cokohlik

n my first year, I had to take a year-long doctoral seminar with my cohort.  My field is an interdisciplinary one with influences from fields ranging from the social sciences to the natural sciences to business and policy studies - but the co-instructors for the course were a sociologist and an anthropologist, and so the first year course focused primarily on sociology and anthro.  My background is in psychology, which has a very different tradition of reading and theory.  So my first class ever I was overloaded with more reading than I had ever done in a week, in a completely different style than I was used to.  Since I was the only person in my cohort 1) straight from undergrad and 2) in psychology (the rest were sociologists, anthropologists, political scientists and one historian).

Naturally, I was terrified.  I tried to share in class anyway, even though to me I sounded like an idiot.  I found out from one of the co-instructors halfway through the first semester that he thought I was very thoughtful and made intriguing comments; he liked that I brought a different perspective to the class partially borne out of my unfamiliarity with sociological theory.  Apparently I approached it differently. I also found out, through chatting with my cohort-mates that everyone else in my cohort was just as terrified, and almost as behind in the reading as I was.  After that, I felt better.  We bonded and I think we all felt more comfortable commenting in class.

Moral of the story:

1) Everyone is just as terrified as you are.
2) Everyone is behind on the reading.  There's so much of it that you cannot manage to actually, thoroughly read it all.  You eventually learn how to selectively choose what to read, and how to skim well enough that you know what you need to know.  It takes time and practice.
3) Your professors don't expect you to think like they do.  That's their job - to teach you how to think like they do.  They still want to hear your thoughts and discuss, especially in seminar based classes.
4) Definitely, *definitely* always confer with your professors over final research papers.  Most grad seminars are small enough that the professors can give individual attention to each student who makes an appointment with them about their papers or what not.  Make that appointment when you have a solid draft, and ask for feedback.  (You may get an hour and a half long interesting conversation out of it, as I did with one of my co-instructors.)

My field is interdisciplinary and so a variety of citation styles are used; I use APA, since that's my field, and I have never had a professor ask me to not use APA.  I wouldn't know an endnote from a footnote.  But if you are in an disciplinary field that commonly uses one style, buy the book of the style and learn it well - from memory.  It will save you some time and headache.

Thank you so much for sharing your story and for the advice. I hope that my cohort is nice and that I'll be comfortable enough with them to actually talk to/bond with them. I haven't introduced myself to any of them yet but I'm told I'll get to meet them during TA orientation! If they are anything like the other students I've met in my department then I imagine we'll get along famously!

3) Your professors don't expect you to think like they do. That's their job - to teach you how to think like they do. They still want to hear your thoughts and discuss, especially in seminar based classes.

I love this! I always feel like I need to rise up to their level of thinking but who knows how to do that when I'm just starting graduate study, if you know what I mean. I've been reading as much of my POI's work as I can so I can get an idea of how he thinks to see how my way of thinking might cooperate (not really sure of the right word) with his.

So anxious for school to start so I can get first-hand experience... and start learning, of course.

Hi there,
I think the first thing you should realize is this - you are feeling exactly like 95% of all the other students that will be in your class!
Try not to worry about formatting- this is something, like other have said, that you can easily accomplish. Graduate school is all about becoming an independent thinker, synthesizing materials, and learning how to convey your opinions/thoughts in a professional manner.
Readings: There will be a lot...and you will be expected to do more than 'just' read. You will have to really understand and think beyond the page....criticize the work, think about the benefits, limitations, and future directions...I even brought in additional papers for my classes (the students hated me, but for me, it was connecting ideas and expanding my understanding of the topic)...try not to look at just the readings week by week, but try and connect them, and bring that into class.
Class: My classes were very much like seminars in the fact that they were mostly discussion base. At first, it will be intimidating to speak up and talk...but force yourself, and you will find it comes easier and easier. Don't worry about questions you have, or if you think your ideas are off...I always think it's important to show that you think outside the box, and can support your opinions. Also, I think it's important to sometimes question what you're given...not every professor will give you readings that they think are the gold standard- some will want to challenge you and how you think
Seminars: My seminars were student presentations and discussions. It's hard not to feel intimidated and nervous during these periods (we all do), but look at it as a learning experience in a friendly environment. Engage and participate- the more you do, the more comfortable you will become. Take opportunities to get feedback on your work from your peers- and collaborate! This is what the experience is all about!
Coursework: I would recommend always meeting with your professor to discuss your final research paper. I don't know about your department/field..but often times, professors will look at drafts and give feedback. Take that opportunity to get the feedback and advice, so you can know exactly what they expect. Also, hook up with other students...peer feedback is great- but reviewing others work is a great opportunity for you to learn and will help your own writing.
Overall: remember that you're just heading into grad school..you're not expected to know everything! this is a learning experience! be open, and take every opportunity to engage with your peers and professors. Don't be afraid to speak- remember, 99% of the people there want you to be successful! They don't want you to crash and burn- so think of it as a friendly environment!
Don't be scared- be excited! it's common to be nervous, but try and think about how amazing, rich, and fun it will be

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfcmzmIqXw1qbhvnwo1_500.gif

Made my day.

i would add that knowing how to format your paper should be the least of your worries. it's a technical question with a very concrete answer. end notes aren't necessarily points of discussion. they're the author/year/page references for the information you cite in your paper. occasionally, you'll want to expand on an idea in an end note rather than in the body of the essay because it will help with flow and because the information is somewhat extraneous to your argument. but if you turn in papers where every end note is simply author, date, page number, you're not doing anything wrong.

also, the reading will not be easy. you are assigned a higher caliber of works at the graduate level. books that are too complex or theoretically rigorous to be included even in upper level undergrad seminars. i say this only so that, when you start reading, you don't freak out if it's harder to understand. it's not you... the books ARE harder.

as for how to discuss things in a grad seminar, i like to go with the spirit of generosity. even if you don't like a book, even if you think an argument is "wrong" or misguided, know that your professor assigned it because they think it has something of value for you to learn. approach the readings with the questions: what is this author trying to tell me? how do they go about making their argument? do i find their methodology convincing? unfortunately, a lot of students who love to argue think the purpose of the seminar is to rip apart books for everything they should have done but failed to do. this is a bad approach. instead, try to ask yourself what each text is contributing to your field. if these are the kinds of comments you can raise in discussion, you'll do just fine.

Thank you so much! I don't know why the endnote thing freaked me out so much. I've started to take note of scholars' endnotes and it seems fairly simple but for some reason the thought of actually writing these is intimidating.   I think I'll get the hang of it once I write my first graduate paper and get feedback on it. Maybe I'll even be required to turn in rough drafts -- which would be so helpful but I doubt profs have time to read graduate level rough drafts.

I've started to read ahead of time for some of my coursework and the things I'd like to research. Luckily, what I've read so far is challenging but not overbearingly difficult. I'm not sure who to thank for that but I fully expect the readings to become difficult once school starts and I get the real reading list (I'm going off my own intuition and past semesters' syllabi right now, which is a frustrating method because many of the readings are online through a proxy that I can't access and of course the readings only exist online within this one website!) I think the hardest part for me will be vocalizing my thoughts during discussion. I tend to clam up because I'm either so excited by an idea that I mentally trip over myself, or I'm intimidated by the intelligence of my fellow classmates so I end up stuttering and speaking non-coherently (or so I think).

cokohlik, I see you're in the humanities. Graduate Study for the 21st Century: How to Build an Academic Career in the Humanities by Gregory Colon Semenza was recommended in the History thread and I have been finding it useful. He lays out what to expect as a PhD student in the humanities - everything from seminar papers and oral reports to submitting conference papers to publishing to developing a personal organization system. He empowers the grad student by explaining the culture of humanities graduate departments and mapping out an ideal route to tenure. Of course there is no perfect model and experiences are ultimately individualized, but knowing what to expect (as much as possible) helps to keep focused on larger goals, rather than getting caught up in the smaller details. I wish I'd had this book before I began my MA program. Good luck!

Thank you oswic! I've been picking my way through Robert L. Peters Getting What You Came For, which is helpful, but I can never be too prepared so I'll be checking out your recommendation

@cokohlik--

Be very careful when using your experiences as an undergraduate as a reference point. That is, let your achievements as an undergraduate be a source of confidence but understand that as a graduate student, you'll be held to a standard that is both different and higher even though many of the assignments may appear to be essentially the same.

From the script for Men in Black.




http://watchesinmovies.info/img/f/MenInBlack-Breitling2.jpg

Haha!!! I get it. Brilliant!