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| | Ask HN: Current and future perspectives on college and life in STEM academia? | |
5 points by unknownian on May 31, 2014 | hide | past | favorite | 3 comments
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| | Hi HN, I don't know if this has been asked before and it possibly doesn't have enough to do with hacking, but I would like to share this. I am a graduating US high school senior and I was recently admitted to a top US university with strong STEM programs and will be attending. I however was not admitted to its peer institutions with perhaps stronger programs and more prestige. I am grateful for the opportunity to go this school, but I can't help but think what could have happened differently had I been admitted at those places. I'm sure a lot of you have gone through this and I am interested in your perspectives. I do hear that college doesn't really matter, but I am not looking at this from an entrepreneur's standpoint who wants to get out of school as fast as possible. I am strongly considering pursuing some kind work in academia and am also worried I don't have the brains or talent of someone who gets to the top of those fields so I'm also interested in hearing from grad and PhD students. Thanks in advance. |
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On the issue of brains and talent, this is something I didn't appreciate for a long time. People get to the top through a lot of hard work and dedication. It's not like a Hollywood movie where there are people that are just born brilliant and are able to make things happen without effort. When you see someone college-age doing amazing things, it's usually because they've been working at it for a long time before college. If you focus beyond just passing tests, four years is a fair amount of time to catch up. When you see a brilliant 60 year old scientist, that outcome is the result of a career of hard work.
You will go far if you spend some time thinking about what you need to do to get yourself to the next level and start acting like it. If you want to be in academia, be the undergrad that thinks and works like a grad student. When you're a grad student, act like a postdoc; when you're a postdoc, act like a professor. And it shouldn't be just an act, you need to actually take on the responsibilities and do the work of someone at the next level. Let your work speak for itself rather pretending to be at the next level by talking down to your peers. When you think this way, it makes it very easy to take the next step. People making the hiring decisions won't have to think very hard to imagine you stepping up to the next level.