Are you thinking about going to graduate school in a STEM field? This is a presentation about how to get started.

1. So,
you
are
thinking
about
graduate
school
in
the
sciences
Laura
McLay
Industrial
&
Systems
Engineering
University
of
Wisconsin-­‐Madison
lmclay@wisc.edu
punkrockOR.wordpress.com
@lauramclay
on
twiFer

2. What
is
graduate
school
like?

3. How
to
get
started
Here
are
a
few
simple
rules
for
geIng
started.

4. Talk
to
professors
in
your
department
and
others
• Talk
to
the
professors
that
are
known
for
doing
research.
• Professors
like
talking
about
students
that
find
their
research
interesMng.
• Talk
to
the
graduate
program
director.
• Start
as
a
junior
(or
earlier)
• Is
grad
school
the
right
choice
for
you?
• Keep
in
mind
that
some
professors
are
constantly
asked
for
funding
by
students
who
may
or
may
not
be
interested
in
research.
• Talk
to
grad
students
in
your
classes
who
work
or
have
worked
in
the
“real
world”

5. Find
out
informaMon
about
the
programs
where
you
might
want
to
apply
There
is
a
list
of
math
PhD
programs
here:
h"p://www.toroidalsnark.net/gradschools.html
There
is
a
list
of
operaMons
research
programs
here:
h"p://goo.gl/e0RQY

6. Contact
the
graduate
program
director
of
the
programs
you
find
interesMng.
First
check
degree
requirements.
Then
ask
about:
• ApplicaMon
and
admissions
process
• Minimum
GRE
and
TOEFL
scores
• When
they
make
assistantship
decisions.
• If
assistantships
are
per
year
or
are
guaranteed
for
~4
years.
• How
long
it
takes
to
get
a
degree.
• What
the
dropout
rate
is.
• Where
the
graduates
get
jobs.
• Differences
between
MS
and
PHD
programs.
• What
the
comps/prelims/qualifying
exams
are
like
(every
program
has
a
weed-­‐out
process).
• Whatever
else
you
can
think
of.
• Let
your
interest
in
the
program
be
evident
in
your
emails.

7. Keep
this
in
mind
when
exchanging
emails
with
professors

8. Apply!
To
maximize
your
chance
of
geIng
funded:
• Apply
for
PhD
programs,
not
MS
programs.
• Apply
early
for
a
fall
start.
• Get
three
outstanding
reference
leFers.
– Ask
professors
if
they
can
write
an
excellent
leFer
for
you.
Give
them
an
out.
• Take
GREs
mulMple
Mmes
if
you
need
to.
Your
quanMtaMve
reasoning
score
should
be
~800.

9. Don’t
pay
for
graduate
school
• Only
aFend
a
program
that
offers
you
funding.
• Let
me
repeat
that:
don’t
pay
your
own
way
to
graduate
school.
– You
will
have
to
pay
for
some
degrees,
like
an
MBA,
MD,
JD,
etc.
Don’t
pay
for
a
PhD
in
a
STEM
field!
• Schools
will
either
offer
you
some
kind
of
assistantship
for
a
year
or
unMl
you
finish
your
degree.
• Some
schools
use
their
MS
program
to
fund
their
PhD
program.

10. Teaching
assistantship
vs.
Research
Assistantships
• There
are
three
types
of
assistantships
– Teaching
means
that
you
teach
a
class
(~20
hours
per
week)
– Research
means
that
you
work
on
a
professor’s
research
project
(~20
hours
per
week)
– PhD
fellowship
is
mainly
for
you
to
work
on
your
PhD
with
fewer
teaching
responsibiliMes
• You
can
move
between
teaching
and
research
• Which
is
beFer,
teaching
or
research
fellowships?
– Research
assistantships,
unless
you
don’t
like
the
research.
– Usually
you
need
to
get
to
know
the
professors
to
be
offered
a
research
assistantship.
– It
is
good
to
have
teaching
experience
at
some
point.

11. Visit
your
top
schools.
• Visit
schools
and
get
to
know
the
faculty
• They
someMmes
pay
for
you
to
visit
in
the
Spring
semester.
• The
schools
may
use
these
visits
to
pick
who
gets
fellowship
and
assistantship
offers
• The
faculty
idenMfy
new
students
that
would
fit
well
in
their
lab

12. Picking
advisors
• Pick
your
advisor
based
on:
– The
research
project
– Your
personaliMes
– The
advisor’s
track
record
with
former
PhD
students
(publicaMons,
conference
travel,
awards,
job
placement,
etc.)
• If
you
are
offered
a
research
assistantship,
that
professor
is
your
advisor.
– You
can
have
co-­‐advisors,
work
on
another
project,
etc.
• One
secret
on
advisors:
None
of
the
professors
is
obligated
to
work
with
you.

13. Apply
for
fellowships
• Most
fellowships
have
deadlines
within
or
prior
to
the
first
year
of
grad
school.
– NSF
due
in
November
of
your
first
year
– DOE
office
of
science
– DOE
computaMonal
science
– NASA
– DHS
– Others.
• There
are
more
opportuniMes
for
American
ciMzens.
• Fellowships
are
even
beFer
than
assistantships!

14. A
note
on
the
dropout
rate
Council
of
Graduate
Schools'
Ph.D.
CompleMon
Project,
hFp://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/12/07/doctoral

15. Another
note
on
the
dropout
rate
CumulaMve
compleMon
rates
in
different
fields
Council
of
Graduate
Schools'
Ph.D.
CompleMon
Project,
hFp://
www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/07/17/phd

16. A
note
on
post-­‐graduaMon
employment
rates
ProporMon
of
PhD
graduaMons
with
immediate
commitments
All
Life
Sciences
Physical
Sciences
Social
Sciences
Engin-­‐
eering
Edu-­‐
caMon
Hum-­‐
aniMes
Other
Employed
(Total)
71.1%
72.1%
73.8%
73.3%
67.7%
73.1%
61.6%
74.7%
Definite
postgraduaMon
study 29.1%
46.0%
43.8%
24.7%
29.4%
4.9%
9.4%
5.6%
Definite
employment 38.1%
19.3%
27.5%
46.0%
35.2%
64.7%
49.1%
66.3%
Seeking
employment
or
study 28.9%
27.9%
26.2%
26.7%
32.3%
26.9%
38.4%
25.3%
Other 3.8%
6.9%
2.5%
2.6%
3.0%
3.5%
3.2%
2.9%
From
the
NaMonal
Science
FoundaMon:
www.nsf.gov/staMsMcs/sed

17. A
note
on
post-­‐graduaMon
employment
rates
From
the
NaMonal
Science
FoundaMon

18. How
to
turn
a
PhD
into
a
great
career
• Ask
about
jobs:
– Placement
rates
– Where
PhDs
get
jobs,
– How
much
they
make
– (Note
that
data
is
from
a
biased
sample)
• If
you
want
to
be
a
professor,
pedigree
maFers

19. Start
a
twiFer
account
• I’m
serious.
• I
interact
with
many
students
on
twiFer
(and
also
Google+,
FaceBook
and
LinkedIn).
It
is
a
great
way
to
network.
• TwiFer
keeps
me
up
to
date
on
conferences,
conference
deadlines,
papers,
and
other
news
in
my
field.
• The
grad
students
also
help
me
feel
“normal”
auer
I’ve
been
programming
for
three
weeks
straight.

20. It’s
a
big
decision.
However,
this
is
an
exaggeraMon.

21. Advice
for
women
and
minoriMes
• Professors
want
you
to
succeed.
– Heck,
everyone
wants
you
to
succeed.
• Check
out
resources
at
your
school
– SWE,
NSBE,
SHPE,
etc.
– Network!!
• Back
in
the
day,
I
got
married
and
had
a
baby
in
graduate
school.
– There
are
few
barriers
for
those
who
are
commiFed
to
succeed.
– There
are
few
“official”
support
networks
for
women
grad
students
who
have
babies.
Consider
yourself
forewarned.

22. Advice
from
twiFer
• From
@ksphil:
– Before
anything
else,
one
should
think
about
one's
[career]
goal
and
whether
going
grad
school
is
the
right
thing
for
him
or
her.
– Without
confidence
on
the
decision/objecMve,
it
will
be
hard
to
finish
the
degree,
especially
for
PhD.
• do
not
be
afraid
of
being
discouraged,
and
to
see
past
the
iniMal
courses/
exams
(@techstepper)
• Weigh
how
much
you
get
along/click
with
a
few
faculty
members
when
selecMng
a
school.
(@dianam)
• From
@tdhopper
(1)
Do
campus
visits
for
your
top
schools.
(2)
Talk
to
faculty
you
have
similar
interests
with
(3)
Give
thought
to
where
you
want
to
be
geographically
and
campus
environment.
(4)
Apply
early.
Apply
ouen.
(5)
if
students
aren't
sure
what
research
direcMon
they
want
to
go,
a
big
department
might
be
preferable.

23. Tough
love:
an
insensiMve
guide
to
thriving
in
your
PhD
in
a
STEM
field*
• PhDs
are
for
the
truly
curious.
It
is
not
a
job.
It
does
not
end
with
graduaMon.
– If
you
want
to
get
a
PhD
for
the
sake
of
geIng
a
PhD,
you
can
buy
one
online.
– Don’t
view
being
a
PhD
student
as
a
9
to
5
job.
• Give
a
potenMal
adviser
a
test
drive
before
a
commitment
• Get
started
with
research
fast.
The
longer
you
wait,
the
more
anxious
you
will
get.
The
anxiety
can
be
crippling.
• Don’t
be
a
perfecMonist.
Leading
scienMsts
are
generally
not
perfecMonists.
• Don’t
take
vacaMons
as
though
you
have
a
paying
job.
Only
take
a
break
when
you
achieve
a
major
goal.
• Publish
as
you
go.
Nothing
counts
more
than
publicaMons.
• If
the
first
major
thing
you
write
is
your
dissertaMon,
then
you
are
doing
it
wrong.
• Don’t
expect
your
adviser
to
rewrite
all
of
your
papers.
• Don’t
procrasMnate.
Don’t
expect
good
reference
leFers
if
you
do.
• Buy
noise
cancelling
headphones
if
you
share
an
office.
• Don’t
be
a
schmo:
learn
a
programming
language
and
automate
your
analyses.
*
From
Chris
Chambers:
hFp://neurochambers.blogspot.com/2012/05/tough-­‐love-­‐insensiMve-­‐guide-­‐to.html

24. Gentle
advice
for
becoming
a
producMve
PhD
student
• Work
hard!
• Find
your
“fire”
– If
you’re
not
reading
about
cool
things
happening
in
your
field
in
your
spare
Mme,
geIng
a
PhD
might
not
be
for
you.
• Follow
direcMons
from
your
advisor.
• Be
polite.
• Be
a
great
finisher.
– When
you
think
you're
80%
done
with
a
paper,
you're
more
like
20%
done.
– Each
research
contribuMon
is
a
marathon,
not
a
sprint.
Good
research
manners
+
hard
work
+
persistence
is
your
best
formula
for
long-­‐term
success.

25. Gentle
advice
for
becoming
a
producMve
PhD
student,
Part
II
• Research
will
take
twice
as
much
Mme
as
your
classes.
• Be
on
Mme
for
all
meeMngs
with
your
advisor.
• Be
prepared
–
bring
code,
tables,
and
figures
with
you
to
meeMngs.
– Don’t
be
embarrassed
to
bring
in
unpolished
work.
• Be
communicaMve:
let
your
advisor
know
if
you’ll
be
late
or
need
to
cancel
a
meeMng
• Research
is
iteraMve,
and
our
first
ideas
are
rarely
our
best.
But
they
are
necessary
to
figure
out
how
to
succeed.
New
things
are
hard
before
they
are
easy.
Hang
in
there.

26. For
more
informaMon
• Visit
my
blog
Punk
Rock
OperaMons
Research
hFp://punkrockOR.wordpress.com/
Look
at
the
other
blogs
listed
under
the
blogroll.
Start
reading
some
of
them.
• hFp://www.mathblogging.org/
is
another
great
place
to
find
math
and
OR
blogs.
• Interact
with
me
on
twiFer
(@lauramclay).
• Talk
to
me
in
real
life.
• Talk
to
other
professors
outside
of
class.