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I asked my future advisor this very question. He said that I should use this time to read whatever I want that I felt might be useful in making me think more about what I'm interested in. Come with ideas and interests, basically, and they will help you with the actual training once August comes. 

I have however also asked for and received syllabi for classes I'm interested in, and also spend a lot of my spare time working on languages. 

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1. Save up money. Moving to a new city and starting grad school can have lots of unexpected financial costs and you might not get your first paycheck until a month or two into the program. It's also good to figure out housing, home essentials you will need to buy, etc. as early as possible. There will be a lot hitting you once you move, so the better prepared you are, the less stressful it will be.

2. Read something that has nothing to do with your research, hang out with friends, binge watch a series, get some R&R. You will want to be fully energized at the start of grad school. You're bound to feel burnt out at some point, but preventing that from happening too early will make your first year much more pleasant.

3. If you must do something academically related, then try to read a few things for your classes in the first semester. Ideally, try to read things that will be assigned for the middle or the end of the semester. You'll probably keep up fine for the first few weeks, but you're bound to get bogged down at some point, so having that big book that you know you will have to read out of the way will give you a little breathing room down the line. If you do this, take good notes though, so that you don't forget everything you have to say about it by the time you need to talk about it in seminar.

 

Edited by Glasperlenspieler
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Awesome. Thanks guys! 
By when does one find out the courses that are going to be offered to us? 
Oh and I know I sound like an insufferable nerd here, but trust me, I just love making plans! I’m only going to accomplish like 5% of it! Best case scenario. 
and now that I’m thinking about it, maybe I just like to make myself feel bad about all the things I should be doing instead! ?

well, whatever! ??‍♀️
 

Anyway, thanks guys! I guess language acquisition shouldn’t have to wait till I join the program. And good tip about saving monies! Although with an international conference next month, I’ll have to begin from scratch. ?

 

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The very first thing I plan to do after graduating with my BA in May is to sit down and make myself a long list of all the books I want to read for pleasure before August, and then I'm going to read them! Other than working my 30 hour/week job, that's my whole summer agenda, and I can't wait. :)

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Rest. You got accepted, you're ready for this, you deserve to enjoy some time off because while grad school is fun and interesting, it's also a lot of tiring work and I think avoiding burn-out is more helpful than perhaps reading something you might or might not ever use.

That said, if your program has a language requirement you're concerned about fulfilling, maybe think about it (not obsessively). And if you're worried about finances, perhaps a summer job would be a good idea.

Might I also recommend reaching out to maybe one person from your cohort or from the department so you have someone to talk to and maybe meet up with the first week? It can be soothing to feel like you know someone in this totally new space, especially since orientations can be spread out weirdly and you can feel a bit isolated the first few days.

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A handful things friends of mine who were going straight from undergrad to grad did:

- One friend took the time to get their driver's license.
- Save some money. Pretty self-explanatory. Get a summer job. You can bag groceries or whip up lattes for 30hrs/wk instead of doing a fancy internship and it really doesn't matter since you're already in grad school. Frankly, bagging groceries probably pays better than fancy internships... 
- Spend time with family. There's a decent chance that this transition means fewer trips home, or shorter trips. 
- Do something meaningful that you might not have time to do in the next summers. One friend, for example, served as a counselor for a summer camp for kids who'd been through traumas.
- Find a type of exercise/movement that you like. Starting an activity is the hardest part. If you can get into a rhythm this summer, it'll be easier to maintain in grad school than if you're starting from scratch. 

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