<p>So I'm currently going through the first year of grad school, taking all my quals. I am having a tough time, it seems like the professors don't expect you to answer all the questions.</p>
<p>I'm just wondering, is it just pretty much expected to be hell? People say GPA doesn't matter in grad school, but you still need to be able to understand all this stuff. I dunno, I feel like I'm far behind, but when I look at my average so far, I guess I'm doing well? </p>
<p>What was everyone else's 1st year like? I never took grad courses before, so this is kind of a shock to me. I've been falling behind a bit.</p>
<p>Any tips? Any advice? Any stories to share?</p>
<p>Everyone I know thought that they were struggling during their first year of graduate school - in my cohort, we all admitted to one another over the next few years that we all were completely intimidated and felt like we didn’t belong. This is totally normal: a product of the stress and the jump in intellectual demands. Just remind yourself that you were admitted for a reason, and focus on enjoying the intellectual experience. And take breaks from it - where you put the work down and make yourself stop thinking about it. Friends from outside grad school help: anything that prevents it from being a 24/7 job!</p>
<p>I’m confused when you say you’re a 1st year taking your quals - do you mean required classes? Cuz where I am, quals are a comprehensive exam taken in your 2nd year. </p>
<p>I’m also a bit confused about why you’re having a hard time if your impression is that the profs DON’T expect you to be able to answer everything. </p>
<p>As for GPA: it doesn’t matter as much as it probably did in undergrad, BUT my school just gave out 3 spots on their training grant (I.e. your preceptor doesn’t have to pay your salary for a year, and you get a great resume line) and they based the awards on highest GPA. </p>
<p>I’m 100% confident others in your class feel the same way. Don’t be afraid to ask TA’s or profs to help explain the things you don’t get, or to set up study sessions with your classmates. </p>
<p>In the end, you’ll likely need to know all the material presented to you for your comprehensive exams (presuming your programs has them, I’m not sure all do) and so yes, having a good handle on it now is important. But you should still make time to do other things on weekends or evenings so you don’t lose your sanity.</p>
<p>Google “impostor syndrome”. You might find out that you are not alone. Also, I think that the first year is filled with highs and lows.</p>
<p>One of the seminars that I had to take was annoying for me in my first semester. The professor would used to leave the discussion open on the table at the end of the seminar- we never, ever resolved anything. It was “take it or leave it” kind of thing. </p>
<p>Then I learned that not everything has to be answered. If we solved everything, then the academia would be dead, right? Academia thrives on unanswered questions. But something concrete does need to come out of the discussion.</p>
<p>Relax. Grades really do not matter as long you’re maintaing B+ average or higher, just enough to keep you in the program.</p>
<p>I googled “impostor syndrome”. Wow, that is me in a nut-shell, well, sorta, probably will be me once I get into grad school. Especially being a female and all.</p>
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<p>They actually do matter sometimes. For example, I just got an e-mail the other day asking for “people with near a 4.0 gpa” to apply for some postdoc position at some highly-ranked university. Another good example is (I hear) consulting firms appear to like high GPA’s as one of my friends was actually taking extra classes beyond his required ones so that he could raise his GPA to a 3.8 or 3.9. I know that everyone likes to say grades don’t matter, but they really do still.</p>
<p>Yes, I think if you want to go into academia, grades don’t matter as much as who your adviser is. If you want to go into industry, then grades might matter, depending on the field. If you are going into a related field, then grades might not matter. But if you are a non-business/finance PhD that wants to work at a consulting firm or a hedge fund, I dunno, I feel like they look at everything. With so many applicants, I’m sure GPA has been a tie breaker sometimes. </p>
<p>Like others mentioned, when determining which 2nd or 3rd year student get some grants or in house fellowships, it’s quite natural to see who performed the best in their courses and prelim exams.</p>
<p>I am starting to make adjustments to my schedule to increase my productivity. I still want to get straight A’s in grad school.</p>
<p>If you want to go into academia, grades dont’ matter at all. Only your c.v. does and where you graduated from, who you worked with, your thesis. Sure you need to maintain some standard for funding etc. but no one is going to be asking for your transcript and how many As you have (and I tell my students, if a school did, its a school you’d rather not end up at). </p>
<p>Many find grad school the most challenging in the first year (compared to other years), but absolute workload and stress very much depends in what field, what school, who one works with, masters or PhD, if coursework is required or not, whether its a more research or more applied degree. There are thousands of entities called “grad school” with gigantic variability to make it almost meaningless.</p>
<p>What I remember most about the first year of grad school was feeling completely lost. It wasn’t until years later when I was reading about cross-cultural adaptation that I realized what a cultural shock I’d faced entering grad school. Reading up on that topic might help you feel better about life, the universe, and everything.</p>