Advice on how to have a fruitful graduate career
Have the right attitude and expectation
David Patterson's advice to new graduate students:
- Show initiative, for fortune favors
the bold. Don't wait for professors to tell
you what to do; if we were good managers,
we probably wouldn't be faculty. Explore,
challenge assumptions, and don't
let lots of prior art discourage you.
- Sink or swim. We'll offer you what
we think are great projects with plenty
of potential, and we'll support you the
best we can, but it's what you do with
the opportunity that makes or breaks
your graduate student career.
- Educate your professor. We're in a
fast-moving field, so for us to give you
good advice we need to know what
you're working on. Teach us!
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