Ultimate Grad School Survival Guide

by Lesli D. Mitchell and Lesli Mitchell

Book Overview

THE ULTIMATE GRAD SCHOOL SURVIVAL GUIDE is a comprehensive, congenial, and down-to-earth book of wisdom from people who've learned to play the grad school game. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1560795808
• ISBN13: 9781560795803
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Peterson Nelnet Co
• Length: 209 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Pocket Advisor

This book has some great advice for those considering grad school. But, if you're already in a program, you won't find it very useful.

Very Useful for Those Contemplating and Pursuing Grad Study

The Spanish have a colorful saying, `Antes de te cases, mira lo que haces', which literally means- before getting married, look at what you are doing. Figuratively speaking, this expression is a Latin version of our own cautionary admonition- look before you leap.Ms. Mitchell's The Ultimate Graduate School Survival Guide offers thoughtful advice to those motivated students interested in critically evaluating the decision to pursue and attain an advanced degree. The book is excellent and extremely valuable because it forces the prospective grad student to focus on the most important things before, during and after taking the grad school plunge. The book elaborates on the right way and the wrong way to approach prospective schools, choose which school to attend, play the graduate school game, and navigate the treacherous, shark-infested waters of academe. It also offers useful, practical advice on grant and proposal writing, publications, and time management. Additionally, the author has included a bibliography full of useful books to help grad students achieve their degree goals.Many students do not realize that by deciding to attend graduate school, they often lose control over their own fate, as your advisers dictate both your course of study and the possible career choices in academe and the professional workplace- long after you have left the ivory tower. Although I balk at the book's wholehearted endorsement of conformity to the prevailing regime and using sycophancy at every opportunity in the face of tyrannical faculty, this book provides the real deal, the inside story on the realities of graduate training. The book covers everything important, and tries to provide helpful hints and suggestions geared to successful navigation of the capricious politics in the ivory tower. Additionally, the author manages to cover even the more objectionable topics, such as romantic liaisons between students and faculty, the theft of student ideas and research by faculty, the fickle favoritism for some students over others by faculty, and the thorny politics of inclusion.However, there are a couple of noticeable caveats in the book. First, the author neglected to add that a student, in deciding which school to attend, should consider the cost of living in and around the school environment, and the difficulty of attaining minimum lifestyle requirements. Even when a student receives generous financial aid, it may not be enough to cover the cost of living. If the aid given is not in line with the cost of living in the particular environment, the student will be forced to depend on loans for some or most of his or her living expenses. Moreover, many campus environments face housing shortages, and as can be expected, rents are bid upward when housing is scarce. Not only is the cost of living exorbitant in many environments, housing for students tends to be scarce and costly. If working professionals living in these areas are paying five hundred to

Helped a great deal

I got this book when I was a senior in college and thinking about grad school. I didn't know what to expect and the book offered a great overview. I really liked the quotes from other grad students, too. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who's trying to make a decision about grad school and wants the inside track.

The Ultimate Grad School Survival Guide

To my knowledge, there is no other book of its kind. It is easy reading and practical! If you are even considering going to grad school, this book is a must. Find out if you have what it takes to get in and complete grad school by reading this book.

Understand real grad school issues to be more successful

Disclaimer: I am the author's husband (they don't have a separate comments option for us--but be advised I have a vested interest here.) The point of this book is to help you be a more successful grad student in the arts and sciences. Being a grad student is not like a regular job: no one gives you a list of what's expected of you and what you can do to attain your goals. Instead, you have to figure it out along the way, learning little bits from your professors, other students and your own mistakes. This book shortcuts that process. Most of the information in the book comes from the real-world, first-hand experiences of hundreds of regular grad students (including Lesli). Lesli combined their horror stories and success tips with advice from experts in financial aid, publishing, admin, etc. to create a pretty clear picture of what separates the successful grad students from the not-so- successful ones. The book distills all this experience to help you understand the processes and issues at the very beginning. You'll be able to identify your goals, create a plan to reach them, get started early and avoid costly mistakes.