Yet a new approach

22 Dec 2013

I never have learned how to apply for grad school. Yes, I’m already a master student, the fact is I still know nearly nothing about it.

---

##Jeff’s page

Several weeks ago, Jeff’s page made it on the top of Hacker News. He proposed a new way of applying for Ph.D which invoked a lot of discussion.

A lot of people, including the younger version of me, believe that applying for a Ph.D is all about research experience and getting strong recommendation letters. And I had none back then when I was planning studying abroad. So I decided that I was better off applying for a master. So puff, here I am.

But really, I don’t think having more years of research experience necessarily means that one will surely be a better researcher. Neither does Jeff. So he proposed this new way of application for prospect Ph.D student. What a great move!

So what is the right way?

Before talking about this, I think there is another question worth asking- why Ph.D?

---

##What do you love?

There are a lot of resources online already addressing why pursuing a Ph.D degree. But for me (and some others), a starter problem would be- what do you love? Or say, what are you interested in?

This is a problem haunting me for several years and I still have no exact answer for it. But luckily, recently I got some ideas from Shriram about it.

###A story

Shriram was doing Computational Biology in his first year of graduate school. It was all good until one day he read a paper about Programming Languages. He was shocked that there existed such a fascinating field and lucky for him, the author of this very paper was also in his department. So he directly went to that professor and talked with him. Since then he was working in PL for decades…

###But…

We may not be this lucky. First of all, there are so many papers nowadays, it will be quite lucky if you pick up a paper and find it actually clicks with you. Second, even if you find the paper, what are the odds that the author is right in your dept or nearby?

However, this shouldn’t stop you from finding things that you love. It’s harder, but it’s not impossible!

---

##Yet another approach(es)

Back in China, nearly all students having the dream of studying abroad for a Ph.D degree seems to have the idea that they have to go through every professors’ page and try finding something they are interested in. Then try contact this professor, if the chat goes well, apply for that.

I myself disagree with this approach, but I don’t know any better ways either. However, Shriram does.

###Apply several years later

A lot of people believe that they should apply for grad school right after they are out of college. However, it may be better if you already have some experience in the industry.

Here is why, Ph.D is about solving a problem. Thus you need to come up with a problem worth solving in the first place. And if you are just out of college, chances are you don’t quite know what problems in the industry are worth solving. In fact, you may not even have a whole picture of the industry.

So it would be better if you have worked in the industry several years. Maybe during the course of your work, you find some problem that is really painful not only for you but also for a lot of people. And the approach the industry is taking is only some hackish method because lots of time they only care about profit and money.

This problem will be an itch in your heart, and all the hackish moves industry is taking bothers you more because it doesn’t solve the problem at all! What should you do? Do it yourself, systematically, scientifically. Hmm, it sounds a perfect Ph.D thesis, isn’t it?

###Or envision the future

If you can envision the future somehow, figure out what problem will need solving in the fulture, and work on it in advance as your Ph.D thesis. Then it would be a huge accomplishment when you finally get it done and see it applied in the industry, isn’t it?

Lots of people do essentially the same thing. Steve Jobs, Elon Musk… the list goes on and on. And they all successed by envisioning the future then coming up with something that is cross-age. Ipod, IPhone, SpaceX, Tesla… What a bright future by envisioning the future.

###Or, the classical thing

Or you can do what others usually doing, asking professors if you can work with them, and pray for good. Lots of people do the same, but who’s to say that things done by most people are the “right” thing?

---

##Conclusion

Though I don’t really plan to go for a Ph.D. But this conversation with Shriram recently still cleared some thoughts of me. And by writing it done, I have an opportunity to re-think about.

After all, if you really love to do this thing, all the other things won’t be big problems. Who don’t want to work with people that love their work? It’s just about finding a match. Once you’ve done so, other things will just smooth out.

Hope everyone (including me) will find things that they love eventually!