Tips for New Grad Students: Your Guide to Staying Sane and Flying High

As I enter the first week of my doctoral journey, I think back to the first day of a master’s program. If I had known exactly what to expect when entering into a graduate program, I could probably have avoided all of the common pitfalls that students experience. Alas, Graduate School is a beast of its own and there are so many different things that come about unexpectedly.

Even though I have done this before, I began to feel overwhelmed by the new course syllabi, the new set of school and educational expectations, and simply, how stressful it is trying to make friends and fit in with the new cohort. But then, I remember that this is not an experience that has to be done alone. In fact, nearly every person who enters a graduate program for the first time, whether you are pursuing your master’s or doctoral program in school psychology like me, or you embark on your journey in clinical psychology, medical professions, biology, chemistry, business, geography, or any other field, you find yourself feeling anxious and overwhelmed.

Not only do you want to make a name for yourself and show your faculty and colleagues that you belong, but you also have to juggle research, graduate assistantships, outside jobs, social events, personal life, and self-care. Naturally, every grad student succeeded in undergrad, but Graduate School is on an entirely different level. Granted, you'll probably find that this entirely new level is amazing, and you’ll probably discover that you never knew education could be so insightful and fun, but adjusting can take time.

That is why I've put a list together of tips for new grad students so that you can keep yourself in check and learn to become the best you that you can be. While I cannot guarantee that Graduate School will be a breeze—in fact, it will likely be one of the most difficult things you ever do—I can guarantee that you'll find your niche and you'll enjoy the ride. So if you want to stay sane during grad school and find yourself accomplishing feats you never imagined, check out these tips!

#1 Time Management is Timeless

I'm sure you have heard that time management is important and all-powerful. I have to jump on this bandwagon because I do know that time management is one of the most important skills that you will develop if you want to be successful in grad school. Granted, you likely learned great time management skills in undergrad and even in high school, but time management becomes an entirely new concept once you enter grad school.

Instead of only keeping track of your undergraduate classes and a research project here in there, you are now taking advanced level classes, are likely expected to join research teams (not all programs have this expectation, but if you do have the opportunity definitely take it because it can be a great experience!), have a job on campus, and maybe even need to work outside of the program because we all know that graduate programs have funky financial aid.

That said, keeping a planner is going to be your best bet. I've seen many students do this in ways that work with various thinking styles and preferences. While I am old school and keep a paper planner, I know plenty of students who have found that Outlook or Google calendars work the best.

Even I have jumped on the Outlook calendar train because it can be shared with other people so that they can just slide right into my slots when they need to make an appointment with me. Yet, I am still partial to the paper planner because I like actually writing things out (it does help me remember what’s due).

What is most important is that you find a way to manage your time that works. You can go as far as to map out your entire day hour by hour, or you can simply have a To-Do list that you try to get done every day. Even so, it's also important to be realistic about what you can get done in a day. You’ll likely learn this the hard way.

While I would love to write my entire 10-page paper in an afternoon and then have the energy to finish my 75 pages of reading, I just know that's not feasible. So instead, I need to map out a To-Do List that I know I can get done within a given day.

When you do this, there will likely be some trial and error. But that is why the first semester of your graduate education is important. You're going to find out what works, and you will likely have some bumps along the way. But once you do figure out time management, you'll find that your life does get a lot easier.

#2 Self-Care is Your Superpower

I like to call self-care a superpower because it really does work some magic for your stress levels. Because we are all so busy with our new graduate duties and assignments, it can be really hard to set aside time for ourselves. However, finding time for self-care and doing something you like to do is probably more important than deeply annotating chapter three in your foundation’s textbook.

Ideally, you would be doing an hour of self-care every day, but setting aside that hour may seem impossible. Again, this is where time management comes in and it totally is doable if you know where to sleep in your self-care. Personally, I like to divide my self-care throughout the day and typically try to do 30 minutes of something I like to do in the morning and then 30 minutes of relaxation at night. For example, I work on my crochet project as I watch true crime shows on Netflix before I go to bed and I might go for a walk with my dog in the morning.

My favorite thing about self-care is that it is completely different for every person. While some may enjoy going to the gym and working out for their hour of self-care, someone else may simply want to fit in that nap in the afternoon or color in their Avenger’s coloring book. Personally, I am a fan of getting up and moving because it clears my mind, but I also enjoy baking cookies or spending time with friends as my recharge time.

What is most important is that you find something that you like to do and helps you relax. Maybe I am an overachiever or something (aren’t we all?), but I have found myself trying to do more educational activities for my downtime. While I do tell myself that this will help me find some extra resources I didn't have time to read during my productive time, I did find that I burned out pretty quickly because of it.

That said, I propose that self-care should be something that you actually want to do. If it helps, you can simply just sit on your couch and think, “man what do I really want to do right now?” And that will likely give you an answer to help direct your self-care.

#3 Effectively Read Selectively

How is that for a tongue twister? Effectively read selectively. What does that mean? Quite honestly, this is something that most grad students don't learn until at least their second semester. This is because the first semester you want to read all of the things and you want to be the expert on everything. However, that is exhausting. Instead, you should learn how to effectively and academically skim papers and readings.

This simply means that you should go through a reading and look at the sections that you are not familiar with. For some classes, this may be in reading more in-depth, but for others, you may find that you already know a bit about a subject and can go a little faster in that section.

Some people do like to heavily annotate and take notes in a reading, but we all know that that can take forever. Because you have so many other projects and engagements, you might find yourself working on academics until the wee hours of the morning.

Personally, I like to take a highlighter to a textbook (it's controversial, I know) and highlight the important information in a text. That way, can go back through it later or before class and look at the points that I found interesting, want to talk about, or have questions about. I typically use three different highlighters to do this so that I have a color-coded system that can help me remember what I wanted to bring up in the class discussion.

As for the dozens of research articles that you will inevitably read in a given semester, I do find that reading the abstract, results, and discussion is the easiest way to get the highlights of an article. Of course, there are some people who love reading through the methods section and like going in-depth in the statistical analysis, but it is not necessary for every single article you read. Instead, focus on getting the highlights and move on so that you can get all of your work done any given day.

#4 Lean on Your Cohort

Your cohort is one of your biggest assets because they are the group of people who are going through the exact same things as you. While some programs will have smaller cohorts and others will have large cohorts, it's important to find the people that can help support you throughout your academic journey. Every single person in your cohort is going through the same thing throughout a semester. Even if no one will admit that they are stressed, everyone is feeling the stress over various large projects.

That said, you should work on developing relationships with your cohort. Not only will these people help you throughout your graduate education, but after you graduate they will likely be one of the biggest resources that you have. The friendships and relationships that you develop in grad school will last a lifetime. So don't overlook them as you are experiencing your own education.

The first couple of weeks within your cohort everyone is looking for a friend. Don't be afraid to be the first person to propose a social event or ask a question to the cohort members. If there are other people who don't want to be the first person to do that, being that the first person will make you approachable and people will likely reach out to you. So, be that person.

#5 Your Advisor is Your Greatest Asset

Making sure you have a good relationship with your advisor seems like the most obvious thing to do. However, not everyone uses their advisor to the extent that they should. Your advisor is there to help guide you on your educational journey and they can answer every single question that you have. Because they have likely been doing this with graduate students for years, they have probably experienced most, if not all, challenges that students face.

Your advisor is someone that you want to get to know. And I am not only talking about getting to know them for future reference letters, but they can also be a great asset when you start to write your master's thesis, dissertation, or any other major project that you're working on.

#6 You Can Take a Break

Even though your schedule may be filled up from 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM, you need to remember that you can take a break. If you're like me, you likely need to schedule in your breaks otherwise you find yourself overworking and burned out. So even if you need to schedule two hours every Saturday to take a break, do it.

For many graduate students, taking a break from an important project and pushing it off may seem taboo. However, if you are too burned out or too tired to give a project your all, it's not worth your time. In fact, if you decide to plow through a project without taking a break, you'll likely find that it took you longer than if you decided to take that hour off.

Personally, I know I need a break when my brain gets foggy. Not only does this feeling make it really hard to concentrate, but I definitely work on projects more slowly and get distracted easier if my brain is in a fog. So when this happens, I simply shut off my computer, close my textbook, and just go for a walk. Sometimes just 20 minutes can give me all the break that I need to sit back down and get my project done.

#7 Reflection is the Key to Perfection

Maybe it is because I am in a psychology field, but I found that reflection on my own academics and choices is one of the best ways to discover areas that I can improve upon. This is why I say that reflection is in fact the key to perfection.

If you are unwilling to look at yourself in your own decisions, it can be really difficult to improve yourself and work on barriers. So instead of just trial and error plowing through things, actually take some time to sit and take a moment to yourself and look at how you are approaching a project.

When you reflect on yourself, you will likely learn things that you never knew. For example, you may take a moment to reflect on the way that you handled a certain social situation. Maybe you could have said something differently, or maybe you didn't realize that what you had said had been hurtful. This is an example in a social situation, but it can also apply to papers and presentations. You can look at the way that you handled certain levels of stress and find ways to do better next time so that you're not as stressed out.

This also involves being very open with yourself and knowing your own strengths and things that you find challenging. It can help you make goals for yourself and can even help you improve your work ethic and relationships. For that reason, I absolutely recommend you check out resources on reflection and learn how to reflect on your own practice.

#8 Learn to Thrive of Constructive Criticism

While some people are really good at receiving constructive criticism without bawling their eyes out or feeling like you failed in some way, I am not one of them. I've always had a really hard time with constructive criticism and receiving more or less negative feedback. However, I've also found that receiving this type of criticism is one of the best ways to improve. Sure, it can feel icky to get a comment on your paper that you didn't expect, but the point of grad school is to improve your academics and your professional practice.

So, you should learn to look for constructive criticism and be a little bit offended when your professors don't give it to you. Because you want to improve and becoming a better you should be your ultimate goal, feedback is the key.

When you do accept feedback, I have found there are some ways to take it with a grain of salt. First of all, just know that your professors and faculty are not attacking your individual person. Instead, they are using an academic and professional lens to evaluate your work and point out areas that you can improve upon.

You should use these pointers and absolutely incorporate them into your future work. Plus, if your professors see that you are actively trying to incorporate their feedback and improve, they will not only respect you but know that you are committed to improving yourself as an academic.

#9 Learning is Fun, Embrace it!

I had to add this one in here because it is absolutely true. When you are in Graduate School, you are no longer taking general classes or liberal arts credits. Instead, you are entering into a field that I would hope you love and are passionate about. So, embrace the research, enjoy the projects, and find topics that you are actually interested in.

Your experience in grad school will be stressful, but it will also be one of the best experiences of your life. You will start to learn things about your area of passion that you never necessarily knew about. You will also be working with professionals who are experts in the field and have a vast amount of knowledge that can help you succeed in your professional career.

That said, make sure you still have fun in grad school as far as academics. But by fun, I also mean you should go out with your cohort, get drinks, go see a movie, go on a group hike, watch the weekly episodes of The Bachelor, and just try to have a good time getting to know people and learning more about yourself.

#10 Above All, It’s Your Own Journey

Finally, you should know that your graduate education is your own journey. Once you enter into Graduate School, your colleagues are all on the same level. This is no longer a 200 person undergraduate course where you are just a number in the class. Grad school is individualized and it will become what you make of it.

Most advisors will want to help you achieve your goals. I say most because there are some who definitely like to have their graduate students focus on their own research instead of the topics they're interested in, but for the most part, you will find that your advisor wants to help you do what you want to do.

This is why you should advocate for yourself and your own professional goals. Additionally, you need to incorporate some of that reflection to see what your professional goals are, but you need to make sure that you let others know where you want to be.

One of my first experiences in this new doctoral program has been that all the professors have asked me personally what my goals are. This was something I really did have to think about even though I did have a general goal in mind. But thinking about where I truly want to be in five years did take some thinking.

And, it's also important to know that your goals can change. As you go about your graduate journey, you may find that you discover new interesting topics that could potentially change your goals completely. Maybe you started off going to a doc program thinking that you wanted to be a professor but find that private practice is the area for you. Or, you may be like me and decided that you just want to go and be a general practitioner, work your way up the leadership ladder and ultimately end up in the Department of Education.

All in all, make sure you start to think about what you want to accomplish and where you want to be after graduation. It can definitely help your decisions and make it so that there is, in fact, a light at the end of your graduate tunnel.

Final Thoughts

If you enjoyed these tips and found them helpful, please feel free to give me a like or subscribe to my page. This is a topic that I feel quite passionate about, and even though I am like you and will likely find myself drowning in readings, papers, exams, and projects, I still want to take some time to continue reaching out to my readers about this topic.

Thank you for reading and best of luck on your new year in grad school!