How To Survive As A CSD Graduate Student

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How To Survive As A CSD Graduate Student

• Seán Slattery

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Current Survival Rates
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Current Survival Rates
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Your Immediate Concerns

• Finding an advisor
• Doing some research
• Classes other requirements
• Writing/speaking/hacking
• TAing
• Staying sane

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Finding An Advisor Step 1

• Find faculty you might be interested in
• IC Talks
• Web pages
• Faculty Research Guide
• Suggestions from students other faculty

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Finding An Advisor Step 2

• Find out more about them
• Ask them for a meeting
• Talk to their students
• Talk to their ex-students
• Read some of their papers
• Maybe attend a project meeting

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Finding An Advisor Step 3

• Come to an agreement
• Tell them youd like to put them down as your 1st
  (2nd, 3rd) choice
• Verify that theyll ask for you too
• Fill out your marriage form accordingly

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Finding An Advisor Questions

• Questions to ask
• Availability does s/he have room for you?
• Commitment will s/he stand by you?
• Personalities will you get along?
• Research style can you do it that way?
• Research topics are you interested?
• Resources do you want travel and toys?

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Finding An Advisor Pitfalls

• Not getting the one you wanted
• Not getting along with the one you got
• Losing the one you got (they leave CMU)
• Reassurance you can change advisors, but
• Dont do it too many times (more than twice)
• Dont burn your bridges

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Finding An Advisor Variations

• Multiple advisors
• More benefits, more pitfalls
• Often one has the money, one has the time
• Maybe you want a non-CSD advisor
• Sometimes a tactful way to transition

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On Having an Advisor

• Like having a temporary parent
• Invested in you, responsible for you
• Sometimes that makes them act weird
• Communicate lots
• Tell them what youre doing
• Tell them how youre doing
• Tell them what you think you need

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More on Having an Advisor

• Advisors are human and flawed
• Often under lots of pressure
• Dont always have great social skills
• Often forget to give any positive feedback
• Can unintentionally seem rude or disapproving
• Coping advice
• When you can, dont take it personally
• When you cant, ask for reassurance

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Research The Early Years

• What youll (hopefully) get out of it
• Learn your own research style, and whether it
  meshes well enough with your advisors
• A publication or two
• Your hacking/writing/speaking requirements
• Doesnt need to lead straight to thesis work.

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Research Hows Your Ego?

• Undergraduate work
• Get given a task, complete it well, get praise
• Graduate work
• Find a problem you want to solve
• Get grudging support for working on it
• Have to justify why your work is worthwhile
• Do it because you want to

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Classes, Skills

• Classes
• May seem very hard or very easy
• Its not unusual to fail one, nor is it a big
  deal
• Always take more time than they should
• Speaking/writing/hacking requirements
• Still being debugged

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More Stuff

• TAing
• Always takes way more time that it should
• In general
• Take your advisors advice on scheduling

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Black Friday - How it works

• The faculty meet and discuss each student
• Key question
• Are you progressing and do the faculty believe
  you will finish eventually?
• Your advisor writes a letter giving you feedback
  and setting goals for next semester
• Jeanette signs the letter

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Black Friday What to do

• Make sure your advisor will be there, or has
  arranged for someone else to be
• Talk to your advisor about what theyll say
• Give your advisor information to work with
• Then, stop worrying
• Go back to your work
• Go to the Black Friday TG

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Staying Sane

• Dont get isolated
• spend time with people
• talk to people about your work
• Remember
• theres life after CMU
• theres life outside CMU
• you do this because you want to
• Work on something you love

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Staying Sane Maladies

• Imposter syndrome
• You think youve been successfully faking being
  good enough to be here, but one day youll fail
  and everyone will scorn you
• Is very, very common
• Best cure
• Talk to other students, admit feeling that way

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Staying Sane Maladies

• Spiraling perfectionism
• Your work is too trivial for anyone to care about
  and you freeze up
• Best cure
• Read papers, go to talks, go to conferences,
  recalibrate

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Staying Sane Maladies

• Trouble and panic
• Failed exam or course
• Research stalls or doesnt pan out
• Fight with advisor
• Best Cure
• Remember it happens to everyone sometime
• Remember help is available

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Resources

• Sharon (busy, but wise)
• The Ombudsperson (Shawn Butler)
• Your advisor
• Other students
• The CMU counseling center
• The Zephyr anonymoose (see the FZQ)