# What's graduate school like??



## eyesonmywall (Aug 24, 2007)

Well I graduated from Rutgers last year and am now considering going to grad school for Library Science. I will most likely be going back to Rutgers (i'd rather go somewhere else, but i can't afford to do that)

I wanted to ask some fellow SAers how their experience was/is in grad school (not program specific)?

Is it easier/harder to make friends than undergrad?
Would you recommend campus housing?
Is the work that much harder than undergrad?
Is most of the program paid for through the university or do you pay most of it yourself? 

And any other helpful advice if you have any  

Thanks!


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## LarryDavid (Oct 17, 2006)

I'd like to know the same. I start grad school late January! I hope its not that much work.


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## Kelly (Dec 12, 2003)

I am a fourth year Ph.D. student in History at the University of Cincinnati. I got my master's at UC too, so this is my sixth year of grad school. ( :fall ) I'll take a stab at your answers.

*Is it easier/harder to make friends than undergrad?*
My department is fairly friendly. There are about 50 grad students, most of whom aren't in very often. That leaves about 20 or so students around on a fairly frequent basis. Because you take classes with them, you start to know them fairly well.

The hard part about being in grad school for so long is keeping in touch with people who've graduated. I started my master's in 2001. It's a two year program. It seems like every two years all of your friends leave. That's why I like Facebook so much. It's easier to keep in touch.

*Would you recommend campus housing?*
I lived in dorms as an undergrad, but I've lived in apartments in grad school. I recommend living in an apartment, even though my school has housing for "older" students. Why? Because I'm a grownup and I was so sick of dorms. I like having my own kitchen. Plus, dorms tend to cost more.

Still, living in campus housing is a good way to meet people. If most grad students on your campus live on-campus, then I would go with that. My school is a commuter school, so most people live off-campus. The downfall of living off-campus is that the school charges *a lot* for parking. I park off campus in a hospital's parking garage and just walk across the street to my building, but the hospital kind of frowns on that.

*Is the work that much harder than undergrad?*
Yes, yes, a million times YES. It was so much harder at first. I didn't feel very prepared. My SA skyrocketed. It didn't help that I was working with a prof who wasn't exactly helpful towards his students. It involved a TON of classroom participation that I was just NOT comfortable with. Other grad students kept telling me, "You're really going to have to get over it." So, I had two choices - give up, drop out, quit. OR - Get over it. It wasn't easy. It took a few years. I didn't really get it until the end of my first year as a Ph.D. student. And the jackass of a prof that I was working under basically forced me into taking a year off between the master's and the Ph.D. programs and then he decided he wouldn't take me as a student - because he said I was too "reticent" for a Ph.D. program. So I found another prof to work under and she is *amazing.* She's so helpful. She makes it so much easier.

My first year as a master's student, I was clueless. I got better my second year - enough to make a good impression on the prof who eventually took me as her student. Then I went to therapy during my first year as a Ph.D. student and really have no problem speaking in classes anymore (or speaking my mind anywhere else, for that matter. )

And SA aside - there's a ton of more homework. You'll have to schedule your free time. I know grad students who are so confident that they can read the introduction to a book and then speak in class about it for ten minutes. I'm not like that. I have to actually read the book or I feel like I'll miss something important and the prof will see right through me and know I didn't do the work.

*Is most of the program paid for through the university or do you pay most of it yourself?*
This is my last year on a full scholarship and stipend from my school - meaning they pay me to go to school. Look around on your school's website to see what kind of funding they offer grad students.

*And any other helpful advice if you have any  *
Go into it with the attitude that, even if it's hard, it's technically only two years of your life. Go in with a positive attitude that if something comes up that challenges you, it's just an opportunity to help you become a better person and not an excuse to quit and give up - especially if it's SA related. (Actually, I know one year MLS programs exist, so it might not even be that long. It would only be nine months - which is nothing compared to how much more money you'll make at a library with an MLS than without one. My ex-bf was/is a librarian and if he had his MLS his paycheck would have gone up by a few dollars an hour.)

I hope this helps. I don't want to scare you. It's hard work, but worth it in the end, if you ask me.

Have a nice day,
Kelly


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## jaayhou (Jun 20, 2007)

I'm also a doctorate student (non Ph.D.).

*Is it easier/harder to make friends than undergrad?*
Definitely easier. Most programs are smaller and tight-knit. I made essentially zero friends in undergrad, and I feel like I have fifty now, although they're not really people I would call by phone or anything. People will be a lot easier to relate to because you will have more in common. The flip side of this is that you're forced to get to know people, which is something I've struggled with for a while. The anonymity of undergrad was somewhat comforting.

*Would you recommend campus housing?*
Dorms? No. Many grad students opt for on-campus apartments, but finding compatible roommates can be troublesome, so I wouldn't go that way personally. I live just off campus with my girlfriend and wouldn't have it any other way.

*Is the work that much harder than undergrad?*
Yes. I was told that undergrad was actually harder for health-sciences, but that couldn't be further from the truth for me. I don't know if this holds true for other programs, but it would be a good bet. I was very unprepared for the workload and my grades suffered a bit my first year. However, I'm living proof that study habits can be improved even in grad school, so just stick with it if it gets tough.

*Is most of the program paid for through the university or do you pay most of it yourself?*
My tuition is reasonable considering my starting salary after graduation, but I get some of it paid for. My state was relatively generous and awarded me $8,000 this year, paying a little over half my tuition. I get an additional $700-1000/year directly through the school. I pay for the remainder though subsidized Stafford loans. If paying for school is a concern for you, don't hesitate to pay for it with loans. It always pays off in the long-run if you graduate.

*And any other helpful advice if you have any  *
Get as much experience as possible in your field before applying. Volunteer, if necessary. I say this partly because you want to make yourself a desirable candidate for the program, but also because you want to make sure the career will be right for you. I got into my program though sheer stubbornness (it's hard to change my mind once it's set), and I'm hoping I'll be happy when I start working.


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## eyesonmywall (Aug 24, 2007)

Thanks so much for your responses! It's extremely helpful to get a first hand perspective about grad school.


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## Algernon21 (Nov 11, 2003)

I went to grad school for Library Science myself, so hopefully I can give you some useful info. Library science seems to be quite different from most other graduate programs, at least in my experience. First of all, the work is, on average, not hard. Some classes might have a lot of assignments and consume a lot of your time, but it's not hard work in the sense that it's intellectually challenging, just "busy work" that eats up a lot of time. In my program there were very few professors who gave tests or final exams; most of our grades were based on assignments and final projects. However, that may not be true for all programs. 

I found it easier to make friends in graduate school then as an undergrad. I was surrounded by other students who loved books and reading and had similar interests as me, and most of us had come from out of state so we didn't have any existing groups of friends to hang out with. However, my library science program was quite large, with over 100 students in it at one time. so again, it was different then many graduate programs that only have 10 or 15 students in them at once.

As far as financial aid- that also varies among different schools and different programs. My program only offered aid to about 20% of the students in it, but some places are more generous. Even if you can't get a student assistship or a scholarship, I would strongly recommend that you try to get a part-time job working in a library while you are in library school - the experience will look really good on your resume, and it will be easier to get a job after you graduate if you can say you've working in a library before. 

I lived in an apartment the whole time I was in library school - first by myself and later with a roommate (a close friend of mine who was also in library school). I had lived in dorms the whole time I was an undergraduate. I think most graduate students do tend to have apartments rather then live in dorms, plus you have a lot more freedom and space to yourself in an apartment. 

Hope this helps you. Feel free to send me a private message if you have any questions for me.


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