Transcript Scheduling for today's systems

Applying for Grad School in CS*
Adam Wierman
> Caltech
*much of this was blatantly poached from Mor Harchol-Balter’s advice
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf
Outline
Do you really want a PhD?
The application process
Funding a PhD
Choosing the right program
What is a PhD?
A long, in depth research exploration of one topic
6 years!
Very different
from classes
by the end, you
are the world expert
on one narrow problem
Classes ≠ Research
You know the HWs
are solvable
No clue how hard
the problems are
You are given
well-defined problems
Picking the right
problem is half of
the difficulty
There’s always someone
to ask for help
You’re the expert!
Often work alone
External motivation
(grades, etc)
Purely internal motivation
Getting a PhD is hard
check out www.phdcomics. com
Life after a PhD?
Most PhDs either go to a research lab or become a professor
(if these don’t appeal to you, a PhD probably isn’t necessary)
your job is
-doing research (~50% self guided)
-company responsibilities
-travelling to conferences, etc
your life is
-research (100% self guided)
-applying for grants
-working with students
-teaching
-conferences, etc.
Should you get a PhD
- A PhD is not for everyone
- It requires ~6 years (opportunity cost is high)
- Don’t apply unless you’ve tried and enjoyed research
- It helps a lot if you like teaching
- You need to be a particular type of person (driven, …)
- You need to be sure you want it
- You need to be smart
 If you’re not sure, it’s a good idea to work for a few years
Outline
Do you really want a PhD?
The application process
Funding a PhD
Choosing the right program
A PhD application
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Transcript
GREs
Personal statement
Previous research experience (industry/academic)
Recommendation letters
Awards & extracurriculars
Grades are important
…but not too important
- Perfect grades with weak research won’t be enough
- Grad courses are only impressive if they lead to research
GREs
Top schools only check to make
sure they are “good enough”
 You should study 
(if you are planning to work for a year, take the test now)
The personal statement
…i.e. the research statement
A template:
1) Describe the general areas that interest you and why
2) Describe a project you’ve worked on
3) Describe a project you’ve worked on
4) Say why you want a PhD
5) Why do you want to be at school X
Don’t
- Regurgitate your grades
- Describe pre-college triumphs
Previous research experience
…you’re doing it now
Do SURFs
Do research during the year
Do research as part of classes
Do work with more than one faculty
Do research somewhere besides Caltech (try an REU)
Do submit a paper(s) to a conference/journal
 Remember that these advisors will be your recommenders
Recommendations
…the most important piece
Letter 1
“I highly recommend student X for your graduate program. Student X
received an A+ in my undergraduate algorithms class. He was ranked
Number 2 out of 100 students. He got the highest score on the final. He
worked very hard all semester, never missed a class, and was always able
to answer the questions that I asked in class. This conscientious attitude
makes him an excellent candidate for any graduate program. ”
Recommendations
…the most important piece
Letter 2
“I highly recommend student Y for your graduate program. Student Y
received a B in my undergraduate algorithms class. He was ranked
Number 29 out of 100 students. Halfway through the semester we started
working on network flows. Student Y seemed extremely excited by this
topic. He disappeared for 4 weeks and even missed an exam. However
when he came back, he showed me some work he had been doing on a
new network flow algorithm for high-degree graphs. He had done some
simulations and had some proofs. I’ve been working with student Y for the
past couple months since then and he is full of ideas for new algorithms. I
think student Y’s initiative makes him an excellent candidate for any
graduate program.”
Recommendations
…the most important piece
Of the four letters, a good candidate has
- 2-3 research advisor letters
- 1-2 teacher letters that say more than just DWIC
Asking for recommendations
Ask “do you feel comfortable writing me a strong letter”
Give each person a packet
- statement of purpose
- summary of each research project
- resume
- class listing with grades
- directions (including deadlines)
- confirmation information
 Send them a thank you afterwards
Awards & Extracurriculars
… provide a way to be memorable
A PhD application
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Transcript
GREs
Personal statement
Previous research experience (industry/academic)
Recommendation letters
Awards & extracurriculars
How many schools to apply to?
6-10, including some safeties
The rankings
1) MIT, Stanford, Berkely
4) CMU
5) Illinois
6) Cornell, Princeton, Washington
9) Georgia Tech, UT Austin
11) Caltech, Wisconsin-Madison
13) UCLA, Maryland, Michigan
16) Columbia, Harvard, UCSD,
19) Purdue
20) Brown, Duke, Rice, Umass-Amherst, UNC, Penn
Outline
Do you really want a PhD?
The application process
Funding a PhD
Choosing the right program
Funding a PhD
You get a “livable” stipend and tuition paid for you
Ideally, you just do research (and TA occasionally)
 This costs your advisor 60+k per year
Fellowships
…can make the difference
Applying for a fellowship
Same process as grad school applications
WARNING: Fellowship deadlines are before grad school deadlines
Some to check out:
- NSF graduate research fellowship
- NDSEG graduate fellowship
- Hertz fellowship
- National Physical Science Consortium (NPSC)
- NASA
- DOE
- Homeland Security
 If you don’t get them now, apply again your 1st & 2nd years
Outline
Do you really want a PhD?
The application process
Funding a PhD
Choosing the right program
Choosing the right program
You will get to visit each school you are accepted to
Most important
- Good rapport with your advisor
- Good atmosphere in the department
- Graduate students treated well (do students graduate)
Also pay attention to
- requirements for degree
- overall rank
- stipend
 Talk to faculty here about the decision
Applying for Grad School in CS*
Adam Wierman
> Caltech
*much of this was blatantly poached from Mor Harchol-Balter’s advice
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf