I've finally committed...now what?

[Ilikekitties]

What should I do between now and August to prepare?

[firefoxquantum]

Go hiking, enjoy your time.

[SomeoneThrewMyShoe]

1) Enjoy yourself

2) Finish up your current program if you're still in undergrad 

3) Find an apartment (this took me forever - I've been looking for the past two months for my ideal situation and JUST found the perfect house the other day)

4). This may not be a concern to you but switch health insurance if you're opting in for your university's insurance

5) GET HYPE  - Grad school is weird and stressful but (at least for my masters) I've been having a blaaaast. 

[HannahRae]

Since committing to a school I decided to get a jump start on things like, sending in my immunization records, official transcripts, figuring out my fall schedule, and deciding to have as much fun as possible before school starts! 

 

 

[Harlequin1890]

I emailed my advisor that I’ll be attending their program. I also rejected everyone else and already committed in their portal.  Haven’t received a reply in 4 business days. Should I be worried? (I am.)

I’m getting anxious and feel like this is a bad omen– they were pretty awesome when we chatted a few months ago...

[BabyScientist]

I'm going abroad for 2 months. Gotta live life while I can! 

[PokePsych]

Doing 4 continents in the next 5 months. YOLO

[Carly Rae Jepsen]

I'll be saving to furnish my future apartment! Doing some reading will help, and some language learning to fulfill the language requirement.

[sheldina]

Most people I know take the summer off to relax (you've earned it if you've made it this far!) Me personally, I'm starting research early over the summer for two reasons A] I'm switching fields from undergrad to grad school and I'm nervous about being behind (my PI told me not to worry and relax, but it would actually make my anxiety better to get a jumpstart on research and be productive rather than relax and wait around, me personally) and B] I graduated from undergrad a semester early (December) so this spring I took the semester off to relax and spend time with friends already so I don't feel I need the extra break, I'm eager to get started and get back in school-mode. Don't feel bad for relaxing and just mentally preparing yourself for the journey ahead. Otherwise, find housing, register for courses, etc.

[TheScienceHoney]

I'm looking for housing, saving up for the cost of moving across the country, and planning a trip to Iceland! Aside from all that, I'm gonna not stress, I'm gonna read all the books on my to-read list, I'm gonna binge watch all the TV shows I've been meaning to, and I'm going to enjoy late nights and early mornings and spending time with friends. Mostly, I want to enjoy the last bit of a 'break' I get before diving into the grad school life!

[SomeoneThrewMyShoe]

40 minutes ago, TheScienceHoney said:

I'm looking for housing, saving up for the cost of moving across the country, and planning a trip to Iceland! Aside from all that, I'm gonna not stress, I'm gonna read all the books on my to-read list, I'm gonna binge watch all the TV shows I've been meaning to, and I'm going to enjoy late nights and early mornings and spending time with friends. Mostly, I want to enjoy the last bit of a 'break' I get before diving into the grad school life!

I *just* got back from a trip to Iceland less than two weeks ago! My favorite place I've ever been! 

Edited April 13, 2018 by SomeoneThrewMyShoe

[WatchfulWombat]

On 12/04/2018 at 8:24 PM, Harlequin1890 said:

I emailed my advisor that I’ll be attending their program. I also rejected everyone else and already committed in their portal.  Haven’t received a reply in 4 business days. Should I be worried? (I am.)

I’m getting anxious and feel like this is a bad omen– they were pretty awesome when we chatted a few months ago...

Yes, that's weird. They haven't responded to your confirmation at all? Have you been in touch with anyone there apart from your advisor?

[BabyScientist]

On 4/12/2018 at 11:24 AM, Harlequin1890 said:

I emailed my advisor that I’ll be attending their program. I also rejected everyone else and already committed in their portal.  Haven’t received a reply in 4 business days. Should I be worried? (I am.)

I’m getting anxious and feel like this is a bad omen– they were pretty awesome when we chatted a few months ago...

They could be on vacation or something. I would send a follow up email. If you committed in their portal, I'm sure you're fine. 

[Charlie Moon]

Not my first time in grad school as I have a masters already, but here are a bunch of things I did to prepare :

 

Academic wise :

-Start thinking about my research /read papers to make sure I enjoy it before commiting to a topic.

-Organizing my files on my computer( seriously, do it) and retyping notes that I would need again.

-Learning LaTeX. 

-Work on my CV / personal website (even if you don't put anything online yet, just having an idea of what you want)

 

Mental Health wise:

-Spending time with my family /friends

-Allowing myself days off where I would just watch youtube and play pokémon.

-Read for pleasure.

-Old hobbies (art, painting...)

 

 

[lemma]

Get physically fit and learn how to cook healthy and cheap food quickly (or in bulk). Your biggest challenge in graduate school will likely be staying in the best headapace you can, and eating well and exercise do help. 

[iwearflowers]

8 hours ago, lemma said:

Get physically fit and learn how to cook healthy and cheap food quickly (or in bulk). Your biggest challenge in graduate school will likely be staying in the best headapace you can, and eating well and exercise do help. 

THIS. Grad school is a marathon, and you have to be in good shape mentally and emotionally to make it through. This is a good time to focus on building healthy habits and thinking about how you can maintain them during school.

[rising_star]

21 hours ago, lemma said:

Get physically fit and learn how to cook healthy and cheap food quickly (or in bulk). Your biggest challenge in graduate school will likely be staying in the best headapace you can, and eating well and exercise do help. 

Definitely agree with this. I highly recommend buying and learning to use a slow cooker as you can easily cook bulk recipes which will leave you with plenty of leftovers for lunches and dinners. There are some great slow cooker blogs online if you don't want to buy a cookbook. 

[FishNerd]

On 4/23/2018 at 11:06 PM, lemma said:

Get physically fit and learn how to cook healthy and cheap food quickly (or in bulk). Your biggest challenge in graduate school will likely be staying in the best headapace you can, and eating well and exercise do help. 

Furthering that this is a great think to do before starting a program in the fall! I'm definitely doing this myself. When I was good about staying on top of eating well and exercising during my masters, I was at my peak productivity. So I'm going to try and make and keep healthy habits all summer so hopefully they will stick and I don't fall back into my lazy ways when I move later this summer.

As @rising_star suggests slow cooker recipes can be great for grad school. In general if you can find recipes that you can easily make enough of to have leftovers, I find that these really get you through the weeks where you're really busy since you know you have something you can just heat up and eat when you get home and, personally, that keeps me from just getting take-out somewhere. I especially love one-pot recipes so there is as little clean-up as possible. I will also sometimes make meals in bulk that can be frozen and heat up well (I've done breakfast burritos, chili, and more). With these its good to date when you've made them so you don't let them sit in your freezer for too long.

For exercise, I would recommend experimenting with different types of exercise and different times of day you work out to see what makes you happy and to figure out the time and type of exercise you think will make you stick to it the best. Once you've figured out a time of day and exercise type(s) you really like I recommend setting a schedule and sticking to it. At least for me this is crucial because I can be really lazy and will never actually exercise unless I have a schedule. But when I have a schedule it becomes part of my day and I feel guilty if I missed my scheduled work out (and will typically make time for that work out elsewhere to make up for the missed one). I also recommend to those that are not morning people (like myself) to at least give a couple morning workouts a go to see how you feel about them. I actually have come to love working out in the morning because it starts my day off with something productive for myself and puts me in a great productive head-space for the rest of the day!

Edited April 25, 2018 by FishNerd

[rising_star]

@FishNerd, right on! I am also not really a morning person. However, last summer, I finally (after umpteen years in grad school and a few years as faculty) figured out that walking my dog in the morning followed by a workout that starts at 9 or 9:30 increases my productivity for the entire day. Sometimes I manage to do some work beforehand, like answering emails, reading for class, or grading papers, but not always. (This morning, for example, all I did was check email. I didn't even reply to any.) But, post-workout? I feel ready to go and hit the ground running. It's a great feeling, tbh.

In grad school, I typically worked out in the evening, mostly because that's when martial arts classes for adults are offered. That's also when most classes at the university gym were, though I sometimes did the lunch classes which are often filled with staff. Figuring out how to fit it in and actually scheduling it in is one way to make sure workouts happen. I've also found that when I'm paying for something, rather than using the free membership I get as a student/faculty, I'm much more likely to go. So I paid for extra to take martial arts classes which were actually held on campus where I did my PhD. Now I pay for a gym membership rather than using the one at work for free. 

Also, for healthy food, I highly recommend figuring out simple, filling recipes which are inexpensive. My go-to lunch in grad school was a pasta salad made with whole grain pasta, homemade (or light/fat-free) balsamic/Italian dressing, some kind of bean (kidney, black, cannellini, garbanzo), and frozen vegetables (often just the bagged mixed vegetables but sometimes I'd combine veggies from different bags). 

[iwearflowers]

4 hours ago, FishNerd said:

I will also sometimes make meals in bulk that can be frozen and heat up well (I've done breakfast burritos, chili, and more). With these its good to date when you've made them so you don't let them sit in your freezer for too long.

This is how I've survived in a job that often requires 60 hour work weeks. I take one weekend a month to cook 4 full sized meals (4-6 servings each) and freeze them in individual portions. Washi tape and Sharpie make great freezer-proof labels that will come off easily when you're done. I take the frozen meals as my lunches so all I have to do is grab it on my way out the door. Plus, since I ate my "big" meal at lunch, I can just do a sandwich or salad when I get home. I make a big batch of oatmeal or boiled eggs Sunday morning and eat the leftovers for breakfast all week and typically only have to do dishes on the weekend!

[AnthroScout]

I will be quitting my job, finishing up as many art projects as I can, going to Pennsic*, and working on getting back in shape. I'll also knock out as much of my wife's to-do list as I can!

*Giant SCA "war" in Pennsylvania. I'm super excited!