Hi,

I am starting a PhD in St Andrews this year and it appears there is a grad skills day, outlining the transition from being a master’s student etc to a PhD student, with talks from a selection of staff and students.

I was not planning on moving to Scotland until early October ( my masters finishes on the 15th September and i have to move up from Plymouth) However this grad skills thing ( plus orientation week) is on the 26th September ( my birthday!).

So is it worth going? My flat is not free until 1st October so i would have to stay in a B+B or something for a week. I understand all experience is good, and i could do with some advice with structuring etc but can’t i go next year when i will be writing up? And how important is it to meet people from the offset? I am sociable so wont have much trouble making friends but i don’t want to miss out on things?

Thanks

The type of advice they give you on a PG induction day is useful from the word go, especially for students new to the university, but very little use in a year's time. I'd recommend going if I was you. All the university freshers events will also be on at that time, so if you can be there then it would be beneficial.

And St Andrews will have useful GRADskills training that you can tap into later as you need it, including advice on writing your thesis, coping with the viva etc. See the courses link from http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/GRADskills/pg_info.php
But that doesn't make the induction irrelevant, just different.

This is a quote from a St. And PhD student on the topic copied from their message board:
"Get rid of Gradskills. Seriously. They're a waste of time - I don't need hand-holding whilst doing a PhD."

Not that I am a PhD student, agree with the statement or know the details as to why someone has this opinion. I just thought I should copy it as I recalled reading it sometime ago.

Oh sorry I should have said - Perhaps it's worthwhile posting on the St. And message board and asking current PhD students their opinion on the matter rather than listening to external generalisations - http://www.thesinner.net/

I'm not at St Andrews - but I'd just like to generally comment that I find all these generic introductory courses ran by uni's or the GRADschool programme to be, for the most part, completely useless and loaded with psychobabble.

i'd say it depends on you and your needs, and on the course and what it offers. so, finding out more about the course before you make your decision is probably the way to go.

i went to all kinds of things in induction week. at the time, they appeared as a waste of time. but later on, i never regretted it. i met people who had missed out on those events and i realised that i simply had a head start on them, in everything: in knowing the important people in the department (the secretaries!!), in being part of the group, in knowing where to go for what kind of information... some info they handed out at one such meeting and from then on just assumed everyone had received it.
most of all for "belonging". it is there that the "new students" meet, recognisable as such. later, everyone will just be quietly wondering "who the hell is that?" and go back to whatever they are doing.

This is interesting... I never went to any induction stuff at my uni and nor did many people. You can always go to another course another time you see. I didn't do that either. I would say yes, I have been slower to work out what is available at the library, who to go to for certain q's - but I can ask my friends/the secs this anyway. I would also say that generally I haven't noticed anything other than perhaps feeling a little disorganised, which I am fine with. I think it depends on your personality: would you be stressed and feel worried about missing out/being disorganised if you didn't go? Or are you someone who is happy to work things out as and when you need to? Would you go and say hello to the secretaries yourself and make friends ok? All uni's are different as to the standards of these things so it's hard to say as an outsider... It's up to you!