Because of this, I’ve been thinking about what I wish I knew when I was in their shoes, and I wanted to write some of it down, in case it’s helpful to anyone else.
So, here’s some advice from pre-PhD me, which mostly echoes advice I’ve gotten from people much smarter than me.
As the TA coordinator, I read hundreds of applications for our TA program.
A common mistake I saw is when people don’t address the prompt. Have a concrete goal, and talk about how the things you’ve done prepare you to achieve that goal!
Undergrads in particular like to tell stories in their applications, e.g. about the time they were enthralled by Dijkstra’s algorithm.
Adrian Sampson has a very good post about SOPs. In it, he touches on the overall sentiment I have about these stories:
Resist the temptation to open with a cute anecdote. To the extent they convey anything, little personal stories like this mainly serve to illustrate your enthusiasm— but everyone applying to CS PhD programs is enthusiastic about CS (I hope). Spend the space instead showing off your experience, interests, and expertise, which are what make you unique.
Know people. Find people who are doing what you want to do, and ask them how they got there. And then, know more people.
I never believed in networking, but it’s truly so critical to getting opportunities. The best part is, once your foot’s in the door, making the next connection and getting the next opportunity is so much easier.
What does networking look like? A lot of times, it’s as simple as finding time to chat and asking questions.
Here’s what Justine Sherry had to say about this in a document of advice to prospective grad students at UW:
It turns out that people go into professorships in some part because they like giving advice to students, and furthermore, when you tell them you want to go to grad school, you are telling them implicitly that you aspire to be like them. So they will talk a lot, and have tons of things to say. All you really need are two or three questions, and you will get like an hour’s worth of advice, almost all of which will be completely useful and interesting, I swear.
Mostly the same story as above.
If you’re at UW and you want to get into PLSE, come to lunch and come to reading group. That’s a great way of getting to know people.
If you’re looking for more fine-grained advice on getting into research, see some advice very talented, very smart friend Vishal Canumalla wrote here.
Probably > 3.0, maybe 3.5? I find in general that people really overestimate the importance of GPA. The connections you make and the work you do speak so much more than how well you did in a class!
Here’s what my 311 instructor, Robbie Weber, said one day in class, and I think it’s worth repeating:
Grades were critical in your lives up until now. If you were in high school, they’re critical for getting into college. If you were at UW applying to CSE, they were key to that application. Regardless of where you’re going next, what you learn […] matters FAR more than [your grades]. If you’re planning on industry – interviews matter more than grades. If you’re planning on grad school – letters matter most, those are based on doing work outside of class building off what you learned.
I think it goes without saying that you shouldn’t bomb your classes, but don’t sweat the small stuff –I think the difference between a 3.5 and a 3.7 is pretty negligible to most sane people.
Most of the time, bombing occurs in classes with exams; I haven’t seen it happen as often in classes with projects. So, for exams:
Andrew Loveless has a great guide to success in UW’s intro calc series. In it, he says:
Yes. Never self-select.
I think there are two fundamentally different approaches to decision making in general, and Zach has a great way of describing them. If you envision decision making like trying to hit a target, there are two ways to go about it:
The sniper approach: Out of several targets, carefully consider which one you want to hit. Then, aim carefully and take your shot.
Another approach: Step 1: Shoot the gun. Step 2: Find where the bullet landed. Step 3: Draw a target around the bullet.
If you’re ever unsure, just shoot the gun.
I know earlier I said to not be cynical, but picking a PhD advisor is a great time for cynicism. You’re going to be working with this person for the next 5-6 years, and it’s better to know earlier if that person is an asshole.
Talk to their students. It’s okay to literally ask them what they hate about their advisor (maybe not as bluntly). Trust your gut. Don’t go to fishy places, and don’t work with fishy people.
See my friend James Yoo’s blog post for better advice on navigating visit days.
No.
]]>For the past few years, I’ve had the enormous pleasure of being roommates with Allen, who truthfully is one of my favorite people in the world.
Allen and I have many things in common – for example, we both work way too hard and collectively suffer from impostor syndrome and TikTok brainrot. It’s made for a special living situation, and I’m really grateful for it.
I’ll be moving out of our apartment to go to grad school in a few months. One of the things he’s been mentioning here and there is that he’ll miss my cooking (hopefully as much as I’ll miss him), so I’ve decided to compile a list of overworked, quick college recipes that I’ve made over the years.
I don’t think these are particularly good, but they’re easy to make and I’d like to have a place to document them.
This is a work in progress.
Good for people that have trouble eating vegetables.
Really, anything you want. I usually use:
Queue up Bluey episode. Cook rice. Cut veggies.
In the pot where the soup will come together, start sautéeing like half a white onion. Throw some garlic in there as well. This is typically when Allen comes out of the room and says “that smells divine,” and “can I have some?”. Of course you can, Allen.
Once the aromatics are fragrant, put in the bulky veggies like daikon and kabocha. Make sure to stir everything so the onions don’t burn on the bottom. Season with salt, white pepper, soy sauce, oyster sauce, etc. My friend Thia wants me to tell you to add an order of magnitude more salt than you think you’ll need.
Once stuff is “done” then add in chicken stock to cover veggies. Add like 2 slices of ginger and some shaoxing cooking wine.
Once that’s “done” then you’re going to want to add boiling water. Now, add your leafy veggies in. Bring to boil.
Upon boil for a while - taste now. Add salt, chicken bouillon, soy sauce, a splash of dark soy sauce, MSG, to taste. Lower heat to simmer.
Add in your pork belly and tofu skin. Cook until pork is done. It takes less time than you think. You can also add frozen dumplings. If you didn’t make rice, you can add noodles here.
Serve with rice. Garnish with green onions, sesame oil, chili oil, seaweed, basically anything you want.
Quintessential comfort food. Very hard to mess up, which I also like.
Everyone’s got their own spin on this – here’s mine, which I basically stole from this TikTok.
What’s awesome about this recipe is that it’s really easy to make in conjunction with other dishes; once everything’s cut, you can basically just leave it on the stove and forget about it.
Queue up Hell’s Kitchen. Cook rice well in advance so that stuff finishes at the same time.
Cut stuff – cube tomatoes and chop green onions and garlic.
Heat up some oil in a pan, and add the white parts of the green onions and your garlic. It is gonna smell really good. Then, once your garlic’s fragrant and got some more color, add a scoop of chili crisp.
At some point, the ancestors will tell you to add your tomatoes. Do so, and season with salt, white pepper, and hoisin sauce. You can also add some sugar, which helps cut down the acidity of the tomatoes.
Cover and let it cook for a bit. You want the tomatoes to break down and release their juices. If it’s too watery, you can add cornstarch to thicken it up. Probably a good time to throw in some MSG, as well.
Eggs! Beat them and pour em in. them in, but you can also just crack them directly into the pan. Probably a good time to stir them around a bit, to make sure they don’t stick. You can cover them for a minute, but I personally find that they cook very quickly.
Yum! Serve with rice, over sesame oil and some bibigo seaweed. Oh, and you can also add the green parts of the green onions.