Graduate School

Luis F. Campos
Friday, June 24, 2016

Poll

  • What year are you?
  • Have done some research?
  • Who is thinking about going to Graduate School?
  • Who wants to go to Graduate School?
  • Who is absolutely sure they want to go to Graduate School?

What I hope to accomplish

  • Tell you a bit about my experience with Graduate School
    • applications, fellowships, mentors
  • Give you the career perspective of Graduate School
    • as opposed to the “Undergrad+” perspective
  • Some parting wisdom and unsolicited advice

UC Davis

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  • Computer Science, Philosophy, Physics, Engineering
  • Statistics and Mathematics - Why?

Undergraduate Research at UC Davis

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  • Learning deeply with a purpose
  • Exploring the unknown
  • Reading and understanding PhD-level research
  • Eventually lead to a job with my research adviser

UC Davis School of Medicine

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UC Davis School of Medicine

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Goals Danh (^ my boss/mentor) made me write out (literally):

  • Apply for graduate school
  • Gain experience in medical research
  • Gain experience in statistics research

UC Davis School of Medicine

What I accomplished (and learned):

  • Several medical publications (always be writing)
  • The beginnings of a statistics research project (be prepared to fail, a lot)
  • Follow through on projects (things are not done until they are, though they won't feel like they are)

UC Berkeley

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Consulting Period

  • Wikimedia Foundation
  • UC Davis School of Medicine
  • Private tutoring

UC Irvine School of Medicine

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UC Irvine School of Medicine

Goals (starting over?):

  • Apply for graduate school (again)
  • Gain (more) experience in medical research
  • Gain (more) experience in statistics research

What I learned again, and more:

  • Always be writing
  • Be prepared to fail, a lot
  • Things are not done until they are, though they won't feel like they are

Harvard University

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Why am I so persistent (hard-headed)?

Academia as a career:

  • Intellectual freedom
  • Answering tough questions (in statistics)
  • Statistics as a service
    • Helping other researchers answer their own tough questions
  • I've learned to enjoy the writing process
    • I used to hate it

Some lessons and unsolicited advice

  • Things don't always work the first time around
  • Know why you want to do graduate school
    • Undergraduate research is a great way to find out
    • This does not mean you must know exactly what you want to do
    • You'll get the freedom to figure out exactly what later
  • It's okay to take time off (for work, etc) before graduate school
  • Think about graduate school as a job
  • Build and keep relationships with Advisers
  • Apply for Fellowships
    • Many positive side-effects (freedom, stability, etc.)

Let's talk about Graduate School

  • What are some fears you had about applying?
  • How important is it to have a good relationship with faculty now?
  • When can I apply for Fellowships?
  • If I get a fellowship, are there strings attached?
  • Do they have free pizza in graduate school?
  • How expensive is it to go to graduate school?
  • Should I consider the opportunity cost?
  • What is statistics research? What do you do?