Books on "Surviving" Grad School

[evolve]

Hi everybody,

Now that I will be starting my PhD program in the fall, I am interested in learning if any of you seasoned grads have experienced a particular book regarding "surviving" grad school that you found to be helpful.

I picked up "How to Survive your PhD" by Jason Karp, and tore through it in a day, only to be disappointed in its lack of substance (for the most part, it was all "advice" that seemed intuitive enough). I did find "Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning an MA or a PhD." by Robert L. Peters and it seems to be a bit more substantial and thorough (after reading the first 25 or so pages in Barnes and Noble). Has anyone had any experience with this particular book, or others?

I am trying to decide whether the second book is worth buying.

Thanks!

[IRdreams]

I personally love reading these books because they compliment my neurotic side. That being said, the advice they give does tend to be mostly of the intuitive nature. My hypothesis is that by reinforcing one's intuition they are designed to ease neurotic energy.

Anywho...Getting what you came for is okay. I wouldn't buy it but did pull it from a library and thought it was little better than most. If you're school doesn't have it you should be able to ILL. I actually like the About.com grad school stuff written by Tara something. If you're going to get intuitive advice, you might as well get it for free.

If you're a woman, I would strongly recommend NOT getting Ms Mentor's Impeccable Advice for Women in Academia. I was given a copy by a junior faculty and while the thought was nice the books is written like Dear Abby with less substance.

I've heard good things about From Student to Scholar: A Candid Guide to Becoming a Professor by Cahn but haven't read it myself. Might be worth checking out a google books copy if one exists...the Amazon reviews are all very positive and the book topics are ones that I would expect to be in more substantive treatment of the subject.

However...at the end of the day your best resource for surviving grad school will be the older students who have been there before. In my department, I've been offered tons of advice and insight as well as materials for studying for comps...much more detailed and tailored to the idiosyncrasies of your department which no book can capture and which greatly affect one's phd trajectory.

[evolve]

Thank you for the input IRdreams. I find that much like you, if nothing else, these books tend to help ease my "neurotic energy". I most definitely agree regarding the best advice coming from older students. I am mainly just looking for something to assuage my excitement (keep me occupied, if you will) until I get to jump into my program (still a month away). I'll check out Cahn's piece, and maybe give Getting What You Came For another look, too.

Thanks again!

PS- I'm not a woman, but that book DOES sound horrible, nonetheless.

[oldlady]

For additional thoughts, you may want to check out this I started a while back in The Lobby...

[evolve]

For additional thoughts, you may want to check out this thread I started a while back in The Lobby...

Thank you, that brought some other books to my attention that I had not yet heard of

[natsteel]

If you're in the humnanities, there is no better book than Graduate Study in the Twenty-First Century.

[profound_g]

For additional thoughts, you may want to check out this thread I started a while back in The Lobby...

I actually have this bookmarked and was going to post a link. At some point I will look at it too!

Edited June 27, 2010 by profound_g