Grad School - Are you going? Will you survive?

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Anyone else going to be in grad school this fall?

Have you asked for any special help?
If so, what?


I'll be doing the MA Sonic Arts program at Queen's University Belfast.

I've requested a few things:
1. It would help if I could choose my seat in class.
2. I'd like written instructions for assignments.
3. I need extra support when working in groups.
4. I would like to have a mentor of sorts to meet with who can help with any problems and keep me on track with my work.

I felt like if I didn't seek help I wouldn't make it through. I know a lot of you get through school without disclosing your ASD, but I have based these requests on serious problems I had during my undergrad years (during which I did *not* disclose). I feel these requests would help me work up to my true potential.

Is there anything you would recommended adding (or getting rid of)?

I'm very interested in responses to this question -- as a parent of a child who will some day go to college.

I think the best thing you can do as a parent is to make sure your child knows it's okay to seek help, and that doing so doesn't mean they have given up.

In my family help = failure. That's why it's taken me 23 years to ask a school for reasonable adjustments that would have made things better for me all along.

I'll be going in the spring ( I hope).

I have no idea about asking for help...my family isn't quite like yours about it but I still kind of feel hesitant because it makes me feel like I'm not good enough/am weak even though I know its doesn't make me less smart or less academically capable.

-extra support when working in groups. AMEN. group work is hell.

its nice to know someone else is 23 and trying to manage this. I'm still stuck on filling out all the paperwork properly. Did you find it difficult or is paperwork not as daunting to you?

I hate paperwork. So much. At least the application was online, and not terribly long. Luckily they didn't make me write a 'personal statement' like some of the other schools I applied to. They asked me to submit a writing sample to the teachers supplying my references, and had them review it. Much easier.
I do have a tendency to misunderstand the questions they ask and then have had to go through a lot of hassle to fix my mistakes later. =/
When I actually got my acceptance package, I ended up having to put all the papers in order according to the date they needed to be submitted (they all have to be mailed overseas separately), and then I spent two whole days doing nothing but filling them out (and drinking large amounts of coffee).
It helped that they sent an accompanying packet that explained the forms that needed to be filled out. I've never had a university do that before. Maybe you could request something similar to help you out.

I just started at community college this Monday. I don't have any special help no. And, it's been fun so far I guess.... Not much different from my old high school so far though. *shrugs*

I survived. I needed special consideration but that was because my epilepsy returned and had nothing to do with being an aspie. Like my undergrad, I had no trouble being the top of the class

I'm hoping to start next fall (spending a qualifying post-baccalaureate year taking graduate courses and adding some things I'd like to have to eventually enter medical school).
I didn't have assistance until the final semester of my undergraduate degree, and the simple things I got then (such as having exams on colored paper, and getting copies of my instructors' PowerPoints so that I didn't tune the lecture out in order to take notes) made a huge difference. These are small things that would be easy to obtain as a graduate student.
I am most worried about candidacy and qualifying examinations. Although I know my material thoroughly, it takes me a little while to process questions I am asked (in order to decide exactly what information is being sought) and even longer to formulate an answer (because I have to cut out extraneous details and put it in an order that is logical to other people, instead of just to me). Does anyone have advice on performing better in these types of oral examinations?

Actually I suppose you can consider the fact that I was allowed to draw all over my notebook, play with things et, and never look up a special accomodation, but I didn't ask for it. Its just something the professors didn't comment on, and after the first test couldn't find a valid reason to criticize anyway (and I was polite enough to not speak up when they mentioned the importance of taking clear, concise notes)

Graduate school is going to kick ass

I noticed that, as my coursework increases in difficulty, my output actually gets better

I did a professional master's program and was working on a PhD when I quit school. You'll love grad school - it's so much better than undergrad. The people who are in your classes will only be there because they want to be there, have in interest in the subject, and are quite bright - that makes so much difference! I have to say that grad school was the some of the happiest time of my life.

You would probably want to connect with a particular academic advisor within your department. Not sure how your system works, but in the USA there is typically at least one faculty member who is expected to take a particular student (all students have this) "under their wing" and guide them through their studies and research. Once you identify this person (assuming your system runs thusly), they will be the person who can open doors for you - they can tell you who to talk to about what, and when.

The very best of luck to you!

in 2nd yr of phd.

i play with my test tubes just fine.

Well, unless I get a job by December, I'll be going into the Chemical/Bio Engineering PhD program at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. I'm sure I'll survive, since the program will have me working as a research assistant for the professors while taking my regular classes. I'll probably do my usual year of loneliness that I experience when I move to a different environment, though this tends to help out my grades

I haven't finished registering yet, class started yesterday but I know I won't miss much. I'll start Tuesday. I'm starting an MA in psychology and animal behavior/conservation. I'm also starting my pre-med classes since I decided to do this late in undergrad it was better to do the classes post-bacc. So thats 4 graduate courses and 1 undergrad science class. Academically I'll survive, I just have to get used to this new environment and the time! I'll have night classes, I never had classes that ended at 8pm before.

This is largely going to depend on your department, but I will tell you how my department would likely address your requests.

1. We were able to select our own seats in every class, subject to getting to class before someone else grabs the seat.
2. Every professor I have had has provided written instructions to some degree or another. Some provide assignment sheets, while others prefer to describe assignments on the syllabus.
3. We don't do much in the way of group work, so this would not be an issue. I'm not sure whether it would be in your field.
4. Everyone has a mentor, and while an original mentor is assigned, that's typically just a formality until each student selects a mentor with whom he or she feels comfortable.


Remember that graduate school is NOT a harder version of college. It is qualitatively different. Before, you were a consumer of knowledge, learning what others have told you. In graduate school, you are taught to produce that knowledge with the expectation that you will be capable of functioning as a future colleague to your professors. Of course, our department focuses on research and producing future faculty, and some programs do not emphasize this to the same degree. Regardless, you will typically be accorded a higher degree of respect from faculty as a future colleague and will be placed under a similarly greater burden of expectation in performance and professionalism.