Hello Anteaters,
Summer vacation passed so rapidly that you will be on-campus diving into your books, assignments, and research in just a few weeks. Do you feel uncertain and nervous about your upcoming graduate study? Don’t be worried. In this blog, I will give you some tips for graduate study.
- Be more active in learning. The materials of graduate courses are in-depth explanation of what you learnt in undergraduate courses. In many cases, you will find that you need to use your undergraduate knowledge to help you understand the new materials. In other words, what you learned in undergraduate courses will play an important role in your graduate study. Unfortunately, the professor will directly teach you the new materials and think you have the basic knowledge. Therefore, if the undergraduate materials have been blurry in your memory, it is time to find your textbooks and lecture notes to do some reviews. Besides, the professor will teach many contents in a one-hour and twenty-minute class. It is common that you cannot clearly understand every point in the class. What is bad is that you are only clear about half or even less of the class. So, doing preparations before class and doing reviews after class are really helpful.
- Communicate with your professors. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. You are expected to share your knowledge and to express your perspectives in the classroom. You need to take advantages of the office hours. Meeting with your course instructor to clarify issues related to the course, such as assignments, grades, projects, and class participation.
- Have a clear plan. Think about what you will do after graduation. Do you want to find a job or continue to study for a PhD? You need to prepare in advance. Don’t think that taking courses, finishing assignments, and passing exams every quarters are enough. You should utilize the spare time to equip yourself for a career or getting a PhD. Managing your time is very important. You can make your personal weekly schedule, listing the courses time, the time for research, and other important things. Then you can clearly see the spare time in the schedule and think about how to make use of this time effectively.
- Balance the life and study. Having appropriate pressure is good for your study and work. But excessive stresses will have harmful effects. You need to find your methods to release the pressure. If you feel you cannot calm down to study, you should take some time for activities outside of your studies instead of forcing yourself to sit in the library. Making a good balance between study and life can positively impact your graduate study.
Hope it helps! Enjoy your graduate study at UCI.
Lei QingHome Country: ChinaThe Henry Samueli School of Engineering
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