Integrating and Thriving in the First Semester as an International Graduate Student in the United States

Abstract WIP: Graduate school, especially during the first semester, can be very challenging for several reasons. Unlike undergraduate programs where students typically graduate in about four years, most graduate students graduate in one to two years from their master's programs. Graduate programs have minimum grade and GPA requirements for graduate students to be in good academic standards, which typically are higher than the requirements the students had to meet in their undergraduate program. These and other expectations in graduate school require that graduate students be ready from the first day. International graduate students face several challenges in their first semester. Some international students take too much time to overcome the initial challenges, which end up negatively impacting their ability to integrate and thrive in the graduate program. This paper reviews the factors that support the early integration of graduate students and how to thrive in their first semester. A survey will be designed to understand the critical factors that international graduate students wish their faculty members and other stakeholders knew, and what helped them to overcome the challenges and thrive in their first semester. Preliminary data indicate that a good understanding of the educational system and how to study are critical factors for the integration and thriving of international graduate students in the United States.