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The Graduate School
Experience
Eleni Stroulia
Ramya Raghavendra
Andrea Danyluk
Eleni’s 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 Research Associate with FAW, Ulm
(post PhD) Post Doc with CS Univ. of Alberta
Faculty with CS Univ. of Alberta
What I liked
What I didn’t like
Ramya’s 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 didn’t like
Andrea’s 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 NYNEX Science & Technology, 1990-04
(post PhD) Williams College, 1994-present
What I liked
What I didn’t like
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
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!
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
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!
Grad School Time Allocation
100%
90%
80%
70% Hurdle (Qual, Prop,
Dissert)
60% TA
50%
Research/RA
40%
Coursework
30%
20%
10%
0%
1st Yr 2nd Yr Later Final Yr
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
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
Cons and Fixes
• Grad school not my thing
– Try MS, branch off (management, law?)
• Don’t get along with advisor
– Change is always an option
• I could be working
– In hard times, skills are valued
• It’s too hard!
– Study groups, support groups
– Psychological help on most campuses
– Hard work and commitment can get you there
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
Opinions from the trenches
• Why did you do it?
• How was it?
• What happened in the end?
• What would you tell someone else?
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
How was it?
The good The not so good
• Conferences (especially • Finding a thesis topic is a
international) are fun challenge
• Putting words to paper is
• I got to meet people tough
• I learned a lot • Everyone else is smarter
• I had the best supervisor than me
• I saw the world • I could not make my
supervisor happy
• My personal life suffered
• I felt lost in a tunnel
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
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.
Eleni’s 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 Research Associate with FAW, Ulm
(post PhD) 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 didn’t like Insecurity (research quality, funding)
Ramya’s Story
Education B.E., CS, India, 2004
Why grad school? Wanted to work independently in challenging
roles, work on new problems
Jobs (Expecting to graduate this academic year)
(post PhD)
What I liked Making research contributions, advising students,
Traveling and meeting people
What I didn’t like Focus on publishing a lot
Andrea’s 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 NYNEX Science & Technology, 1990-04
(post PhD) Williams College, 1994-present
What I liked Immersing myself in a project.
Conferences: meeting new people/learning about
new ideas.
NYC!
What I didn’t like The feeling that there wasn’t a clear end point.
Where in the world is the
Questions? Discussion? students
University of Alberta?
Working with
Eleni’s family
CS Dept Hike
UCSB women in CS
GHC 07
