What You Can Expect: Undergrad vs. Grad

Since this is my first time posting on the blog, let me introduce myself. My name is Stephanie Jurkovic and I am a student in the Master of Science in Communication Disorders program at Stockton. In addition, I currently am a Graduate Assistant (G.A) in the Office of Graduate Studies. I began my graduate school journey a little under a year ago. It is crazy for me to think that a year has already gone by! One thing I remember asking my friend (who was already a year into the program) was what to expect this coming year. I now can tell you from experience that graduate school is different than undergrad, that’s for sure. Graduate school is different for a few reasons, and here is what you can expect:

1.     Graduate school occupies a lot of your time

You will feel that your social life has disappeared and all extra time is spent doing work. It is okay though because those around you will understand. Also, you aren’t going to be getting a graduate degree for the rest of your life, so this is only a temporary sacrifice. The time will fly by!

2.       You have more responsibility

In graduate school, it is up to you to decide when you are going to complete assignments. You will receive the syllabi the first day and it is your own responsibility to know what is due when. You will also have to re-evaluate your time management skills because you will have more work on your hands then before. Your professors definitely hold you to higher standards in graduate school.

3.       Procrastination is NEVER a good idea

In undergrad you could probably get away with procrastination-everyone does it. Even waiting until the day before to study for a test. In graduate school, procrastination is not something that is recommended. In the end it just causes you way more stress than it is worth in the long-run.

4.       You will have a new definition of the word stress and flexibility

There will be times when you will look back to your undergrad years and think about how you whined about assignments: you will now see that those task where easy. You will also put your  multi-tasking skills to the test. You may find yourself eating, doing homework, while also completing another task. Whenever you get the chance, you will end up working on an assignment.
 

Don’t worry though, plenty of people have made it through the adjustment. You just need to stay positive and know that you can do it!

Keep checking our blog for tips on how to survive graduate school.

 Thank you for reading!

-Steph J.