Embarking on the Journey
Graduate school acts as a beacon for those seeking to elevate their academic prowess and career trajectory. In our latest ‘Dads with Daughters’ episode, Victor’s in Grad School, Dr. Christopher Lewis sheds light on what it takes to navigate this crucial phase with the poise of a seasoned scholar. From the higher salaries and advancement opportunities that often follow an advanced degree to the intrinsic reward of mastering your chosen field, the pursuit of graduate education is filled with both promise and challenge.
Charting the Course
Success in grad school goes beyond intellectual capacity; it is about nurturing the characteristics that define graduate-level scholars. Preparedness for academic rigors, a comprehensive understanding of the graduate vs. undergraduate landscape, and adopting a collaborative mindset are pivotal. Graduate education is a different ballgame—larger in scope and depth—demanding a more proactive and engaging effort from its participants.
Managing Time, Maximizing Potential
Time management is at the heart of a graduate student’s success. Critical tools such as Google Task and Google Calendar can serve as lifelines in a sea of deadlines and commitments. But thriving in grad school isn’t just about keeping a calendar; it’s about resilience and adaptability. With the right environment and the right tools, challenges become mere stepping-stones on your path to academic and professional excellence.
Fostering Academic Relationships
The relationship with faculty can break or make a graduate experience. Securing a faculty mentor and approaching initial meetings with well-thought-out questions and clear goals can forge connections that not only enhance learning but also open doors to career opportunities. This mentorship extends beyond the classroom, offering insights and support in navigating the often complex terrain of graduate research and career planning.
Career and Personal Development
Leveraging campus resources like career services is crucial. Small actions, such as checking campus email regularly, joining student organizations, and attending networking events, compound over time, laying the foundation for a robust professional network and a well-rounded personal development arsenal.
Financial Strategy
Dr. Lewis doesn’t skirt around the financial implications of grad school. He stresses the importance of being proactive in seeking out financial support through FAFSA, scholarships, and graduate assistantships. Sound financial planning includes budgeting wisely, establishing good credit, exploring loan options, and considering part-time employment to manage the fiscal responsibility of graduate education.
Tapping into University Resources
Our episode highlights resources at institutions like the University of Michigan Flint, where aspirants can find a trove of information from the graduate programs page to in-depth podcasts, inquiry forms, and personalized assistance from the Graduate Office. These resources are instrumental in helping prospective students chart their graduate school journey.
Conclusion
The road to graduate school success is paved with preparation, adaptability, and a robust support network. As Dr. Lewis emphasizes, the journey is not only about achieving academic accolades but also about personal growth and finding joy in the pursuit of knowledge. Engaging with the content of the ‘Victor’s in Grad School’ episode offers a blueprint for incoming graduate students to approach their studies with strategy, resourcefulness, and resilience.
TRANSCRIPT
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:00:01]:
Welcome to the Victor’s in Grad School, where we have conversations with students, alumni, and experts about what it takes to find success in graduate school.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:00:11]:
Good morning. Thank you so much for being here today. My My name is doctor Christopher Lewis. I am the director of graduate programs at the University of Michigan Flint. Really excited to have you here today, and and I really appreciate you being, interested in this topic and interested in being a part of this graduate school journey. Today, we’re gonna be talking about graduate school success and what you can do to be able to find success in that journey that you’re on. It is definitely a journey and something that every person has to go through that is going to be a little bit unique to each and every one of you. But today, I’m hoping to be able to share some things, some things that you can think about, some things that you can start to prepare for So that when you do make that transition into graduate school, it’s not so foreign, but also that you can start things on the right foot and start moving in the right direction right from the moment that you start.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:01:10]:
Feel free today to use the chat to be able to Ask any questions that you might have, and and we’ll have some time at the end as well. I did ask that everybody Please go to the participant tab, click on the 3 dots next to your name, and update Your name to have your full name there so that we can send out the code to you afterwards for the free application. I would really appreciate if you can take the time to do that. And if you can’t do that, just go ahead and add in the chat your name and we can and I can add it then. Okay. So why don’t we get started? And I see people In the chat already using it, that’s great. I’m so glad that you’re using that. Feel free to definitely introduce yourself, ask your questions, And put things in there, and then we’ll answer other questions at the end.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:02:12]:
K. So let’s Start jump in and start talking about graduate school success. Here’s some of the things that we’re gonna be talking about today. Excited to be able to chat with you and to be able to talk to you About all of these different things. But first and foremost, we’re gonna be talking about graduate education, why you should be thinking about it, why and if you’re here, most likely you are thinking about it, But why it’s important to think about it, especially in today’s society and in today for for your career trajectory. We’re gonna talk about some characteristics, some things that we have seen not only here at the University of Michigan Flint, but in general about what it takes to be a successful grad student. Talk about those relationships that you want to build with faculty members. Talk about career development, employability, those Hard skills, soft skills, things that you’re going to be learning in the class and outside of the class that will help you to be able to, to be able to Be prepared for the workforce.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:03:08]:
Be prepared to going and taking that graduate education into employment. Talk about getting involved in ways in which you can get involved as you move further down your graduate school path, and then finally talking about some financial considerations and support that are available as you’re going through graduate school. So first and foremost, let’s talk about graduate education. In grad school, why should you do it? Why should you even consider grad school? Well, first and foremost, when you look at research and you look at the That individuals that have gone and gotten a graduate degree, advantage of earning a graduate degree is that it will lead to a higher salary As well as advancement opportunities for you in your career. In the more education that you get as you look at studies that are out, Out there on this, the more education that someone gets, the more opportunities that they have to advance in their career, the more opportunities that they have to To gain up to 20 to 30 times the amount over the lifespan of that career within that career. So it is important to be able to consider and look at the opportunities that lie in front of you that will allow for you to be able to get that further education that will move you further in your own career journey. It also gives you A more competitive advantage when you’re applying for jobs, when you’re applying for advancement opportunities within your work because you’ve set yourself, you set yourself apart from other individuals. Also, depending on the opportunities that you’ve taken within your graduate work, You have the opportunity to be able to do research or to be able to delve deeper into specific topics, specific areas, things that you are passionate about, Things that you’re interested in that will help you to define that career trajectory for yourself as well.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:05:07]:
As you’re in graduate school, you have an opportunity to build a network of individuals around you from the students that you’re going to be studying with, to the faculty you’re going to be studying with, And even looking beyond that, there are definitely, opportunities within graduate school where you can go and do Clinical experiences or internships, externships. There’s lots of different words for them, but there are a lot of opportunities for you to be able to get those Practical skills where you can build that network for yourself that can open doors, whether it’s at the company that you may be in or working with or tangentially to other organizations or other people that those people know. So it does become important that you that you do take the time to be able to meet people within your program, to get to know the people within your program because you never know who those people will be able to introduce you to, to help you, to be able to get that foot in the door, to be able so that you can then potentially open up career opportunities for yourself. There are lots of opportunities for growth Within a graduate degree, not only on the your academic learning, but within the skills that you need to be Successful as a leader, the skills that you need to be successful as a communicator. There’s lots of other soft skills per se That you’re going to be learning along the way, and I encourage you to explore all of those because employers are looking for those as well. Getting a graduate degree can help you to change careers. So some of you may be thinking and saying, you know what? I’ve been working in this area for a little bit, And getting a graduate degree will help me to move in the the direction that I really wanna move to be able to Have the career that I want to have eventually. And if that’s the case, that’s great.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:07:10]:
And just know that As you’re going through, again, take advantage of building that network, making strong relationships that we’re gonna be talking about with your faculty members. All of those things are going to help you to be able to transition into a new career area in that regard. It also opens up the ability for you to be seen in a different light. It adds credibility to you as an individual Because you’re bringing additional education, bringing additional expertise into that work setting, into The ethos of the world, and you have the opportunity then to be able to expand upon that and go from there. Advanced education also opens up opportunities for you in many different ways. We talked about career opportunities, but it could open up other opportunities. You never know where that might lie. You may do some research with a faculty member that might turn into a, an opportunity to write a paper that goes into a journal or into Some other scholarly publication that will open up other doors for you.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:08:20]:
And then beyond that, as I talked about networking, Alumni networks are so important. There are people that have gone before you and you need to look at that as well. The University of Michigan has one of the largest alumni networks in the world. And as you look at different institutions, you need to look at that. You need to look at, You know, what kind of abilities are there for me to reach out to that alumni network to be able to help me to get to where I want to go? So when you think about your when you think about stepping into a graduate program, there are definitely some characteristics characteristics that we have seen of successful graduate students. And One of the things that I would put out here first is that individuals that are, stepping into this type of a role, stepping into this type of a, of a program need to prepare themselves. They’ve gotta prepare themselves for the academic rigor And the difference between undergrad and grad. Some of you may be coming in with additional graduate work.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:09:25]:
That’s great. And if that’s if you’ve already gone through that process, Kudos to you. You and you probably have an idea of what is in store for you. If you have never gotten a graduate degree Before, one of the biggest differences in between undergrad and grad is the way in which you’re going to be educated. Especially here in the US, you’re going to find that at US institutions, what tends to happen is In a undergraduate setting, you tend to be taught by the teacher. The teacher is in front teaching you and pushing that knowledge to you. Whereas in a graduate sense, 1, you’re going to be delving into a topic that is much more niche And you’re just focusing on that topic. But too many faculty members will teach in a way where it’s a collaborative approach to learning.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:10:19]:
So the faculty member is definitely going to push you and teach you and to educate you on different topics, But they’re also going to be drawing out conversation and getting you to be part of the learning that is happening within the classroom itself. So a different type of focus, a different type of way in which You will learn a different type of way in which, you’re the rest of the students in the classroom are going to learn, And you have to understand that that difference is going to be there and is going to happen. You also are going to be challenged in many different graduate Programs to do research and if you’ve never done research before, research is is challenging. It definitely can be something that will We’ll push you in many different directions, and you will have to push yourself to learn new things about how to As you see here, the all these are all the steps of research and critical thinking, but these are all different things that in any Pretty much any graduate program that you’re gonna be pushed to have to do. So you’re gonna have to be able to identify the a problem, be able to research and find out more about that problem, look at the data and the relevance to the data, ask questions further to be able to hone the topic even further, be able to then Identify the best solution for the problem that has been that you have put out there or that has been presented to you and present be able to present your solution And analyze the decision for the choice that you made. Now not every undergraduate student goes through an experience like that where you’re Pushed to think about things that deeply at graduate level, you will be. And so the way that you are being Taught the way that you are learning is going to be different. Other successful students, and I don’t have this down as as a bullet point specifically, But we’ll we’ll I’m gonna go to the next slide, and we’ll we’ll talk a little bit further.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:12:25]:
But other other things that we found is time management. In organization, graduate students are balancing a lot of different things. So some of the things that that students need to prepare themselves for is to be able To identify strategies for themselves that are going to help them to balance their work life, Their school life, their personal life, and find ways to best balance that for themselves. Now many students will find that they really need to have some type of a a calendar or something tangible that can help them to set up a schedule for themselves, especially if they’re trying to work and do school and have a family, you know, and and and Scheduling time or the things that you know that you need to be scheduling for will help you to be able to make sure that you stay on track And that it allows for you to be able to separate out. I’m working here. I’m doing school here. I’m, you know, spending time Doing this with friends and spending time with family. It is definitely important to have that support that support system behind you, Whether you have a family or if you have friends, you know, it is going to be really important to be able To have those people coming into graduate school, and when you get here, you have to be open to building new systems of support In finding the resources that are available at the school that you go to, whether it’s other students in your program, whether it’s other Services that are offered on campus, you wanna make sure that you tap into the support that you need early on to make sure that you’re going to be successful as well.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:14:15]:
As you’re looking at graduate programs, you’re definitely going to want to make sure that you’re, Well, as you’re niching down and you’re figuring out exactly what you wanna study, that you wanna study something that you’re truly passionate about because you’re gonna be Studying for, let’s say, 2 years on a specific topic, and all you’re going to be studying is that specific topic. If you’re not passionate about it, it’s gonna show. It’s gonna show in your grades. It’s gonna show in the research that you do and anything else that you do. So you wanna make sure that in the decision that you’re making and the program that you’re looking into, that it is definitely a passion area and something that you want to be able to go even deeper on to be able to, be able to make sure that you’re going to be able to be successful In that, in that transition to graduate school for yourself. You wanna use resources, I mentioned that already, but there’s lots of different Resources that are available on campus that can aid or assist you in many different ways, and you have to open yourself up to knowing that You may need help that you didn’t need an undergrad. I had a graduate student that contacted me recently that was taking a biostatistics class And was a bit lost and asked if there were tutors available for statistics. And this student was a little embarrassed by it.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:15:38]:
And I said to the student, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. You’re asking for support. You’re asking for help. You’re identifying that this is an area that is a bit, that is going to be a bit bit of a challenge and that’s okay. What ends up happening that’s more of an issue is if you keep pushing through thinking, I’ll figure it out. I’ll figure it out. I’ll figure it out. And as you get further on in the term, you get further lost because you haven’t asked for help.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:16:10]:
There’s nothing wrong with asking for help, And faculty love it when students ask for help. Just because they may be seen as an expert in their field Does not mean that they don’t have compassion or empathy to what you’re going through and that they won’t be able to open doors for you or show you where resources lie. There are definitely other resources on campus that can help you along the way with time management or other aspects. On many on most campuses, you’re going to find that they have counseling centers. We ours is called CAPS, Which is a counseling and psychological services center. And that is definitely there for any student to be able to access whether they’re Stressing out over test anxiety or whether they just need someone to talk to to deal with some other things that are happening in in school, out of school, take advantage of those. If you feel like you might have a learning disability or Something that you need some additional support on, reach out to the disability services office, right, when you get here. If you’re a veteran, look look for Veterans services offices to talk to them and to make sure that you’re taking advantage of the resources that are out there.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:17:28]:
You definitely wanna stay healthy, and healthy is not only eating right, but it’s also exercising. It’s taking time for yourself To find, to take, to, to be able to relieve that stress. And each one of you is going to be a little bit different in regard to How you find that that, that health for yourself. Some of you, it may be you need to hit the gym every morning at 8 AM. That’s great. For some others, it may be that you need to go on a walk every day or that you need to make sure that you’re eating a balanced, balanced meal, you know, 3 times a day. There’s lots of different ways that you can stay healthy, but by staying healthy physically and mentally, You’re going to be able to keep up the momentum of graduate school. Graduate school can definitely be Challenging and stressful.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:18:26]:
You’ve got to find time to relax and have some fun along the way and know that yes, you’re here because You’ve been admitted to a program and that program is going to be rigorous, but that You also need to find time for yourself and be able to separate school and outside of school so that you can Take a break, take a breather, and be able to get your mind where it needs to be so that you can stay on track at school. And I always put down keep your goals in in mind, keep those in the forefront of your mind. That’s going to help you to be able to Make sure that you keep pushing toward the light at the end of the tunnel and allow for you to be able to make sure that you’re going to be able to be successful. Lots of other resources, that I haven’t mentioned yet. If your campus has if the campus that you’re looking at has a writing center or if you don’t know, ask. Do is there a writing center? Can graduate students take advantage of it? We have a writing center right in the building that I am in right here at the University of Michigan Flint. Any student can go to it and you can work with, writing I’m gonna say tutors, but But really they’re they’re people that are getting paid to be able to help you and look at your writing to give you some some assistance in being able to Unblock your mind per se and help you to start moving in the right direction when it comes to the expectations for writing and writing within the graduate program. The library and library staff is definitely something that will hope will help you to be able to Get access to the resources that you need to be able to delve deeper, especially if you’re doing research.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:20:18]:
But also Many many libraries will also have your textbooks or other supplemental texts that will help you to better understand topics. I talked about staying on schedule, Google task, Google calendar. Great resources. If you’ve never used them, check them out. They’re free resources that can help you to be able to manage your time, your productivity in many different ways. You have to also be adaptable and resilient. There are going to be times during your graduate program Where you will get frustrated, where you might hit a proverbial wall and you are Doing everything you can to get over that wall and you feel like it’s a losing battle. I’m not saying that to be be negative in any sense.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:21:08]:
It’s just a reality for any of us that have gone to graduate school in the past. You will hit it at some point. And if you don’t, That’s amazing. But if you do, just know that the sign of a successful person is someone that can hit that wall, bounce back, And figure out a different way, figure out another way, figure out a a way to be able to either get help To get over the wall, to get around the wall, to do whatever you can to be able to, to be able to move To the place where you’re going. And then as you’re looking at graduate programs, you definitely wanna look for supportive and nurturing environments. You want to be in an environment that is going to lift you up and not tear you down. And so as you’re looking at programs, you wanna look at that as well. I talked about the importance of building relationships with your faculty members that, as you transition into graduate school, the Relationships that you’re going to have with your faculty are going to become more intimate in regard to the how you get to know them and how they will and mentor you as an individual as you go through that graduate degree.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:22:24]:
And faculty know that And they are hoping that you will take them up on those opportunities. Many programs will allow for you to have a faculty advisor, and they might call it a faculty mentor, but You’re going to be assigned to someone in your program. Get to know that person. Really get to know that person. What are, you know, what are they studying? What are they researching? What what’s been their professional experience and what can they do to be able to help you to prepare for That next stage, they’re definitely going to be there to help you understand academics and understand what you need to do to graduate. But beyond that, Most faculty members at all institutions come to the classroom with a wealth of different experiences, and it’s that experience That you are going to want to draw from to be able to learn and grow from them. So even if you don’t have them as a professor in your class, you could still learn from them and learn from The things that went well for them, learn from things that they that didn’t go well and that they had to learn and grow from. And by doing that, you’re going to be a you’re gonna be even more prepared for your life after graduate school.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:23:48]:
As you look to sit down with your faculty mentor, your faculty advisor for the first time, some things to think about And things to do to prepare for the meeting. Come prepared with questions, make sure that you have questions, topics that you wanna discuss, know that they’re going to want to delve a little bit deeper into especially in your 1st meeting Who you are, why you’re in the program, why you’re interested in the career field, and what your end goals are Because they’re gonna wanna see, okay, what can I do to support this student as they’re going through our program? As you prepare for this, make sure that you set a meeting. Don’t just show up at their office or if you do show up at their office, just say, Would you mind if we set up a meeting so that we could so that I could get to know you a little bit better, and we could talk about my My plan for the program. And then and just don’t expect that if you show up at their door that they will have time right then to meet with you. But give them an out and allow for them to be able to, to be able to give you other times that may work. So by preparing for the meeting, you’ll be able to ask those informed questions, those things that you’ve thought out, the things that are important to you, And be able to then talk about the plan that you have to that are going to push you toward getting to the next Step of your own career journey. And as you’re talking about that, there’s nothing wrong with asking, asking for assistance, asking for help. If there’s something specific that you’re trying to accomplish, talk to them about it.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:25:40]:
They have worked with students for probably many years And have worked to help students in many different ways. So by you being candid about what you need and what you’re trying to accomplish, They can better support you down the road. As after that meeting, after You meet with your faculty mentor, definitely look make sure you that you take notes and then synthesize what you’ve learned To be able to connect together what your mentor has told you, what you need to do for your academic program, And what you want to also accomplish outside of the classroom as well. So all of those pieces will help you to move forward in Your graduate education. Most campuses have a robust career services or career development office With employees that are there to aid students, sometimes those individuals are spread out into Different colleges. So you might if you’re in a college of education, there may be someone that’s specifically tailored toward working toward education graduates. Other times, it is overarching career services or career development, And they will work with all students no matter what career area that they’re in. These offices also many times will hear about internships or other opportunities that are available to students.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:27:12]:
They will email students, but they will also have things posted in their office. And by having a strong relationship with that individual, they’re gonna be thinking about you while they get these emails and they might start sending you emails. Speaking about email, one of the things that I will say is that When you go to a graduate program, they’re going to give you a campus email. Make sure that you check that email numerous times a week And read the emails that are sent to you. You do not wanna miss out on opportunities. And too often, students are, You know, they’re not big fans of email, and they don’t read the email. And then when they finally do, it’s too late. And then they miss out on opportunities that might have, that might have existed.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:28:04]:
There’s also opportunities for you to get involved on campus. So this is starting to get into To not only the in class academic learning, but also that out of class learning that also happens. Now this may be seen as soft skills, but leadership, communication, budgeting, you know, lots of different things that will allow for you to be able to enhance skills that will prepare you for your work after graduate school. There are student organizations that are set up that might be program specific, so organizations for your academic area. But there could be other organizations such as we have a brand new organization on campus that just started. They had their 1st meeting Just recently, and it’s a students of color graduate organization. That’s what it’s called right now, and they may change their name down down the line. But the nice thing is is that they built this organization to create community.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:29:09]:
And From the get go, there’s been lots of opportunities for leadership because it’s a brand new student organization. So that’s something that you could step into at your own institution To look at what type of organizations exist, how could I get involved, is it just going to an activity or an event, Is it that I want to be an actual leader in the organization? Whatever ways that you feel like you’re compelled to do, All of those things are going to help you to learn a lot about yourself, but also learn a lot for your career In the future, especially in regards to working with others, speaking to groups, being able to fundraise or being able to budget, You know, it depends on the organization and what the plan or the goal is, but there are definitely lots of opportunities to be able to do just that. So graduate school can be expensive and definitely something that you have to consider is the financials Of the of graduate school, but also scholarships that may be available. For domestic students, you wanna make sure that That you do fill out the FAFSA form. The FAFSA is the free application for federal student aid. It is for US residents. And if you you may have used this for your undergraduate degree too, many times students tell me, well, I’m not gonna fill that out because I’m not gonna get anything. But I what I always say is by filling the FAFSA out, you’re making yourself eligible not only for loans, grants, Scholarships from the federal government.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:30:47]:
But on top of that, it may open you up for other scholarships that are need based or other type of scholarships That are from the institution in general. So taking the time to be able to be able to put that in and be able to have that considered will only assist. You definitely wanna look at every school. Every school that you’re going to should have information about Scholarships that are available or other financial, need that can be provided to you as a student. So you wanna look at that? I have a link here, off of our main graduate programs page called paying for college. And on that, you’re going you would see specific scholarships that are listed, but then also, links to our to our, our scholarship application because you do have to go into a separate scholarship application to apply for scholarships. So you need to look at That at the institutions that you’re considering as well. There are external scholarships that are also available.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:31:54]:
And external scholarships are scholarships that you might find on the scholarship search engines similar to what you see here, Fastweb, CapEx, Unigo, GoGrad, all of those are different entities that bring together Individual scholarships from all over the world and from the answers that you give on Their intake form, many times they will start to email you with different possible scholarships, that you could apply for. Now that takes some time and definitely can, be something that that students choose to or not choose to do. But I will say the more that you do that, the more opportunities that may exist. And I encourage students to always apply for scholarships that they are eligible for. Assistantships is another way that graduate School can get paid for, at least in some ways. Graduate assistantships are salaried positions and basically they are I mean, here at our institution, we use them for graduate research. So you would apply for a graduate research Assistantship. And and in that research assistantship, you would be paired With a faculty member that is doing research on a specific topic, and you would then start working with that faculty member To be able to make sure that you are able to put, that you’re able to, that you’re able to then work 1 on 1 with that faculty member to be able to, work on getting the research out there.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:33:48]:
So So you’re getting paid as a in an hourly wage. And at the end of a period of time, you will get a paycheck That’ll get submitted to you to be able to use for it could be being used for your tuition. It could be used for Your groceries or other factors as well. I I mentioned that at our institution, we do a lot of research, but In that, but there are other campuses that may have staff type positions as well. And There are some programs that require you to be in in an assistantship to have a spot in the program. There are other programs that don’t have that, And that it’s just a add on. And if you decide to apply for those, that’s even better. So, so that’s some some things to keep in mind.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:34:42]:
The differences between the institutions are going to be very unique. So scholarships are going to be vastly different. By the way they do research, research may be different. The way that they do assistantships may be different. So all of those things are things that you’re going to wanna think about And look into as you’re considering your graduate program itself. Couple other things. You definitely want to make sure that you are budgeting in graduate school and you are able to, And you’re able to make sure that you, can set a budget for yourself. As I said, graduate school will cost money.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:35:27]:
It is it can be expensive, and you wanna make sure that you understand what the reality is and what your budget needs to look like to be able to be successful in in being able to be Financially successful in that journey. Make sure that you’re building good credit while you’re in school. Don’t put everything on a credit card And not pay it off because that’s going to lead toward a lot of other problems. I I tend to say that If you have debt coming into graduate school that you can pay down, that’s even better versus coming in with a lot of debt in your that you’re trying to pay off while you’re going through graduate school. If you had loans in undergrad, those can be put Those can be deferred while you’re in graduate school in the US, especially for domestic students. There are loans that are available for graduate school. Those loans are based off there are going to be limits though. So depending on how much you took out in your undergraduate degree will also make a difference on whether or not, you can get federal loans for graduate school and how much you can take out and and add on to the overarching balance that you may or may not have.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:36:50]:
And then you can also look on campus. Look on campus or off campus for part time work to help you pay for some of those expenses To help you along the way. So, couple of other things just to to wrap up today, and then I’m gonna open it up for questions. This QR code will link you to Our graduate program resource page, which is our graduate blog, our graduate programs blog, on there, you’re You’re going to find a couple of things. You’re gonna find a number of different articles that will talk about graduate student success, paying for graduate school, How do you pick a graduate program? There’s lots of lots of resources that are on there. The other thing though that I would encourage you to check out Is we have a podcast that we’ve been doing now since 2022, August of 2022, And have over a 100 podcast episodes on the Victors in Grad School podcast. Now this is a podcast that is Available no matter where you are and what, what all you have to do is you can go here to this website and listen there or Go to anywhere that a podcast is, is housed and type in victors in grad school, and you’ll find it. And on that podcast, you’re going to find that we talk all about what it means to find success in grad school.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:38:22]:
I talk to people every week that have gone to graduate school or are currently in graduate school, and they talk about The journey that they’re on and what they’ve had to do to find success in that journey or what they had to do to find success in the earlier journey that Will hopefully help you and give you some things to think about to help you make this transition smoothly into graduate school. This will take you to this next one will take you to our graduate programs page. This lists all of our Graduate programs at the University of Michigan, Flinto. We’ve got over 40 different graduate programs that are available I admit all levels of education from the PhD all the way to graduate certificates. So depending on what you have an interest in and what you’re interested in studying, though, there those are all different things that, that you’ll find on this site. So if you take a quick screenshot there. And then if you know exactly what you want and if you know that if you know we have a program or you want more information on any of our programs, you can click on this A QR code and this QR code will take you over to our inquiry form. All you have to do is put in your name, your email, the program that you’re interested in, when you want to study And let us know and then you will be able to you’ll start getting some emails from us that will Send you information about the program that you have an interest in and then connect you with that program as well.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:39:56]:
Okay. Finally, this is our our, grad office email account. So flint grad office at umich.edu, encourage you to I do encourage you to To reach out to our office at any point, if you’ve got questions along the way, no matter what they are, just reach out, Ask us questions, and we will be happy to help in any way that we can. Feel free just to email us at [email protected] with any questions that you may have. Be happy to help others in the future, but I really appreciate you being here today and look forward to talking to you in the future. Thanks for being here. The University of Michigan Flint has a full array of masters and doctorate programs if you are interested in continuing your Education. Whether you’re looking for in person or online learning options, the University of Michigan Flint has programs that will meet your needs.
Dr. Christopher Lewis [00:40:51]:
For more information on any of our Graduate programs, visit umflint.edu/graduateprograms to find out more. Thanks again for spending time with Me as you prepare to be a victor in grad school. I look forward to speaking with you again soon As we embark together on your graduate school journey. If you have any questions or want to reach out, Email me at [email protected].
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