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The Search
There is so much to consider if you are deciding to pursue a doctoral degree. Did you know that a Ph.D. are more about contributing to the research and an Ed.D is more about putting what you know into practice? Do you already have some schools in mind? Are you going to relocate or stay in your area? Is the program you are interested in reputable and does it have the right accreditation? Does your program of interest provide financial support?
To begin your search, I suggest checking out U.S. News and World Report and fully funded doctoral degree programs.
Also, be sure to research the faculty and what they have published to determine how their research interests align with your own.
Requirements
What are the requirements? Well, that depends on your area of study. You may need to take the GMAT, the GRE, or something else. There are lots of apps and online resources to help you prepare. Download some free apps to practice the verbal and quantitative sections. I used GRE Daily Vocabulary and a GRE quant app. The quant app I used is no longer available, but Magoosh seems promising. Companies also offer practice tests.
Community
Also, you will want to join communites of learning, practice and inquiry. Get to know your peers, both in person and online. Try to find someone to be accountable to. Bounce ideas off each other. Inform each other of your progress.
Writing
How’s your writing? You may not think of yourself as a writer. But you are a writer. You are going to be a much better writer by the time you complete your degree. A large part of any doctoral program is learning about, thinking about, and improving your scholarly writing. Become acquainted with the writing resource department at your school. Do online writing research. Read books about writing, and set aside some time each day to write whether you are in the mood or not. For example, promise yourself you will commit to at least fifteen minutes to an hour each day. Be humble, admit when you need help and when you don’t know. Everyone is there to learn. Also, install grammarly.
Dissertation v. Thesis v. Capstone
Thesis v. Journal Article
Organization
Things will go much smoother for you if stay organized. Your program may include access to reference management software, such as Ref Works, or you can use your own. But don’t just save the citations. Upload highlighted/annotated articles into the software.
Decide what you can listen to instead of read so you can multitask. Buy the audio versions when possible. Use programs to read to you. My favorite is Microsoft Edge Read Aloud. If you open books or pdfs in Microsoft Edge and press Ctrl + Shift + U Microsoft Edge will read them to you. I like that it highlights what it is reading and is fairly good at enunciation. It also helps me focus when I feel distracted, when I am in a loud environment, or just want to rest my eyes.
Presenting
For something a little more creative than Google Slides, check out Canva.
Research
Some colleges allow alumni to access research databases for free or for a fee. Some do not provide alumni access.
There are multiple programs available to organize and store research articles. These include Endnote, RefWorks, Mendeley and Zotero. Your school may or may not pay for your subscription, and it may or may not end after you graduate. Most of these tools are affordable though. UIC has a useful citation management tool comparison guide.
The best “new” way to do research is to use Scopus. It traces an idea back to the seminal work. You can see the way a theory of idea evolved over the years. Check with your university to see if it is a part of your research package.
Publishing
Getting published is something that is still a work in progress for me. But when I do publish as the main author, I’m framing it.