A person find that grad school, where a good chunk of the course load is self-regulating work, research, or study, requires a lot more initiative and individual responsibility than ever before. This is one area where being more mature might give a person a benefit over students who have just left undergrad school. Knowing that one must stay on top of their classes, assignments, course requirements and graduation requirements is a key. It is also very important to realize that it is up to the individual to look for and seize occasions to network, have hands-on experiences, publish or otherwise go beyond what is required on the syllabus (Danesco, 2009). Many problems can be avoided by doing some advance planning. It helps to have a good idea of what one wants to specialize in, and preferably a couple of particular research projects that they might like to work on. It is often that graduate students change their minds about research projects and even specialization fields after they start school (desJardins, 2010).

For many new graduate students, graduate school is different from anything else they've ever done. At times it's hard to know exactly what it is that one is supposed to be learning. Graduate school is usually a much unstructured atmosphere in most cases. Graduate students characteristically take nine hours or less of coursework per semester, especially after the second year. The third year is when most coursework has been completed and preliminary exams have been completed. This is when a student is supposed to find a thesis topic. Once one is found, they can expect two or more years until completion, with very few landmarks or milestones in sight (desJardins, 2010).

Graduate school is often compared to an apprenticeship...

The instructions are at best unfinished and even the masters themselves don't know exactly how to build next year's models. Being successful includes having good skills in: initiative, flexibility, interpersonal skills, organizational skills and communication skills (Azuma, 1999). Graduate school can be a very rewarding time but can also be very stressful too. It is very important that a student do as much planning as possible before undertaking such an endeavor. The more planning that is done before school starts the fewer surprises there are likely to be and the more success one will have.
References

Azuma, Ronald T. (1999). Excellent advice about graduate school life. Retrieved April 2, 2010,

http://www.cs.virginia.edu/helpnet/Being_Grad_Stud/grad_school_CS.html

Danesco, B. (2009). How To Address the Challenges of Returning to Graduate School. Retrieved April 2, 2010, from How to do things Web site:

http://www.howtodothings.com/education/a3473-how-to-address-the-challenges-of-returning-to-graduate-school.html

desJardins, Marie. (2010). How to Succeed in Graduate School: A Guide for Students and Advisors. Retrieved April 2, 2010, from Crossroads Web site:

http://www.acm.org/crossroads/xrds1-2/advice1.html

Kramer, Linda Weston. (2007). A Personal Reflection: Graduate Study Challenges and Strategies for Success. Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing. 26(4), p. 158 -- 159.

Strategies for Success -- Factors. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2010, from Web site:

http://www.etsmtl.ca/zone2/administration/decanats/formation/etudsup_eng/strategies/su ccess_factors.html