Thoughts
I try to order subtopics by time to consider. The ideas presented will implicitly bias toward PhD for professorship.
Why PhD
- “For some people, the joy of research is the joy of discovering something new that no one knew about. You might be discovering a new algorithm, a new operating system design idea, a new idea for maximizing the performance of disk arrays, etc.. For others, there’s the joy of truly understanding. You’ve probably noticed that in classes a professor or book will stop just when things are getting really interesting and say, “the rest is beyond the scope of this class.” In research, you can take a problem as far as you want and understand everything about it. For many, the joy of research comes from being able to make an impact – to change the way systems are built and design them in a smarter way. There’s also the joy of doing it right. In a company, the aim is to get a working product and ship it out quickly. In research, you can take your time and plan out your project so that you are proud to defend every one of your design decisions. Research is not about simple heuristics or quick hacks. Many people also relish the joy of being the authority on an area and of having their work read
and cited by others.” [2]
Timing of PhD & Application
- Applicants with master's degrees are expected to have more publications and experience than undergraduate applicants. [1] [3]
- When to start looking for recommenders: “as early as possible”. [1]
Application Process & Key Dates
- Application Assistance Program
- Official Summer research programs
- January: Yale Arts and sciences;
- Every school has an admissions committees that does the initial ranking and sorting (or even filtering) of candidates. At UIUC and UWashington, this is done ( at least in part ) by current graduate students. [3] [personal experience]
- Email professor after submission of application. Professor get the access around mid to to late January [3].
- To “People you have an existing relationship with”. [3]
- “This is the most effective time to email.” Professor might take a closer look of your application. [3]
- “I do not have the ability to unilaterally admit you to the PhD/MLT program. If we are a really good match I can try and put my thumb on the scale, but once admitted, you're under no obligation to work with me (this is a good thing!). But that means that I can't be the only person who is willing to work with you either. This creates a preference for applications that are "broadly" strong and that several faculty agree would be successful if admitted.” [3]
How to (cold) reach-out
- My template
- What you’re writing for. What is your career plan (PhD? Academia/industry?). What you’re expecting from this position.
- What’s YOUR research interest. (No need to mention why align but instead let them decide. No need to risk unless asked explicitly.) Ask yourself when writing reach-out emails: “On what IMPORTANT questions, you have DIFFERENT opinions than others”.
- To tailor to the reader, mention YOUR thoughts that might relates to their works. Mention specific technical comments about their works. (Again, do not summarize their “paradigm” or “direction”.) Show them that their works have resonance for you.
- Describe one single best project/publication in detail (e.g., what’s your contribution) and mention other technical toolkits you have that are not shown in this project as complement. Attach drafts if possible.
- Note
- Write “research group” instead of “lab”, otherwise it may confuse people work in other disciplines where “lab” is usually taked literally.
- Most effective for Chinese professors.
- See Interview & Decision for having conversation.
Previous research experience: how to get involved in research
- A summary sheet about yourself, including photo (Professors can’t remember names, but they do remember faces [2]), availability, and other resume stuff.