The First-Gen Guide to Grad School

A compassionate and encouraging companion, The First-Gen Guide to Grad School has a message for all who aspire to keep learning and developing professionally: You belong.
 
For first-generation college students, navigating undergraduate life is hard enough. But applying to graduate school? That's an even taller mountain to climb. Accessible and inclusive, offering practical advice for everyone from community college transfers to adult learners with jobs and kids, The First-Gen Guide to Grad School empowers all students to pursue their educational and career goals.
 
Before John Kincaid became a sociologist, he was a first-gen student struggling to make grades and decode the unwritten rules of academia. With humor and heart, he demystifies the process of applying to master's, certification, and PhD programs and tackles psychological barriers like financial anxiety and self-doubt. There are strategies here for choosing schools, writing personal statements, and understanding timelines and funding. Drawing on a decade of experience running application workshops, Kincaid pairs helpful checklists and examples with candid stories of what grad school is really like.

Contents
 
Acknowledgments
 
Introduction
 
Part One: Being First-Generation and Why It Matters
1. The Life and Times of an Important Professor
2. Being First-Generation
3. What to Do If You Don’t Know What to Do
 
Part Two: Getting Started
4. Building a Mentorship Team
5. What Are the Different Degrees and What Do They Mean?
6. Researching Schools
 
Part Three: The Application
7. Starting Your Application
8. The Personal Statement
9. The CV
10. Writing Samples and Testing
11. Letters of Recommendation
 
Part Four: After the Application—Now What?
12. What Happens Next
Conclusion
 
Epilogue: Where to Go for More Information
 
Glossary of Graduate School Terms
Index