Grad School Essentials: A Crash Course in Scholarly Skills by Zachary Shore

Grad School Essentials: A Crash Course in Scholarly Skills Reviews

• 
  Kai

  One of the better books I've read so far about the research process and graduate school. I think Shore put it perfectly in his own words:
  

  Although many types of people can profit from these skills, I wrote this book with a particular kind of person in mind: someone who loves to learn. Some guidebooks about higher education take a cynical view. They portray your time in school as a game in which you mainly need to manipulate the people around you in order to get ahead. This book does not share that view. Instead, I wrote this for people who care about ideas and take knowledge seriously. If you believe that our lives grow genuinely richer the more we understand the world around us, then this book is especially for you. And if you long to make your own intellectual breakthroughs, the tips you will learn here can help bring you closer to that goal.

  
  Unlike the other books on grad school that I've read that are either overly jaded or commonsensical, this one actually gives you tips on reading and writing that you can apply to your work and life, even if you're not a graduate student.
  
  3 things I learned:
  1. Restate in your own words
  2. Conclude with a twist
  3. Compress your question in 8 words or less
  
  Favourite quote: "Working smart." It's not just a smart way of working; it's also a way of working that helps make you smarter. 
• 
  Nathan Gilliatt

  I read this mostly to evaluate it for my future college student, and once again I find myself looking around for a time machine to send it back to my high school or college self. This is a short book with relatively simple methods for fundamental skills for college and grad school. It's an easy and friendly read, and the methods—for reading, writing, speaking, researching, and acting like a successful student—aren't demanding to understand.
  
  That's a good thing; simple methods leave plenty of mental capacity to deal with the material you're studying, rather than imposing a struggle to remember the 27 steps of reading a book. The main contributions of this book are the suggested methods for reading and writing. The first 50-60 pages would have been a big help for me, and I think they're the most easily useful parts of the book.
  
  Nobody really teaches us how to study and learn. We're just supposed to pick up the skills somehow, as we plod through the reading, prepare for the exams, and write the papers. Grad School Essentials isn't the only book to help fill in the skills gap, but it's a good addition to the student kit.
• 
  Matt Fay

  This is a great little book. Just to provide a little background... I have two master’s degrees and am working on a PhD, but for most of my life I was a terrible student. Despite maintaining a high GPA throughout my graduate studies, I’ve dealt with frequent bouts of anxiety about whether I’m really even getting the basics right (exacerbating the impostor syndrome that so many grad students deal with). It turns out there’s a bunch of stuff I’m doing right, a few things I’m doing wrong, and a whole lot I can do better/more efficiently.
  
  The book is filled with great tips and insights. I wish I had read it earlier. The advice and processes the author offers are all pretty basic, so it will in no way replace even introductory readings on methodology and research design. But it does provide useful tips for students entering a history or polisci grad program, and even those of us pretty far along in one but still have questions about how to manage the workload more effectively. Not all the advice will be equally useful to everyone, but it certainly helped me. And I’m guessing it could for others as well.
• 
  Mark

  This book was the single most worthless book assigned to me this semester. The author adds so much fluff in an effort to be funny that all this book achieves is teaching you how to skim for the few common-sensical things which you already know. The single passage I had marked with a post-it note was so unremarkable upon returning to it that I refuse to reproduce it here. Just please never assign this to your students if you're an educator, and if you're a student, please just ask friends or family who are in grad school, because you'll actually learn anything.
  
  Ultimately this book was a "5 Tips for Grad School" buzzfeed article that inexplicably was blown up to the size of a "book" and contains insulting chapters such as "How to Read, Part I", "How to Act", and "How to Speak."
  
  Excuse me as I go burn this book in my bathtub. Or, if not, I might use it for blackout poetry (which is ironic, because apparently the author is blind? who gives a shit, he's no Homer or Milton).
• 
  C

  Powerful advice for anyone who reads, writes, and researches, all delivered with chatty charm. I wish I’d read this in high school, then again every year since. I’m especially grateful for Shore’s advice on reading nonfiction texts efficiently. He’s made me much more effective. I’d recommend (no, give) this book to anyone who searches for new truths through research.
• 
  Russ

  An insider's how to/reference book that can be applied to any level of post-secondary education. Teh author addresses how to:
  read,
  write,
  speak,
  act, and
  research
  within an academic setting. There is good, actionable advice in all aspects. There are lots of "I wish I'd known this when I was in school" moments if you haven't had training in how to study.
• 
  Carter Clelland

  A must-read for undergraduate and graduate students, especially those pursuing an academic career in the social sciences. There are strategies listed to tackle reading large quantities of material, writing coherent arguments, engaging a public audience, and many more challenges found in graduate programs.
• 
  Kyrie

  Good, detailed book.
  
  This book is an excellent introduction to the tips and techniques utilized by the efficient graduate student, and is designed to shape every grad student into effective academics.
• 
  Dale

  Recommended summer read prior to attending the US Army War college. A quick and easy read that helps you frame the challenges of returning to a graduate level program while offering up solutions and techniques.
• 
  Tianxing Weng

  As it suggests, I skimmed it rapidly through (when I could not get to sleep at night). I need some time to figure out to what extent I can apply its principles. But so far I find it pretty practical and useful.
• 
  James Culver

  Ready to graduate now
• 
  Lisa Ann

  I recommend this easy to read, immensely practical guidebook to any advanced undergraduate considering graduate school, all MA students, and all PhD. So very useful!
• 
  Constance Ordeman

  A must read.
• 
  Tori

  Excellenf primer on the big important skills. Wish I'd read it as an undergrad!
• 
  Drew Francis

  Its funny and instructive.
• 
  Jim v H

  This little book lives up to its promise: it brought my reading, writing, and research skills to a higher level. The lessons I've learned from it will certainly improve my future writings, including my master's thesis. While reading I made quite some notes to which I will return when I plan on writing something, or when I'm looking for a research question. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to read more effectively and write more clearly.