Abstract Education is crucial to the development of the human civilization and the progress of an individual in modern society. This paper discusses how a person can prepare for academic success at the graduate level. It begins by highlighting the characteristics of graduate writing and how they differ from other writings. It then discusses the elements of effective written communication. The paper also addresses the issue of plagiarism, which can have deleterious effects on graduate studies. It reveals how a student can avoid plagiarism. The paper concludes by highlighting best practices that can be adopted by graduate students to help them effectively manage their time. Education plays a crucial role in the development of the society and the progress of an individual. Through academic success, a person is able to make a greater contribution to his community and attain social and economic benefits for himself/herself. The benefits of education increase as one attains even higher levels of education. With this understanding, individuals who are committed to enhancing their careers and making a contribution in their areas of specialty study at a graduate level. This level of higher education is challenging and one needs to be adequately prepared in order to achieve success. To achieve academic success, one needs to understand the features of graduate writing and how to avoid plagiarism. The graduate level candidate should also possess time management skills and effective methods for coping with the stresses associated with graduate school. A key component of graduate school is graduate writing. Every graduate student is expected to write numerous papers before the course is completed. These papers range from simple reports to complex dissertations. In order to achieve academic success, the student should be aware of the characteristics of graduate level writing and especially how they differ from other forms of writing. A significant characteristic of graduate writing is that it emphasizes on analysis as opposed to reporting. Castello and Donahue (2012) state that the graduate student is expected to synthesize the information learnt and provide a critical analysis of the issue. This analysis should provide a personal perspective by using the theories learnt in class. The graduate student is expected to come up with original arguments that are well-supported by theories and facts learnt in class and from reliable sources. This differs considerably from other forms of writing where the student only reports on the topic given. For example, most undergraduate papers do not require students to come up with original arguments, but rather to show that they understand the subject matter. Another characteristic of graduate writing is that it relies heavily on the works of noted authorities in the field for references. The works of such authorities contain original research and are published by reputable journals (Castello & Donahue, 2012). Other forms of writing do not emphasis on the use of scholarly sources for references. Non-graduate students are able to use sources without engaging in a thorough investigation of the academic credentials of the authors. Considering the importance of written communication in graduate studies, it