10 ways to succeed 10 ways to fail in Graduate School CRA-W Grad Cohort Workshop

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10 ways to succeed 10 ways to failin
Graduate SchoolCRA-W Grad Cohort Workshop

• Rachel Pottinger, University of British Columbia
• Kathryn McKinley, University of Texas at Austin

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About Rachel Pottinger

• Exploring options Computer science
  Great teacher
• Exploring options Undergraduate
  research
  Internship at Microsoft
• Fantastic man Marry Steve
  2000
• Great research U. of
  WashingtonSupportive envir. PhD
  in 2004
• Great research Asst. Prof at
  Fantastic people U. of British
  ColumbiaTwo-body problem 2004

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About Kathryn McKinley
Love math Computer Science
Love boys UG Research Summer
Marry Scotty 1985
Love research Rice PHd 1992
France Post Doc, Ecole des Mines
Asst Prof UMass 1993
Tenure 1999
Move to UT Austin 01
Full Prof 05
Love boys Cooper 1995
Dylan 1998 Wyatt 2001


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10 Ways to Fail10 Ways to Succeed
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Way to fail 1 Compete ruthlessly with other
students

• You cant get ahead by helping others
• The really smart people dont need to work
  together
• I can work harder than everyone else
• Corollary constantly compare yourself to others
• Corollary the fastest way out is the best

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Way to succeed 1Work better, not longer

• Form study groups
• Form support groups
• Talk research with students in your research
  group
• Dont equate long hours with good work or high
  productivity
• Have a life outside of graduate school

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Way to fail 2Never ask for help

• Never ask for clarification if something doesnt
  make sense
• Never talk to other people when youre having
  problems
• Never ask people for their insight on similar
  problems

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Way to succeed 2Believe in your own strengths

• The imposter syndrome may tell you that everyone
  belongs here except you
• Everyone is figuring out graduate school, not
  just you
• Research skills and good grades skills are not
  the same
• Youre not in grad school by a fluke

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Way to fail 3Constantly fight the system

• Your advisor will change if you just try hard
  enough
• You can single-handedly make everything better
  for all students

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Way to succeed 3Tailor goals/experience to you

• Why are you in graduate school?
• What do you want out of graduate school?
• How can you get it?
• Accommodate your goals to your progress

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Way to fail 4Avoid your advisor

• You dont need an advisor
• Your advisor may know you havent gotten anything
  done
• Your advisor doesnt want to meet with you anyway
• Corollary Avoid all faculty

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Way to succeed 4Know when to hold them, Know
when to fold them

• Many people prefer to stick with a project or
  advisor because you have so much invested in them
• Do consider those investments
• But the costs of staying with an advisor or
  project that arent working may be higher than
  new investment costs

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Way to fail 5Fixate on grades

• Dont do research because it takes away from your
  grades
• Think youre no good because your grades are bad

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Way to succeed 5Do an internship

• Get a new view on research
• Learn about working in industry
• Work with new people
• Meet students from other universities
• At the very least work with more than one person
  during your career

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Way to fail 6Never write anything down

• You can keep everything in your head
• You dont have to write anything until your thesis

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Way to succeed 6Research journal and/or wiki

• Research consists of many steps
• Those steps are easy to forget
• Research journal shows you what youve
  accomplished
• A research journal shows your advisor what youve
  accomplished
• Online journal -- shared with your advisor
• wiki with your meeting notes, experiments,
  related work, ideas, etc.

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Way to fail 7Never go on vacation

• The more hours you work, the better youll do
• Going on vacation means youll fall behind

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Way to succeed 7 Celebrate accomplishments

• Write it down in your research journal
• Tell people about it
• Eat a piece of chocolate
• Do something for fun
• Take a vacation!

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Way to fail 8Never show initiative

• Let your advisor choose your research topic
• Never ask yourself why youre doing what your
  doing
• Never read research papers not selected by your
  advisor

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Way to succeed 8Good time management

• E-mail, work, and personal
• Work when you are effective
• Stephen Covey The 7 Habits of Highly Effective
  People

High
Urgency
Low
High
Importance
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Way to fail 9Believe research is write-only

• Never practice your talks
• Never rewrite your papers
• Never debug
• Corollary never read over other peoples papers
  or attend their practice talks

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Way to succeed 9Pursuing research problems

• Have a big picture
• Bite off what you can chew
• Quantify it
• Read the literature
• How far is the literature from the best?
• How can you improve on it?
• Choose an idea that you can make work
• quickly, well, and/or both
• prototype - do it the fastest way, then make it
  perfect

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Way to fail 10Ignore all non-thesis research

• Only go to group meetings when forced
• Never go to talks outside your area
• Never talk to people in other areas about
  research
• Never take seminars or classes outside your area

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Way to succeed 10Network

• With your fellow students
• With the professors
• With your broader community
• With people who visit your institution
• Attend conferences
• Meet someone new today!

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AcknowledgementsThanks!

• U. of Texas Speedway research group
• Lindsay Michimoto (U. of Washington graduate
  advisor)
• Steve Wolfman