The capsGRAD blog is part of the website for the Graduate and Professional Student Services division of the University of California San Diego?s (UCSD?s) Student Services department. As one of the blogs under the Graduate and Professional page, CAPS, which stands for Counseling and Psychological Services, provides its target audience (graduate and professional students of the university) information on a number of topics particularly affecting them.
What to say about the blog
There are currently only seven entries in the blog written by the teaching staff and officers of the university?s graduate school. The seven topics are as follows: advisory relationship, completing your thesis or dissertation, promoting optimal functioning, social adjustment, stress management, time management, and transitioning out of graduate school. As obviously seen in the topics, the entries are primarily for graduate school students of the UCSD. A number of the topics may be helpful and applicable to graduate students in general. The first entry, The Advisory Relationship, is written by the graduate school liaison officer, Dr. Christina Castro. This entry, like the others, are well-written with expert opinions and particularly sound and helpful advice.
The blog is only one page long, so you can actually read all its content in one scroll, although there is a list of links at the top of the page that will lead you to one of the seven entries that you may be probably most interested to read. The sidebar on the left side of the blog page is filled with links to other graduate school pages, such as the home page for grad services and grad campus and community resources. On the top portion of the page are links to CAPS pages such as emergency assistance and information on their staff.
A few glitches
The blog is in its primary stages, so the content is still quite limited so far to psychology-related topics. More content will be very much appreciated. The blog may not be most appealing and eye-catching, but it is quite effective in its goal of assisting graduate school students of the university with valuable advice on how to manage their post-university studies.
How a Sample Graduate School Essay Can Help You Land a Spot in Your Dream School
Landing a spot in one’s dream school is never an easy thing for the one dreaming it. It takes a lot of effort on the part of the student because getting into top graduate schools in the US can be very competitive. One of the requirements that should be turned in is the graduate school essay. Read on to discover tips on how you can come up with your own.
Crafting your essay
So, if you are a student writing your personal statement, and you are having difficulty writing an effective application essay, don’t look for anywhere else for a topic you can write. Writing about your perfect situation at the moment would be a very good topic to develop into an essay.
Applicants base their graduate school choices on their own academic achievements, skills, and personal interests. They aim to look for schools that match their capabilities, trainings, and experiences. In the same manner that the admissions officers search for their potential candidates who are well-suited to the standards and qualifications of the institution. And this depends heavily on how creative and effective you will write your essay or personal statement.
A great application essay is said to have that ability to present a clear, personal, and striking perception of you to the admissions staff. How well you craft your personal statement would determine how well you would stand out among the pile of applicants vying for the available slots. Do your best to come up with a very effective essay, because your future success depends on this one particular writing piece of yours.
Using sample graduate school essays as guides
Sometimes, the best option to consider in coming up with one’s own well-written essay is to look at sample graduate school essays. These essays can usually be read for free and you can search them online. There are many advantages to checking out sample graduate school essays. Here are some of them.
* These essays have been proven to work in sustaining the interest of the reader. When you check out these essays, you get to see how you can also come up with your own technique that will grab the reader’s attention and sustain it until the end.
* These essays focus on the most effective themes in admission essays. Usually, the most common themes are overcoming adversity, influential persons, and life-changing situations. Admissions committees tend to become bored when they read essays on these themes. With well-written sample graduate school essays, you get to see other themes that you can explore as well.
* These essays employ the best writing approaches and techniques in organization and structure of ideas. Most of the time, students have no idea how they will start and end their essays. Also, even though they have already written the opening paragraph, they just go on and on without actually leading the reader to a specific thesis statement. Well-written sample graduate school essays employ a logical sequence to how ideas are presented. A well-written sample graduate school essay does not ramble, rather, it moves from one paragraph to the next seamlessly and enriches and supports the thesis statement effortlessly.
Just remember that checking out sample graduate school essays does not mean that you’ll be copying their ideas. That’s plagiarism. Learn how to develop your own writing style, approach, and tone by emulating what you’ve seen in these essays.
Photo Credit : so.salem
If being an “A” student is what you’re after, there are lots of ways to that, and there are tons of books and articles that can give these tips to you. But before you set off to the path that these articles and books will lay out for you, take this as a head start. There’s one effective way to get to that longed for academic hall of fame: eradicate and avoid bad study habits and attitudes. Here are some of them.
* Settling for mediocre outputs
If you’re aiming for an A, why settle for anything less? You will be surprised to find out that in the academe, mediocrity is “the ordinary.” It is the norm, and sometimes even the trend. But what’s keeping you from stepping out of the box? Shine! Make it a habit to make the best output out of anything you do, especially in school. Papers that are just a few points above the passing score? Drop them. You can always do better than “just that.” So why not do a “bit more?”
* Acting on impulse
Spontaneity and careful decision making are two things that have to be prioritized in different circumstances. In some cases, acting on instinct can lead you to places. However, in the academe, most of the decisions and actions that you will have to make often require a lot of thinking, like thesis topic proposals, research works, and reaction papers. Stop cramming. You might have gotten high grades in some of your crammed school outputs but don’t have the impression that it will always go that way. It’s still worth really working hard on and pondering over your school work.
* Procrastinating too much
If you’re not in the mood or if your brain’s just not yet willing to do some hardcore mind exercise, do something else that’s still productive. For example, you may arrange your school papers, file them according to dates or subjects, look for potential resources for your research paper, or plan a study schedule.
* Dwelling on negativity
Stop counting the exams, papers, reports, and projects that you have to work on and get started. There’s no use ranting over them. It just adds to your stress and subtracts your time to actually work on your school must-do’s. Also, avoid taking harsh feedback and perceived incompetence negatively. If you get a low grade in an exam or in a paper, think about how your next grade has no other way but up. So set that goal of getting an “A” next time and work on achieving it.
* Ignoring the bigger picture
Always keep yourself reminded of the real reason why you’re in school. Don’t lose sight of your long-term goals. Exams and papers are not just requirements to get passing grades in a particular course. These are tests of what you have learned so that you will be well-equipped when you set off to the real world.
Photo Credit : emdot
