Justin Bengry

Being a teaching assistant is not just about teaching. It’s a way to fund your own studies, learn how to wield your new-found authority, and look at students from the other end of the marking microscope.

With a combination of commitment and communication – and with the advice of some higher-ed couples – there are ways to make things work, no matter how far you may be.

As a graduate student you will have a demanding schedule, erratic time lines, and loads of work and readings that you’ll most likely work on at home. You need a home environment that allows this kind of focused and concentrated work.

A curriculum vitae, or CV, is not a resumé. It is a record of your scholarly activities and an advertisement of your skills. How can you make it stronger? There are three distinct areas you will want to build on your CV during grad school.

Graduate secretaries can help students with everything from TA positions to financial issues to grant applications. Creating a good relationship with your graduate secretary will not only benefit your studies but your stress level as well.

Finding a super supervisor for your masters or PhD is essential to ensuring that your studies are not only successful but also enjoyable. You are in control of your own success and pro-actively choosing the right people to work with is your responsibility.

Moving to another country for grad school is an enormous change and commitment. There are numerous things to consider, including your program of study and the prestige of the professors at each school, the cost of living where the school is located, as well as tuition and fees.

So you want to go to grad school? Even though the Fall 2010 term hasn’t even started, it’s already time to start thinking ahead about admissions in 2011, including your grades, standardized exams you may have to take and application deadlines.

Academic advisors might warn students about heavier workloads, research expectations, and the increased competitiveness of grad school, but the personal upheaval is largely unspoken of. Success in grad school is determined not only by academic achievement, but personal factors as well.

It seems that you can only learn about how grad school works by actually experiencing it. Many future (and even current) grad students are not sure what to expect at grad school, how things are different from undergraduate studies, or sometimes even how to access the information they need to succeed in this new environment. It doesn’t have to be this way!