Graduate School Differs from What You’ve Done Before

Graduate school involves different expectations from college or your career, so you need to prepare for it. Help is always available through institutional resources (like advisors and librarians) and personal connections.

Many people assume that graduate or graduate professional school is like an extension of college, but the experiences of graduate students vary from those of undergraduates in significant ways. Therefore, to avoid unpleasant shocks and unnecessary frustration, it is best to adjust your expectations accordingly.

One essential distinction, of course, is that everyone is here because they want to be. People go to college for a variety of reasons, but graduate students have chosen to enroll. Your professors are going to assume that you’re interested in being here and that you’re prepared to work at it. They will try to keep it engaging, but they will expect you to hold up your end by coming to class prepared to study and participate intensively in the fields of theology, biblical studies, church history, pastoral care, Christian education, or sacred music. Your professors may expect you to develop new knowledge in that field through research or by applying specialized knowledge to real world situations. That being said, you can check your beginning-of-the-semester jitters at the door. You won’t be asked to undertake any of these tasks unprepared. Know that you can do this; you would not have been admitted otherwise.

The Antediluvian Librarians often hear statements like, “I can’t do that—I was an accounting major.” Or, “I’ve been a nurse for thirty years, I have never written a history paper.” Or “Everybody seems to have a Religious Studies background except me.” The diversity of the student body of any seminary or theology school is its greatest strength. God calls people from all walks of life, at all times of life, with every sort of educational and career background or social and cultural contexts. If you feel under-prepared for an assignment, simply talk to your professor, your TA, your librarians, or your advisor. Work with a writing center, a study group, or student organization. And look to your classmates.

Your classmates are your future professional colleagues, many of whom will live out their careers with you, whether you continue in the church, the academy, or somewhere altogether else. They know what drives you, frustrates you, or fills you with joy, because they are going through it with you. The people you meet in school are possibly the greatest resource you’ll have in your profession. In the meantime, they are one of the best resources you’ll have throughout your studies. If you don’t understand something, chances are that many of your classmates don’t understand it either. After all, faculty have off days, too, and maybe that whole transubstantiation lecture was presented at a time when Professor Broody was enduring an extended visit from a disagreeable mother-in-law.