less is more

In planning school, as in life, less is more. (And, the inverse has some truth to it as well.)

My sense of grad school (and undergrad) is that faculty frequently develop highly refined appreciations for the literature in their respective fields. This has great merit and many profound applications. But, constructing a practical set of readings for a course syllabus is not among those applications.

Some faculty also have refined skills in winnowing down a reading list to something that is tailored to the needs of a novice scholar. But, more often then not, your first task in beginning each week's reading will be to read the first paragraph of each assigned reading and pick the *one* that you will read in its entirety. This will leave you some time to think about the material. Your thoughts about the material are going to be the most important part of grad school; don't short change your thinking time with reading marathons.

Also, write really short papers. No one likes a long paper ... even if it's got the secret to cold fusion in it. Write clear and *concise*. Take an expository writing course on the side if need be.