Starting your post-grad education? Here are five tips to consider to be successful in your school experience.

1. Five tips to a
successful post-grad
school experience
Dr. RobinYap
Professor, George Brown College
Toronto, Canada
@robinyap Insta/Twitter/YouTube

2. Learn how you learn
Post-grad can be a lot of work and you will be juggling
work, school, and life. To keep your priorities in check,
know how you learn. Do you learn when you’re in a noisy
room? Or it’s really quiet? Do you learn at night? Or first
thing in the morning? When are you most productive and
leverage that time. Personally I still follow the 1990’s-
developed Pomodoro model. I divide my learning time in
chunks of 20 minute increments. I was able to complete
five degrees using this model.
Dr. Robin Yap © 2017c

3. Don’t read every word on
the page of your text book
Tara Kuther suggest six tips on reading for post-grad:
1. Scholarly reading requires a different approach than leisure
reading
2. Read in multiple passes
3. Start small, with the abstract
4. Read in more depth
5. Remember that you don’t have to finish
6. Adopt a problem-solving mindset
Dr. Robin Yap © 2017c

4. Are you focusing on the right thing?
Learning not grades!
You’ve made it. You completed your college or university
studies and you’ve chosen your post-grad specialization. This
is not the time to be worrying about grades but about learning
more thoroughly about your chosen field of study.
Post-grad is more than just completing that paper or ensuring
you ace that exam. You already have that skill, this is why you
graduated in the first place. This is the time to hone your
critical thinking skills, your ability to research correctly, and
enhance your competency in evidence-based decision making.
Dr. Robin Yap © 2017c

5. Everyday is an interview day
Connecting with your Classmates: This is the time to connect
with classmates who will be your colleagues in the field. Don’t just
work with one team, get to know your whole class. You never know
who will be on the other side of the interview table when it’s time to
look for a job. And it doesn’t have to be this immediate job, it can
be the next one or the next one after that.
Knowing your Professors: Each of your professors have a wide
professional network in the industry you are trying to get into. Your
professors can provide good or even great references but it is all up
to you to show them, every time you’re in class, that you will be a
great asset to the organizations you are going to apply to after
school.
“Treat every time you’re school as if it’s an interview and you will be
successful.”
Dr. Robin Yap © 2017c

6. Get a mentor and a coach
An academic coach will assist you in adopting approaches by
employing a set of activities to increase your performance or
strengthen your capability from a specific set of behaviours and
attitudes.
A mentor has a more long-term focus and will not get into the
minutiae of the day-to-day. Your mentor will assist in widening your
views on your decision-making thinking and how your decisions
impact others and yourself.
Both are incredibly valuable for one’s professional development and
work best in tandem. There are academic coaches and mentors
provided by schools and also available as an external party. Just
make sure they have the right credentials and training before
embarking on a professional relationship with them.
Dr. Robin Yap © 2017c

7. Additional References
Too smart to fail
Guide to understanding the role of a mentor
Student success: Focus on learning not grades
Students need to focus on learning, not grades
Difference between academic coaching and tutoring
How coaching can impact teachers, principals and schools
4Tips for Post-College Graduation Success
Road to post-grad success