Grad School Orientation Week

The purpose of orientation week is to familiarize you with your program and inform you of the resources available to you throughout your graduate school journey. There will probably be two separate orientations: one for your program and one for the entire graduate school. In addition to the logistics, orientation week is an excellent opportunity to make some new friends in your department. In this article, we will discuss navigating orientation week by covering the good and bad aspects of it. If you did not start your program early, read the article on what to do during your first week after orientation.

The Good

Meeting New People/Networking

All of the new people you probably have not yet met also have to attend orientation. Consequentially, you will be spending a lot of time with them during meals, presentations, and social activities. Orientation week thus presents an excellent opportunity to get to know some of the new members of your cohort. I met plenty of people, and by the end of the week, friend circles had already begun to form. If you’re typically a shy person, now is an excellent time to try to break out of your shell a little bit. This is always easier said than done. Keep in mind that at this point, everyone is in a scary new place, has no established friend circle, and is looking to fit in just the same as everyone else. These are people you will be working with for the next several years, so it’s a good idea to get to know them while the faces are still new. Perhaps start a group chat with all of the people you’ve met and continuously add others. This way, everyone can easily stay in touch and bounce ideas and events off each other.

Free Food

You know that grad students don’t make enough money when they are waiting on the staircase for the email to go out saying there is free food in the atrium. The chances are that you will be given free meals during orientation week for breakfast, lunch, and dinner at least on most days. However, unlike the more senior grad students, you get priority on the free food! Take advantage of it because food is expensive and free food doesn’t come around all that often. Be advised; your free food will probably not be as fancy as that in the picture!

Picking Classes

Depending on your perspective, this could be a pro or a con of orientation week. Hopefully, you are excited that you are now able to take classes that are entirely related to what you want to study! Most likely, the course registration process and program requirements will be covered during orientation (if not program requirements, what else are they telling you about?). You will have a good idea of what is available and attractive to you. It is a good idea to consult your temporary supervisor and other grad students about what classes to take. They can give you an insider’s experience of what is good and not so good. Your professor will probably also have a preference for what classes you should take if you are going to be working with him/her.

Student Panels

There are no better people to speak about the nitty-gritty of graduate school than current graduate students. At some point, a panel of students and/or post-docs will likely hold a Q&A session. Sometimes the administrators leave the room so that the new and current students can freely discuss graduate school matters without feeling pressured to skew answers. In my recent experience, the administrators were present for the panel session, which was uncool. A lot of the students and panelists were disappointed that it was not a closed-door event. At one of the welcome weekends I attended, it was closed-door. Regardless, panels are an excellent opportunity to ask some questions about the program in particular or really anything that is on your mind. The students generally answer anything asked and don’t hold back their opinions. They may even push you to ask more personal questions! Take advantage of the opportunity.

The Bad

Qualifying Exams

You probably thought you were done with standardized testing once you got to grad school. In some programs, there are exams that you must take in order to move forward in your program before you technically begin. These are known as qualifying exams. They serve as a benchmark to gauge your abilities upon entering the program. In Princeton’s department of chemistry, requirements dictate that you take at least four exams and pass three of the five general subject areas of chemistry. These are organic, inorganic, physical, biochemistry, and chemical physics. The exams were standard American Chemical Society tests. If you do not pass three, you can study on your own and retake them sometime in the fall. A second failure warrants taking undergraduate classes to make up for any deficiencies. However, those classes do not count towards your graduate course requirements. The exams were not easy, so thankfully the passing score was quite low.

Not all programs have these exams! Some programs call the second year examination the qualifying exam whereas some call it the general exam. Others probably call it something else. Do your research on your particular program and find out whether it requires these “qualifying” (entrance) exams. You should also be able to find this information on the website. Your program should inform you a week or two before orientation if you have to take any. If so, they should provide you with the necessary information.

Resource Information Presentations

The majority of orientation week is devoted to presentations that educate you on the available resources. These talks include introductions to IT support, facilities, health and safety, diversity and inclusion, technology licensing and intellectual property, library services, career development, etc. The list truly is exhaustive. Some of these presentations are quite useful and intriguing. Ones I thought were interesting include the course registration process, tech transfer and IP, career development resources, and understanding finances. However, many talks are not entirely necessary, but you have to attend. Even if you’re bored during these talks, you’ll learn something that you didn’t know before that could ultimately help you.

Conclusion

While orientation week is lengthy and tedious, it’s a great opportunity to learn new things about your program. You learn way more than you have to know, but a chunk of it is useful and will help you throughout your graduate journey. The key is to take advantage of the resources provided to you. Orientation week is also an excellent opportunity to meet the new members of your cohort. These are people you will work with for the next several years, so getting to know them sooner rather than later will make it easier for you. Make friends while everyone is new. Once groups begin to form, it becomes more challenging. After you finish orientation, your degree is officially underway! Congratulations.