tips for grad school
everyone is different and every program is different, but i think these tips are generally applicable! regular caveat that i'm an english lit phd, and things may be different in social sciences + stem
do not do all the reading. not only is it physically impossible unless you're an incredible speed reader, it also is actually not helpful! 80% of what you read isn't going to serve you + your research, so reading it all is gonna get in the way of that. ruthlessly prioritize
get some sleep. you are a person, and your work should never come before your health + happiness. there will always be more work to do. not getting everything done is fine!
notes and citations are your friend. when reading an article, look at the works cited and look at the foot/end notes. these will give you a better idea of what the scholarly landscape looks like than the body of the article will. likewise, write notes on everything you read so you don't have to go back and reread things.
talk to people. it's scary, but grad school is about moving from being a student to a peer— treat your professors as people, go talk to them/ videochat/ whatever; this makes the profs 1) less scary and 2) better able to write rec letters.
courses only matter so much. for a lot of programs, coursework is the bare minimum of what you do. get a job, join a research project, work on an individual project. it will help you not be consumed with the grunt work of courses, and will make you look better in the long run.
imposter syndrome is inevitable. hate to say it, but it's true. there's lots to learn and it's gonna feel that everyone knows more than you. but it's not true, you deserve to be there, and remember that everyone else is probably feeling it too!
