3fast3furious

Since the thread's been bumped....

My main issue with recording instead of taking notes is that recording is a passive method of listening. Knowing that one has the tape of the session (even though one will never actually have the time to back and listen through it) doesn't encourage one to pay attention and listen as actively as someone who is taking notes. (There are lots of journalists out there who don't record interviews for this very reason.)

It's the act of listening, appropriating the knowledge into one's own words, and writing it down that helps reinforce information. You lose that if you rely on recording.

Seriously, Just Me, take the advice of the Grad Cafe consensus and see a therapist or counselor.

Here's a random list of some things that have helped me:

1. A decent coffee/espresso machine. And a travel mug. (That is, if you are a caffeine addict.) Saves money and time.
2. A few outfits that make me feel very "put together."
3. As others have mentioned, a good citation program that you feel comfortable using. (Do yourself a favor and learn this ahead of time.)
4. The latest edition of whatever citation style your discipline uses. (Again, do yourself a favor and flag the most frequently used pages ahead of time. You will thank yourself when it is 2:00 AM and you are trying to wrap up a paper for the next morning. This will happen to you at some point. Be prepared.)
5. A gym membership/yoga classes/something that you can use to stay fit. Your body and mind will be much better off. For me, my gym membership was the best stress-buster (plus your school probably has a fantastic facility that you can use for free).
6. Most importantly: An external hard drive. I have heard too many horror stories about losing papers, research, and (gulp) even dissertations. I use a decent drive that I have hooked up to Time Machine on my Mac. Peace of mind.
7. Lots and lots of post-its. This is how I jot down thoughts/organize them in front of me/flag things in my reading.
8. Ohhhh, also important: a good planner. I use this one. $15. And free shipping with:
9. Amazon Prime! You should be able to get a one year free membership with your .edu email address. This has saved me tons of money on (new) books, even compared to used books on websites like Abe, Biblio, Half, etc.
10. Someone who you can call to vent/cry/talk to. Figure out who this person will be and warn them. Luckily, for me, this person is my husband. It could be anyone. You will need this person at some point, more than you think. No matter how fabulously you are doing, you will get stressed out. This does not make you a baby. You might have a bad case of impostor syndrome your first semester. I sure did. This is normal. Just make arrangements for times when you are feeling overwhelmed. You will be glad you did.

And to second some other suggestions:
11. A filing cabinet. Use it. Weekly, at least. I stick to one morning each week, when I just take a bit of time to file new things. It does not get overwhelming this way.
12. A decent printer. I have a laser. I refill my cartridges for about $6.00 (compared to the $70+ cartridges in the Office Supply store), by buying the toner on eBay and refilling it myself. It takes like 5 minutes. (I learned it from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smBYKSG7vCU.)
13. A good bag.
14. I love (love love love love love) Scrivener. I am not one of those people who can continuously sustain a complicated thought while I am writing for more than a few minutes. I have too many ideas bouncing around at the same time. This helps me to get all of my thoughts out/organize them.

I'm sure I'll think of more, but this is a start. Good luck!

The tone was what struck me about it, too - so friendly, especially for The Chronicle!

And I hear you - I'm so ready for things to get moving, if only to squelch the anxiety of anticipation. Though I'm sure after it starts I'll long for the days when all I had to do with my days was to sit in a coffee shop or front porch, read, and work out.

Glad you all liked it!

My department just sent out this Chronicle article aimed at new grad (especially Ph.D.) students, and though I'm sure a lot of you have heard a lot of this before, I thought I'd pass it along. I especially liked all the tweets offering advice (as much as I hate Twitter).

http://chronicle.com/blogPost/An-Open-Letter-to-New-Graduate/26326/

I'm glad you brought this up, strangefox. I'm almost into my second year as a MA student and still struggle with the best way to read texts, scholarly articles, reviews, and the like. I read slow, but it's mostly because I'm trying to summarize in my head AND jot down relevant notes. It's hard to move forward when you are constantly writing.

Everyone's got some great suggestions. I try to read in 30 minute bursts since I start getting vertigo if I focus my eyes on something too long (I know, weird). I also forget to eat and drink if I'm too into my studying. So I set a timer for 30 minutes - read, take notes - and then give myself about 10 minutes to get up and do something physical or other chores, like laundry, dishes, or walking to the mailbox.

I have a worksheet that I found on a defunct study skills website (adapted by David Rudge) that I use sometimes when reading. I continually tweak it to suit my needs. I'm pasting it here because I don't think we can attach word files. It's too lengthy, yet I think it works well if cut down a bit. If anyone wants it, I'll be happy to send the file to them.

CITATION HERE

PART I. WHAT THE AUTHOR REALLY SAID

TITLE OF ARTICLE / REVIEW AND FROM WHAT JOURNALS, ETC:

AUTHOR(S) OF ARTICLE / REVIEWERS:

TOPIC / SUBJECT:

MAIN CONCLUSION / THESIS:

MINOR CONCLUSION / THESIS:

SOURCES USED:

TERMS: List any terms or concepts that are unfamiliar or appear to be important. If the author provides a definition, be sure to write that down too. Circle any you feel need clarification or discussion.

Important terms Definitions


EVIDENCE: List any evidence the author provides for the main conclusion. Each of these may appear as a sub-conclusion of its own argument. If you spot evidence in favor of a sub-conclusion, list that as well and identify which sub-conclusion it supports. Circle any that you feel need of clarification or discussion.

1) EVIDENCE FOR MAIN CONCLUSION

2) EVIDENCE FOR SUB-CONCLUSIONS AND SUB-CONCLUSION SUPPORTED

IDENTIFY OTHER PERSUASIVE ELEMENTS. Were there any other aspects of this article, such as the way it was presented, its use of examples, the author's writing style, etc., that made the article persuasive or non-persuasive?

SUMMARIZE, using the evidence you found above, and how this evidence leads to the main conclusion. State points directly rather than "he says" or "it's about." (Don't evaluate the argument here.)

SCHOLARLY DIALOGUE, What are the criticisms the reviewer has of the text and / or author(s)?

CONTRIBUTION TO THE FIELD, How has the work contributed to the work already out there? Is it positive or negative?

PART II. - WHAT I THINK ABOUT THIS

FIRST REACTIONS. List or write up any reactions you have to the article. Do you agree with the author? Why or why not?

WHERE DOES THE AUTHOR GO WRONG? Remembering the argument you found for the author, identify what part of the argument, either evidence or the logic linking the premises to the conclusion, you think is mistaken. (Even if you agree with the author, play the devil's advocate by identifying what you consider to be the weakest point of the argument.)

WHAT IS THE STRONGEST PART OF THE AUTHOR'S ARGUMENT? Again, identify one part of the argument you think works well.

DEVELOP YOUR OWN POSITION - State your own position on this issue and sketch how you might support it. (If you find the author's argument compelling, suggest another way one might support the same position.)

You are not special.

I don't mean that in a flippant way. It's really the most useful piece of advice I know. Worried that everyone is juding you behind your back? They're not. Because they don't care all that much about you because you're not special. Faced with crippling anxiety about whether or not your planned project is absolutely perfect? Stop worrying and get to work. You're not going to come up with a field-changer in your first year. You're not special. Still have some bad work habits that you secretly think are part of your creative genius? They're not, because you're not Keats, you're just a grad student. Suck it up and fix them. Again, you're not special.

I guess I could phrase it as "Work hard and keep your head down", but it doesn't have the same ring.

- memorize your graduate handbook. it will have all the timelines you need to meet, the courses you need to take, the requirements you need to fulfill. your advisor, believe it or not, will not actually know this stuff. s/he will know that there are certain things you need to do to meet your requirements, but s/he won't actually know what those things are. it's up to you to be on top of it. sometimes, the director of grad studies won't even know what it is you need to do. frustrating, but as long as you have the department handbook to back you up, you'll be okay.

- learn to value yourself for something other than being smart. everyone in your program is smart. everyone is used to getting the top grades in their class. you will no longer be the best and the brightest. you will also frequently be told that your work isn't good. the grades themselves don't matter anymore, it's the comments in the margins that let you know your work was inadequate. you will have weeks or months of self-doubting, you will read your advisor's every twitch and tick as evidence of his/her contempt for your mediocrity.

like yourself because you're funny, because you're creative, because you can run a marathon, because you can fix things with your hands, because you actually had the "wild years" (or "tumultuous years") that your colleagues heard so much about when they were in the library/lab. but do NOT like yourself only for your intelligence, because within a year, you won't feel smart anymore. i've given this pep talk to colleagues of mine that were having panic attacks when they thought they wouldn't get research funding or that their advisor hated their work, and it rarely sinks in for most of them, because they've always been "the smart one" and can't yet see themselves as anything else. it's time to let that go. even the students with 4.0 GPAs, who breeze through their thesis/comps/overview, who hold big-time national fellowships have days/weeks/months of feeling stupid.

- know the department politics. if there's a universally-hated faculty member, you should know that before you start bringing that person onto various committees. if that universally-hated faculty member is your advisor, you need to know that too, because it will be up to you to cultivate strong relationships with other faculty. they'll need to like you because they don't like your prof.

- don't date within your department. seriously. it's too incestuous and breeds competition within a relationship or between couples. grad school isn't on the buddy-system. you don't need to pair up with someone the first month you get here.

My advice to first year Graduate Students: Change your mind and turn around. Don't go to grad school!