Doug Yovanovich: UCSD Post 6

Sept. 24-25: The Cognitive Science Department held its orientation for new (and old) graduate students. One thing that really impresses me here is the academic climate. It is very egalitarian. Professors treat graduate students like peers as opposed to underlings. The faculty want us to explore their interests and pursue the things we want to pursue. It's quite unlike graduate schools at small state universities, where you are basically admitted by a particular professor and then you become their indentured servant, doing the kind of research they want you to do. Here, it's the opposite: they accept a group of bright, talented people and let us do what interests us. I'm lucky that I already have an advisor whose research interests match my own, so there's a lot I can learn from her already.