8/20 I'm going to grad school on the east coast and have some
(non-sucky) hardware to sell - currently, wireless keyboard/
laser mouse combo and high powered speakers. If interested see:
http://soda.csua.berkeley.edu/~jhs/buy_my_stuff.html -jhs
\_ Why are you going to grad school? Are you sure you've thought this
through? The vast majority of phd students do not really know why
they're there, and find out the hard way later how much of a mistake
grad school usually is. There's a hell of a lot of living,
learning, and money making you can do in the SIX FUCKING YEARS it
takes to get a typical phd instead of sitting in the SAME FUCKING
CHAIR living on a 20K/year stipend. Go read all the archives of
http://www.phdcomics.com Everything you read in that strip is true.
\_ a little bitter?
\_ Actually I have been through phdcomics (and find them awesome).
I'm going to grad school because I enjoy doing research and would
rather do that (even when money isn't optimal) than go into
industry. I did an internship at http://Amazon.com as well as two research
internship (government and industry) plus a policy internship
during my undergrad years. I'm pretty confident that grad school is
the right place for me, but I've heard plenty of horror stories as
well. It helps that I'm attending my first choice (MIT) and that I
already have some connections to people at Berkeley that I can
fall back on for research ideas & etc if stuff goes a bit sour.
Many CSUA alums were helpful in discussing grad school (leak,
twohey, ilyas, brg, ...). Hope this clarifies things. -op
industry. I did an internship at http://Amazon.com as well as two
research internship (government and industry) plus a policy
internship during my undergrad years. I'm pretty confident that
grad school is the right place for me, but I've heard plenty of
horror stories as well. It helps that I'm attending my first
choice (MIT) and that I already have some connections to people
at Berkeley that I can fall back on for research ideas & etc if
stuff goes a bit sour. Many CSUA alums were helpful in
discussing grad school (leak, twohey, ilyas, brg, ...). Hope
this clarifies things. -op
\_ I think the key thing the op is looking for is FULFILLMENT.
I thought the exact same way you did. I graduated in the
mid 90s and joined the dot-com crowd with my friends. I
did ok, but I didn't feel fulfilled. It was fun writing
code, designing apps, writing backends, and the pay and
stock options were awsome but I really didn't feel like
I made a difference in people's lives. I worked for 6 years
in the industry, started as QA->code monkey->project lead
and even did 6 months as a PM. I think it all depends on
the attitude and what your goals and priorities in life are.
Most of my friends just wanted to make big money and
retire, and two did exactly that. Many are now 30s, have
kids, have a house, and have a big ass mortgage to pay.
There is one I know who is depressed because of his
sense of feeling "stuck." There were obviously a few
who went back to law school and one even did a joint
law/MBA (he is a 3.98 Cal guy), and took up jobs
that they thought more more suitable to their needs. When
I talk to them, yes, they were glad to give up a few years
of their lives to attain something they could never get
anywhere else. What that 'something' is, depends on who
you are and what makes you happy. I'm in my 3rd year in
graduate school, and I realized that I totally and
completely wasted 6 years in the industry, where I
constantly worked with sub-mediocre people who didn't have
much passion for whatever they were doing. The only things
I learned in the industry were how to deal with tough
people and idiots, and that money you earned is pretty
useful when you're a grad student. I like grad school. I
always talk to new people, many who are smart or have very
different perspectives. The girls are totally hot (I guess
the older you get the hotter they look) and I feel
both intellectually and physically fulfilled. The girls I
date and fuck feel the same way.
\_ There are a lot of ways for a person to feel stuck in life.
I suppose the grass is always greener on the other side of
the fence, but when you've wasted some of your best years
working on shit no one cares about for almost no money
in a "job" that will count for nothing whatsoever if you
dare to leave before your advisor/boss decrees it you're
pretty fucking stuck. Abusing their position as advisor and
holding the degree hostage to force people to stay in
school longer is commong practice. Punishing those who
say they want to leave academia by making it still harder
to get permission to graduate is also standard. Apparently
you have a good life in grad school. Good for you. I
am wasting my youth doing something I hate and didn't even
get paid a decent wage for it. Fuck grad school.
\_ I know some people who were screwed over in grad
school, but it works out better for a lot of people
to have gone. A good way to do it is to work while
you go. More people than I realized do this. Maybe
they work reduced hours (25-30) but it's possible to
do. This is while going to top PhD programs like Caltech
and UCLA, too, not just 'weak' programs.
\_ UCLA is what now? -- ilyas
\_ Not in your field.
\_ Honestly, what field could it be, other than
film? UCLA blows, kthx. -- ilyas
-------------------/
UCLA CS PhD makes it to top 20 in many rankings, which is
still a lot higher than most of the other UCs. Yes, it's not
a 1st tier in the top 10 list but there are tons of other
things besides academics that one should be looking for in a
grad school. I for one say that UCLA is a GREAT school,
because it fits in my personal needs-- it is within 1 hour
drive from ALL my family members, 10 min from the beach,
3 hours from the ski slope, great restaurants, lots of
activities, etc. There are some bad things of course, like
the traffic, which you really can't do anything about
anyways. The fact that you keep bashing UCLA ("it is not
top tier->it sucks") and that you're still in UCLA, is an
indication that you made the wrong decision to go to UCLA.
First of all, there is life outside of academia, and UCLA
beats many top tier schools in that respect. Secondly, anyone
so serious about academics and school rankings would have
waited patiently for years and years to reapply to other top
tier schools. I know at least 2 people who did exactly that
(one for med school, one for Stanford PhD). Sure they lost
time/credit due to the transfer process but that's a
compromise. The fact that you settled for something less
than you wanted, and then complained and did nothing says
that you're just a lazy bum. Writing motd to convey your
frustration and disillusion is not particularly constructive
for you and for fellow students who happen to go to
your school. -kchang
\_ You went to UCLA so you can go to the beach or hit the
slopes? Why didn't you just get a normal job? I find
it interesting that people keep using 'rankings' like
US News, etc. Rankings as such mean nothing. I am not
having rankings in mind when I say UCLA blows. Also I am
noticing that all the good things you listed about UCLA
aren't about UCLA itself, but other things it's close to.
As to whether I made the wrong decision to go to UCLA, I
don't think I did. I think UCLA was literally the best
that I could do. -- ilyas
\_ if UCLA blows, then you blow even more. Seriously, this
is one of the most pathetic things I've ever heard.
You have an extremely high standard and a very low
self-esteem ("this sucks but it's the best I can do").
You remind me of this woman I met who was still single
in her mid-30s, no job, butt ugly, boring to talk to,
and complained that she couldn't marry someone smart
or rich. You're a beggar AND a chooser. -kchang
\_ Today's Deep Thought is brought to you by Kevin
Chang. Come to UCLA and sit next door to That Guy!
If you think I have low self esteem you haven't been
paying attention. -- ilyas
\_ Post on the motd! You to can participate in
high-quality intelligent conversations such as
this! -jrleek
\_ ^to^too. DOH!!!
\_ Planetary science, but way to devalue
your own hard work/degree.
\_ 'UCLA blows' is a statement about the
school. I would be happy to expand on this
at great length if anybody wants to email
me for details. I am reasonably happy with
both my advisor, and my topic. At any rate,
why should I attempt to deceive people
who might be thinking of coming here?
Do you really think the value of my degree
is going to be affected one way or the
other by my opinion? In fact, if you are
thinking of a PhD in terms of 'value of
degree' you are missing the whole point.
What's important is the work. -- ilyas
\_ You are saying that your program is
not one of the top programs and
you'd probably have gone somewhere
else. That has a small impact. Now
when people ask for advice or I
interview a candidate I will always
have your opinion in mind. I'm sure
I'm not the only one you've said
this to. Imagine if lots of other
students are saying the same things.
Not enough to make/break a school,
of course, but even you yourself
say you want to discourage people
from going there. As for value of
degree, it does matter somewhat. In
aerospace, for example, if your PhD
is from Purdue, Michigan, Texas, or
MIT you are already looking good
w/o knowing anything else about
you. I see the same schools pop up
again and again and again in new
hires. Not always, of course, but
often. |
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