Your advisor will not let you defend your document until he/she thinks it is sufficiently polished and if he/she is relatively sure that you will pass. Hence, when your advisor agrees to a defense date he/she believes that you are ready.

Nothing really prepares you for a thesis, proposal, or thesis/dissertation defense other than seeing the process unfold for yourself. These hearings are sometimes open to the public. Your attendance at a defense hearing should be based on the tradition in your department. Even if it says in the graduate student handbook that the defense hearing is “open to the public” but no one in your department ever attends another student’s defense it is wise not to break this tradition. The repercussions will not be pretty.

If you can’t attend another student’s defense ask fellow graduate students about their “hazing” process. You should focus on questions such as these:

• How did it start?
• How did the advisor facilitate the process?
• How difficult were the questions?
• How did you know it was over?
• Did anyone else other than committee members attend the hearing?

Even if you get top scores on your teaching evaluations as a teaching assistant, understand that the PhD is a research degree. Many professors believe that teaching is a task that can be learned over time with practice. As a professor your tenure and promotion will be based primarily on your publishing record. To prepare you for the "publish-or-perish" academic environment, the faculty focuses primarily on developing your research skills.

Hence, the faculty values research and the apprenticeship model above everything else. They believe that the majority of your time in graduate school should be spent conducting research. As such, securing a fellowship or traineeship/research assistantship is better than a teaching assistantship. However, securing a teaching assistantship is better than not securing any funding at all.

As a PhD student in a research program, participation in campus luncheon seminars is required. Presenting your research findings at a brown bag seminar gives you a chance to practice your presentation skills in a relaxed atmosphere before you ever have to teach a class, give a job talk, present at a national conference, or defend your proposal, Master’s thesis, or dissertation. Honing your presentation skills will help to increase your self-confidence in public speaking. Presenting your research findings on and off campus establishes your expertise and enhances your professional reputation.

In graduate school there is often a generation gap between students, faculty, and professional staff. The faculty and staff established the culture in the department with the expectation that when students are admitted they will adjust their behaviors accordingly. Often the faculty and staff provide a graduate student orientation in hopes of answering many questions before they become issues later on. They do not expect to debate the rules and traditions of the department.

Some of us are use to debating with our parents, friends, or colleagues to win them over to our way of thinking. While some individuals can appreciate and support this type of interaction, understand that others do not. You are expected to “adhere to” not change, the strict deadlines, rules and regulations of graduate school even if you do not agree with them. Spending an exorbitant amount of time trying to understand the “hoops” and “hurdles” is time that can be better spent jumping over them. Your task from the first day of graduate school is to figure out how many “hoops" and "hurdles” there are and start jumping. The sooner you learn this unwritten rule the better.

Don’t underestimate or undervalue the role of the administrative staff in your department. These professionals like your advisor and committee members can either hinder or propel your educational progress.

They are responsible for managing students’ records, paperwork and information. They provide timely information on all department deadlines, rules, regulations and eligibility requirements with respect to course requirements, course scheduling, qualifying/preliminary exams, funding opportunities, and the necessary signatures. They can or cannot remind you of upcoming deadlines. It is in your best interest to manage these relationships in a positive way.

For example, when my advisor was leaving for a year long absence, I made sure that I checked with the graduate secretary to see if there were any documents that needed his signature before he left. Be sure to find creative ways to say thank you to the administrative staff for all that they do.

I was financially able to attend graduate school because a senior researcher at my institution had a $5 million NIH research grant. More importantly, he was willing as the principal investigator to apply for a NIH Research Supplement For Underrepresented Minorities to support me for six years. The addition of a minority student to his project did not cost him any funds from the original grant. Instead he gained additional funds. These additional funds were part of monies set aside by funding institutions such as NIH to support researchers who are members of underrepresented minority groups. Supplements are also available for the following groups: persons with disabilities, persons seeking research careers or re-entering research, and minorities

According to the website Research Assistant.com, the best first step to obtaining independent research funding often is to receive training and supervision from an experienced senior researcher. They suggest that NIH Research Supplements for Underrepresented Minorities offer an excellent opportunity to receive grant funds to work on an existing NIH grant with a senior researcher in a particular area of interest. In other words, if you are looking to obtain research funding and have no idea where to start, start with the above website and a faculty member who has a federal grant.

Unlike the undergraduate experience, graduate school involves competition for scarce resources such as: (a) research funds; (b) office space; (c) fellowships; (d) co-authorships; (e) time with faculty members; and (f) information. Lack of information and visibility are two of the key issues that put many students at a disadvantage.

When the faculty are making decisions about these scarce resources they need to know who you are. If you have not been on campus and have not participated in any department events your name will not be familiar to the people who are parceling out these resources. To stay informed about these decisions and to put your name at the top of the list, visibility is necessary to be considered an active member of the department’s academic community.

In graduate school expect your workload to be substantially more than any one person could complete. The reading requirements can be sometimes overwhelming and burdensome. In addition to the required readings, in the syllabus you might find supplemental (recommended) readings as well. Don’t waste time complaining to the professor who assigned the reading; he/she fully expects you to come to class prepared to discuss the readings. Find creative ways to cover the reading materials for the course.

For example, in graduate school I was able to familiarize myself with all the readings by forming and participating in a class study group. We would divide the readings amongst ourselves and provide a summary for each reading. The summary included the abstract, the research question, the methodology, limitations, and the findings. Using this method allowed all of us to participate in the class discussion. In class it is always better to make any contribution on something than not to participate at all. Sometimes class participation involves making a preemptive strike; raise your hand and volunteer an answer on something that you are prepared for before you are called upon to answer a question you don't know the correct answer to.