Graduate Track - Graduate School Survival Skills
From Anita Borg Institute Wiki
Grad school is a very personal experience.
Getting your phd is like your intellectual adolescence (as you fought your parent when you were a teenager, so will you with your supervisor).
Why do you want to get in Grad School?
- You can’t get what you want, unless you know what it is. You need to figure out how you’re going to learn that:
(a) Meetings with your supervisor are not enough.
(b) Lab meetings: where you meet other people in your university.
(c) Classes: not as important as in undergrads.
(d) Going to talks: people come to the university to talk about whatever; go and see what’s happening.
(e) Reading papers: practice makes perfect; read anyway.
- If you came to get a job when you’re done
(a) Figure out which job you really want: do internships; teach.
(b) Find out how to get the skills you need: research, writing (very important in research; how to do it; do you like it?), public speaking.
- What if you’re not getting what you came for
(a) The most important thing is to realize that his is sadly fairly common.
(b) See if you can figure out how to change what’s bothering you. Some common ones: advisor problems, you hate your research, you the your group.
(c) The biggest thing: find someone to talk to.
- The 3 most important people in your graduate school career, they must exist. You need a support line.
(a) Surely, your grad advisor is on your list? For better or for worse, your advisor holds the key to the next step in your career. If you are getting a PhD, you’ll be forever linked to your advisor. That’s why choosing your advisor is a life changing decision.
(b) Surely, you are on your list? You are important. You are to be respected and valued. The way people treat you is a function of how you expect to be treated. You have the most to gain and lose in your grad school career.
- What to do when you run into trouble?
(a) Don’t ignore it. The problem will only get bigger; early detection is the key.
(b) Summarize the facts of the issue (not only hearsay, and she says/he says; specific things that are really problems; get away from the emotional terminology). Discuss the facts with a trusted friend; develop a plan of action.
(c) Consider the following source of help: Your grad advisor – if they are not the issue; Women groups in Computer Science and Engineering; Professors you have taken a class with and had a good rapport; A trusted resource from your undergrad institution.
- Grad school isn’t all work. You must find time to play.
- Grad school is different from undergrad. As an undergrad, you know what to do and when. First year is the same for everybody, and so are the following ones. Grad school is totally different, more exciting and challenging.
Rachel Pottinger: Presentation Slides
