The Many Flavors of Theoretical Computer Scientists
An explanation of my field for non-experts
Sometimes I tell people that I’m a theoretical computer scientist. If they haven’t yet found some sort of excuse to go to the bathroom before I take my next breath, the next question is often an exasperated, “What does that even mean?” I tell them that it’s sort of like math except that instead […]
Get Beyond the Bubble
The importance of interacting with non-MIT people during graduate school
Last Saturday night I was in my living room surrounded by a dozen people, but there was only one topic of conversation: the joys and sorrows of working at a hospital. My girlfriend Jaimie is a psychiatry resident, and we had invited her co-residents over for dinner. Doctor-talk monopolizing the night wasn’t a surprise; I’ve come […]
Don’t Panic
How to survive falling into a grad school hole
The people that get into MIT and places like it are used to being the best of the best. The people who come here are used to success. In particular, they’re used to success being easy. The easy success you may have experienced in undergrad is not going to continue at MIT. (Okay, it might […]
It’s Not About the Weather
Don't choose a grad program for the location or climate
I’m a first year graduate student in Materials Science and Engineering, or “Course 3” to anyone who’s familiar with MIT’s classification system for majors (more on this later). I’m on my way to a PhD (or as my good friend calls it – Permanent Head Damage, Piled Higher and Deeper, Pretty Huge Diploma, etc.). For […]
The MIT School of Witchcraft & Wizardry
How I learned to enjoy getting lost in the maze of MIT
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. No! Thank you but no. I will not be going. Your magic and professors and creatures are wondrous, sure. But your stairs? They move. See, Hogwarts, I was born without a sense of direction. To me you’re […]
