studentgraduate.info

Grad school is a real challenge, but it is manageable. Getting on grad school requires learning some new skills and deepening self-discipline. How is graduate school different from undergraduate one?
At least in a PhD program, graduate school is not just a succession of classes. Sure you will take classes in the first two years, but the following years will emphasize research. The aim of graduate school is to learn your discipline by means of independent study and reading.
Most of the material learned in graduate school will not derive from classes, but from some other activities, like attending conferences and doing research. You will work with a department member on your research. As a beginner of sorts, you will learn how to determine research problems, plan and conduct research projects to evaluate your hypotheses, and then popularize your results. The final aim is to become an independent scholar who will be able to design his own research program.
Approach graduate school as a full-time job; it is not school in the undergraduate meaning. If you soared through school with little studying, then you are in for a great culture shock. The lists of reading will be more extensive and longer than you have encountered in college. And what is more, you will be expected to read and get ready to evaluate critically and discuss it all. Many graduate programs need you take imitative for the learning and show commitment to your future career. Keep in mind that nobody will hold your hand and help you. You are to give your own motivation.