Graduate school seems a world apart from the lives of students pursuing undergraduate degrees, but the University encompasses both levels of education.
David Francko, associate provost and dean of the graduate school, said the stumbling blocks to success in graduate school are different from those in undergraduate school.
“In graduate school, you’re a full adult,” Francko said. “The challenge is time management, and there’s a research project to complete that’s your project and no one else’s.”
Francko said some graduate students have to meet the responsibilities of family life while shouldering a much higher level of intellectual demand than what is found in undergraduate years.
Monica Ayhens, a Ph.D. student in military and naval history, said graduate studies consume much of her time.
“Basically, it becomes your life,” Ayhens said. “When you go home, you might get some dinner and watch some TV, but soon you’re right back to reading, doing papers or grading. It’s a commitment.”
Chris Levesque, a Ph.D. student in military history, said his work in graduate school outpaces the work he did at a job in a Fortune 500 company before his enrollment.
“I didn’t expect there to be more work here than what I did at a 45 hour-a-week job,” Levesque said.
Levesque also said the interaction between student and teacher in graduate school involves more of a personal relationship with a small group of instructors.
Aaron Clark, a Ph.D. student in U.S. history, said the interactions with those instructors vary.
“Some will be more personable, but others will just give you advising,” Clark said.
Francko said the graduate faculty seeks to alleviate the danger of a graduate student feeling detached from campus affairs.
Some students begin to feel alienated or lost because of a lack of engagement with campus life, Francko continued. He said the graduate school seeks to reel students into a collaborative academic atmosphere.
“Research shows that if people feel they are more engaged, they will be happier at what they are doing,” Francko said.
Francko said the graduate school office in Rose Administration building welcomes graduate students to walk in with concerns or questions.
“We have an open door policy in our office,” Francko said. “We find many students coming here for individual attention.”
Francko said the different departments of the graduate school have different benchmarks and expectations for their students.
“There are some basic requirements that are least common denominators for the University, such as a 3.0 GPA,” Francko said. “But departments can and often do have more stringent requirements.”
One difference is the entrance exam submitted to gain admission into a department.
The history department of the graduate school, for instance, accepts the GRE, or Graduate Record Examination, while the law school accepts the Law School Admission Test, or LSAT.
Despite the basic requirements expected of each application for admission into graduate school, each person’s application is given individual attention, Francko said.
“Here in the graduate school we look at the whole record,” Francko said. “We look at the last 60 hours of their undergraduate [work], the courses they took, and what institutions they went to. There are basic standards, but every application gets individual attention.”
Francko said the graduate school is able to give each application this attention despite the stress of handling approximate 8,000 applications a year.
