What Should I Make of This?

[JackD]

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So i am nearly done with my first week of grad school (woo) and I am a little confused. I came into this semester thinking that the classes were going to be drastically harder and just involve an insane amount of work but finishing up two courses for the week, looking through the course requirements, assignments, and tests that we are going to have, it just doesn't sound that much different than my undergrad stuff.

Granted, each individual course does sound like a bit more work than an undergrad course but the three courses I have, taken together, don't seem worse than five or six upper level undergrad courses. Also, the books are roughly the same as undergrad text book, and in fact some are used for undergrad courses, tests are mostly going to be multiple choice, the term papers are only about 10 pages.

So i am wondering here, is that first semester of grad school not quite the huge leap that i thought it was going to be?

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

You''ll find that classes will be less and less of your time as you move through, though what you described was rather light. Are you taking an assessment course, as that took a lot of time because of the number of reports written, the background reading/research, etc.

 

[erg923]

With a couple notable exceptions, I found my masters level coursework not too be anywhere near as indepth as my doctoral program classes.

 

[JackD]

With a couple notable exceptions, I found my masters level coursework not too be anywhere near as indepth as my doctoral program classes.

That makes sense. They told us during orientation that 2 years of the maters degree program is equal to about 1 year of the PsyD program at the school. So i think some of my courses might count as half of doctoral class or something, I don't know.

Are you taking an assessment course

Not quite. My psychopathology course has some of that and I do have eight, five page assessment papers due during the semester but i hardly think that is what you are talking about. The courses i am in right now are more or less set in stone, everyone has to take them their first semester, maybe they are just trying to ease us in a little bit, perhaps assess how well we know the basics?

 

[cara susanna]

Haha, I wish that were the case for me.

 

[Ollie123]

That definitely seems on the light side, but at the same time, coursework is NOT what makes graduate school challenging. If all grad school consisted of was coursework and maybe a year of practicum, it would be a cakewalk. Albeit a useless cakewalk that didn't produce remotely competent psychologists.

Can't say things like this often enough - if classwork makes up more than about 25% of the knowledge you get, you are probably doing something wrong.

 

[AryaStark]

Same here. I've only gone to 2 classes (I have one in about an hour) and I'm looking at 3 (long) readings for 1 and about 7 chapters and studying the assessment tools for the other. I am so overwhelmed right now that this is the first time I've decided to just stop and go on SDN instead of shooting myself in the foot.

Haha, I wish that were the case for me.

 

[krisrox]

Same here. I've only gone to 2 classes (I have one in about an hour) and I'm looking at 3 (long) readings for 1 and about 7 chapters and studying the assessment tools for the other. I am so overwhelmed right now that this is the first time I've decided to just stop and go on SDN instead of shooting myself in the foot.

Hahaha, 'cause SDN is the solution to all our problems, right?

 

[AryaStark]

Well not really. I just needed to get my head away from reading the history of the dsm and wisc. yuck.

Hahaha, 'cause SDN is the solution to all our problems, right?

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Well not really. I just needed to get my head away from reading the history of the dsm and wisc. yuck.

At least you'll be able to learn the WAIS-IV from the get go, instead of having to learn the WAIS-III and then the updates/changes. Small consilation, but it is still something!

 

[cara susanna]

Arya: That's what I had to learn too, only substitute WAIS-IV with clinical interviewing and validity issues. 😀

I have to get used to this whole "not getting A's" thing, yikes.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

B = Ph.D / Psy.D

Learn it, Live it, Love it!

I think I still got out with a 3.7ish, but it was a heck of a lot easier to take a B in my 4th and 5th years than my first 2. My 3rd year was a complete blur, and I am just thankfully I avoided C's. 😀

 

[psychmama]

At least you'll be able to learn the WAIS-IV from the get go, instead of having to learn the WAIS-III and then the updates/changes. Small consilation, but it is still something!

I know, right? As I start internship and get my first testing case I'm realizing I'll have to put in extra time getting up to speed on WAIS-IV (having never given it).

 

[JackD]

Maybe what i do have is a lot of work and I am just so used to constantly studying that it just doesn't seem all that rough. In the last two days, i have spent 6 hours in lecture and about 11 or 12 hours studying, and I am doing just fine.

Do you think that after studying 3-5 hours per night, every night for three years, has just made this whole transistion very smooth?

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I know, right? As I start internship and get my first testing case I'm realizing I'll have to put in extra time getting up to speed on WAIS-IV (having never given it).

I'll get around to learning it this year (req. of my rotation), but we give so many other things I haven't really had a chance to review it yet.

Do you think that after studying 3-5 hours per night, every night for three years, has just made this whole transistion very smooth?

I wasn't as consistent as that.....but I generally feel very well prepared for internship.I think internship will be stressful regardless, but being prepared has definitely made it an easier transition.

 

[JackD]

What i am having trouble figuring out is if I will be ok putting in the same amount of effort into these courses, as i put into most of my undergrad psychology courses. I was getting nearly A+'s in all of those courses, i was reading and taking notes from every chapter in the books, spending week studying for the exams, working on papers weeks ahead of time, all that good stuff. It all worked well for me. There was a good balance of free time and studying. But i don't know if things are that much different today compared to four months ago.

I can't tell if I spend the same amount of time and energy on these courses as I did on those, if i will do just fine or drop off a cliff.