Top 10 Things I D id Wrong in Grad School

1. Top 10 Things I Did Wrong in Grad School (and a few I did right) Greg Morrisett

2. 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.

3. 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)

4. #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.

5. #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.

6. #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.

7. #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.

8. #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.

9. #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…

10. #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.

11. #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.

12. #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.

13. #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)

14. #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!!

15. A few things I did right…

16. #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)

17. #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.

18. #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.

19. #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.

20. #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?

21. #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

22. #3 Bought & 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.

23. #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.)

24. #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.