You might think the title for this article is a joke — after all, who has time to read extraneous writings during grad school? But, you might be glad that you glanced through this list of the top 50 blogs every graduate student should read, and to bookmark a few of them for your sanity, for tools to help you study and stay tech-savvy, and for financial reasons. If nothing else, read Dr. Stearns’ modest advice to grad students and take it from there.
Grad Life Support
Adventures in Gradland: This blog is all about grad student life in all its “goofy glory–getting that dissertation written, making ends meet month to month, dealing with departmental politics, and learning how to use words like ‘hegemonic discourse’ with authority.”- GradShare: This blog is part of a community for graduate-level students to ask questions and to get expert advice.
- Graduate School: This About.com guide can help you decide whether or not to attend graduate school, what to expect and how to survive once you’ve enrolled.
- MakeUseOf: A great daily blog that features cool Web sites, computer tips, and downloads that make you more productive.
- PhDNet Blog – Your Online Graduate Student Community: A graduate school blog that offers advice for grad students.
- The College Puzzle: A college success blog by Dr. Michael W. Kirst at Stanford University.
- The Education Optimists: Learn about the power of society, schools, colleges and educators to empower individuals, further learning, and reduce inequities.
- Unclutterer: This is the adult’s blog for getting and staying organized.
- Zen Habits: Zen Habits is about clearing the clutter so you can focus on what’s important.
Specific Graduate Studies
AMS Graduate Student Blog: This is a blog for and by math grad students.- Benchfly: BenchFly was founded with a single desire: To increase the pace of scientific discovery. Although it is targeted at a scientific audience, the content covers a variety of topics relevant to general grad school life.
- Blog Them Out of the Stone Age: Winner of a few blogging awards over the years, Mark Grimsley, a professor of history at The Ohio State University, is a “sustained critic of academic military history.”
- Chemistry Grad Students & Postdocs Blog: Various grad students blog about their student experiences, so this blog is for more than chemistry majors.
- GPIA/Milano Grad School Blog: This blog’s four contributors come from GPIA (Graduate Program in International Affairs), Nonprofit Management, Organizational Change Management, and Urban Policy Analysis and Management.
- Greg Mankiw’s Blog: Mankiw is a professor of economics at Harvard University, where he teaches introductory economics (ec 10) among other courses.
- IIT JEE Physics: This blog is a platform of Physics for Engineering & Medical entrance examination like IITJEE, AIEEE, CBSE.
- MudPhudder: This blog may prove interesting to biological graduate students, medical students or anyone who is in academic medicine or biological research.
- NASSR Graduate Student Caucus Blog: Use this resource blog, designed for graduate students studying Romanticism.
- Poetry @ Princeton: This blog provides a clearinghouse for information about campus poetry events, and to provoke discussion, collaboration and general excitement about poetry through the “poem of the month” blog.
- Ramblings of a Graduate Student: This PhD student in the School of Meteorology (SoM) at the University of Oklahoma (OU) offers a detailed view of his weather so you can understand yours.
- Social Science Statistics Blog: This blog makes public the hallway conversations about social science statistical methods and analysis from the Institute for Quantitative Social Science and related research groups.
- UNL Political Science Graduate Student Blog: The University of Nebraska/Lincoln provides a resource for political science students located anywhere.
- Wharton MBA for Executives: A grad student writes about what it’s like to prepare and experience the Wharton West MBA for Executives program in the United States.
Grad Study Tools
Academic Commons: Academic Commons is a community of faculty, academic technologists, librarians, administrators, and other academic professionals interested in creative uses of new technology.- GearFire: Gearfire is a student productivity and organization blog, bringing you tips for academic success.
- Google Student Blog: This blog shows students how to get the most out of Google’s study tools.
- HackCollege: HackCollege is educating the students of the world about effective, open source software, putting techno-political arguments in everyday language, and creating a cult of “Students 2.0.”
- Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog: News and views about philosophy, the academic profession, academic freedom, intellectual culture…and a bit of poetry.
- ProfHacker: Although geared toward professors, this blog delivers tips, tutorials, and commentary on pedagogy, productivity, and technology in higher education.
- ProtoScholar: A “40-something” PhD student in education policy shares tips on productivity and on navigating the academic world.
- Stepcase Lifehack: Lifehacks describes any hacks, tips and tricks that get things done quickly by automating, increase productivity and organizing.
- Student Hacks: The purpose of this site is to provide you with the best online research tools, articles, and advice for succeeding in school.
- Study Hacks: The Study Hacks blog explores strategies for building a life that’s accomplished and engaging, but also relaxed and enjoyable to live.
Writing and Rhetoric
Dissertation Diva: You may only be writing a thesis, but it may feel like a dissertation. This blog can help with dozens of tips and plenty of resources.- Dissertation Research: This blog is about research, resources, reference, online expertise, writing and skill to support students in the fulfillment of their educational goals.
- Fragment/Framework: The purpose of this blog is to explore approaches to teaching composition and to richly and interactively reflect on the ideas, theories, and practices that shape rhetoric and composition studies.
- Kairosnews: Here you can see some of the first public discussions among rhetoricians about the scholarly value of academic blogging and other work with technology, as well as issues of intellectual property, copyright, and open source software as they relate to composition studies.
- Perfect Essay: This blog’s focus is on essays, from methodology to organization and conclusions.
- The Creative Writing MFA: A forum for applicants to graduate creative writing programs, but a great place to learn how to write professionally for any grad student.
- The Thesis Whisperer: The Thesis Whisperer is a ‘newspaper’ dedicated to the topic of doing a thesis.
- To Do: Dissertation: The goal of this blog is to talk realistically about practical steps that dissertation writers can take to finish their writing and take satisfaction and pride in their process and final product.
- WRT: Writer Response Theory: This is a blogging collective dedicated to the discussion and exploration of digital character art.
Work and Money
Broke Grad: This student has graduated from grad school, and now is paying back $22,000 in student loans by making money online.- Get Rich Slowly: This blog has to be one of the most down-to-earth personal finance blogs out there. Topics include grad school, post-grad and money juggling.
- Gradspot: This is the premier online destination for life after college for both undergrads and graduate students.
- Graduate Student Grant/Fellowship Blog: Although maintained for students at Division of the Humanities at the University of Chicago, this blog provides some great leads and links to sites you may have missed.
- Stay Out of School: This blog advocates critical thinking, creativity and teaching both in and out of the classroom.
- Student Branding Blog: The Student Branding Blog is the #1 resource for career and personal branding advice for high school, college and graduate students.
- Student Loan Network: Student Loan Network educates students on the best federal and alternative student loans and loan consolidation.
- TheMadGrad: This site focuses on the city of San Francisco, but also includes some general tips that can be used anywhere to find a job after grad school.
Did you enjoy this article?
