[OT] Graduate School

[Tuerny]

Greetings all. It looks like I am going to be heading to graduate school in about a years time and I have to ask a few questions for those of you who have gone through it.

How busy were you compared to persuing your undergraduate degree? Right now I can get away with being a slacker and actually have time to run a campaign. Will that continue on into graduate school?

What sort of advantages does going to graduate school have over just your undergraduate degree. I am aware that graduate degrees are required for some majors but what about those (like Computer Science) where they generally aren't?

Also whats up with the thesis? I know that to gain your Doctorate you have to add to the general body of research for your discipline, but what exactly do you need to do for a Master's Thesis? I have the option of taking a thesis or non-thesis option for graduate school and would like to make an informed choice.

 

[Xarlen]

Where you going? I'm just now wondering what state I should take my Grad in.

 

[Tuerny]

I am currently attending the University of Central Florida. I graduate in the Fall and want to start in the Spring. Currently I am leaning towards continuing at UCF because it has an excellent CS graduate program and is one of the most inexpensive graduate programs in the US.


Jesse Dean

 

[bolen]

I am just finishing my PhD this year. In Physics everyone gets either a TA (teaching assistantship) or RA (research assistantship). Usually a first year student would get a TA unless you know someone who wants you to work for them. You only take 9 hours (but those 9 hours keep you off the street.) There are 2 ways schools try and get rid of you. Some will almost give you a "B" for breathing in classes and give you very hard comprehensive exams the second is to make classes more rigorous but comps easier. Later after you pass your exams you will find someone to do research with.

Grad school is more like a job then it is like undergrad school. I find that professors tend to treat you more as a peer then a student.

Get ready to work hard if CS is like physics.

 

[gregweller]

I got my Master's degree in English Lit. at the University of Pittsburgh in the 70s. I wouldn't trade that time for anything in the world. One of the best things about it was being able to teach while I got the degree. In the English department, we were pretty much on our own as teaching assistants/fellows--no supervision at all. If you can get into a degree program that allows you to teach, definitely go for it. What I'm doing now doesn't really have anything to do with my degree, but I think that the degree program was important in that it allowed you to explore a subject in greater depth and it helped you in the process of thinking and *that* is just about the most important thing when you're in a constantly evolving job market. So go for it!

 

[Clear Dragon]

Hey bolen, what is your specialization? I am graduating with my bachelor's this coming spring and am planning on going into High Energy Particle Experiment. I am going to miss my current gaming friends, but look forward making new ones and still playing some wherever I end up going(isn't waiting for admission replys fun).

 

[Chun-tzu]

How busy were you compared to persuing your undergraduate degree?

What sort of advantages does going to graduate school have over just your undergraduate degree.

Also whats up with the thesis?

These answers will vary widely, depending on your field and your school. You're better off asking these questions to graduate students in the program that you're interested in. Before I started my program, I got a chance to meet current students and get the scoop from them.

Make sure you get an answer to your second question before signing up for any grad school. In a field like computer sciences, there may be better ways to spend your time, energy, and money than a Master's or Doctoral degree.

As far as my experience goes, I'm a doctoral student in clinical psychology (now completed all my classwork, working on my dissertation and heading off for internship in the fall). I'm not terribly busy compared to my undergrad years, but many of my peers are. Lots of grad students work part-time jobs, have kids to take care of, and have other stuff going on. Or maybe after 8+ years of postsecondary education, you just get so used to the school thing that you don't really know what it's like not to be in school.

For some (like me), grades became far less important once I hit grad school. A's are kind of pointless, since they won't really help me in any significant way. My interest is in developing my clinical skills, not my academic ones.

The thesis isn't as big a deal as it seems, in many cases. Choose something that's interesting to you, and something that's very do-able. The hardest part of the thesis is that in many cases, it's not really built into your schedule like classes and class assignments are. This leads many to become ABD ("all but dissertation", meaning they've finished all requirements for their degree except the dissertation), and you want to avoid that if at all possible.

 

[Acmite]

Well, you're a smart hero, so that's a good first start.

I'm working on my Masters degree right now in Geology. I'm not sure what the differences are between Canadian graduate studies and American graduate studies, but I think we're similar (unlike the British).

When I was accepted, I was guaranteed a set level of funding for my research. That basically meant I was guaranteed a certain amount of TA positions and a certain amount of RA positions over the course of my degree, plus scholarships. Every semester I either have a RA or a TA.

I'm in a research-based program, while one of my friends (and fellow EN Worlder) Cor Azer was (he basically finished today!!) in a course based program (Computer Science).

If you like working on the same project for long periods of time, go research. If you like taking a lot of courses, writing exams, and doing assignments, course based seems right for you.

Seriously, though. It's a big decision. You are probably more likely to get out in 2 years if you go course-based. Research has a way of dilating time--it will always take longer than you planned.

If you plan on continuing in Academia, you basically have to do research based. If you plan on going industry, I'd go course-based.

Do you like conferences? Do you like teaching? Do you like being published in high-caliber refereed journals? If so, reasearch and academia are the route.

Do you like money (with the risk of lower job security)? If so, course-based en route to industry.

I hope you get in to your first pick. The first peice of advice I was given, and it's a great one, was:

Talk to your potential supervisor and (more importantly) his current grad students.

It's the only way you are going to find out if you are going to get along with this guy (or gal) or if the next 2-3 years of your life are going to be absolutely frelling miserable.

Now, I just finished working on an abstract for a conference that's due tomorrow, so I'm pretty wiped, so I'm going to sleep now (it's been a few days now).

PS. I game more now than I ever have despite the fact that I'm busier than I ever was. Research-based grad students tend to be able to set their own schedule a lot, so I can game late if I want and make it up some other night.

PSS. Ya might want to get used to the idea of always working the weekends, though. Even if it's only 4 hours Sat and 4 hours Sun.

PSS(3) If you're not attached, keep in mind that some of the cute undergrads you'll be TAing are not legal yet--nothing good can come from dating your students. But, it happens all the time. (Not me, though. My girlfriend would skin me alive).

Acmite

 

[Mark]

Congrats Jesse!

I think your best bet is to make sure that your life outside of school is set in a well-scheduled routine (if possible.) That tends to be the biggest infringement on academic achievement due to its unpredictable nature. The closer you can get regular life to some sort of norm, the easier you will find dealing with your studies. Try your best to get your finances settled before beginning your program. Stopping and starting will frustrate you, so try to get it done in one straight shot. I have some friends who have been dragging out their graduate work out for a very long time (not by choice, but because of poor planning.) I even know of one friend who finished her classes but took nearly five years on her thesis. She's a bit of a perfectionist and admits she only made it harder on herself. Keep your eyes on the prize and try to make any major decisions that crop up along the way in terms of completing everything.

Good luck!

 

[Acmite]

Re: Re: [OT] Graduate School

These answers will vary widely, depending on your field and your school. You're better off asking these questions to graduate students in the program that you're interested in. Before I started my program, I got a chance to meet current students and get the scoop from them.

Definitely. From the grad students I know in Arts, I've learned that grad degrees in Arts and Science are vastly different. My experience has been very different from Chun-tzu.

The hardest part of the thesis is that in many cases, it's not really built into your schedule like classes and class assignments are. This leads many to become ABD ("all but dissertation", meaning they've finished all requirements for their degree except the dissertation), and you want to avoid that if at all possible.

I agree about the scheduling thing. It's definitely something I struggled with at the beginning. I think (in science) being ABD (as Chun-tzu put it) is the ideal place to be. It's where I am, and it's where I want to be. In fact, I have to TA this semester, and although it's the undergrad course in my area of expertise (one of them anyway, I've done the other once twice already), I can't help but think my time would be better spent working on my thesis 23/7 (I subtracted 7 hours for gaming ).

Research in science seems to require quite a bit of focus (I don't mean to imply other disciplines don't), especially if lab work is involved. Many of the courses you might take will not have a direct relation to your area of study, so serve to distract, not enhance. I'd imagine Chun-tzu was able to pull something relevant to his dissertation from all his classes. Many poeple in science aren't so lucky.

Now I really need to sleep. Please excuse the ubiquitous spelling mistakes.