Graduate Culture
Thinking about graduate school? Read this first.
By DaShanne Stokes
Most Americans are the descendants of immigrants who risked everything to come to this country to chase the dream of a better life.
Get an education, our parents told us. So we went to school, and then we went to college in hopes that we would fare better than our parents and our parents’ parents. A college degree led to better pay and more opportunities.
As we realized the dreams of our forbears, more people wanted a piece of the action. What was a steady ingress of students into universities became a tidal wave. The 13.8 million college students who enrolled in 1990 grew to 15.3 million by 2000, and the U.S. Department of Education expects these figures to rise to 17.7 million in 2012 — a 28 percent jump over 1990. Today the undergraduate degree has essentially replaced the high-school diploma as the basic level of educational attainment. To compensate, more students will need a graduate-level education to achieve their professional goals.
Many will find they are ill-prepared for graduate school. With a few exceptions, being a graduate student is nothing like being an undergrad. Graduate school is a different world, with languages, customs and traditions all its own. Contrary to what we learn as undergraduates, success in graduate school isn’t all about grades or test scores. Professors and veteran students aren’t interested in sharing many of their secrets. Newcomers must take the initiative to stake out the new playing field.
