How Grad School Was Like Going Back To High School
Channel: Alex Zorach
Date: 2017-07-09

For me, college represented a move towards more self-directed learning, in which I started to shine academically, and I expected grad school to continue on this trend. Instead I faced a rude awakening, regressing back to rote learning, busywork, proctored exams, and a culture that shunned self-directed learning. Here I talk about my frustrating experiences in grad school, and explain how we could change the culture and structure of master's and Ph.D. programs especially, to better prepare people for independent research.

For reference, I have a B.A. in Mathematics from Oberlin College (2002) and a M.S. in Applied Mathematics from University of Delaware (2007).

I don't mention this at all in the video but I also have an M.A. in Statistics from Yale University (2008).  I would be glad to talk about this program in a future video.  Some of my same criticisms apply to this program as well, although my response to my grad school experience at Yale is somewhat different so I wanted to talk about it separately.