This is Grad School?: First Impressions

Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC

I don't know what I was expecting when I starting up the Master's in Criminology program at SFU, but what I got was not it! I expected lectures, lots of classes, and many, many students. Instead, classes are more discussion periods, professors see you a colleagues rather than students, and there are only about 14 other students in my cohort.

I have pass codes to secured areas of the building, have access to a private computer lab, get a printing allowance each year, have an office that I share with 3 other classmates with my own desk area and large storage bin, and another office to use for any teaching assistant duties. As a grad student I am pretty much guaranteed a job as a teaching assistant for an undergrad course, which pays my tuition completely.

I only have 3 classes a term. Last term I went to school 2 days a week, this term I'll be there for 3. However, after this term, my coursework is done and for the next year I work independently, never having to go to another class.

Professors don't want to give grad students anything less than an A- and will adjust their grading scale in order to reflect that.

On my first day of class, we were told not to sleep with professors or undergrad students... I guess I should have known at that point that this was going to be an interesting experience!