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user-inactivated  ·  3052 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Grad School Roundup

I dropped out of grad school twice, so, you know, take this all with a grain of salt.

    1. Why did you go to grad school?

I was dissatisfied with working in industry, and learning more math and computing were hobbies of mine.

    2. When did you go to grad school?

At 28 and 32

    3. What is a good reason to go to grad school?

Because despite the odds you want to work in academia.

    4. What is a bad reason to go to grad school?

Because you don't like working in industry. I have been told that it used to be very different, but academia has most of the things that make working in industry suck now. Also, university administrators do not respond nearly as well to being told to fuck themselves as managers do.

    5. What is the best state of mind to start grad school?

You are going to work your ass off and either pay for the privilege or be paid poorly. In return you get access to an institution's resources and people who know more about things you really want know more about than anyone else.

    6. What obvious and not so obvious things should I look for when choosing a program?

Faculty working on something that interests you, or at least something you won't mind doing the grunt work for.

    7. How on earth am I supposed to generate income while simultaneously committing enough hours to my studies? During the school year in undergrad I worked usually less than 10 hours a week.

Be an RA if you can, then you're getting paid to learn things, which is what you're there to do anyway. TA is easier to get, but it's a lot of boring work and very frustrating work. Never TA a calculus class.