Navigating the Challenges of Online Graduate Learning
In my first semester of my Ph.D. program, my mom almost died from post-surgical medical complications. Later, my life faced more challenges – some more “normal” than others. The reality is we all face challenges – if you haven’t I think I’d like to know how!
As the new fall term settles a bit, I am reflecting on helping my MBA students adjust to the new reality of adding an intensive studying routine into already very busy lives. For most students, the hardest thing about grad school is the attempt to balance allllll the things. I know that from living it myself and from years of coaching students from it.
I advise graduate students from the very beginning: Things will feel unbalanced for a time.
Doing this work well means that you will often feel a bit out of balance. It is very, very normal to feel overwhelmed in grad school or frankly like giving up! My experience as both a student and a professor is that the first two terms or so, you are likely to feel a bit out of balance or question your decision-making in taking on graduate study.
Every now and then I encounter a student who really should delay their studies, but for most students you will find a way towards a new normal after the first couple of classes. Students who are willing to make temporary sacrifices or adjustments in other areas to support finishing their studies will have an easier time in some ways, but we all get thrown loops and will face times of wondering what exactly we got ourselves into!
Here is some advice from my decades of involvement in online graduate learning:
This is a temporary challenge for a lifetime achievement. This busyness of a graduate program is temporary, and it is helping you get where you want to go, so give it some time and ask for help where you need it.
You will rarely – maybe never – feel like you got it all done in a week. There are weeks where your work will take priority and assignments may suffer. There are weeks you need to be there for your family in a bigger way and work and school will not get the attention they need. And there are weeks when your school projects will feel like they’ve taken over all your time.
Accept that you will have weeks that your work is not perfect. Absolutely do your best to submit high quality, on time work each week. But I promise you that the sooner you can accept finishing a degree well instead of finishing a degree perfectly, you will free your mind to focus more sharply, and you will take much more away from your time in the program.
Graduate learning (especially online) takes self-motivation, self-discipline, and a keen sense of responsibility. Online learning at this level at least doubles the need for focused self-discipline. Without an assigned class time each week like you may have experienced as an undergrad student, it is on you to carve out time in your week to focus on reading, watching videos, and completing your assignments. In my classes, I provide a fair amount of reminders, but professor’s styles vary and at the end of the day…it’s up to you manage your work and get it done.
Yes, we do ask you to read and write a lot. When people ask me for advice on whether or not they can handle grad school I often say, “it’s reading and writing and repeat.” That’s how you’re going to experience your courses – through reading at a higher level and being asked to synthesize your learning through a variety of demanding writing assignments. Remember, this isn’t designed to be easy – you’re achieving something most people do not!
Ultimately from semester to semester (maybe day to day) you have to determine your commitment to the goal and how willing you are to be temporarily uncomfortable, inconvenienced, and maxed out to get there. A degree from a respected, accredited institution does not come with two-day shipping! It takes had work, sacrifice, and discipline. It’s doable and it’s worthy work – and in my years of experience that means it’s unlikely to also be easy!
More advice for grad students and graduate-level writing can be found here.