For seniors, May 10th, 2014 is the day we never thought would come. Whether we want it to or not, graduation is quickly approaching and while some of you lucky girls may have a fabulous job lined up, others are interested in learning for a little longer. If you are not a senior, don’t count out grad school! I was that girl who always said I’ll never go to grad school. 4 years of undergrad and I’m done for good! Well, here I am…a month away from graduation and deciding whether to start grad school in May or in September.
Although you may be choosing to continue your schooling to get your Masters, there are still some differences between your undergraduate college life and your graduate college life.
Current Bloomsburg University grad student Alyssa Bunch, gives some perspective on differences between the two schools…
Research“My undergrad degree is in Education and I never once wrote an actual research paper. The amount of work that I had to put into my first research paper was unbelievable and nothing like I’d ever experienced in my undergrad!
So here’s a tip: ask for help! Get comfortable with constructive criticism. Write your papers far enough in advance so you can give them to others to look over and edit. Accept whatever feedback the editor is giving you rather than getting offended at the changes they suggest. And procrastination? Forget about it! Plan, plan, plan!
Class SizeSome programs are extremely small, for instance College Student Affairs is so small that students take all of the same classes with the same professors. This is great! Why? Networking, relationships, hello! Having the same professors allows you the opportunity to get to know them btter and what they expect so you can turn in the best work possible. An advantage of having smaller class sizes is that you get to know other students better. If you are going to pursue a Graduate Assistantship, which is highly encouraged, Alyssa says that it is useful to know other students in your classes because “you are able to bounce ideas off of each other or get additional information from each other”.
Your Role
…no.
Yes, you are still technically a college student. However, you should probably consider your role as a student to be more similar to that of a professional. With that being said, getting obliterated during on weeknights and weekends should probably be tuned down a lot or stopped completely. First off, you arent going to have nearly as much time to go out in grad school as you have in undergrad. Second, if you have a GA position you are supposed to be a role model for other students and seeing them out while you’re wasted may not be the best impression to leave on someone you’re trying to help or mentor. “Even though I’m still a university student I feel as if I have an extra responsibility of being a role model and am held to a higher standard. I think a lot of it has to do with my GA position and the possibility that anywhere I go on campus or in Bloomsburg, I could see one of my students,” says Alyssa.Â
You may not have as much time for a social life.
You may be tired and there may come a time where you wish you had just left after undergrad! But remember, you have just as many hours in a day as Beyonce and you can do it!Good Luck!Â