<p>I'm doing a small research project for an English undergrad class about the differences in psychology undergraduate and graduate school, in relation to writing.</p>
<p>I'm a psych undergrad student right now and after researching a lot about different graduate schools, I don't feel as if my undergrad classes have prepared me enough for the co-authoring papers, writing dissertations, etc. that graduate school apparently entails. </p>
<p>So, I'd really like to hear your opinions: are undergraduate psychology students prepared to write what is demanded of them in graduate school?? How is writing in grad school different or similar to undergrad?</p>
<p>Answers to this thread can vary widely depending on the undergraduate and graduate programs in question. For example, I attended a small liberal arts college as a psychology major and it was a writing intensive program. Nearly all of my courses required a 10-15+ page final paper (and often several shorter papers throughout the semester). The department was actually saving copies of students’ papers and analyzing their writing development from first year through senior year. I coauthored several articles with a professor, a few of which are published. I also completed an honors thesis, and although it is certainly shorter than a dissertation, it was a nice introduction to the process. </p>
<p>Larger universities may be less writing intensive due to the size of classes, at least for the first year or two. But ultimately you get what you put in to your college experience. If you don’t feel you’re getting the experience you want, then find opportunities to create those experiences. I approached my professor about doing research, and I choose to apply to the honors program. Not everyone took those opportunities. Regularly reading literature in your field of interest will also help you develop a similar writing style while keeping current on research findings. </p>
<p>If you are serious about graduate school, and particularly if you are interested in a PhD program, you should be sharing your goals with your professors and seeking out additional experiences to better prepare you. It’s not just about being a good writer - it’s also about the research and thought processes. You could pursue a position as a research assistant, complete a senior or honors thesis, create an independent study course, etc. Share your concerns with your advisor and see what other programs your institution has to offer.</p>
<p>As for the differences…I’ve taken two graduate courses but I am not enrolled in a particular program. I had no problem adjusting to the expectations. There is a higher standard of quality for the thoughts and evidence presented in the paper. I think I would have been prepared either way, but my research and thesis experience certainly raised the bar from what was expected in, say, an undergraduate Abnormal Psychology course.</p>
<p>I have had similar experiences to NovaLynnx. I went to a small, writing-intensive LAC at which I was expected to write 10-15+ page papers for all of my psychology classes (and most of my other classes, too), most in the format of a literature review for a publishable paper. I also did an honors thesis and worked on undergrad research. I was very well prepared for graduate school in that sense; I’m a strong writer and my writing has only gotten stronger. But when I started, I was already ready - writing-wise - to begin coauthoring papers and chapters, and my seminar papers were on a grad school level by my senior year.</p>
<p>I teach undergraduates now and the majority of them are not prepared for graduate-level writing, though. My current institution, and many institutions with larger classes that have less teaching-focused professors, doesn’t assign many papers to undergraduate students. In my undergrad intro to psych class I wrote a ~15-20 page literature review integrating scientific research articles; here, the students wrote 3 2-page papers “analyzing” secondary sources that were based on research articles. It’s not the same kind of writing, and I think it does a disservice to the students who want to go onto graduate school. Even in the upper-level seminars the professors tend to assign group projects instead of substantive papers because they are easier to grade.</p>
<p>How is it different? That also depends on where you go. My undergraduate papers were actually not all that different from my graduate papers because of the kind of college I attended. Of course, analysis is now expected at a higher level, but the format and structure are the same. But if you went somewhere at which you were expected to do fewer literature reviews and more other types of writing - like action letters, blog posts, 2-page summaries, that kind of thing - I think the biggest difference for most people is that graduate school writing requires far less summary and FAR more analysis than most undergraduates are used to, or comfortable, doing. The paper is more about your theories and conclusions and how the research literature supports them rather than what the lit itself is saying.</p>