Ph.D. application project in 7 days: Distributed System Analysis & Development

Overview

This is a story about how I reversed impressions using my coding and essays in a month, in two 7-day projects in succession.

The professor said,

"I don't think it's possible that you finish all these."

This was the feedback right before the two projects.

The professor also said,

"You positively impressed us with your coding and essay."

This was the feedback after I finished all the intensive tasks he gave me.

I would say, I will remember this in my whole life. With this feedback, the hard work paid off.

Background

Difficulties

time: tour concerts

coding without learning

Analytics & Actions

Email & Notes

Conclusions

Background matters: I found that it did make a difference if you have not learned some courses. Quick learning would help you start doing it but you will still slow down because of the understanding gap.

Logging/Habbit matters: I see my project undergoing while recoding what I have learned each day, for the new problems I met what have I tried and what are the results or the new problems. Not only did this pat my anxious heart, but also it showcase my good habit in research: keep track of the research. With good habit, a person are more trustworthy. Similar problems can be avoided and new methods may be analyzed accordingly and efficiently, also others who met similar problems could be helped.

Confidence matters: "No matter what I will get it down" I actually use much more hours to get this project done than the professor allowed me to. "Suggested hours are about xxx, If you spend more hours, you may not suitable for this." Of course I had to spend triples of hours, work from 7am to 2am. I just want to see whether I can get it done if I tried. The old saying "There are always more ways than difficulties." really helps me out. If I never tried, I'll never know how much potential I got.

I strongly suggest anyone, no matter whether they intend to apply to a Ph.D. or not, try to have at least one interview with a professor. You will get to know what matters in your research life, you will even know yourself better. "Am I THAT interested in research?" "What I want to do in the future, FOR REAL?" You may cheat yourself before the interview, but the professor will definitely know it. If you are honest, you will benefit the most. This is another thing I learned from M professor, he stressed several times about honesty, be honest when showing yourself, and be honest to yourself.

Even though I finally chose not to keep going with this Ph.D. position, I still find this process worth my time and energy. It benefits my life.

Reference

Please note that I vagued the details of the school, professor, or task details on purpose due to confidentiality agreements. The original task emails were deleted as required and GitHub repositories were set private. This essay exists only to record how I handled completely unfamiliar project, and what I found important for people applying to Ph.D. , what I had learned from this experience.