Things I Wish I Knew Before Grad School

By Angelean Hendrix

Every day I sit in class and find out something else it was assumed I knew before starting graduate school.  As many come from different undergraduate institutions, and therefore backgrounds, I thought it would be interesting, beneficial, and a little entertaining to start a discussion on the things wish should have known but didn’t when entering grad school. I’ll start….

It took me almost a whole semester to realize that a “singularity” meant a place where you divided by zero. 😛 And for further embarrassment….. Gaussian elimination = elementary row operations and plug and solve… really that’s it.

I’m sure I’ll stumble upon something new tomorrow (and yes, I already passed my quals). C’est la vie.

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The Minimalist Approach to an Advisor

by Kareem Carr

Human beings are diverse. The recent article by one of our newest Editors, Angelean, on finding a new approach to job hunting reminded me a friend who took a similarly pro-active role for writing her thesis.

Many people I’ve met go about selecting a thesis by a somewhat circuitous route: they pick an advisor, often after trying out a few options, and their advisor picks their project out of something he or she is interested in. This project is usually in line with the advisors current work, and often follows a fairly similar plan of attack to their previous work. Continue reading

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Exercise Your Mind

By Adam Topaz

As graduate students, we live intellectual lives — coffee, cookies and math papers. Over the couple of years I’ve been in grad school, I’ve tried using some different methods to increase my productivity, some of which have helped me work more efficiently and creatively. Here are some methods which work for me:

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Never Look for a Job Again

by Angelean Hendrix

Seriously!  Companies should be knocking your door down.  Universities should be bending over backwards, begging you to accept their tenure offer.

Ok, that’s a little much. Wouldn’t it be nice though?  Becoming a hot commodity on the job market is not inconceivable.  All it takes is a little confidence, and a lot of NETWORKING…NETWORKING….NETWORKING!

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Fellowships, Deadlines, and You

by Derek Smith

Why are you reading this? You should be working on fellowship applications! They are quickly approaching! Then why am I writing this? No, I’m not finished applying, but I’d like to impart some quasi-motivational advice. First, don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good. Your application doesn’t need to be earth-shattering to win. But you do need to complete it!

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