Feb 28, 2005
A graduate school survival guide: “So long, and thanks for the Ph.D!”
A graduate school survival guide: “So long, and thanks for the Ph.D!”:
A computer science graduate school survival guide, intended for prospective or novice graduate students. This guide describes what I wish I had known at the start of graduate school but had to learn the hard way instead. It focuses on mental toughness and the skills a graduate student needs. The guide also discusses finding a job after completing the Ph.D. and points to many other related web pages.
It’s funny! Perhaps a bit too particular to CS but funny and helpful nonetheless. I always tell people a PhD is much more about discipline and persistence than it is about intelligence. You don’t have to be particularly smart to finish a PhD, but you need some good luck and the ability to stick with one thing for long enough to finish it, even if it looks gloomy at times (which it will!).