Guides to surviving Computer Science graduate school

The Hitchhiker guides trilogy

• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the DWE. The Doctoral Written Exam (DWE) no longer exists, so this guide is mostly obsolete. However, it does contain some test taking and motivation tips that apply to any major written exam.

• The Literature Search 'Till the End of the Universe. Much of this information is specific to the UNC Chapel Hill area and is out of date, but the general advice on conducting a literature search still applies.

• Life, the Universe and Everything (a.k.a what you need to know to pass the oral exams). Orals are still alive and well at UNC so this guide is relevant. Since many other universities also use oral exams, this should be of interest to CS grad students in general.

• So Long, and Thanks for the Ph.D! This document describes what I wish I had known about graduate school at the start but had to learn the hard way instead. While it is aimed at junior graduate students, senior graduate students may find the job hunting section useful. Includes tips on doing well as a Research Assistant, being effective, communicating well, choosing an adviser, and getting a Ph.D. level job after graduation. I've included information on the job market and salary figures that I've been able to find. This has turned out to be my most popular guide by far and I have been told that at least one other computer science department has it as required reading.

Comic relief

• The Night before the DWEs
• DWE etiquette
• Rules for taking the DWE

• The bathroom security system (1990). In 1990, the long awaited security cameras were installed in Sitterson Hall. Here is the original announcement. While it didn't bother me, there was some grumbling about being videotaped, so I thought it was a fair target to parody on April 1 that year.

• The Sitterson Enquirer (1991)

• A notice from the Department (1992). When the Ph.D. student population becomes a bottleneck, suggest creative ways of reducing the population...

• The Sitterson Enquirer (1993). Note: "prado" was the name of a server that went down far too often, thus becoming the target of much hatred by the grad students.

• UNC's Bicentennial Open House (1994). 1994 was the 200th anniversary of UNC Chapel Hill, and one of the celebration events was an open house where tens of thousands of visitors came on campus. Having been through one of these before at Berkeley, I thought it worthwhile to warn my fellow students about what we were facing. This was also a deliberate attempt to mimic Dave Barry's style of humor since it seemed to fit well with this subject.