Preparing for School to Start?

[PickleJuice_Aly]

Hi All! (Entering 1st Year Museum Studies Program) I reached out to my grad department last week to inquire what our classes would look like and if the apprenticeship we all get will be affected. Thankfully that won't be affected and our classes are super small so we'll be face to face, but university requires mask and I'm sure the room will be social distanced. 

How or what should I be doing at this point in time to prepare for the start of classes? I'm a bit nervous that I'll be behind because I took a gap year and worked after I got my undergrad. I recently found this website called Alibooks (I think?) and found some different museum studies/anthropology books for CHEAP to start my library of those. Should I start reading journals and things like that as well? I'm nervous about figuring out a thesis ALREADY. Also, I feel like I'm already feeling Imposter Syndrome:(

Also, how do people dress for grad classes? In my head I see grad school as this like way bigger deal than undergrad and that I need to be extra presentable all the time. I'm sure nike shorts and a big tee aren't acceptable in classes. But I'm unsure if I'm just putting too much pressure on myself already.

 

Any advice or guidance for preparing before classes start would be greatly appreciated!

[PsyDuck90]

The first thing you should do is relax. If you weren't qualified, you wouldn't get in. Second, if you have a mentor you will be working with you, you can email them to see if there is anything you can get a head start on. If not, just relax. This may be the last time you have some free time for awhile depending on how rigorous your program is. Also, people dress however. I'm in a doctoral program, and on teaching days I will dress a little more professionally. However, most of us are wearing leggings/jeans and a t-shirt. I wouldn't necessity wear a ratty old t-shirt with holes and stains, but general athletic attire is not generally frowned upon if all you're doing is going to class. 

[HoneyBoba]

I agree with the relaxing.  When things actually do start, you likely won't have time to!  If you moved to a new area for your studies, perhaps you can take steps to get more settled in, but other than that, I wouldn't worry about much else at the moment.  Maybe take a walk around campus just to get used to knowing where things are? (I have a hard time with directions as far as maps and what not and get lost easily, so that's definitely something I'll be doing once I get my apartment and move!)

Also, I can back up the attire question with what the person above said.  But it may depend on department.  In my undergrad college, I spent a decent amount of time with the graduate students (they were nice enough to help me), and they typically dressed casually when they were in their office or just going to classes.  Most only dressed up a little nicer when they were teaching.

Good luck!  And congrats on getting in! 

[AP]

As faculty, let me tell you this: assume your classes will transition online at some point in the semester. 

I would start ILLing and scanning books, or checking out books if you can. 

As far as dress code, I used to take grad school as a job. You sometimes interact with UG and they see you as part of the department. Grad students in my current program TA or work in other capacities with UG so they tend to dress relatively professional (they tend to avoid see-through shirts, men don't wear shorts, etc). In my grad program, I dressed with jeans, shirts, shoes, etc because I had a public-facing job. Some friends of mine dressed in jeans, snickers, and a T-shirt. Usually, younger students dressed up to appear older so that they wouldn't be infantilized by the staff or UG. 

Re: imposter syndrome, yes. It's there and it is common. Remember you are there like everybody else and you bring a specific set of skills and questions that only you can address. Do not allow IS to drive your performance. i.e. don't read for the sake of reading. Read with intention, with questions, jot down your thoughts and try ruminate on them as you read other stuff. Talk about them in your seminars. Rather than trying to read monographs, I'd suggest finding some annotated bibliographies or group reviews.

For reasons that are unimportant, I am somewhat familiar with your field. I would suggest reading on critical heritage studies and critical methods. Given the world we are in, I think these will prove instrumental for your crafting a thesis project. 

[PickleJuice_Aly]

6 hours ago, AP said:

As faculty, let me tell you this: assume your classes will transition online at some point in the semester. 

I would start ILLing and scanning books, or checking out books if you can. 

As far as dress code, I used to take grad school as a job. You sometimes interact with UG and they see you as part of the department. Grad students in my current program TA or work in other capacities with UG so they tend to dress relatively professional (they tend to avoid see-through shirts, men don't wear shorts, etc). In my grad program, I dressed with jeans, shirts, shoes, etc because I had a public-facing job. Some friends of mine dressed in jeans, snickers, and a T-shirt. Usually, younger students dressed up to appear older so that they wouldn't be infantilized by the staff or UG. 

Re: imposter syndrome, yes. It's there and it is common. Remember you are there like everybody else and you bring a specific set of skills and questions that only you can address. Do not allow IS to drive your performance. i.e. don't read for the sake of reading. Read with intention, with questions, jot down your thoughts and try ruminate on them as you read other stuff. Talk about them in your seminars. Rather than trying to read monographs, I'd suggest finding some annotated bibliographies or group reviews.

For reasons that are unimportant, I am somewhat familiar with your field. I would suggest reading on critical heritage studies and critical methods. Given the world we are in, I think these will prove instrumental for your crafting a thesis project. 

Thank you so much for this advice! I really appreciate it. I'll definitely look into critical heritage studies and methods. 

[RyanS]

Congratulations!  As everyone else said, your best move right now is to relax, since it will probably be the last time you'll be able to for the next couple of years.  Grad school will be great and you'll have lots of opportunities to grow, build relationships, and have fun.

Regarding dress, it often depends on not only culture but also context.  Since I teach in a professional kind of program, we expect students to dress professionally anytime they are delivering services or in the community (e.g., doing trainings, consulting, etc.).  In the classroom, however, they are completely casual.