The%20Graduate%20School%20Experience

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The Graduate School Experience

• Eleni Stroulia
• Ramya Raghavendra
• Andrea Danyluk

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Elenis Story
Education B.Eng. - University of Patras (Greece) 1989 M.Sc., Ph.D. - College of Computing, Georgia Inst. Of Technology 1992, 1994
Why grad school? Liked (and was good at) studying Wanted to leave Greece
Jobs (post PhD) Research Associate with FAW, Ulm Post Doc with CS Univ. of Alberta Faculty with CS Univ. of Alberta
What I liked
What I didnt like
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Ramyas Story
Education B.E., CS, India, 2004
Why grad school? Wanted to work independently in challenging roles, work on new problems
Jobs (post PhD)
What I liked
What I didnt like
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Andreas Story
Education B.A., Math/CS, Vassar College, 1984 M.S., CS, Columbia University, 1986 Ph.D., CS, Columbia University, 1992
Why grad school? Wanted independence, creativity Ability to set my own work agenda
Jobs (post PhD) NYNEX Science Technology, 1990-04 Williams College, 1994-present
What I liked
What I didnt like
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Grad School Basics

• MS
• 8 -12 courses (mix of grad and undergrad)
• Exam/project/thesis
• PhD
• 8-12 courses
• Candidacy exam (oral or written)
• Proposal and/or Defense

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So Much More

• Depth vs. breadth
• Professors (and grad students) are cool! ?
• Soft skills
• Working on open ended projects and teams
• Writing and speaking
• Critiquing
• Fun classes golf, foreign language, wine
  tasting, sailing!

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What does it take?

• Courses
• Good news Fewer assignments than undergrad
• Read research papers
• Work on a quarter/semester long project
• Research
• Start with senior grad students/post docs
• Ideas brainstorm with advisor, lab mates,
  papers, conferences

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A typical day in the life

• Classes
• Taking courses in the beginning
• Teaching as a TA
• Research Work
• Read papers
• Meet with advisor, colleagues
• Implement, evaluate, write
• Talks/Seminars
• Service
• Review papers
• (Help) Write proposals
• Have fun!

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Grad School Time Allocation
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But wait.How do I earn a living?

• As a Ph.D. student
• Tuition waivers
• Fellowship
• Research Assistant (RA)
• Teaching Assistant (TA)
• Additional teaching opportunities
• Summer research opportunities
• As a Masters student
• Job pays for the degree
• Possible RA or TA positions

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Why Grad School? (Pros)

• Want more than a coding/entry level job
• Work gets less interesting over time
• Learn more skills, diversify
• Is research for me?
• Full of ideas and want freedom to work
• Innovator Want to do a startup
• Professor Teaching and Research

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Cons and Fixes

• Grad school not my thing
• Try MS, branch off (management, law?)
• Dont get along with advisor
• Change is always an option
• I could be working
• In hard times, skills are valued
• Its too hard!
• Study groups, support groups
• Psychological help on most campuses
• Hard work and commitment can get you there

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And after grad school?

• Industry
• Startups
• Product groups dev, QA, manager
• Collaborate with Research
• Consultation, entertainment, biotech, law
• Research Labs
• Teaching (non tenure)
• Tenure track faculty

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Opinions from the trenches

• Why did you do it?
• How was it?
• What happened in the end?
• What would you tell someone else?

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Why did you do it?

• I wanted to teach
• I was tired of doing the same thing everyday... I
  felt like my brain was shrinking
• I wanted to work on something challenging with
  smart people
• I did not want to stay in Greece and get a REAL
  job?

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How was it?
The good
The not so good

• Finding a thesis topic is a challenge
• Putting words to paper is tough
• Everyone else is smarter than me
• I could not make my supervisor happy
• My personal life suffered
• I felt lost in a tunnel

• Conferences (especially international) are fun
• I got to meet people
• I learned a lot
• I had the best supervisor
• I saw the world

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What happened in the end?

• Money is not that good
• I want to help people with my knowledge
• I have the best job in the world, even though it
  is nothing like I thought it would be
• Challenging
• Flexible

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What advice would you give?

• You have to practice independence
• You are responsible for your progress and career
• If you can go with your guts and don't fear
  failure because you can always start again, then
  do it
• Maybe grad school is or is not for you, I don't
  know... but you will regret if you don't give it
  a chance.

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Elenis Story
Education B.Eng. - University of Patras (Greece) 1989 M.Sc., Ph.D. - College of Computing, Georgia Inst. Of Technology 1992, 1994
Why grad school? Liked (and was good at) studying Wanted to leave Greece
Jobs (post PhD) Research Associate with FAW, Ulm Post Doc with CS Univ. of Alberta Faculty with CS Univ. of Alberta
What I liked Independence choosing the questions The competition it is invigorating (and stressful) People fellow students, mentors Traveling Atlanta
What I didnt like Insecurity (research quality, funding)
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Ramyas Story
Education B.E., CS, India, 2004
Why grad school? Wanted to work independently in challenging roles, work on new problems
Jobs (post PhD) (Expecting to graduate this academic year)
What I liked Making research contributions, advising students, Traveling and meeting people
What I didnt like Focus on publishing a lot
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Andreas Story
Education B.A., Math/CS, Vassar College, 1984 M.S., CS, Columbia University, 1986 Ph.D., CS, Columbia University, 1992
Why grad school? Wanted independence, creativity Ability to set my own work agenda
Jobs (post PhD) NYNEX Science Technology, 1990-04 Williams College, 1994-present
What I liked Immersing myself in a project. Conferences meeting new people/learning about new ideas. NYC!
What I didnt like The feeling that there wasnt a clear end point.
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Questions? Discussion?
UCSB women in CS