Why Go To Grad School?

D. M. H. Walker

Ford Motor Company Design Professor II and Department Head

Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering

Texas A&M University

Top 10 Reasons to Attend Grad School

10.Get to defer student loans

9. Significant other hasn’t graduated yet, need

to hang around town

10.Can defer dress code – wear iPod/hat/PJs…

11.Can defer contact with the “real world” –

going to bed and getting up on time

6. Want people to call you “Doctor” but faint at

the sight of blood

Top 10 Reasons to Attend Grad School

5. Love taking classes, want to take even more

6. Want more letters after your name – hope it

boosts starting salary

7. Love doing research – discovering and

inventing new things, making your mark…

2. Want to be the world’s expert at something

1. Need for the job you want (e.g. prof, research

lab)

Grad School (Mostly) Misconceptions

5. Grad school is like undergrad work, but with

more advanced classes

6. Grad school can always be a fallback plan, if I

have trouble getting a job

7. I can get the graduate degree I want

anywhere

2. Graduate degrees maximize my earning

potential

1. Grad school will cost me more money

Length of Graduate Programs

• MS/ME– ~1-2 yrs for MCS/ME– ~1.5-3 yrs for MS

• PhD– ~5-6 yrs after BS– ~3-4 yrs after MS

Your Mileage May Vary!

How Grad Students See Faculty

• Funding

• Instructor

• Ideas

• “Parent”

• Job finder

How Faculty See Grad Students

• MCS/ME– Like undergrads, but more knowledge

• MS– Will do some research

• PhD– Will do lots of research

• Guess which faculty prefer?

• Make the right choice for YOU!

Top Issues Faced in Making Choice

• Grad school or job – what is research?

• Which degree - MCS/MEN, MS or PhD?

• Which school - TAMU, CMU or Caltech? UT?

• Which advisor – Dr. A or Dr. B?

• Which research topic - what am I incredibly interested in?

• Start by asking faculty questions!

Experiencing Research

• #1 grad school question – Do I like research?

• Summer research programs– CSE REU program– TAMU USRG program

• Undergraduate research projects with faculty– Ask faculty who might have mutual interest– Most faculty interested in this– Some might have $$$– I worked with the inventor of computer graphics

Experiencing Teaching

• #2 grad school question: Do I like teaching?

• Peer Teaching– E.g. peers in undergrad courses– Ask undergrad advisors about opportunities– Ask faculty about opportunities– Hard for me to find good peer teachers!– I graded “ECEN 248” as sophomore, TAed

“CSCE 483” as junior, “taught” “ECEN 654” as a senior

Paying for Graduate School

• Graduate Assistant – Research (GAR)– Work with faculty on your research– Apply with faculty

• GA Teaching/Non-Teaching (GAT/GANT)– Help teach a class, help with computing

• Apply at apply2.cse.tamu.edu

– IT jobs on campus – jobsforaggies.tamu.edu

• Fellowships – NSF, GEM, AFS, Diversity, Pathways

• Scholarships – allows in-state tuition

• Funding priority to PhD students

Why A&M?

• Top 15 engineering school

• Top 20 computer engineering program

• Rapidly rising computer science program

Why A&M?

• Strong faculty in many research areas

• You are picking a faculty member more than

you are picking a school

• Goal of USRG/REU should be to experience

what life is like as a grad student and build

relationships with faculty and graduate

students to help you in finding a match

Learning about A&M

• We try to put everything on the Web

• www.cse.tamu.edu

• www.cse.tamu.edu/academics/graduate

• Most important thing to learn is about research activities– Look at faculty Web sites– Example: faculty.cse.tamu.edu/walker– Look at research lab Web sites– Example: research.cse.tamu.edu/eda

Graduate School:Relive the Moment – Graduate Again!