As I have said many times, the biggest mistake prospective graduate students make is not doing good research before they apply.  By that I mean the following:  They do not take time to evaluate a large number of programs in their intended field of study before developing their “short list.”

In addition, however, many students apply to graduate school without really understanding how it will differ from their undergraduate student experience.  This lack of knowledge can be costly.  It can weaken an application to graduate school in many different ways, and it might keep potentially outstanding students from getting in altogether.  Here are some examples:

1.  The Academic Program.  Many undergraduates assume that graduate students take courses that are significantly more difficult than college courses.  This is not generally true.  The greatest difference between undergraduate and graduate-level courses in some disciplines is in the format of the class, and the types of knowledge that one acquires.  At large colleges or universities in which even senior-level undergraduate class sizes typically exceed 30 students, nearly all classes will be based on lectures and textbooks, whereas in many graduate programs the classes are small and nearly all of them involve seminars, team projects, group discussion and independent study.

Along with coursework and class size, another fundamental difference between undergraduate and graduate school is the research component.  In several master’s degree programs and in most doctoral degree programs, students are required to contribute an original piece of research that adds to the existing knowledge in a particular area of interest.  The research you undertake is supervised by at least one faculty member.  At the undergraduate level, you may have had the opportunity to participate in research, but the scope of the project was most likely more limited and did not necessarily involve making a contribution to the existing body of knowledge, as much helping introduce you to research fundamentals and basic experimental design.

2.  The Application Process.  Many applicants mistakenly believe that admission to graduate school depends almost entirely on meeting/surpassing a minimum GPA requirement and getting high scores on standardized tests (GRE, GMAT, etc.).  This is understandable because academic achievement is one of the main qualifications for admission to an undergraduate program at most colleges or universities.  The truth is that getting into graduate school depends on quite a bit more than academic qualifications.

In addition to evaluating your grades and test scores, those making the decisions about who gets in and who doesn’t are also looking at other indicators that you will be productive and successful once in grad school.  Students who do not know what things will be like often struggle during their first months because they are unable to adjust to a completely different set of conditions for learning, performance, and evaluation than what they are used to.   Admission committees and/or faculty evaluators want to avoid this, and will do their best to determine whether you really have a clear idea of what graduate school is like and what your expectations for your student experience.

3.  The Student Experience.  One of the major differences between undergraduate and graduate school is the nature of the interpersonal and work relationships that students have with fellow students, faculty and staff. In graduate school, you will likely work closely with others over the course of several years.  In many cases, your overall success in grad school will depend on how good you are at working with others and being part of a team.

As a graduate student, you will be highly visible much of the time, unlike most undergraduate students who may feel more or less anonymous among the crowd, without ever having significant contact with any of their professors.  In graduate school, certain professors and other graduate students might get to know you rather well, and they will develop opinions about your personality and character based on the kinds of interactions they have with you.  It is difficult to blend into the background when you are a graduate student, so the social environment of graduate school favors people who are fair and reasonable, and who get along with most other people in most situations.  Keep in mind that admissions committees and graduate program faculty members want to fill their graduate programs with students who demonstrate strong interpersonal and teamwork skills.

Undergraduate study is appropriate for students who have completed a high school program, but who usually have not received a college degree. Graduate/professional study is generally for students who have completed a bachelor’s degree and want to do advanced study in a professional or academic field.  

Undergraduate	Graduate
A variety of courses outside the field are required as general education requirements.  Classes are broad and are the sole means of evaluation for graduation.	Students complete an in-depth study of one field. The primary means of evaluation for graduation is a research project or thesis, which is judged by a faculty committee.
Student may remain enrolled and continue progress on their degree even if GPA falls below a 3.0.	A minimum GPA for continuing enrollment is a 3.0.
Some courses are very large. Involvement with faculty is largely at the initiation of the student.	All courses are small, and involvement with faculty is direct and extensive.
Degree takes 4 years to complete.	Usually only 1 year of coursework is completed.  Degree completion times vary between 2 and 6 years.
Students are expected to work independently, and produce high quality results, as measured by a GPA.	Students are expected to work independently and produce high quality results, as measured by research, publication, and presentations judged by senior peers.
You learn what is already known.	You learn to add to the body of existing knowledge in your field.

Graduate school admission is actually admission into a group of fellow scholars and researchers.  If research is what you do, scholarship is how you think about it.  Sure, graduate school is focused on independent research.  But the work of a scholar also means stepping back from your data, building connections between theory and practice, and communicating your new knowledge effectively.

Part of why graduate school can be stressful at the beginning relates to the differences listed above between undergraduate and graduate study.  As an undergraduate, the emphasis is on knowing the answers, and getting stuff right on tests.  As a graduate student, you don’t know the answers. That’s why it’s a research problem.  But to a student who has been trained for four years as an undergraduate to regurgitate the “right answer” on exams, this transition to not knowing can be challenging at first.

In addition, you need to be ready for failure and criticism in grad school.  In completing your class or research projects, you will discover that your apparatus should have been built a different way, that a lightning storm knocked out power and your DNA samples thawed, that you should have laid out your plots differently, or that you jus plain made a mistake or missed something.  Once you have completed your paper, project, or research, your faculty or student colleagues may tear your results in to pieces, which can be an assault on your confidence.  

Please do not let this discourage you unduly.  You are often doing something for the first time. No one really knows how it should be done, so it is okay if you fail, as long as you learn from it.   And, frankly, failure is part of life.  Being able to persist when things don’t go your way, and figure out a Plan B (C, D, E…..) is an important life skill.

Lastly, let’s talk a bit about stress. As an undergraduate, there are short periods of high stress when there are exams, and stress mostly comes from sources external to you. In graduate school, the test is every day, 24/7.  The main source of your stress is…you. Your thesis can begin to feel like a burden hat takes over your life.  You can go from doing moments of euphoria to feeling like you made a colossal mistake by going to graduate school.   

Feeling like an imposter is a very normal feeling.  But be assured:  It wasn’t a mistake that you were admitted. You’ll be fine, especially if you know what to expect.

In summary, graduate school will be very different from your undergraduate experience.  And nine times out of ten, you will love it.

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