TI1400 Ten Minutes of Personal Notes on Being a TU Delft Student Alexandru Iosup (lecturer) Parallel and Distributed Systems

Your English is Excellent!

The Team Succeeds, You Fail! Meet Dorel

Programming as a Career Path Simon Peyton Jones Dan Ingalls Peter Norvig Ken Thompson … Fran Allen L. Peter Deutsch Donald Knuth

Procrastination, the Active Version Source:

To Get or Not to Get (A Good Grade)? Get Show that I’m smart Show that I’m capable Build my CV Compare my ability with others’ Prepare my background for other courses It’s just a small step… Don’t Get Takes time and effort I don’t like the course I will never do this This was just a mid-term I’m just too good for this I don’t care I don’t care to have a reason

My XP … MSc Project The best projects are not given to everyone There is a limit of good/promising projects Good staff members put a low limit on the number of students they supervise every term Top students often get invited by good staff members to pursue a promising/good project Good students get to use contacts with industry of staff members (replacement for lack of experience on the CV)

My XP … Getting a Job in a Tough Market Recruiters look for university (degree) quality, employers look for signs of excellent achievement Difference between applying for a job in good vs tough market Quest: Get only top marks in Comp.Sci. courses at TU Delft Employers ask employees from same country/university about quality of prospective employee, based on CV A course with a particularly good grade can be your hiring ticket A course with a particularly low grade may be your downfall Employers want you to be able to do well on tough/don’t like topics (Performs when things get tough? Can deliver at this tough client’s site?)

True Story … PhD Application Letter: “I went over your application material […] The following additional materials will help me get a better picture of your academic abilities:[…] 4/ An explanation of the grading system for your BSc. It looks like your scores there were really low. 5/ Your ranking among the students of the University, at BSc and MSc level.” A4: “I accept that my score is low but it is very difficult to get [good] marks [at my university].” A5: “My university does not have any ranking of B.Sc. students, just grades [which, for me, are low].” Result: “We have decided not to pursue your application.”

Achieving Your Childhood Dreams Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams