<p>Why I ask this is because I finished undergrad in 3 years, so I just turned 21, and I'm in grad school. I'm taking a masters in Environmental Management/Policy, so my class mates are people who have worked years in their field but are coming back to school to hopefully move up the ladder.
I do talk to them and all, but it's clear that we are at different stages.
I'm a studious person, trust me on that, but I do want to party, cuz I never did in undergrad. </p>
<p>My question is, can you have it both ways, be on top of your studies and still party.</p>
<p>This is a pretty silly question. You can have fun no matter what you’re doing in life. If you choose to be a workaholic or study all the time and be miserable, it’s your choice. If you decide to have a good life/work balance, then you can do that as well. Your level of effort in grad school is completely dependent on your need to study. Contrary to popular belief, you can move up the ladder and not spend your entire life at work.</p>
<p>I am in graduate school and I have fun. Life is what you make it. I do think that once you get to graduate school most students have matured and passed the “lets party and get wasted” stage of their life. I am only 22 in grad school and I live in NY but I am not out partying all the time… I do watch sports games, go to resturants, movies, hang out with friends, ect. I think at this level of education you should be mature enough to balance work and play. Being 21 is no excuse for wanting to party all the time. Make sure your prioritys are in the right order and have fun in grad school.</p>
<p>One thing that you should consider is moving into a graduate student residence hall. There it would be easy to encounter people in your age range. Right now it looks like you are only meeting people from your department. A graduate residence would have students from many different fields of study, so it would be relatively easy to have a social life that was separate from your “work” life.</p>
<p>Even if your university doesn’t have any housing for grad students, there surely are clubs and organizations on campus that attract both older undergrads and graduate students. Do a bit of investigation and see if there are any that are interesting to you!</p>
<p>As others said it’s certainly possible to have a good school/life balance. However, grad school also is a completely different social animal when it comes to making friends with others. I had a similar experience in terms of people being in different stages of life–some were married, some had kids, some had lived in the city where I went to school prior to enrolling so had a social network more outside of school, etc. So it might be difficult in that respect.</p>
<p>You probably aren’t going to find wild, frat-style parties thrown by graduate students. By the end of college, most people are through with that scene and instead prefer to go out to a bar or restaurant at the end of the day with a small group of people. Parties tend to be more mature – music, drinks, a little food, conversation. </p>
<p>It is more difficult to form social bonds in graduate school, only because everyone is busy. Often students are scattered throughout the area instead of living in a central place (unless you can follow Happymom’s excellent advice of living in grad housing.) You may have to work a little more to set up social opportunities by inviting a few people to your apartment to watch DVDs or suggesting an after-seminar bite to eat. You will find fewer ready-made social events, although they will be there.</p>
<p>The kind of fun you’ll have in graduate school will be very different from the kind of fun a freshman in college has. But you can have fun.</p>
<p>Please somebody help me I can’t finish my program like this!!!</p>
<p>I have no social life, I have no break, I’m constantly working and I have no time for anything additional like the martial art I was training before grad school, the volunteering at related organizations i need for after graduation, or participation at clubs where I can expand on the elements of my field that my classes wont be touching on. And I definitely dont have time for socializing. I’m in a masters program so this life isn’t going to last for that long, but it will serve me better socially, academically and career wise if I can change this. </p>
<p>I know a big part of my problem is that I’m not efficient at studying. I look at my assignments and what I think I should be able to finish in a day takes me 2 or 3. Causing me to have late nights and full caffeinated days. Part of the efficiency problem is that the study/life balance is off and I think I’m becoming unhealthy. The other part is I’ve been out of school for awhile, I went from studying hard science to a policy program and my old study skills aren’t effective.</p>
<p>Please help! Those of you who are masters students please give me some pointers. How do you get it all done to make the grades, not get burned out, and still do other things while in grad school.</p>
<p>Titique, I’m sorry to hear that you’re having such a miserable time. I’m bumping this so that current graduate students might have another chance to see it.</p>
<p>"You probably aren’t going to find wild, frat-style parties thrown by graduate students. By the end of college, most people are through with that scene and instead prefer to go out to a bar or restaurant at the end of the day with a small group of people. Parties tend to be more mature – music, drinks, a little food, conversation.
It is more difficult to form social bonds in graduate school, only because everyone is busy. "</p>
<p>This is exactly what worries me! I had many choices for my undergrad school, choices which would’ve led me to a lot of fun and party, but I chose a uni where I didn’t have much of that (can’t say none, but they were too few), all because studying here increased my opportunities for a top graduate program.
I don’t want to have the same life I had in undergrad during my grad…
So I’d like to know; is it possible for a grad to attend the parties thrown by undergrads? Is it easy for a very young PhD student to make friends with undergrads?
If I attend a party school like ucsb for PhD, will I feel the party atmosphere or is the “party atmosphere” only for undergrads?
by the way, I’m not really into “wild, frat-style parties” (though I do enjoy them), having a group of 10 boys and girls to drink and dance once in a while is enough for me…</p>
<p>I’m looking forward to finding my answers :)</p>
<p>You’re probably not going to have a lot of free time left over for ragers in a PhD program. Unless you’re looking to fail comps/quals or take 8-10 years to finish. It would be easy to work in small parties of 10 people and some moderate drinking, however.</p>
<p>Research is not always easy, it takes a lot of dedication, especially when you’re on your own like you are in grad school. If you’re still in party mode or just burnt out from undergrad, you may want to take some time off, get a job, and then apply to PhD programs when you’re done raging.</p>
<p>So I’d like to know; is it possible for a grad to attend the parties thrown by undergrads? Is it easy for a very young PhD student to make friends with undergrads?</p>
<p>You could, but you won’t want to. I work in residential programs, and the kind of nightlife the undergraduates live is quite different from the one you will live. You will be far too busy for the kind of nonsense they throw. Yes, the “party atmosphere” is only for undergraduates. Remember that graduate students are attracted to universities for different reasons, so the social atmosphere you may hear about in college guides is directed towards and created by them.</p>
<p>The thing is, you won’t be the only young grad student. When I came to graduate school I was 22 and the next youngest person in my cohort was 25. That’s not a very big difference, but everyone else was older and didn’t really want to go out like that. So I hung out with the master’s students instead, who tended to be younger. Now I hang out with other grads (master’s and doctoral) who are from different departments. There aren’t any wild parties, but even grown adults like to get together to drink and chat every now and then.</p>
<p>I also agree that if you still have the party bug in you - or if you feel like you didn’t really get to live the life you wanted to live in undergrad - take some time off. What’s the big rush? Take a few years to just work and do the 9-5 thing, happy hour after work, partying on the weekends. There are tons and tons of young professionals that still party on the weekends, sometimes frat-boy style. Most are more low-key. Grad school isn’t going anywhere; it’ll be waiting when you’re ready.</p>
<p>Can’t you still attend a few undergrad parties? I mean, it’s not as if undergrad parties are going to take weeks out of your life. </p>
<p>Not that I care that much - but I completely missed out the undergrad party scene in college (as an early entrance student), and I’d just like to see what it’s like.</p>