Summers in Grad School

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So, tomorrow is the last day of the spring semester. I swear, these semesters are getting shorter and shorter each time. It could jut be because I only do research, but I swear we just started the spring semester like last week. Oh well! Today, I want to discuss summers in grad school. It is literally the best time of year, mostly because it is hot and I live at a place with a pool. It is also a great time for grad students to catch up on work that they have been putting off. Shame on you lol. Just kidding.

Summer is a great time because you will most likely have more time to get stuff done. In some cases, summers are a bit slower than the rest of the year. In other cases, you might be pressured to finish papers, experiments, and everything else your adviser throws at you. I want to discuss a few things that I think will benefit you. Make the must of summers in grad school. You may not get another chance to have a free summer after graduation.

Take Time Off

So, summer is usually when people will take some time off. If you haven’t already, go check out my blog about vacations in grad school (link here and here). It may give you a few ideas. Anyway, I highly encourage you to take some time off. If you were taking courses during the semester, you deserve to have at least a week of just doing nothing or going somewhere that you’ve never been. Heck, go to the beach and get a tan. There’s no real need to push yourself hard after going through finals.

This is the time when faculty take off too. Your adviser might not even be in the country so why are you still going to the lab? I do understand if you have to get stuff done, such as, you are graduating soon and need to finish. But if you aren’t, go somewhere for a few days and experience life outside of academia. It’s so easy to be caught up in all of the work that we forget to experience life. Also, it is extremely toxic for you to continuously work, you’ll hit burn out really fast. Read about that here.

Get Some Papers Published

If you are in a doctorate program, you know the importance of publications. I literally cannot graduate unless I have at least 1, first author publication. In many departments, you might need even more than that. Summer is a great time to get out a publication. You have probably been doing quite a bit of work and have enough information to add something to the world of academia. Might as well write something up in summer, get it published, and get that out of the way. Plus, you’ll have quite a lot more time to write. Writing a publication takes a heck of a lot of time. Sometimes weeks just to write a 5000 work article. Summer is the time to do that.

Catch Up On Sleep

This is for all grad students. First off, sleep deprivation is only hurting you. Get some sleep before I call up your adviser and get them to yell at you. Working 16-20 hour days, day after day will lead to you probably having to leave your department. You are not getting any more productive work done than if you worked 8 hours. Trust me. Anyway, summer is a good time to sleep in. Sleep in every day if you have to. You will notice that your productivity will skyrocket over summer. Mine always does and I am not stressed out as I usually am during the spring and fall semesters. Summers in grad school should be somewhat relaxing. Why not relax by getting some decent (>8 hr) sleep.

Take Random Courses

There are plenty of courses that you can take during the summer to either have fun or learn something. We have leisure courses that are offered each semester. They include stuff like dancing, pottery, bar tending, and various other things. You don’t have to take those, you can take course online such as like a coding course, maybe a course on productivity (I have a ton through this link), mindfulness, learn to be a graphic designer, and a ton of other ones.

This is a great idea if you are taking like 1 or 2 classes over summer and really have nothing else to do. This is also a good way to make the most out of the free time that you have. I promise that you will be plenty busy come fall semester. Having the time during summer to be able to do random stuff is such a blessing and you really need to take full advantage of it.

Binge Shows and Movies

I want to stress the importance of doing something like this. You really need to have a few days where you aren’t “productive”, meaning, you aren’t working on your doctorate or master’s or whatever. Relax and unwind with a good Harry Potter movie or perhaps binge watch a show that you haven’t seen before. I actually have a blog post about watch to watch on you down time. Check it out through this link (here). As I stated before, summers in grad school need to be filled with relaxation. Binging shows is as relaxing as you can get.

I say invite over a friend and try and watch all of the Lord of the Rings movies. Make themed food and just spend the whole day watching them. Bonus if you do this on a rainy day. Raining day movie binge days are the absolute best and you all know it.

Catch Up on Exercise

Yes, I put mad emphasis on relaxation. One way in which you can relax is by exercising more. You know that you slacked a bit on going to the gym or even just walking. Summer is your chance to get back in the gym. Also, since most students are gone, the school gyms are likely empty. That means that the squat rack is actually open. Score!

If you just want to stay low key with exercise, I suggest at least creating some good habits such as walking each day and maybe running a bit. Check out my blog about the walking challenge that I do. You can start a challenge, get a metal, and create a healthy habit all at once. Here is a link to that blog post.

Maybe Start a Blog

Summers in grad school can free up a ton of time. If you are in grad school, you know that writing is super important. So import that I include it in most of my blog post. Starting a blog is a great way to develop those writing skills that you have been meaning to perfect. It also makes writing your thesis way easier. Trust me, what takes a day to write now, would have taken me a month prior to me starting a blog. Writing becomes such an easy thing.

Other than learning basic writing skills, you can also just have fun with it. Blogging is a great way to document your journey through grad school and it is extremely helpful for those that read it. I started with hardly anyone reading my stuff. Now, I have at minimum 25 people a day reading my material from all around the world. I am hopeful that I will get to at least 100 people a day by the end of my doctorate. That’s alot of people reading my stuff and learning about my journey through grad school. Why not be like me and start now. Soon people will be coming to you for advice on how they can make the most of grad school.

Final Thoughts

Honestly, I love summers in grad school. Not only is it a time to be productive, but it is also a time to finally be able to breathe and relax a ton. For those in grad school now, let me know what types of things you’ll be doing this summer. I would love to know what everyone is doing. For those wondering how I will spend my summer, I’ll be writing up a paper, sleeping in, and going on a few trips throughout the summer. I will also be working a bit at the gym too. I have to make money to afford the plane tickets this summer lol.

Well everyone, I hope you are all having an amazing week. I know I sure am. I’m going to try and write another blog tomorrow, but we will see. If I don’t see you tomorrow, then I will the next day. As always, thanks for reading. Peace.

Do Grad Students Get Summers Off

Summers for grad students can be the busiest time of the year. For master’s students, it may be the time that they do research credits to fulfill those requirements. For PhD students and candidates, summers are for research. Spring and fall semesters usually are the only times where grad courses are available, leaving summer for research or internships. I wrote a really good article about grad student internships. Go and check it out here. But for the most part, grad students usually work during summers as well as get some time off to go travel or go on vacation.

Macro Photography of Black Sunglasses on Sand

Summers for Grad Students

summers in grad school

I wanted to start this section off with one of my favorite blog series. Go check out https://phdcomics.com/ for more. Ayway, this comic above pretty much sums up what summers are like in grad school, at least for most grad students. Though, this can relate to a select group of individuals. Because grad school is different for everyone and many people have different job titles, summers can be spent in labs, teaching, or on vacation.

Do Master’s Students Get Summers Off?

Master students will most likely take off their first summer and just enjoy the three or so months before coming back. Because their degree is mostly course based, they will spend summers away because grad courses are often not taught during summer. As for the second summer of a master’s degree, the individuals will more than likely be in lab, doing their thesis. For STEM degrees, master’s are usually split into thesis and non-thesis. Non-thesis master’s are course work only, so doing research is not common. Thesis-based master’s will require you to do some research, so the summer before you graduate is usually that time to get it done.

Do PhD Students Get Summers Off?

A PhD stands for “Piled higher and deeper”. You will have a ton of work to do to get your degree. Often, summers are the time to catch up on all that work. Many grad students teach or TA a class and their fall and spring semesters are busy with that work. Summers are the time to get caught up on all of the work you put off and it’s time to get some papers written.

I often find summers to get the best time of year for PhD students. 1) there’s hardly anyone on campus 2) you don’t have to deal with too many dumb meetings 3) The lab is not full of undergrads! Number 1 is my favorite because it means that not many people are at the gym lol. It is also the best time because you will be so bored with lack of things to do that you will get a ton of work and rest done.

For the most part, you will spend your summers at school. You won’t be required to work the entire time, but you will find working through summer will help you graduate on time.

Brown Wooden Dock

What do grad students spend their summers doing?

So, as I stated earlier, master’s students might spend their summers away form campus at internships or off on vacation. PhD students might be spending their summers getting research done to prepare their PhD proposals. The proposals are their to formulate your thesis pretty much. Summers are a great time to do initial research on the subjects and write it up so you can present it at your oral qualifying exam. I wrote an article about how to prepare for that here.

Person Using Macbook Pro

PhD candidates have already gone through this process and will be spending their summers doing research or catching up on writing. I usually use summers as a time to write at least one research article for publication. Last year was my literature review and this year will most likely be a research paper dealing with my experiments.

Some PhD candidates do not work during the summer because they are not paid for 12 months of work. These students most likely pick up summer jobs or internships to make up for not getting paid. These individuals are usually getting paid during spring and fall as TAs or actual teachers, so during summer, they are out of work essentially. Some of these students will, however, continue to do research, while working full time elsewhere. These positions are usually in fields that do not require access to a lab.

Pair of Red-and-white Low-top Sneakers

Do Grad Student’s Get to Go On Vacation at Least?

The short is of course! Summer time is a great time to get work done but you also need to rest and relax. This is often a good time to go on trips and see family and friends. Since classes aren’t going on, you’ll usually have more time in the day to get work done. You’ll see that you will also have a ton of down time during summer as well. Use this time to go on trips. I have written extensively about the importance of rest and going on vacation.

Overall

Summers in grad school can be whatever you make it. Sometimes you will be busy, sometimes you will be bored out of your mind. It is a great time to take up hobbies, explore the town your in, and catch up on readings. Master’s students often get summers off while PhDs usually work. Summers can be slower or faster paced depending on what you do.

So, do grad students get summers off? It really depends on your program and how much work you want to do. If you are in the program to get work done, you’ll often not have summers off. If you want to have summers off though, take them off. It might be the best thing to do.

Final Thoughts

I have worked every summer that I have been in my PhD program. That doesn’t mean I don’t take time off to enjoy vacations and such. I just want to finish my degree on time so I do sacrifice a little during summer to assure myself and my committee that I will finish my degree. Anyway, if you are a grad student, let us know what you do during summer. Write it down in the comments.