly, one of the things that grad students often do is to mismanage their stress by focusing on their academics and/or their jobs and in the process neglecting themselves in dangerous ways. In my case, I dealt with my stress by stress-eating and put on a lot of weight and I developed stress-related ulcers and acid reflux. Even worse, I became really negligent about going to medical appointments and dentist appointments, so that smaller problems became bigger problems. But my biggest problem is that I wasn’t talking to anyone about my stress, because I think just about anybody who would have heard that list of bad behaviors would have told me that I was really harming myself and needed to change my routines in order to improve my quality of life. 

So one of the things that I absolutely recommend is to make use of mental health services from the beginning. Having a trained professional to talk to, even if it’s just about how things are going and what your day-to-day is like, who can give you advice about ways to handle things better or who can warn you when you’re not handling things well, is really invaluable, especially since grad school often means you’ve moved away from your previous support structures and need to rebuild them. Likewise, make sure that you have a convenient primary care provider and dentist and make sure that you do regular check-ups and other forms of preventative care. 

The fourth piece of advice I have to give, and this is where I’m actually going to talk about academia and job markets, is to develop multiple strings to your bow. With the academic job market going the way that it is, you can’t rely purely on your dissertation, your publications, your fields of study, and your letters of recommendation to get a good job in your area of expertise if there aren’t any job openings in your area, or if every job has 15 applicants with unbeatable resumes. 

So keep an eye on the AHA and OAH’s job listing databases, but also keep an eye out for museum jobs, state and local history society and commission jobs, the National Parks Service, state parks services, where having a degree in public history can be a big advantage.

Moreover, acquiring skills and knowledge bases that aren’t covered by your fields or your dissertation can be really helpful in applying for jobs outside of history. In my case, even though I was a public policy historian, I did a lot of independent reading and blogging on contemporary public policy and public policy analysis and public policy design, which helped get me some paid gigs writing reports for think-tanks, and it all helped when I ended up applying for public policy teaching jobs, and then ultimately teaching in public policy. So make some time to read widely throughout history, social science, and any other field that interests you, because it might help down the road in applying for a job in that area. 

At the same time, one of the things I regret is that there are certain skills, like statistics and quant in general, or graphic design and photoshop, or programming at least to the extent of being able to build websites, or additional language skills, that I never took the time to pick up, because there’s a lot of NGO jobs and the like where they get huge numbers of well-educated applicants but where what we could call general professional skills are in demand and thinner on the ground. 

[here-comes-the-moose]

Omega: Crosshair, I need some advice.

Crosshair, eating Nutella straight out of the jar: You’ve come to the right place.

[honeesblog]

a lot of people in my program really only do their studies and to my other PHD's I urge you: make sure you have other things going on! I have a near endless list of weird hobbies and sports and other interests and I just want you to know that you don't need to eat, sleep, and breathe only your topic and subject! Read a fiction book for fun, paint something badly, find a nice shop to browse in, go for a walk in a green area, take a break and don't rush through it. Pleasure and relaxation are valuable and worth your time. The point of a PhD/Masters is not to work in a hard and unsustainable way until you are done but instead to learn how to be an academic, what type of academic you are, and how you want to live your life/balance your academics and everything else!

When you are studying/working, don't be afraid of being wrong or doing things messily or poorly. On hard days, give yourself leeway, add an extra scoop of sugar to your coffee or tea, and listen to the rocky theme!

[writingislife20]

I want a book about post-apocalyptic world, it starts out with these four survivors, who are all in their early to mid twenties, with the oldest being 25. They are trying to find other survivors/find out what started the apocalypse. I want them to be traveling, getting close to where they think the apocalypse started and surrounded by a group of creatures (I’m thinking zombies, but if you can be more original, let me know.)

Just when they are starting to despair, a car horn sounds. A minivan careens into the circle, killing several of the horde of creatures. A door is thrown open, and a preteen girl pitches her head out and screams at the top of her lungs “ GET IN!!!”

They start scrambling into the minivan, while the monster shuffle at them. When the last person gets in, the girl throws the door closed and yells, ” Step on it, Rosie, and don’t hit another building!”

They turned to see a nine-year-old girl in the driver seat, with a 13-year-old boy looking like he was about to hurl. They drive so fast that one of the passengers definitely gets close to sickness. The nine-year-old keeps giggling, and whoever’s point of view it is is death scared of this little girl.

They get driven to this camp area that has obviously been turned into a hideout, with a gate enclosing it. There, they are greeted with a gaggle of kids, ranging from 7 to 16, with two elderly women, and a girl who stands out as being the oldest and probably the leader. She seems to be a lot older, and is very confident, giving directions to everyone. She takes the four of them to a side room, and shuts the door. All four of them are preparing for some sort of shovel talk. None of them are expecting to see this girl to sigh, lean against the wall and ask “Are any of you homophobic? because I am not willing to deal with that during this whole thing.”

Turns out, this place used to be a conversion camp that flew under the radar, and this girl had been breaking her little sister out of it when this whole thing started. Most of the kids have been fine, as they’ve been on lockdown due to her entering, almost all the faculty was dead or had abandoned the kids when everything started. The only adults who were left were the lunch ladies and the grandmother of one of the kids, who had been there visiting her grandson.

This 19-year-old had been put in charge of a gaggle of kids, and three older women who did not know how to take care of that many children. She asked the team for help dealing with the kids, crying that she needed an adult.

The group of four look at each other. Only one of them has experienced with children, and that is with a few kids from daycare, who are arguably younger than these ones. All of them are grad students, who barely survived the apocalypse due to sheer dumb luck, antisocial behavior, and their ability to dodge people attempting to bite them (grad students get crazy and cranky when you tried to wake them up or take them away from their work). All four of them are human disasters, then they look at this kid, who didn’t even get the chance to go to college, who is begging for help, and looks like she’ll cry if they refused to help.

They all collectively decide that They will be the responsible one. all of their other friends are human disasters, so they have to clean up their behavior and take care of this girl and the many children she has under her care. They know they’re going to need to help.

The problem is, they are all human disasters, who barely know how to cook. They are trying to be responsible, but they only have one brain cell, and it passes between them with no warning.

The rest of the story should be a mixture of comedy(these 20 year old trying to take care of a bunch of kids) and apocalyptic drama (these old ladies, trying to figure out why the apocalypse started, with a few appearances from Timmy, the grandson, who is seven years old and was sent there without the grandmother’s knowledge.)

Just, let the responsible grandparents figure out how the apocalypse started and why, while the grad students try to be responsible for 20 to 30 kids.

[studentbyday]

y'know how they say an academic writing sample can be something like an undergrad thesis or journal article? but if a journal article has many authors, how do they know which part you contributed to? or do they just want the part of the article you wrote for the sample? sadly i don't have the option to do an undergrad thesis, so i won't have something that was purely/mostly my own to give...

[rollercoasterwords]

hihi i was wondering what you’re studying in grad school? i’m debating going LOL

i’m currently in a master’s program 4 a gender studies degree! my experience has been. pretty good so far but if ur located in the u.s. my honest advice is don’t go 2 grad school unless u can get it fully funded…or unless ur rich enough 2 just eat the cost of paying 4 a program in which case u can probably do whatever u want lol

[hawnks]

Everyone who’s getting ready for gradschool, here is the most important advice I can give you: do NOT sleep with your cohort.

[intomybubble]

And here's my 4th depiction of Saint Germain in Japanese media lmao I was not expecting him to show up in this series considering the others take place around late 1800s Europe

Edit: hoping for another ikemen to add to the list lmao 🤞🤞

Edit 2:

There he is

[fairyhagmother]

and what if. I made ukrainian honey cake for (redacted). what then

[college-hacks]

Make sure your laptop is CHARGED and UPDATED and TESTED Before your first class. Anyway on an unrelated note I opened up my laptop for class and it's not working 😒 my advice is from experience I promise

[theunaestheticstudyblr]

Testing tips: minutes before the test

There are tons of posts and advice about how to study for and prep for tests, but one thing I see never discussed is what to do right before a test. Like sitting in the classroom half an hour prior. (Sorry this sounds like the niche identification of a scientific paper I'm so sorry I've been writing too many research papers please forgive me) This time is very important and what you do with it can really impact how well you do. This isn't a one size fits all thing either. So I'm going to give a few suggestions on what to do in the minutes prior to your test to help you do better and when you should maybe try the thing!

1) Review

I preach about the wonders of summary sheets constantly. MAKE THEM PLEASE. They are so amazing if you have a concept heavy test. You get a brief overview of everything that could be talked about and helps jog your memory. This is much easier than flipping through notes and slideshows and can help you identify anything you need to look over quick.

Now a review is different than cramming. For reviewing, you want to just go over the topics and identify anything you don't have a brief understanding of. Could you give an elevator pitch on the topic? Good move on. If not, look at key words or concepts for the topic since a lot of tests cover those things. I'll make a post about making good summary sheets later.

When should you do this? If you have a concept heavy test, you need a quick reminder, you have extra time, and/or you haven't been able to study for a bit.

2) Relax

Don't study. Don't review. Don't talk about the material. Just do something distracting until you get the test. Read, doodle, listen to music, whatever you enjoy. Just relax.

This sounds like weird and terrible advice, but it's actually really important. Especially if it's a test you're super stressed about or a test that scares you. If you relax and calm your mind, you'll be able to think better and clearer for the test.

3) Have a mini study group session

This is amazing if you have questions about some things. Ask the people you sit around and they will probably be thankful of you refreshing their memory about something as well. And it will usually cause discussion about other topics as well.

4) Rewrite notes

Basically write key terms and definitions, species names, etc. Things that you know you need memorized. By rewriting them, it will force them to be more fresh in your mind and gives you another layer of studying in a sense. The more times you're exposed to material, the better you remember it. So by rewriting the main things, you're giving yourself another layer of exposure.

This is especially useful for foreign languages, species identification tests, and vocabulary heavy tests.

5) Quiz yourself

Go through the topics and try to explain them as best as possible. Try to define key terms. Basically just give yourself a quiz on anything and everything. See how much you can do.

This helps you figure out what areas you should focus on for a quick review and maybe get a few questions going to ask others.

Overall, focus on breathing. You got this! You KNOW you got this. You're better than you think you are. And it's just one test. You won't fail even if you fail this test I promise.

[grouchydairy]

If you’re like me, the supportive words above won’t cut it. You’ll still feel the sting of the cringe. It’s extra horrendous if a professor asks you to write your own letter of recommendation. Pretend you’re writing about your best friend.

#AcademicChatter

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

[lunaticlabs]

So you want a PhD: A how-to guide

Observe as the new student enters the PhD maze… You get a PhD, and you get a PhD; you ALL get a PhD!!!! Okay, it’s not quite that easy, and while the journey is tough (speaking from experience), it doesn’t have to be as overwhelming as it sometimes is for people. So how do you get a PhD, you may ask? Well, there’s no set path, and frankly, my advice is mostly tailored to the sciences in the…

[uh-velkommen]

I had just a minor panic attack thinking about school this morning. I'm terrified that once I finish school I won't be able to find a job abroad and I'll have no money and the country will kick me out and I'll be homeless and lost with no way to make any moves. It's really the fact that I don't have family in the US anymore, and I'm already super low on cash like everything I have is going entirely towards school. I'm starting to think this is a bad idea because it just isn't financially feasible.

But at the same time I can't stay in my city and I might just die (hyperbolically) if I end up working retail here and living off minimum wage.

Any advice?

[hylianengineer]

I know long sleeves in a lab context would usually be bad but why don't they either make lab coat sleeves or gloves longer. This post brought to you by the time (an hour ago) I splashed sulfuric acid on my wrist, directly between my glove and my lab coat. I am fine though, it did not burn me and I assure you I have taken all relevant safety precautions. I am fine, I promise. I'm just slightly freaked out.