Questions and Answers

Graduate Students

1.       Why did you choose NDSU?

a.       Qualify grant (stay in state.) (Kimmie)

b.      More money in scholarships. (Lindsay)

c.       It was unrealistic for me to go to Harvard or Yale and I needed a master’s degree instead of a PhD. NDSU was a science based school and it helped to prepare me for a PhD program offered in Neuroscience. (Jon )

d.      Working in town at the Concordia Language Villages, I didn’t have to move my kids somewhere new and I had a teaching fellowship that really prepared me for it.(Karen)

e.      I did my undergrad here, and I enjoyed my professors and my advisor. Knowing my advisor was nice and most likely helped me ‘get in’, because all my strengths were already known. (Trista)

2.       Where you worried about the change in work for undergrad to grad school?

a.       No, actually there was less work. (Lindsay)

b.      I enjoyed it. It was much easier than the transition from masters to PhD. (Karen)

c.       Well I did everything the hard way, but it's much easier because you can focus on things you enjoy and you have more flexibility. The difficulty level had continuation and a lot of focus on specific stuff. The research heavily focused on what you were researching…even if the difficulty level is harder. (Jon)

d.      You know from your undergrad discipline if it will be a big transition, and I have come to enjoy research. (Trista)

e.      I like it because you can discuss your opinion, and your professors guide you. Sometimes I argue with my professor about what the answer should be. (Shashindra)

3.       What is a typical day for a grad student?

a.      Well I will go to work at 8:30 then have 3 sections before lunch, then campus meeting homework 5-7:30…In the beginning I worked really hard and now I don’t have to look for research to print; they look for me. (Karen)

b.      I usually just teach or just have meetings, but not before 3 p.m.  I usually have teaching 2-6 p.m., then MWF just a night class. (Lindsay)

c.       The schedule is really flexible, as long as you are doing work and updating your professors, they don’t bug you. Some positions you work and teach a certain amount of hours, however it depends on your section of interest. (Trista)

Other interesting facts:

a)      You don’t need to know how to teach before teaching lectures. (Lindsay)

b)      Some programs allow you to teach for different classes like some engineers who teach in the math department. (Shashindra)

PANEL OF SPEAKERS

Kimmie Burgess- Food Safety

Lindsay Merchant Erickson- Math

Jon George- Psychology

Karen Sorenson- English

Trista Manikowski- Exercises Science

Shashindra Pradhan- Civil Engineer