So I'll answer a few questions that some people have asked me, and also I have asked myself out of reflection.
What was it like? Was it what I expected?
1. What was it like?
Graduate school at Rice (a least in the CAAM department) has so far been a wonderful experience. The level of work is very high, and expectations are also very high, but I perform my best under this sort of pressure.
It would be pretty standard for me to have 40-80 pages worth of homework to turn in every other week, on top of this I have research and grading. 10-12 hour days for weeks on end is not unusual, but it doesn't stress me out (unless I'm falling short on a deadline).
The homeworks are also very challenging, in several instances I would receive a homework assignment with 6 problems on it. Each problem would take me a little more than a day of continuous work to complete.
The professors in the CAAM dept genuinely want you to learn, but expect you to do most of the work. Where many classes of this sort will present theories and practices that are simplified for the purposes of instruction, this was not done in any of my classes. The result was an incredible opportunity for learning, but also a vastly increased workload.
2. Was it what I was expecting?
In a way, yes. At least intellectually I knew that graduate school would be hard, but I had no experience with this level of work in my life. I of course have done a lot of mathematics on my own, but in the absence of deadlines I could pursue it at my leisure.
The actual level of work took me by surprise at first, and I had to quickly learn to manage my time and my stress to succeed. I spent the first month constantly behind on deadlines (turned in many late assignments). For every assignment I turned in (often taking me many days to complete) it seemed there were two more being given to me, and then I would receive e-mails informing me of papers to grade.
So yes it was what I was expecting, but I was in no way prepared for it. I learned how to manage the workload, and did really well after the first month.
General Remarks
- Overall I had a very positive experience.
- The professors are helpful, but demanding.
- I feel like for once I'm being challenged to do better and better.
- I managed to impress the professor I was eying as a possible advisor, and I'm already in his research group doing work.
- I feel like my knowledge in numerics has increased tenfold, and I feel much more confident in tackling advanced problems.
So there we go. I wasn't ready for graduate school, but I managed to figure it out and did very well. I loved it, and am looking forward to next semester!
