Graduate School It ain

1
Graduate SchoolIt aint no thing!

• Demystifying the trip to the Other Side

2
The Basics What do you need?

• Three recommendations
• Mission statement
• General Subject GREs

Woot! This is so much easier than those millions
of pointless essays written for undergraduate
applications!
3
The Basics What you dont need

• Taken all the hardest Cornell courses
• Independent research
• Publications to your name
• A perfect GPA (Jeff will explain)
• A perfect GRE score (Haakon will explain)
• Charm and wit

4
Hints Tips

1. Have a reasonable spread in schools
2. Graduate school is about the department
3. 1 and 2 imply you need help from a Prof
4. Good recommendations are key
5. Write a concise mission statement

5
Once you get in

• You party hard
• Talk to your current professors
• Visit the schools you are considering
• Party some more

6
Common Misconceptions
7
Common Misconceptions

1. Original independent research from start
2. You must commit to a specific branch
3. Graduate students are foreign geniuses from IIT
   or China
4. Graduate school will ruin your social life
5. Ph.D. students are one-dimensional

8
Beginning Grad School

1. Graduate school is about the research (not
   courses)
2. Start working with a professor early

9
The Bottom Line Personal Growth

• You will be intellectually challenged
• Your friends and peers will challenge you
• Hour-long dinners spent debating philosophy,
  sociology, gender roles, psychology, politics
  (essentially anything but your field!)
• If you think you are the smartest one out there,
  your ego might be bruised

10
Thank You

• ACSU and Cornell Engineering Career Services for
  sending out emails
• Prof. Benjamin Pierce paid for Jeffs food
• Princeton paid for everything else
• Jeff vaughan2_at_seas.upenn.edu
• Haakon hlarsen_at_cs.princeton.edu