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What is Grad school like and how is it different thank college?

I want to go to Grad school after college and would like to know the differences and similarities?
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Ceil’s Answer

It has been several years since I was in grad school, but I'm going to guess many of the differences I experienced are still true. First, grad school assumed you're a grown up who can manage your own time and schedule. When classes meet once a week (versus 2 or 3 times a week), it's on you to get the work done. When the big assignment is due at the end of the quarter / semester, and there are lots of mini-assignments along the way, it's on you to juggle your research and work to get it all done. No one's going to hold your hand.

If your school / program is job-focused (i.e., more of a vocational than an academic program), there's probably more hand-holding. If it's more academic (targeted to people who are going into research, doctoral programs, stuff like that), then what I described above probably holds more true.

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Ken’s Answer

Grad school is a continuation of the studies of your undergrad degree in a more advanced form.


Be careful. During my many years in Human Resources I found that too many people rushed into taking a masters program without getting practical professional experience in their career area. This made them less attractive to an employer, as then these people expected to be paid at a higher rate due to their masters degree, but they were not able to bring added value to the employer, as they did not have the practical basic experience in their professional career area to back up the added expense to the employer.


It is prudent for a person to explore their career area to determine if it is appropriate to get a masters degree with or without getting sufficient experience to make it beneficial for an employer to hire them at that level without experience.


Many times an employer will assist with the expense of an advanced degree or additional training if it will enable the employee to make an additional contribution to the company by performing at an advanced level or participating in additional duties.


The first things that one needs to do is to

  • determine which career area is must suitable to puursue
  • research the position by talking to people involved in that career area to determine if and when it might be prudent to pursue an advanced degree.

Ken recommends the following next steps:

Getting to know yourself and how your personality traits relate to people involved in various career opportunities is very important in your decision making process. During my many years in Human Resources and College Recruiting, I ran across too many students who had skipped this very important step and ended up in a job situation which for which they were not well suited. Selecting a career area is like buying a pair of shoes. First you have to be properly fitted for the correct size, and then you need to try on and walk in the various shoe options to determine which is fits the best and is most comfortable for you to wear. Following are some important steps which I developed during my career which have been helpful to many .
The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this again upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school.
Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college who tracks and works with graduates to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. You can locate them by asking your school academic advisor, favorite teachers, and the reference librarian at your local library. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
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Simeon’s Answer

Grad school tend to be more focused on writing and research than undergrad is. The classes are harder and more thorough. They'll tell you that the same difficulty of taking 18 hours in undergrad is matched by 12 hours in grad school. The social dynamic of things is the same. You go to grad school expecting it to be a more serious and adult scene, but you find out it's not that different. If your lucky, some places let you design your own course and take it for credit if its approved by a professor. I was able to do this at grad school and was able to make a focused study on a very specific religious movement in 1700s Germany with a professor who was one of the leading experts on the topic and was even in the middle of writing a new book on the topic!
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