tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post117129945423636101..comments2024-03-28T18:17:00.135-05:00Comments on Computational Complexity: Lance Fortnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06752030912874378610noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-1171654504378865722007-02-16T13:35:00.000-06:002007-02-16T13:35:00.000-06:00I DO get paid to watch shakespeare plays, and my d...I DO get paid to watch shakespeare plays, and my degree is in engineering. I have a side job writng theater reviews for a local paper. I get $57 for 250 words, plus tickets.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-1171631511254012722007-02-16T07:11:00.000-06:002007-02-16T07:11:00.000-06:00This alone proves nothing...but it's useful inform...<I>This alone proves nothing</I>...<BR/>but it's useful information, because you can then focus on the exceptions in order to find out which schools, through high quality education and training, add the most value to a student. For example R.Ravi, currently at CMU, got his PhD at Brown...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-1171603536525778152007-02-15T23:25:00.000-06:002007-02-15T23:25:00.000-06:00All you need to do is look at theorists hired by t...<I>All you need to do is look at theorists hired by the top 25 schools in the past 3 years, and then look at how many got their PhDs at MIT/Stanford/Berkeley/Princeton/Cornell and how many got their PhD from another US institution.</I><BR/><BR/>That alone proves nothing. If the best students majoritarily attend the best schools, guess what? when it comes hiring times the best candidates are from those schools. <BR/><BR/>For the figures to prove something you need to give us a list of names of really bright graduates publishing scads of STOC/FOCS/SODA papers a year who didn't get a job offer at the top schools.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-1171595630869882002007-02-15T21:13:00.000-06:002007-02-15T21:13:00.000-06:00Not only is Adam Kalai at GAtech, so is Santosh Ve...Not only is Adam Kalai at GAtech, so is Santosh Vempala, another CMU theory grad. And Shuchi Chawla at Wiconsin...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-1171592473325945152007-02-15T20:21:00.000-06:002007-02-15T20:21:00.000-06:001. USING SASHA RAZBOROV AS AN EXAMPLE FOR ENCOURAG...1. USING SASHA RAZBOROV AS AN EXAMPLE FOR ENCOURAGING RECENT PHDS IS PROFESSIONAL NEGLIGENCE. SASHA IS HIGHLY ATYPICAL.<BR/><BR/>2. ANON #12 LEFT CARNEGIE MELLON OFF FROM THE LIST. I AM PRETTY SURE THAT ADAM KALAI WORKS AT GEORGIA TECH NOW AND HE DID HIS PHD AT CARNEGIE MELLON.<BR/><BR/>3. THE PRIMARY SET-BACK FOR GRADUATES FROM "NON TOP 5" GRADUATE SCHOOLS IS THAT THEY DON'T HAVE A DEGREE THAT WILL OPEN DOORS AND SERVE AS A TIE-BREAKER. TOP 5 SCHOOLS GRADUATE NUMEROUS "GREAT BUT NON TOP 5" THEORISTS EACH YEAR, AND THESE PEOPLE ARE LIKELY TO GET THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT MORE THAN COMPARABLE APPLICANTS FROM "GREAT BUT NON TOP 5" SCHOOLSAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-1171586520874341322007-02-15T18:42:00.000-06:002007-02-15T18:42:00.000-06:00Razborov went to grad school in Russia, so using h...Razborov went to grad school in Russia, so using him as a data point says nothing.<BR/><BR/>Which theory students from Harvard are you talking about?<BR/><BR/>All you need to do is look at theorists hired by the top 25 schools in the past 3 years, and then look at how many got their PhDs at MIT/Stanford/Berkeley/Princeton/Cornell and how many got their PhD from another US institution.<BR/><BR/>What's amazing to me is how poorly theorists from other good schools (say, Georgia Tech) do in comparison to theorists from the top 5.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-1171470466998963322007-02-14T10:27:00.000-06:002007-02-14T10:27:00.000-06:00If you don't go to a top 5 school, getting an acad...<I>If you don't go to a top 5 school, getting an academic position becomes exponentially harder. </I><BR/><BR/>Exponentially harder is overstating it: "the difficulty goes up by a polynomial factor in time and space" would be more accurate.<BR/><BR/><I>don't go to the "highest ranked school" just because it's the highest ranked school.</I> <BR/><BR/>Particulary be wary of places with great <B>trailing</B> reputations. A place that was top notch 15 years ago might have fallen in hard times, yet it takes quite a while for other people to take notice. You may end up accepting an offer from place X because everybody knows they have a great group in area Y and lo and behold all the big names have retired (or are about to), their replacements (if there are any) aren't half as good as the old timers and the whole group is drifting, resourceless and without a sense of direction.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-1171437003940699122007-02-14T01:10:00.000-06:002007-02-14T01:10:00.000-06:00I would say a huge factor in your decision is to p...I would say a huge factor in your decision is to pick a school where you would be happy (more important than the "quality" of the institution to some extent, I'd say). If you like city life, don't go to a rural campus, and vice versa. Try to go somewhere where the other grad students seem happy and are social (I went to a couple of schools for my visit days where the grad students seemed pretty miserable... definitely a turn-off). The culture of a department is very important (go to all your visit days and be sure to talk to as many grad students as possible!) <BR/><BR/>Whatever you do, don't go to the "highest ranked school" just because it's the highest ranked school. The quality of your work will speak for your abilities, not the institution you attend. And the quality of your work will definitely suffer if you attend a school that you hate.<BR/><BR/>-CAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-1171395910668793012007-02-13T13:45:00.000-06:002007-02-13T13:45:00.000-06:00If your goal is an academic position, I'll second ...If your goal is an academic position, I'll second what anonymous #6 said. If you don't go to a top 5 school, getting an academic position becomes exponentially harder. (This is unfair, but that is life.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-1171385426725754182007-02-13T10:50:00.000-06:002007-02-13T10:50:00.000-06:00Re. the question about choosing a grad school: as ...Re. the question about choosing a grad school: as always,there are several dimensions to this, just wanted to chime in with one that I think is very important: go to a school where your education can be as broad as possible -- say you wish to do a PhD in complexity theory, pick a school where you'll learn a lot about algorithms, optimization, game theory, etc., and quite a bit about the rest of CS. The variety of ideas you will be exposed to is a very valuable asset, don't overlook that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-1171377678444158022007-02-13T08:41:00.000-06:002007-02-13T08:41:00.000-06:00There was a discussion of that issue on this blog ...There was a <A HREF="http://weblog.fortnow.com/2006/03/choosing-graduate-schools.html" REL="nofollow">discussion</A> of that issue on this blog a while ago.<BR/><BR/>My somewhat cynical opinion: If you are admitted to, say, all the top 4 schools, then use comments on the post above to pick and choose. Otherwise, go to the highest ranked school you are admitted to. It will make your life easier in many ways.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-1171377476903132972007-02-13T08:37:00.000-06:002007-02-13T08:37:00.000-06:00Unrelated question:Graduate school decisions are c...Unrelated question:<BR/><BR/>Graduate school decisions are coming out now. How should a theory undergrad decide which school to attend?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-1171325467240705402007-02-12T18:11:00.000-06:002007-02-12T18:11:00.000-06:00As luck would have it I will be away at a confence...As luck would have it I will be away at a confence when you give the talk at Iowa State March 26 :(Chad Brewbakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10443154815748267611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-1171319024384466312007-02-12T16:23:00.000-06:002007-02-12T16:23:00.000-06:00Responses:1) YES, easier proofs do help thecommuni...Responses:<BR/>1) YES, easier proofs do help the<BR/>community. The proofs I am looking<BR/>at are not really new, they ARE out there---<BR/>sortof. But YES, I do plan to write<BR/>them up. Not sure where to publish since<BR/>not new.<BR/><BR/>2) THANK YOU second commenter for indirectly<BR/>reminding me that my website resume is<BR/>out of date. I have fixed that, though<BR/>my links to papers is still out of date.<BR/>My last published result was MULTIPARTY<BR/>COMM COMPLEXITY OF THE EXACT T problem<BR/>in MFCS with Beigel and Glenn.<BR/>(2006). It DID use the Ramsey Theory<BR/>stuff I had read. Also FINDING LARGE 3 FREE SETS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY <BR/>with Glenn and Kruskal<BR/>has been accepted by JCSS and I am putting<BR/>the final touches on it now. It ALSO<BR/>used Ramsey Readings. (Have had other<BR/>stuff too- see resume.)GASARCHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06134382469361359081noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-1171307876577770752007-02-12T13:17:00.000-06:002007-02-12T13:17:00.000-06:00what was your last published result and when was i...what was your last published result and when was it released ?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-1171302357325261302007-02-12T11:45:00.000-06:002007-02-12T11:45:00.000-06:00“I was very curious about this theorem. That is r...“I was very curious about this theorem. That is reason enough. People don't watch Shakespeare plays for the sole purpose of getting a paper out on them. Except English Professors.”<BR/><BR/>It is also true that people don’t get paid watch Shakespeare plays, except English Professors. <BR/><BR/>I think you missed the most obvious point (perhaps to obvious to mention). If you do find a more elementary proof, it will help others better understand the area to. And helping people understand stuff is what we get paid for.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com