• See the graduate director on a regular basis.
• Take the core courses during your first year.
• Make "normal progress" toward your degree.
  • Maintain at least a B average.
  • Avoid incompletes-finish every course.
  • Take enough hours to complete the degree in a timely fashion.
• Take advantage of departmental opportunities:
  • Apply for TA Assistantship.
  • All TAs are eligible for assistance to attend conventions.
  • Find a mentor-a faculty member who can help guide you through the program.
  • Get involved in the departmental brown-bag lunches and other seminars by visiting scholars.
• Get to know other students. Remember, if you are not having fun, you are doing something wrong.

How to Write Winning Proposals: Advice From All Over

Social Science Research Council, On the Art of Writing Proposals

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Tips for Writing a Successful Grant Proposal

Chris Blattman, PhD Students: Writing an NSF application

Columbia University, Writing a Grant Proposal: Writing Tips and Application Forms

P. E. Bourne and L.M. Chalupa, Ten Simple Rules for Getting Grants