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How to Succeed in Graduate School

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How to Succeed in Graduate School: A Guide for Students and Advisors
Submitted to Crossroads, October 1994
Marie desJardins marie@erg.sri.com
Abstract
This paper attempts to raise some issues that are important for graduate students to be suc¬cessful and to get as much out of the process as possible, and for advisors who wish to help their students be successful. The intent is not to provide prescriptive advice – no formulas for finishing a thesis or twelve-step programs for be¬coming a better advisor are given – but to raise awareness on both sides of the advisor-student relationship as to what the expectations are and should be for this relationship, what a graduate student should expect to accomplish, common problems, and where to go if the advisor is not forthcoming.
Introduction
This article originated with a discussion I had with several women professors about the prob¬lems women face in graduate school, and how more women could be encouraged to go to grad¬uate school in computer science. Eventually, the conversation turned to the question of what these women could do in their interactions with women students to support and encourage them. I volunteered that over the course of my gradu¬ate career I had collected a variety of papers and e-mail discussions about how to be a good ad-visor, how to get through graduate school, and issues facing women. They were eager to get this material, and I told them I would sort through it when I got a chance.
After mentioning this project to a number of people, both graduate students and faculty – all of whom expressed an interest in anything I could give them – I realized two things: first, the issues that we were talking about really were not just women’s issues but were of interest to all graduate students, and to all caring advisors. Second, in order to disseminate the information I had collected (and was

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