Things You Need To Know To Succeed In Graduate School

The following article was contributed by UCSB Geography graduate student Daniel Ervin:

In the Fall semester of 2012, Professor David López-Carr taught a class titled, “Geography 288: Six Things you need to know to achieve maximum success in Grad School.” One of the products of this seminar was a series of articles about graduate student life, written by the class participants. After agreeing on major topics of importance, each participant in the class compiled resources on a particular subject and led a discussion. These articles are the products of the materials, discussions, and personal experiences of the authors.

The four articles were:

• Navigating Academia: The Nuts and Bolts of Getting Started in Grad School – Written by Karly Marie Miller, this article discusses some general skills that are needed in graduate school. These include organization, research, communication, and interpersonal skills, as well as health and balance.

• A UCSB Student’s Guide to Grants and Fellowships – In this article, Daniel Ervin covers some of the aspects of looking for funding. It includes hints on finding grants, the different types of funding agencies, applying for grants, and the pros and cons of collaboration.

• Make your Research Marketable! – Perhaps given away by the exclamation mark, Lumari Pardo-Rodriguez penned this post about presenting your work in the most palatable way. She discusses learning to talk lay language, how to quickly explain your research, oral presentations, and tips about publishing.

• Academic Writing and Presentation: Six Tips for Writing the Dissertation – The final article of the series is about writing, and was written by Jessica Marter-Kenyon. Please feel free to email her directly about grammar and phrasing mistakes. In the article, she walks students through the dissertation process, from producing the idea, determining the approach and methods, getting funded, how to conduct research, writing, and promoting the dissertation.

Please feel free to contact the authors with any questions, comments, or revisions.

Editor’s note: Many thanks to Daniel Ervin for contributing this article. The complete Geography 288 syllabus can be found here.