Back to School for GrownUps

…. just in case you ever decide to go on and do the grad school thing…

There are all kinds of things that can be helpful  to know when you are an undergraduate… not only in case you do decide to apply for graduate school - many of the same things can be helpful in terms of applying for scholarships as well. And you should be applying for scholarships, as well, by the way!

Anyway… focus, flit!

Some things to keep in mind during undergraduate studies

KEEP EVERYTHING YOU WRITE.

You just never know when one of those seemingly pointless papers you write during the course of 4 years of school will be just the thing to pull out, dust off, and use again. Part of the whole grad school gig is attending conferences. When you get a Call for Papers, it can be really helpful to have all of your previous papers on hand ….one of them might well fit.

Of course, if your proposal is accepted, you will probably want to rework the paper given what you’ve learned since… but they can make a great starting place for writing a proposal at least.

Best bet - when you receive your graded paper back, go back to it and correct the original file accordingly. Fix any typos, awkward sentences, etc. And then save it someplace safe with a good filename, and make periodic backups. You may never need it again - but if/when you do, you’ll be glad to have it.

DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS WITH PROFESSORS

For both grad school and scholarship applications, letters or recommendations from professors are important….and the better your professors know you, the more likely they are to be willing, able to be positive recommenders.

Being a good student and doing well is a good start…but there is more to it than that, I think. Show up when they offer special essay times. Ask them for advice - not only about the work you’re doing in the class you’re taking with them, but about your academic career, about journals to keep up with, conferences to attend, etc. Stand out by taking an interest in their work.  Oh yeah…and if they wrote the textbook - buy it, and ask them to sign it too.

Something else you might want to consider here is that you are not necessarily limited to the profs at your university. Nothing to stop you from making contact with professors in areas you are interested in at others when you have the opportunity.

VOLUNTEER

Not for everything that’s going on ….. you have to have time for your life, and of course, for your schoolwork. But volunteering/showing up for wisely chosen activities can go a long way to building your connections and your applications.

With all I had to juggle during undergrad (I was taking care of my ma in law who had Alzheimers and couldn’t be left alone at all) I didn’t have time for ongoing committment type of stuff… but I did manage to turn up for things like the writers’ festival my prof arranged (and still do; I love it), and volunteered for a conference they held - which gave me exposure to the whole conference thing as well as earning me some brownie points.

What else? Any of you other experienced back to schoolers have advice/thoughts/ideas re: things you wish you’d known in undergrad? Or things that you did that worked well for you?