Top 10 Things I Did Wrong in Grad School

(and a few I did right)Greg Morrisett

Goal

Think now about how best to maximize your time in grad school.– easy to get caught up in day-today activities:

courses, building stuff, doing experiments, writing, email, meetings, etc.

– think about 5-6 years from now and where you want to be.

My Own Background

I’m a computer scientists.I study programming languages, compilers, formal methods, and software security.

• University of Richmond (1985-89)• Grad school at Carnegie Mellon (1989-1995)• Cornell Faculty (1996-2003)– 1 year sabbatical at Microsoft Research UK

• Harvard Faculty (2004-present)

#10

Spent first year isolated from my fellow students.– lived alone– worked alone– went back to Richmond to see old friends

When you move to a new environment, you have to make an effort to build friendships and a support network.

#9

Was scared to ask advisor for stuff like books, travel money, equipment, right desk, etc.– You’re expensive (~$50K/year)– Equipment, books, etc. are not.– Money is renewable, time is not.

You need the proper equipment to get the job done.It never hurts to ask.

#9

Assumed I wasn’t good enough.– U. Richmond a no-name school– Fellow students seemed amazing to me– Felt like a fraud• (still do. get over it.)

Optimists might fail.Pessimists will fail.

#8

Read a lot of papers, but didn’t work through a lot of papers.– in fact, took a lot of courses this way– real learning doesn’t happen through reading– you have to replicate that experiment, or re-do

the proof, etc. to really absorb the material.Need to find strategies for pushing yourself to effectively learn things.

#7

Was hyper-critical of everything I saw.– It’s easy to find flaws in a paper or talk.– It’s easy to be cynical about a new idea or

approach.– But cynics don’t discover breakthroughs.

Be constructively critical. – ask how you would’ve (realistically) addressed the

flaws you see.– run with an idea for a while before dismissing it.

#6

Only took CS courses.– I’ll be doing CS for the rest of my life– I can learn CS topics on my own– I need help with stuff I don’t do well– I either won’t or can’t make the time now

I wish I had taken:– Writing, speaking, French, Chinese [communication]– Chem, Bio, Psychology, Finance [applications]

Even if it had taken another year…

#5

Never took a teaching seminar– It’s half my job for God’s sake!– But there’s no requirement you actually learn how

to teach (much less teach well.)– There are real skills to be learned here• Time management (stack of 15-min appts.)• Assignments, homeworks, exams, etc.• Psychology

First year, I spent 90% of my time on teaching.

#4

Never figured out how funding works.– It’s half my job for God’s sake!– You shouldn’t care how funding works now.

Before you graduate, you might want to learn more about how it works.

– Writing a proposal is very different from writing a research paper.

A year before you graduate, ask your advisor how things really work.

#3

Didn’t keep a research journal.– I saw lots of cool talks.– I went to lots of cool conferences.– I read lots of cool papers, pages, etc.– I hacked on lots of cool things.– I had great ideas.

I don’t remember many of them.Consider keeping a journal.

#2

Left before I was really done.– Defended in December 1995– Started teaching @ Cornell in January 1996– But hadn’t deposited revisions!– Spent first few weeks trying to finish revision, and

adjust to a new life.– (see #10)

#1

Didn’t take care of myself.– the habits you’re in now determine the rest of

your life.– if you don’t exercise regularly, you won’t when

you’re 45.– the same goes for other aspects of your well-being

(e.g., family)Don’t put off living your life!!

A few things I did right…

#9

Worked closely with other graduate students.– Learned more from them than profs.• (they have more time – only 1 job)

– Proof-read their work & vice versa• (good for them, good for you)

– Only way to do big things (e.g., compiler)

#8

Summer Internships.– I went to Bell Labs & DEC CRL– $$$– Contacts– Breadth– Research ideas– See how a lab works

Do this in your first couple of years, if possible.

#7

Went to conferences & workshops.– Most of the real action occurs here.– You meet everyone here, and they meet you – it’s a

smaller community than you think.– You keep up with the area.– You get a copy of the proceedings.– It’s easier to read a paper after a talk.– SIGPLAN has $ for students to travel– Ask your advisor for $ -- never hurts.

#6

Got to know lots of faculty.– Worked with different people in different areas

(PL, compilers, OS, etc.)– Invited these people to practice talks.– Hiring is an old boys network – people ask me

“Who’s good that’s coming out of Harvard”? If I don’t know you, I can’t recommend you.

– Now they’re my colleagues – an invaluable resource.

#5

Volunteered.– Moderated comp.lang.ml

• Annoying, but the name recognition helped– Worked on open source projects

• Great experience, satisfying– Reviewed papers

• Learned a lot about writing, had people to call upon– Cleaned the lounge– You have to do something to get noticed – why not do

something worthwhile?

#4

Lots of practice talks, lots of red ink.– Had a great advisor: read everything

• Marked it up – made me really, really mad• Eventually developed a thick skin• Learned how to write better

– Talks at CMU were brutal• Every last point was debated• You quickly learned how to defend yourself and control the

environment• Stage presence: Seeing yourself on video helps a lot• Learn to anticipate and think like your audience

#3Bought & read “Bugs in Writing”

(Lynn Dupre)– Tailored to CS technical writing– I learned so much – writing became faster, less red ink, etc.– “Elements of Style” also great– Technical writing class might help too.

CS people are rarely good at communicating. But it’s just as important as any technical skills you’re going to pick up here.

#2

Hacked on lots of stuff.– What will you do for your thesis?– Do you really think it’ll come to you from just

reading about stuff or sitting in classes?– My thesis came after about 7-8 serious projects

(multi-processor stuff, hardware stuff, GC stuff, semantic stuff, etc.)

#1

I had fun!– Threw and went to many parties– Weekly dinner co-op (no geek talk)– Skiing, amusement park trips– Softball– TGIF’s (= AI seminar at Cornell)– Got out of town when I felt down• Visiting friends at other schools helps a lot.