Doctoral Programs: Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning an M.A

Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning an M.A. or a Ph.D. [Paperback]

Product Details

Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Rev Sub edition (April 11, 1997)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0374524777
ISBN-13: 978-0374524777
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

By : Robert Peters (Author)
List Price : ~~$17.00~~
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Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning an M.A. or a Ph.D. [Paperback]

Consumer Reviews

As a college professor, I am normally on the lookout for a decent source to support undergraduates who are contemplating acquiring a Ph.D. as properly as to support graduate students succeed in their Ph.D. program. This book is a single of the best in this genre I have come across. Despite the fact that the author is a biologist, it is clear he has accomplished his homework on other disciplines, and his advice is valuable for graduate students in any field.
1 of the most impressive functions of the book is its extensive coverage. From improving one's credentials to get into a graduate plan to acquiring a job when you have the Ph.D., Peters has detailed, entertaining tips for all the methods 1 encounters along the way. Liberally sprinkled via the book are anecdotes from students in a assortment of fields that will leave most of us thankful that we did not have the Ph.D. advisors these poor hapless souls did.
Indeed, there were only two aspects I wish the book would have covered but it did not. Very first, there is no mention of handling coursework in a graduate plan. This is very likely considering that coursework and course grades are of much lower priority in graduate school than it is for the undergraduate degree, but I feel Peters could have made this point and encouraged readers not to fall into the trap of spending much more time on coursework than is warranted.
Second, I wish Peters had devoted much more space to talking about getting academic jobs. College-level teaching is nevertheless the single most common career aim for Ph.D.'s, and there are elements of receiving an academic job that are distinctive than applying for jobs in the private sector. I wish he had written a separate chapter on academic jobs.
In a associated vein, there was only one piece of advice that Peters give that I flat-out disagreed with, and that was his comment that teaching wastes time and that Ph.D. students should really stay away from teaching as considerably as feasible. This is correct for a large number of Ph.D. students, but it is definitely NOT accurate for Ph.D. students desiring teaching jobs at 4-year, liberal arts colleges. Those jobs will want to see ample teaching knowledge, not just as a teaching assistant but also as sole instructor of a course. A student who does not have considerable teaching expertise will not be competitive for those jobs, and considering that there are even more of those jobs obtainable than tenure track lines at analysis universities, taking Peters' assistance on that score could be ultimately self-defeating.
Nonetheless, those are the only negative comments I would make on an otherwise wonderful book. I advise it extremely for anybody even contemplating going on beyond an undergraduate degree, and I plan to give copies of it to all my incoming graduate students.

Are you planning to go to graduate school? If you are, this is a important guide which provides you all the fundamentals--from applying to graduation and beyond. One of the most significant points is that you have to prepare for graduate school early. Don't wait till immediately after you're accepted to decide on your advisor. You shouldn't even apply till following you select your advisor. This point of assistance saves a lot of heartache later on, given that having a very good relationship with your advisor is a single of the single most very important issues in graduate school. If you have a appropriate advisor, graduate school will go much more smoothly.
A different issue I like is that it does not try to sugarcoat the graduate school encounter. It tells you precisely that graduate school is a rough encounter and that out of all the persons who enter graduate programs, only eight% go on to academic function. If you can't face these details, then you possibly are not driven sufficient to succeed in a graduate system. If you happen to be still burning for higher education and are willing to face the difficulties involved, you are prepared for graduate school. Essentially you should really go in with both eyes open. I recommend picking up this guide to assist you by means of your postgraduate life.