5 Ways to Prepare for Grad School This Summer

By Ian Acosta on June 26, 2017

This article is brought to you by Kaplan, the leader in test prep for over 90 standardized tests, including the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, and MCAT.

Now that finals and classes are over for the spring, some of you may be settling into your internship or settling into your bed at home. Whether you are staying busy this summer via a job or other studies, now is also a great time to prepare for graduate school.

For those already dead set on pursuing a graduate degree of any kind, now is the perfect time to brush up on or even start formulating a plan to prepare yourself for life after undergrad. Here are some ideas and strategies to utilize to make the transition to graduate school as seamless as possible.

1. Study

Nothing planned for the summer months and running out of ideas on what to do? Start studying for the GRE, GMAT, MCAT, LSAT or whichever post-graduate exam fits your career goals. The long hours put in each day can keep you occupied during the day and help the material stick into your memory for the long run.

My advice, if you have the time, would be to put in close to 5-6 hours a day on average studying. Do practice problems, read the chapters, highlight them, do practice quizzes, do anything and everything you can in order to fully immerse yourself in the material.

Buy some online study guides to help as well. Plan out a schedule in order to fully optimize your studying time in between whatever else life has going on for you.

pixabay.com

2. Research colleges

Start to research where it is you want to go to school. There is no point in studying for a post-graduate degree if you aren’t even sure where you want to attend. Not only will this help give you some options, use it as a motivator to study hard and work on getting into your top school.

One of the most valuable pieces of advice I was given when in high school was this: “Always have a goal in mind. It gives you direction and keeps you on track for what you want to do.”

One of my favorite teachers told me that and I still use that and see it in action today. When you get a list of potential places you can see yourself at, take a trip or two to them and scope out the scene. This can also be a great motivator as well: envision yourself at the place you want to go; pick out a couple future study spots and even scout out some apartments. Anything you can to do to psych yourself up will only help your studying that much more.

3. Learn to cook

If you just finished up your undergraduate studies, this tip will be more pertinent to you. I recently posted an article giving reasons of why students would rather eat out than cook for themselves. The common denominators were time and skill. People either want to not take the time to cook or simply do not want to eat the quality of their own food and who can blame them? I would much rather pay a couple extra bucks to have a meal prepared by someone whose sole job is to prepare food.

Take part of that equation out of play and learn to cook from somebody, be it a family member, friend, or even cooking classes. Preparing your own food (besides ramen and frozen pizzas) will save you SO much money in the long run that it’s ridiculous. Yes, I get that going out to eat is fun and I am not saying not to! All I am saying is to mitigate the outings to once or twice a week. It will keep you and your wallet in check to last out the year.

4. Travel

This is another tip for the impending transition from undergraduate to graduate school: go take a trip. Take a trip anywhere! Just get out and see the world before you are inundated with school again in three months. Plan a road trip with some friends, take a cruise in the Pacific, go skiing, go hiking, go to Disney World, or whatever suits your fancy! Take some time for some rest and relaxation to recharge yourself. Think of it as some mental preparation as well.

5. Plan

Make a schedule for how you want your summer to look. Plan out week to week what you see yourself doing and how you want to prepare for the impending (or maybe longer) transition to graduate school. If you need to make some last minute adjustments or even start your journey into thinking about graduate school, the summer is the perfect time to perfect that plan.

When you finish creating it, ask a friend, mentor, or counselor for feedback who has gone through the process before. The best advice comes from people who have already experienced it.

Learn more about Kaplan’s test prep options and start building the confidence you need for Test Day.

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Get Top Stories Delivered Weekly

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format