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Zauber

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  1. Upvote
    Zauber reacted to Warelin in Which schools in the US have funded PhD programs for postcolonial lit, especially Indian writing in English?   
    I'm sorry but I do have to disagree here. Not all PHD programs are fully-funded. Some programs only fund 30-50 percent of their students. Some programs may not fund the first year. Others might require you to pay more mandatory fees while others may not require you to pay any fees at all.
  2. Upvote
    Zauber reacted to silenus_thescribe in Graduate Teaching Course Load   
    I was in the same boat as you coming into my PhD two years ago. At UT Austin, if you come in with a BA (as I did) you're required to teach two discussion sections of about 25 students per week for a large literature survey course (whose overall enrollment runs anywhere from 250-400, and even 900 for a synchronous multi-person online course version of the class). Even during my second year, I'd get jitters before class sometimes; it is a big responsibility, and you don't want to let down a bunch of students who have potentially taken out tons of loans for a university education. However, it wasn't long after I began my TA assignment that I fell into "the normal swing of things." A couple things to say to assuage your concerns:
    (1) As Caroline wisely puts it early in this thread: you know more than the students. I know that younger TAs often get tripped up when they see that they are teaching students separated maybe by 3-4 years. I've even had students 10+ years my senior. Nevertheless, you have already earned a BA in the field that you're teaching, and you spend substantially more time with literature than your students do (or will in your class, sadly). Impostor syndrome is real, but after a few class sessions you'll see that while you don't have a PhD in English yet, you're on the road to it, whereas many of your students will likely be doing serious close reading for the first time.
    (2) Being a TA, while not undaunting in some ways (I find grading the most stressful, as I never feel I'm "getting it right" even when my professor says I am), is not like being an instructor of record. You're there to help your prof with the clerical/grading work of the class, and to supplement their lectures and the readings. If you can talk about books intelligently -- which I know you can -- then you'll be absolutely fine. Just do the reading, come prepared, and be energetic; give your students a reason to be excited about the subject, even if they don't love reading literature. If you show confidence to your students, they'll respect your knowledge. They know you aren't as experienced as the professor, and they won't hold that against you. 
  3. Upvote
    Zauber reacted to nhhistorynut in Leading Discussions as a New TA   
    Hi all,
    I have searched a bit on here and advice and info for new TAs is pretty spread out and hard to find. As someone starting her PhD in August and TAing for the first time, I am hoping some experienced TAs will jump on here and list some ideas/advice for us newbies. For me, I will be leading 3 discussion sections for a total of 45 students from a freshman-level modern-US history class. I've never taught before (other than as a sub at an elementary school), so any advice is more than welcome!
    Thanks in advance.
  4. Upvote
    Zauber reacted to dan0075 in What piece(s) of advice would you give to new TAs?   
    There's a lot of great advice here. The only thing I would add is that I learned that you have to let go of wanting the students to like you. Of course you want them to respect you and to create an environment where they feel safe to express themselves and that they're being evaluated and graded fairly. That said, be careful of trying to be so laid back that they lose sight that the TA/student relationship is a strictly professional one.
     
    Be friendly, yes, but make it clear that when in the classroom you are not their peer (despite your being a student as well) but their instructor. I certainly use humor a great deal in my classes, but I work to set a disciplined tone from the beginning. 
     
    As much as it may seem that they want the freedom from boundaries, I don't believe this to be true. Not that student feedback is the most reliable barometer of one's effectiveness, but I have found I have gotten the best feedback from the classes from whom I least expected it, i.e., the classes where I tended to have to take a more hard line approach.
     
    Keep in mind that no matter how affable you try to be and how invested you are in their success, there are going to be students who don't like you. We've all had those teachers that we talked about behind their backs. You're going to be that teacher to at least some of your students. Don't sweat it. It comes with the job.
  5. Upvote
    Zauber reacted to Between Fields in What piece(s) of advice would you give to new TAs?   
    I use a binder for each section I'm teaching, as a previous poster mentioned, but instead of lecture notes, I have the course roster and a page for each student. I add their rubrics and research proposals into it as I get them, too. Anytime I meet with a student, I turn to their page and take a few notes. Students love it when you remember what they said, and you'll quickly find that even though you think you know your students' names, you're never going to remember which student asked for what in office hours, unless you write it down. I also do my attendance on paper in this, and keep copies of the syllabus and assignment sheets. Don't let them sucker you. Students will have trouble adjusting to college (especially in the first semester), but when a student comes up with sob story after sob story, refer them to the appropriate campus offices (disability services, counseling, etc.), because if you keep accommodating them without documentation, you're going to run into issues. This is going to sound petty, but don't loan books (or anything, really) to students. I let one of mine use a very expensive Greek history book my first semester teaching because the library didn't have a copy, and it came back with creased pages, a few stains, and a torn book jacket. Suffice it to say, it made it very difficult to be objective on his paper.  When you're meeting with students, leave your office door open. I'd say leave it open, even if they ask for you to close it. Grad students are vulnerable to false accusations, and I know that most students would never do anything of that nature, but the wife of caesar must be beyond repute, right? (This is a tip I got from my supervisor.) If you're meeting with a student and you're concerned about their reaction to what you're going to say (i.e. if you're accusing them of plagiarism or something of that nature), it's ok to have a colleague with you "grading/reading/sleeping" in the corner, so that there's a third party witness. I did this when I had to confront a student about falsifying rough drafts. Don't assume that students can read, not even at an SLAC. Give your assignment a few different ways: verbally, online, and in paper. They still won't read or listen, but at least you can cover your bases. Monitor your international students' progress in the first few days of the course. Make it a point to talk to them and try to get a feel for their ability level in English, especially if you're teaching an English course. This really helped me my first semester, because I discovered that a student had skipped the required pre-req for international students to get into first-year composition, and had I not talked to the department, I probably would have had to fail her. (She got a very low grade the second semester, even with that pre-req...) At the PhD and MA level, most of us are not equipped to deal with TESOL issues, so become friends with the professors in your department who are certified, and get all the resources you can, if you need them.
  6. Upvote
    Zauber reacted to Meanyus in What piece(s) of advice would you give to new TAs?   
    Yeah, I would wholeheartedly disagree with being nice on grading.
     
    I've stopped feeling bad about poor grades. It was extremely difficult for me as a 4.0 student to understand that some of my students were perfectly happy with a C in the class. It's a tough pill to swallow when they just don't care that much. However, I make sure to take the time out to explain to students the differences between A, B, C, and D work so that they can choose for themselves how much effort they want to put in. I teach public speaking, so it's fairly cut and dry, but I am able to finish a vast majority of my grading the same day things are turned in. It leaves me with a lot of time to do my own work not having to worry about tracking assignments for my students. Even if you need longer than that, I do suggest blocking out a period of time to just knock it out all at once so that you can grade fairly and efficiently.
     
    I do agree with geeking out a bit. You might be saddled with a horribly boring subject matter but your excitement at least makes it more bearable for the students and gets them actively involved.
     
    Be self-reflexive. Mid-term evaluations are a great tool for monitoring how well you class is going. I use it to ask my students about both what is working and what is not working. I then send a lengthy email responding to it letting them know what things we can change and what things we can't. Constantly seek to improve yourself, whether you are a great teacher or not.
     
    Take it seriously but don't spend all your time worrying about it. I thought about dropping out of grad school because of an A- in my second semester. I now realize how silly that is. I have one student every semester who absolutely hates my teaching style. I do my best to try and accommodate them but if my style works for 47/48 students, then I don't really worry that one person thinks I am the worst teacher they have every met and I am incompetent and don't know how to teach and that they can't believe I even got this job.
     
    Lastly, ask for help when you need it. If you are entering a M.A. program, they are really just teaching you how to write at a higher level and easing you into teaching. I'm entering my Ph.D. program next year so I can't speak on that.
     
    Good luck!
  7. Upvote
    Zauber reacted to TakeruK in What piece(s) of advice would you give to new TAs?   
    I agree that teaching is never as valued as direct research impact in research oriented fields when it comes to hiring decisions at research oriented universities.
     
    I do agree that for my field, if you do want a tenure track assistant prof position at a research oriented university, then yes, teaching should be a very low priority for you. The advice I hear is to have a minimal amount of it so that 1) you actually have some experience and 2) hiring committees who only really care about research but want to claim that they care about teaching can point to something on your CV that says you've taught before. I know that my current school does not consider teaching ability at all when it comes to tenure decisions. One prof at my school who was passionate about teaching was asked to spend less time on teaching because his classes were too good. He is now somewhere else, at a school where he feels his teaching is as valued as his research. 
     
    That said, I don't think it's sound advice to actually tell graduate students to slack off on TAing. First of all, that article that was linked in NicholasCage's post is almost 25 years old. I think in general, most schools have begun to shift towards valuing teaching as well, even if it's tiny. There are centres for teaching & learning popping up at various campuses and even my super-research-oriented school opened their own Centre for Teaching and Learning a few years ago. 
     
    If a student is absolutely certain they want to pursue a career that is purely research, then it makes sense to devote all of their time into research. However, I think with the current job market, it's a very bad idea to limit your career options so much and to me, it's a far better idea to develop your teaching portfolio as much as possible. Personally, I enjoy teaching, so I don't need pragmatic reasons to motivate me but it's still true that while spending time on teaching might not gain you very much towards the most research-oriented jobs, the little extra effort you can do is probably beneficial in the long run because it will increase your chances at a much broader range of careers.
     
    Time management is essential in grad school and I'm not saying to say yes to every teaching opportunity. I'm also not saying you should say no every time either. The best answer, I think, is to advise grad students to think about what kind of careers we want after the PhD and to make sure almost everything we do, whether it's teaching or research or otherwise, is a step towards these goals.
  8. Upvote
    Zauber reacted to jazzontherocks in Youngest in my program. HELP!   
    Don't worry. You'll fit in. A gap of several years is usually not a problem. You're able to gain new insights from your peers and vice versa. I once enrolled in an advanced diploma program where I was the youngest and most were over 10-20 years older. Hope you'll have a wonderful time still.
  9. Upvote
    Zauber reacted to rising_star in Youngest in my program. HELP!   
    Make sure you're not suggesting everyone go to frat parties every weekend and you should be fine. Be as mature as you are. Be the person who got admitted into the program.
  10. Upvote
    Zauber reacted to anxiousphd in Youngest in my program. HELP!   
    My best friend from my MA program is nearly 8 years older than me! We meshed better than I did with students who are only a few months or a few years older than me. My point is, age really doesn't matter because you and the other members of your cohort are likely to be at a similar place in your lives. I can see there being a greater divide between married and unmarried students, but even that isn't necessarily the case. I agree with the other posters, just be yourself! You wouldn't have been accepted into the program if you didn't come across as mature to the admissions committee! 
  11. Upvote
    Zauber reacted to orange turtle in Youngest in my program. HELP!   
    One of my professors noted that graduate students are usually pretty preoccupied with their own problems that they don't usually notice much about other students if it doesn't directly involve them. It is true. I bring this up not to make you worried but to hopefully reassure you that most students won't even notice.
    I am the direct opposite of you. I am the oldest in my cohort. I am older than the youngest in my cohort by some 15 years. Nobody in my cohort even noticed until one day some random conversation where age came up as a side note. Everybody looked at me in surprise, some even complete shock.
    Like the others here said: Just be yourself. Unless you go in there telling everyone "I am very, very young!!!" chances are, most won't even notice. Take a deep breath. Everybody is probably just as nervous as you are and just as worried as you are, all for very different reasons, and that's ok.
  12. Upvote
    Zauber got a reaction from anxiousphd in Youngest in my program. HELP!   
    I got accepted into a PhD program and found out pretty recently that I am the youngest of 5 admitted students. With a minimum of 4 years between me and the next person, I'm worried about fitting in and how to not make a fool of myself given my inexperience and obvious youth. ANY ADVICE would be fantastic at this point, if only to stop me from having panic attacks. 
  13. Upvote
    Zauber got a reaction from steve3020 in What was your writing sample?   
    A little late to the party but my writing sample was also an excerpt from my undergraduate thesis. It was on abjection as catharsis for writers of Gothic literature. I argued that writers such as Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker wrote their identity conflicts into their projects so that the works would become cathartic quasi-autobiographies. I don't think it was the best piece of writing but I think it showcased my love for theory.
  14. Upvote
    Zauber got a reaction from rising_star in UC Irvine or University of Oregon for comp lit?   
    I'd say pause for a second and look at the program structure. See what you need in terms of development. If you need to strengthen your foundations, then write that down. If you need space to play around with ideas, then write that down. Look at the faculty and see who can help you best. Don't look at a department as a whole, sometimes looking at its constituent elements helps a lot more. Look at the workload in both places and find out if you can speak to current students so that you get some insider perspective on the department. I'd say go with the one that benefits you holistically and where you feel that you will shine. That's my 2 cents
  15. Upvote
    Zauber got a reaction from Philosobroad in UC Irvine or University of Oregon for comp lit?   
    I'd say pause for a second and look at the program structure. See what you need in terms of development. If you need to strengthen your foundations, then write that down. If you need space to play around with ideas, then write that down. Look at the faculty and see who can help you best. Don't look at a department as a whole, sometimes looking at its constituent elements helps a lot more. Look at the workload in both places and find out if you can speak to current students so that you get some insider perspective on the department. I'd say go with the one that benefits you holistically and where you feel that you will shine. That's my 2 cents
  16. Upvote
    Zauber reacted to Philosobroad in UC Irvine or University of Oregon for comp lit?   
    How do you choose between schools when you're a good fit at both but in different ways, one is a smidgen more name-brand-y, the other seems a smidgen more collegial, one has a lot of top-notch university resources for professionalization, the other where the department itself seems to have more focus on professionalization, one that has well-known recommenders while the other has (apparently) more involved mentors, one that has no core courses because you're free to build your degree, while the other has core courses that help you better get a handle on disciplinary conventions, one that's located in boring city that's close to a bunch of cool cities and the other which is located in a small college town?
    Helppppppp
  17. Upvote
    Zauber reacted to Philosobroad in UC Irvine or University of Oregon for comp lit?   
    i REALLY LIKE them both and will definitely be missing out on something no matter what I choose why is this so hard
  18. Upvote
    Zauber got a reaction from steve3020 in Waitlist Limbo   
    So I was in the same boat till a week ago because I got rejections from EVERYWHERE and got waitlisted at UC Davis.Crushed, battered and bruised, I thought nothing was going to work out.
    Then it did and I'm in a better emotional space right now but I know how it felt and I'm sorry. Back in the "dark days" I did the following just so that I didn't sort of feel like the world was ending:
    I made list after list of things that I wanted to do if I wasn't in school- from learning new languages to joining music classes. I looked up Masters programs in my home country and looked up jobs/internships in publishing and journalism. I decided to do independent research and began to jot down ideas. I read the forums here and saw that there were people who were applying for the 3rd or even 4th time and realised that if they can persevere, so can I.
     
    All of it helped me to keep my sanity and I hope that some of it helps you. DO NOT THINK OF YOURSELF AS MEDIOCRE OR LACKING IN ANY WAY. That's a difficult pitfall to get out of. Just keep looking for possibilities. I hope things work out for you.
  19. Upvote
    Zauber got a reaction from Aspiring_SLP in Waitlist Limbo   
    So I was in the same boat till a week ago because I got rejections from EVERYWHERE and got waitlisted at UC Davis.Crushed, battered and bruised, I thought nothing was going to work out.
    Then it did and I'm in a better emotional space right now but I know how it felt and I'm sorry. Back in the "dark days" I did the following just so that I didn't sort of feel like the world was ending:
    I made list after list of things that I wanted to do if I wasn't in school- from learning new languages to joining music classes. I looked up Masters programs in my home country and looked up jobs/internships in publishing and journalism. I decided to do independent research and began to jot down ideas. I read the forums here and saw that there were people who were applying for the 3rd or even 4th time and realised that if they can persevere, so can I.
     
    All of it helped me to keep my sanity and I hope that some of it helps you. DO NOT THINK OF YOURSELF AS MEDIOCRE OR LACKING IN ANY WAY. That's a difficult pitfall to get out of. Just keep looking for possibilities. I hope things work out for you.
  20. Upvote
    Zauber got a reaction from ThousandsHardships in Waiting as a Comp Lit person   
    Anyone with acceptances yet? Especially to UC Davis? I just got accepted a few days ago!
  21. Upvote
    Zauber reacted to juilletmercredi in Advice for a first year PhD student   
    About your dog: I think that depends entirely on you and your program. I am in a social science program where the majority of my analysis and writing can be done from home, and I prefer to work from home or from a library (as opposed to my cube in the windowless cube farm). When I was taking classes I was generally there from 9-6 or so, but now that my coursework is finished I am rarely at the school itself. I go for meetings, seminars, interesting kinds of things and I do most of my work remotely. My time is verrry flexible, and if my building didn't prohibit it I would get a dog in a heartbeat. Another thing to keep in mind: a dog can be a great comfort when you're all stressed out over graduate school.

    Advice?

    Age:
    -Don't feel like you have nothing to offer just because you are younger. I was 22 when I started graduate school. You got accepted to the program for a reason, and chances are you are just as equipped as any older students are to successfully complete the program, just in a different way.

    -Your older classmates may be just as terrified as you. Talk to them. You have a lot in common. You are, after all, in the same place.

    -You will feel like an imposter, like you don't belong, or like you are constantly behind. Or all three. It's normal. It will pass. (Well, sort of.) People of all ages go through this.

    Adviser related:
    -If you are lucky enough to get both research interest fit and personality fit perfect, congratulations! But sometimes, personality fit is more important than research interest fit as long as the research isn't too different. A great adviser is interested in your career development, likes you as a person, advocates for you, and wants to hear your ideas. Even if his or her research is quite different from yours, they may give you the autonomy to work on your own projects and just supervise you. A bad personality fit will drive you nuts, even if you love his or her research. Consider that when evaluating your adviser fit. (This will vary by field: research fit may be less important in the humanities, more important in the natural and physical sciences. Social sciences are somewhere in-between.)

    -Don't be afraid to be straight up blunt with your adviser when it comes to asking about your progress. Ask if you are where you should be both academic program wise and getting-a-job-after-this-mess-wise.

    -Be proactive. Advisers love when you draw up an agenda for your one-on-one meetings, come with talking points and progress to share, have concrete questions to ask, and have overall shown that you have been thoughtful and taken control of your own program. Of course, this won't immediately come easily to you, but in time you will work up to it. Every semester I type up my semester goals, and at the beginning of the year I type up annual goals. I show them to my adviser and we talk about whether they are too ambitious, or whether I need to revise them, and how I can meet them.

    -Don't expect your adviser to actually know what courses you have to take to graduate. They will know about comprehensive exams and the dissertation, but a lot of professors don't really keep up with the course requirements, especially if their program is in flux. Get you a student handbook, and find out what you need to take. Map it out in a grid, and check off things when you finish them. Show this to your adviser every semester. You may have to explain how such and such class fills a requirement.

    -Nobody loves you as much as you, except your mother. Keep this in mind as you take in advice from all sources, including your adviser. Your adviser is there to guide you, but that doesn't mean you have to do everything he says.

    Studying:
    -You will have to read more than you ever did before, in less time than you ever have before, and you will be expected to retain more than you ever have before. The way that you studied in undergrad may need some tweaking. Be prepared for this.

    -Corollary: you may find that your methods change with age or interests or time. I preferred to study alone in college, but in grad school, I prefer to study in groups. It keeps me on task and the socialization keeps me motivated. You may find that you shift from being a more auditory learner to a visual learner or whatever.

    -You will feel behind at first. This is normal.

    -At some point you will realize that your professors don't actually expect you to read everything they assign you. This, of course, will vary by program, but there will be at least one class where the reading is actually impossible to do in one week. The point is to read enough that you know the major themes and can talk intelligently about them, and then pick some of the readings to really dig into and think more deeply about.

    -For most programs, don't worry so much about grades. If you stay on top of your work and do what you're supposed to, you will probably get an A. How much grades matter varies from program to program. In some programs, a B is a signal that you are not up to par, and more than a few Bs will warrant a discussion with your adviser or the DGS. My program isn't like that - A, B, it's all meaningless. My adviser doesn't even know what my grades are. But at almost all programs, a C means you need to retake the course, and two Cs means you have to convince the DGS not to kick you out.

    Extracurricular activity: What's that? No, seriously:
    -A lot of your time will be unstructured. You will have coursework, but most grad classes meet once a week for two hours and you may have three classes. You may have meetings with your adviser every so often and some seminars or things to catch (like we have grand rounds and colloquia that are required), but a lot of time will be unstructured. However, since you have so much more work than you had in undergrad, you actually will have less free time than you had in undergrad. This may initially cause you great anxiety. It did for me. Some people love unstructured time, though. (I don't.)

    -Because of this, you'll have to be planful about your non-grad school related stuff.

    -TAKE TIME OFF. DO it. It's important for your mental health. However you do it doesn't matter. Some people work it like a 9-5 job. Some people take a day off per week (me) and maybe a few hours spread across the week. Some people work half days 7 days a week. However you do it, there needs to be a time when you say "f this, I'm going to the movies."

    -Find your happy place, something that keeps you the you you were when you came in. I love working out. It gives me energy and I feel good. I stay healthy. I also love reading fiction, so sometimes I just curl up with a good book, work be damned. You have to give yourself permission to not think about work, at least for a couple of hours a week. You may also discover new hobbies! (I never worked out before I came to graduate school.)

    -Your work will creep into all aspects of your life, if you let it. This is why I hate unstructured time. You will feel guilty for not doing something, because in graduate school, there is ALWAYS something you can do. ALWAYS. But since there will always be more work, there's no harm in putting it aside for tomorrow, as long as you don't have a deadline.

    -You may need to reach outside of your cohort for a social life. None of my close friends are in my doctoral cohort. I've met master's students in my program, master's students in other programs, and I know a few non-graduate students I hang out with, too. Go to graduate student mixers. (If your university doesn't have any, organize some, if you like planning parties.) Join a student group that doesn't take up too much time. I had a doctoral acquaintance who kinda laughed at me because I joined some student groups other than the doctoral student one, and I was usually the only doctoral student in those groups, but I met some close friends (and future job contacts) and had a good time.

    -DO NOT FEEL GUILTY FOR WANTING A LIFE OUTSIDE OF GRADUATE SCHOOL. This is paramount. This is important. You are a well-rounded, complex, multifaceted human being. NEVER feel bad for this. Everybody wants some kind of life outside of work. Yes, you may loooove your field, but that doesn't mean you want to do it all day long. Some other doctoral students, and perhaps professors, may make you feel bad about this. Don't let them. Just smile and nod. Then disappear when you need to.

    Career:
    -This is job preparation. Remember that from Day One. Always be looking for ways to enhance your skills. Read job ads and find out what's hot in your field, what's necessary, what's in demand. For example, in my field statistics and methods are a hot commodity, and they're not a passing fad. I happen to really like statistics and methods, so I have pursued that as a concentration of mine.

    -Don't be afraid to take on volunteer work and part-time gigs that will give you skills that will be useful both inside academia and out, as long as it's not against your contract. Your adviser may be against it, but he doesn't have to know as long as it doesn't interfere with your work.

    -If you want to work outside of academia - if you are even *considering* the possibility - please please definitely do the above. Even if you aren't considering it, consider the possibility that you won't get a tenure-track job out the box and that you may need to support yourself doing something else for a while. You will have to prove to employers that you have developed usable, useful skills and this is one of the easiest ways to do it. But don't overdo it - get the degree done.

    -For more academic related ones - always look for opportunities to present and publish. Presentations look good on your CV. Publications look better. When you write seminar papers, wonder if you can publish them with some revision. Write your seminar papers on what you maybe think you may want to do your dissertation on. Even if you look at them three years later and think "these suck," you can at least glean some useful references and pieces from them. Discuss publication with your adviser early and often, and if you have the time and desire, seek out publication options with other professors and researchers. But if you commit to a project, COMMIT. You don't want to leave a bad impression.

    -If you can afford it, occasionally go to conferences even if you aren't presenting. You can network, and you can hear some interesting talks, and you may think about new directions for your own research. You can also meet people who may tell you about jobs, money, opportunities, etc.

    -Always try to get someone else to pay for conference travel before you come out of pocket. Including your adviser. Do not be shy about asking if he or she can pay. If he can't, he'll just say no. Usually the department has a travel fund for students, but often it's only if you are presenting.

    -If you are interested in academia, you should get some teaching experience. There are two traditional ways to do this: TAing a course, and teaching as a sole instructor. If you can help it, I wouldn't recommend doing a sole instructor position until you are finished with coursework. Teaching takes a LOT of time to do right. You should definitely TA at least one course, and probably a few different ones. But don't overdo it, if you can help it, because again, it takes a LOT of time. More than you expect at the outset. If you are in the humanities, I think sole instructor positions are very important for nabbing jobs so when you are in the exam/ABD phase, you may want to try at least one. If your own university has none, look at adjuncting for nearby colleges, including community colleges. (I would wager that the majority of natural science/physical science students, and most social science students, have never sole taught a class before they get an assistant professor job. At least, it's not that common n my field, which straddles the social and natural sciences.)

    -Always look for money. Money is awesome. If you can fund yourself you can do what you want, within reason. Your university will be thrilled, your adviser will be happy, and you can put it on your CV. It's win-win-win! Don't put yourself out of the running before anyone else has a chance to. Apply even if you think you won't get it or the odds are against you (they always are), as long as you are eligible. Apply often. Apply even if it's only $500. (That's conference travel!) Money begets money. The more awards you get, the more awards you will get. They will get bigger over time. If you are in the sciences and social sciences, you should get practice writing at least one grant. You don't have to write the whole thing, but at least get in on the process so that you can see how it's done. Grant-writing is very valuable both in and outside of graduate school.

    -Revise your CV every so often. Then look and decide what you want to add to it. Then go get that thing, so you can add it.

    -The career office at big universities is often not just for undergrads. I was surprised to learn that my career center offers help on CV organization and the academic job search, as well as alternative/non-academic career searches for doctoral students. In fact, there are two people whose sole purpose it is to help PhD students find nonacademic careers, and they both have PhDs. This will vary by university - some universities will have very little for grad students. Find out before you write the office off.

    -It's never too early to go to seminars/workshops like "the academic job search inside and out", "creating the perfect CV," "getting the job," etc. NEVER. Often the leader will share tips that are more aimed towards early graduate students, or tidbits that are kind of too late for more advanced students to take care of. This will also help you keep a pulse on what's hot in your field. It'll help you know what lines you need to add to your CV. And they're interesting.

    Other:

    -Decide ahead of time what you are NOT willing to sacrifice on the altar of academia. Then stick to it.
    I'm serious. If you decide that you do NOT want to sacrifice your relationship, don't. If it's your geographical mobility, don't. I mean, be realistic, and realize that there will always be trade-offs. But you have to think about what's important to you for your quality of life, and realize that there is always more to you than graduate school.

    -If you don't want to be a professor, do not feel guilty about this. At all. Zero. However, you will have to do things differently than most doctoral students. Your adviser will probably never have worked outside of the academy (although this may vary depending on the field) so he may or may not be able to help you. But you have a special mission to seek out the kinds of experiences that will help you find a non-academic job. Test the waters with your adviser before you tell him this. My adviser was quite amenable to it, but that's because I told him that my goal was to still do research and policy work in my field just not at a university, AND because it's quite common in my field for doctoral students to do non-academic work. If you're in a field where it's not common (or where your professors refuse to believe it's common, or it's not supposed to be common)…well, you may be a little more on your own.

    -Every so often, you will need to reflect on the reasons you came to graduate school. Sometimes, just sit and think quietly. Why are you doing this to yourself? Do you love your field? Do you need this degree to do what you want to do? Usually the answer is yes and yes, and usually you'll keep on trucking. But sometimes when the chips are down you will need to reevaluate why you put yourself through this in the first place.

    -To my great dismay, depression is quite common in doctoral students. Graduate work can be isolating and stressful. Luckily your health insurance usually includes counseling sessions. TAKE THEM if you need them. Do not be ashamed. You may be surprised with who else is getting them. (I found out that everyone in my cohort, including me, was getting mental health counseling at a certain point.) Exercise can help, as can taking that mental health day once a week and just chilling. Don't be surprised if you get the blues…

    -…but be self-aware and able to recognize when the depression is clouding your ability to function. Doctoral programs have a 50% attrition rate, and this is rarely because that 50% is less intelligent than, less motivated than, less driven than, or less ambitious than the other 50% that stays. Often they realize that they are ridiculously unhappy in the field, or that they don't need the degree anymore, or that they'd rather focus on other things in life, or their interests have changed. All of this is okay!

    -You will, at some point, be like "eff this, I'm leaving." I think almost every doctoral student has thought about dropping out and just kicking this all to the curb. You need to listen to yourself, and find out whether it is idle thought (nothing to worry about, very normal) or whether you are truly unhappy to the point that you need to leave. Counseling can help you figure this out.

    -Don't be afraid to take a semester or a year off if you need to. That's what leaves of absence are for.

    Lastly, and positively…

    …graduate school is great! Seriously, when else will you ever have the time to study what you want for hours on end, talk to just as interested others about it, and live in an intellectual community of scholars and intellectuals? And occasionally wake up at 11 am and go to the bank at 2 pm? Sometimes you will want to pull out all of your hair but most of the time, you will feel fulfilled and wonderfully encouraged and edified. So enjoy this time!
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