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wishidknown [2016/02/11 18:00]
jasnyder created
wishidknown [2019/06/07 15:30] (current)
tlazarus
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-Useful things to know when starting graduate school...+====== ​Useful things to know when starting graduate school... ​======
  
-...as contributed by experienced grad students! 
  
-A Timeline ​... put together ​by graduate ​students ​who wish they had known. +===== ...as contributed ​by experienced grad students! =====
-Attending Seminars and some General Advice+
  
-Miscellaneous advice 
  
 +===== A Timeline ... put together by graduate students who wish they had known. =====
  
-A Timeline ... put together by graduate students who wish they had known. 
  
 This document was prompted by many discussions with graduate students about feeling lost as to how to transform from a new graduate student to ABD, and from ABD to PhD. This document was prompted by many discussions with graduate students about feeling lost as to how to transform from a new graduate student to ABD, and from ABD to PhD.
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 Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | ... | Year n-1 | Summer before Year n | Year n=graduation year Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | ... | Year n-1 | Summer before Year n | Year n=graduation year
  
-YEAR 1+==== YEAR 1 ==== 
  
 Introduction. Your first year will be hard but in many ways the most crucial. You should have two main goals: find an advisor or research area (details below) and pass the prelims. There are many required courses for first years and it is essential you keep up with them! It may seem overwhelming to take required courses while trying to break into research and coping with TA duties. The core courses are necessary for your breadth--an essential quality for any mathematician. Introduction. Your first year will be hard but in many ways the most crucial. You should have two main goals: find an advisor or research area (details below) and pass the prelims. There are many required courses for first years and it is essential you keep up with them! It may seem overwhelming to take required courses while trying to break into research and coping with TA duties. The core courses are necessary for your breadth--an essential quality for any mathematician.
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-YEAR 2+==== YEAR 2 ==== 
  
 Planning for quals. Discuss with your research advisor when to take the quals, what should be on your qual exam, and who should be on your quals committee. (You should come in with suggestions for all these.) Draw up a timeline for quals prep and follow it as best you can. Planning for quals. Discuss with your research advisor when to take the quals, what should be on your qual exam, and who should be on your quals committee. (You should come in with suggestions for all these.) Draw up a timeline for quals prep and follow it as best you can.
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-YEAR 3+==== YEAR 3 ==== 
  
 Regular maintenance on your research project. By this point, you should be able to articulate a very rough plan of attack for your research project (I will use X technique to do Y to show Z). It doesn'​t matter if this plan turns out to be wrong. A plan provides you with direction, a necessary condition for finishing any project. Even if in the course of pursuing this plan, you find it's wrong, that's progress! Just make sure to come up with a new plan. Regular maintenance on your research project. By this point, you should be able to articulate a very rough plan of attack for your research project (I will use X technique to do Y to show Z). It doesn'​t matter if this plan turns out to be wrong. A plan provides you with direction, a necessary condition for finishing any project. Even if in the course of pursuing this plan, you find it's wrong, that's progress! Just make sure to come up with a new plan.
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 Set Year 3=Year n-2. Sometimes it can hard to tell what n is. Set Year 3=Year n-2. Sometimes it can hard to tell what n is.
  
-YEAR n-1+==== YEAR n-1 ==== 
  
 N.B.: If you plan to graduate in Year n, you need to be very close to finishing your project this year. N.B.: If you plan to graduate in Year n, you need to be very close to finishing your project this year.
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-SUMMER BEFORE GRADUATING (SUMMER BEFORE YEAR n)+==== SUMMER BEFORE GRADUATING (SUMMER BEFORE YEAR n) ==== 
  
 Getting your research project together for the job search. If you don't have a preprint yet, then make one happen. But if you can't, it's not the end of the world: what is important is that you can describe coherently why your work is interesting and how it relates to questions that may interest other people (such as the people hiring you). It is also important that the relevance of your work be communicated to your letter writers. No matter what, get as much research done as you can, because you won't have much time in the fall. Getting your research project together for the job search. If you don't have a preprint yet, then make one happen. But if you can't, it's not the end of the world: what is important is that you can describe coherently why your work is interesting and how it relates to questions that may interest other people (such as the people hiring you). It is also important that the relevance of your work be communicated to your letter writers. No matter what, get as much research done as you can, because you won't have much time in the fall.
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-YEAR n+==== YEAR n ==== 
  
 Getting together job search statements: Summer-November. Revise your teaching and research statements as needed. Apply for the NSF or any other appropriate fellowships. Getting together job search statements: Summer-November. Revise your teaching and research statements as needed. Apply for the NSF or any other appropriate fellowships.
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-Attending Seminars and General Advice+===== Attending Seminars and General Advice ​===== 
  
 At some point in graduate school, every student is told to attend seminars. However, the purpose of seminars may be a bit mysterious--after all, it is nearly impossible to understand every word (or even every third word) for the entire hour. This section is placed here to give a potential answer to (1) why, despite not seeming to understand them, you should still attend seminars, (2) what you might do during a seminar to help keep yourself paying attention. At some point in graduate school, every student is told to attend seminars. However, the purpose of seminars may be a bit mysterious--after all, it is nearly impossible to understand every word (or even every third word) for the entire hour. This section is placed here to give a potential answer to (1) why, despite not seeming to understand them, you should still attend seminars, (2) what you might do during a seminar to help keep yourself paying attention.
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 The material here is taken (and slightly edited) from Professor Ravi Vakil'​s page, with permission. The material here is taken (and slightly edited) from Professor Ravi Vakil'​s page, with permission.
  
-General advice+===== General advice ​===== 
  
 Think actively about the creative process. A subtle leap is required from undergraduate thinking to active research (even if you have done undergraduate research). Think explicitly about the process, and talk about it (with me, and with others). For example, in an undergraduate class you may have tried to learn absolutely all the material flawlessly. But in order to know everything needed to tackle an important problem on the frontier of human knowledge, one would have to spend years reading many books and articles. So you'll have to learn differently. But how? Think actively about the creative process. A subtle leap is required from undergraduate thinking to active research (even if you have done undergraduate research). Think explicitly about the process, and talk about it (with me, and with others). For example, in an undergraduate class you may have tried to learn absolutely all the material flawlessly. But in order to know everything needed to tackle an important problem on the frontier of human knowledge, one would have to spend years reading many books and articles. So you'll have to learn differently. But how?
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 It is natural to feel stupid sometimes. Here is an article that speaks to "​importance of stupidity"​ in research. I found this article very encouraging as well as insightful. It is natural to feel stupid sometimes. Here is an article that speaks to "​importance of stupidity"​ in research. I found this article very encouraging as well as insightful.
  
 +===== Grad Student Freebies =====
 +
 +As a grad student in the math department (and sometimes just as a student) you will have access to many free items that can be useful to you and your research. ​ Here is a list of things you can take advantage of:
 +
 +1. Matlab
 +
 +You have free access to matlab on the department computers, but you can also download it on your personal computer if you'd like.  You can get it, as well as 14 toolboxes, at this link: [[https://​www.mathworks.com/​academia/​tah-portal/​university-of-california-davis-589250.html|Matlab]]
 +
 +2. Microsoft Office
 +
 +You have free access to word, excel, powerpoint, skype, and all the other Microsoft Office tools here: [[https://​iet.ucdavis.edu/​content/​free-microsoft-office-365-now-available-all-uc-davis-students|Office]].
 +
 +3. Apple Store Priority Check-in
 +
 +If you break your iphone, or spill coffee on your mac, you can rush to the mac store in Sacramento for repairs. ​ Usually there is a terribly long line, and every second of your time is valuable. ​ It turns out that if you can prove to them that you can sign in to the ucdavis network with your kerberos password, then you get pushed to the front of the line as a VIP.
 +
 +4. Unlimited Cloud Storage
 + 
 +The university has partnered with Box to give everyone affiliated with the campus unlimited cloud storage. ​ You can setup and sign in here: [[https://​ucdavis.account.box.com/​login|Box Login]]. ​ You even get to keep your unlimited box account once you leave the university. File size is limited to 250 MB.
 +
 +5. "​Free"​ Use of the Gym
 +
 +Technically you pay fees every quarter that allows you access to the gym, but that's beside the point. This also allows you to join the intramural teams if that's how you want to get exercise. ​
 +
 +6. Professional Journals
 +
 +As long as you are signed into eduroam or the math wifi, you can access tons of journals through the university library subscriptions for free (even no-nmath ones like IEEE). If you want to do this off-campus, and are using Mac or Windows, [[https://​www.library.ucdavis.edu/​service/​connect-from-off-campus/​|the library has a vpn]] (If you're using linux, I suggest contacting the math IT). This is extremely valuable once you are doing research.
 +
 +7. FOOD!
 +
 +There are lots of opportunities throughout the year to get free food as a math grad student. ​
 +  * [[https://​www.math.ucdavis.edu/​research/​seminars/?​type=2&​when=future| Math/​Applied Math Seminar (aka the Pizza Seminar)]]
 +  * Other seminars have historically provided food (like the PDE seminar)
 +  * [[https://​gsa.ucdavis.edu/​events/​cbdd/​|Coffee,​ Bagels and Donuts from the GSA every week]]
 +  * Fall Welcome and Fall orientation BBQ
 +  * Department Tea every week 
 +  * If you volunteer to help with the end of quarter calculus tutoring fundraiser, you will be well fed
 +  * Happy hour!  The Galois Group provides funds for appetizers when a happy hour is organized (although not alcohol, sadly)
 +  * Dual pair lunches! ​ Get a free (i.e. reimbursed) lunch with your dual pair
 +  * The little green coupon machine is a little booklet of coupons that is sent out quarterly. ​ In it are many good deals, including some freebies like free froyo or fountain drinks, or free flat tire repair at local bike shops
 +  * [[http://​cityofdavis.org/​city-hall/​public-works/​bike-pedestrian-program/​bike-month|May is Bike Month]]. ​ On May 9th, 3rd street gets closed down from A street to B street and all the bike places in town give away free stuff, including lunch for the first 100 attendees. ​ Get food and free lights and reflectors, pedals, frisbees, caribiners, and enter to win a nice road bike.
 +
 +8. School Supplies
 +
 +The department provides red, black and blue pens, pencils, whiteboard markers, white and colored chalk, sharpies, notebooks, printer paper of all sorts of colors, staples, rubber bands, ... in the mail room.  Obviously you shouldn'​t take **all** of one item, but at least you don't have to go out and buy your own supplies for discussion.
 +
 +
 +===== Miscellaneous advice =====
  
-Miscellaneous advice 
  
 Find an advisor quickly: to do this, try to develop relationships with many faculty members. Don't feel too committed to any single topic of research when you start. And attend SEMINARS! At least one per quarter. Find an advisor quickly: to do this, try to develop relationships with many faculty members. Don't feel too committed to any single topic of research when you start. And attend SEMINARS! At least one per quarter.
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 To be considered for many forms of financial aid or assistantships,​ a student must file the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). We recommend that all graduate students fill out an FAFSA because the department uses many funding sources that require this form. To be considered for many forms of financial aid or assistantships,​ a student must file the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). We recommend that all graduate students fill out an FAFSA because the department uses many funding sources that require this form.
 +
 +====== Links to other grad student advice articles ======
 +[[https://​stearnslab.yale.edu/​some-modest-advice-graduate-students|Some Modest Advice for Graduate Students]], by Stephen C. Sterns
 +
 +[[https://​medium.com/​@dorsaamir/​modest-advice-for-new-graduate-students-b0be6b8dbc22|Modest Advice for New Graduate Students]] by Dorsa Amir
wishidknown.1455242432.txt.gz · Last modified: 2016/02/11 18:00 by jasnyder