Expectations of Graduate School!

Happy Thursday Everyone!

We are almost there, it is almost the Weekend!!

The topic of today's post has been on my mind for the last couple of weeks. 

I am only into my second week of Graduate School, but so far I am loving it. I was scared at first of how difficult the course work must be as well as how I would possibly not be able to have a life of my own haha.

Before I started Graduate School, my expectations were:

- Everyone would be very serious

- Extreme amounts of course work

- Not able to have any free time

- Basically "living" on campus

- Teachers expect you to know everything

If you don't get an A, you will fail

What I actually found out was:

- Everyone is in the same place as me. Meaning, most of my classmates are in their first or second semesters of grad school and are still new into the world of Psychology

-Yes there is a large amount of coursework. I am not going to sugar coat that but it is completely doable and actually kind of fun. It is very manageable as long as you stay on top of your readings and such.

- As I said before, there is a lot of coursework but it actually is very easy to make time yourself. I have always been a big planning person but I have become a even BIGGER one since I started school while working 2 jobs. Always make time to study. I am very fortunate that my classes fall on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. That leaves plenty of time over the weekend and at the beginning of the week to take care of everything.

- Professors definitely DO NOT expect you to know everything. However, they do expect you to have some knowledge about the courses. As I stated previously, most of your classmates are new too. Whether they are new to grad school or just to the class, everyone is there to learn. Professors understand that you are new and expect you to be professional by asking questions and engage yourself in the material. I used to not be a big question and class participation person. It was not that I was a shy person, I just did not feel comfortable asking questions in a large group setting. I feel so much more comfortable with class participation and raising my hand in my grad class. I think it is because we are such a smaller group and it is easier to relate to the input of the other classmates. 

- In order to pass, you do not have to have straight A's. Unfortunately, you are not able to achieve a C or lower and be allowed to pass. As I always say, try your best, study hard and apply yourself. 

Like I said, I am only the second week but honestly I love it and feel so much more comfortable!