Computer Insurance Research Q&A——by chx
It's coming to the season of security research again, and many juniors and sisters have already started gearing up.
Recently, I have successively received some questions related to computer undergraduate research from some students from our school and other schools, and some platforms and institutions such as Zhihu and undergraduates have also answered some questions for a fee. Many of the questions raised by the younger students are meaningful and common in nature. Therefore, the Q&A has been sorted out, so that more friends can be inspired by them.
The following answers only represent my personal thoughts, don't spray if you don't like it. If you have a different understanding, please criticize and correct it in the comment area; if you think this article is useful, please give me a like.
Don't talk nonsense, just send dry goods directly.
Q: In the process of preparing for the interview, should I prepare all the content involved in the professional course, or should I prepare according to the direction of the research group?
A: This depends on the situation. The first situation is that the teacher who interviewed you is not the teacher you will eventually apply for. This usually occurs in the summer camps of strong committee colleges and universities. Because you don't know in advance what direction the teacher interviewing you is researching (usually they are randomly assigned), you need to prepare more extensively (you can find some experience stickers), and also need usual accumulation + some luck. The second situation is that the teacher interviewing you is the subject group of the teacher/teacher you are applying for, typically some weak committee colleges such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences. This kind of affirmation must be prepared in accordance with the direction of the research group. Because the teacher is basically only very familiar with the knowledge in this field, the interview will also ask you about the relevant knowledge.
Q: Now I have done xxx-related work with my undergraduate teachers. When participating in the Canadian summer camp, do I have to try groups in all directions? Or just try groups in related directions?
A: This issue is the same as the previous one, and it needs to be discussed separately.
① In the summer camp, the college organizes teacher interviews uniformly, and will assign you a fixed interview time and group. This kind of choice does not exist. If you get an offer through the academy's assessment, it means that you have already gone to school (even if no teacher is selected, it will be assigned to you after school starts). Of course, you can apply for many groups in the latter double selection, so try them all.
②The assessment rights of the summer camp are delegated to specific teachers/subject groups, and there will generally be a first choice and a second choice. . You can also participate in more than one of this kind, but your time and experience are limited, it is impossible to participate in all, so you need to combine your interests and previous directions to choose a few more confidently. And the interview time of many research groups is conflicting, it is best to pass the assessment on the first choice.
Q: I haven't published a paper yet, and I haven't written a more valuable paper. I am worried that there is no advantage when participating in the summer camp. Do I need to prepare a paper for participating in the camp?
A: The computer does not participate in the business papers, so don't worry. At most, the teacher may throw you a paper for you to reproduce during the private interview. This is all for the rest. In fact, most of the graduate students do not have the kind of handy paper in the eyes of the teacher (except for a few dalao who can post the meeting). If your goal is Qingbei, it is indeed a bit imaginary. In other schools, most people basically don't have it. The most important thing for computers is programming and thinking skills. Basically, the computer test is done well, the interview is not crossed, and the good professionalism is shown. The probability of getting an offer is still quite high.
Q: I am not clear about the direction that graduate students want to pursue. I have some basic understanding of the current popular direction (ai-related) but not in-depth. The summer camp plans to try all computer-related fields. Do seniors have any good suggestions?
A: The current hot direction refers to ai-related. In fact, computer-related majors are more or less related to AI. Summer camp registration is generally based on the college registration. Many schools have more than one computer-related college, which can be divided into the following situations: the overall difficulty of the computer college>=artificial intelligence college>software college (exceptions are not excluded).
① School of Computer Science. There is a high probability that you will have the opportunity to try. If you have a good background, your resume is hard enough for you to enter the camp, and you are confident in the computer test, you can sign up. Don't be stubborn if you are not sure.
② School of Artificial Intelligence. This type is generally renamed recently. Many of the predecessors were the School of Automation, which did not have a computer test and was friendly to cross-professional students such as mathematics, but there will be many cross-professional students who will take the paper with you.
③ Software School. Generally, the size is relatively small, and many teachers are from the School of Computer Science, so it is relatively easy to apply. As for what major to choose, the majors offered and enrolled by different schools are not the same, and you can choose according to your interests.
Q: When preparing for the computer test, what level and difficulty should be brushed? (If the leetcode is used as the reference standard)
A: Difficulty varies from school to school. Generally speaking, most school questions are leetcode medium/medium difficulty or even original questions. . If you use leetcode medium/medium without difficulty, the computer test of most schools will basically not overturn (except for top schools such as Qingbei, except for acm strong schools). If you want to brush Leetcode, you should pay attention to it. Leetcode is interface-oriented programming (you do not need to write all the programs completely), except for the core code, you do not need to write; but the computer test requires writing a complete program, so you must have this aspect Psychological preparation, you can also do targeted training.
Q: What effective preparations can you do to ask professional questions in Chinese and English during the interview now or before the summer camp?
A: Usual accumulation + assault before the interview. It goes without saying that it is very important to accumulate in ordinary times. It is very painful to make a short assault without accumulating in ordinary times. But people's learning of knowledge is in line with the forgetting curve, just like you may now only have a vague impression of what you learned 3 years ago, which requires a surprise before the interview.
① Make good use of the experience stickers of previous seniors and seniors, first go online to check the experience stickers of the target school / ask seniors and seniors you know to see what questions are generally asked, which questions are easy to ask, and be prepared in advance (back Cooked...).
② In fact, by reading these experience posts, you will have some predictions about the general direction of the question in your heart, and you will also find out which part of yourself you have forgotten, so quickly review it. You don’t need to dig out the details, and get your ideas and general directions. Just understand.
③ Most of the English is a daily question and answer. Even if some schools have professional English question and answer, most of them are over and over and over again. You can learn well in advance, and you don't need to spend too much time in English.
Q: How do you determine which direction you are more suitable for? I tried it briefly in some areas, but I didn't feel particularly interested.
A: Hahaha. There is a saying that many people (including some great gods) gradually develop their interests in a certain field. It’s normal if there is no particular interest, because there are too many majors in computer science, and people have a phobia of choice. Moreover, your current major may not necessarily be in this area in the future, unless you want to stay in a university to engage in scientific research. If you are in this situation, then I strongly recommend that you find a teacher with good character and good academics (of course you also need to consider the title of the school), if there are still several similar teachers (you only It's a real boss), and then go to tangles which direction to choose. In addition, if you must decide on the direction now, you can use the summer camp preaching link to have a good communication with the teachers and seniors of the research group, maybe a certain sentence will touch you.
Q: What do some schools mainly look at when screening for admission? Is it ranking and level six? Are there other indicators?
A: There are some metaphysics in this question. Different schools value different points. Roughly speaking, there are a few hard indicators that are generally valued.
① Your undergraduate school. This is probably the most important thing, your academic background, yes. Many schools are not friendly to Shuangfei or even 211, and they are directly screened out when I look at the school. The scariest one I saw last year was the CS summer camp, the top 5% of C9 schools, and the top three of ordinary 985, although Finally, crazy by the pigeon. . This is really no way. Don’t blame yourself. If you want to blame, blame yourself for failing in the college entrance examination.
② Professional ranking. There is only one difference between 1st and 2nd, but many schools may only enroll in 1st. Some schools will also calculate a percentage based on your ranking base, and screen people according to this, such as screening out after 10%. .
③ CET-6 in English. Some schools will require you to pass the sixth level, or given a higher score, if you can pass 480 points in the computer major, you will basically not be dropped by the sixth level, and if you can pass 500 points, you will not be dropped at all.
④ Grade points. It is basically useless to apply for a domestic school grade point. The key is to rank. The grade point is just the icing on the cake. These are some hard indicators, and the priority is lowered in order. In addition, there are some soft indicators. However, the soft indicators that are important in the screening stage of the camp may only be the top meeting paper and ACM medals, and the others are not enough for teachers to spend time looking at them.
Q: What are the ways to understand the character of the instructor?
A: This can better reflect a person's connections.
① The conventional method is of course to go to the Internet (Tutor Evaluation Network, Tutor Comment Network, etc.) to read reviews. There will be a lot of personal grievances, and many teachers do not comment, but it can still be used as a reference.
② Unconventional methods. It depends on the connections. One is the situation of the mentors you know about their seniors or other mentors they know. If you have a good relationship, you can ask them to help you; and if you have some undergraduates Teachers who are at a better place can also ask them and ask them to help recommend them; or if your parents themselves know some people, you can also ask them to help. In a nutshell, we must "inquire" more and listen to what other people say about the teacher. In fact, as long as you can avoid the bad reputation recognized on the Internet, other teachers are okay.
Q: Can seniors recommend some schools with a relatively high rate of excellent camps?
A: In fact, Baoyan is more like an information war. In addition to your own strength, it is also very important to have information. In addition to schools with a relatively high operating rate, newly opened colleges and schools that have been miserable by pigeons in previous years are all recommended to try. The following list is based on my own experience last year, but the policies of many schools are also changed year by year, for reference only.
The colleges with a relatively high rate of superior camps last year (in no particular order):
① School of Computer Science, East China Normal University (the number of enrollees is small, and the rate of preferential operations is quite high )
② Beili School of Computer (Last year, I feel that basically all members are excellent. )
③ School of Information of Xiamen University (many pigeons, will be crazy to make up later)
④ School of Intelligent Science, National University of Defense Technology (because of military school background, I heard that it will be made up to the last place in the summer camp in previous years)
⑤ Huake Computer School (the number of campers and The number of excellent campers is roughly the same)
⑥ Turned in to the Department of Automation (both of my classmates’ summer camps were registered last year)
⑦ Tsinghua Software College (Although the excellent camp rate is high, it is extremely difficult to enter the camp, and all those who enter the camp are large guy)
New colleges to be opened in 2020:
① Shenzhen Institute for Advanced Study of the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (just established, it is said that the school building has not been completed)
② School of Artificial Intelligence, Sun Yat-sen University (everyone knows that there were no students enrolled last year)
The colleges recognized as being miserable by pigeons last year:
① Xi’an Jiaotong College of Computer Science
② Department of Microelectronics turned in (starting to make up records after 10.13)
③ Huake Automation College (the pigeons are worn out, it’s terrible)
Q: Will Daiso, which was established in June, help the summer camp promotion?
A: Daiso's cycle is generally relatively long, from six months to one year. I don't know if you are talking about Daiso that will be established in June 2020 or Daiso that you want to establish in June 2021. If it is the first case, then if the problem is completed in June this year, it will be able to catch up with the summer camps of many schools. In the second case, the Daiso project established in June this year is not helpful, unless you can achieve some results within 1-2 months (it is more difficult if there is no accumulated and mature idea before).
Q: Is it generally considered that the grade point ranking and the professional ranking are the same? Which one is more important to Baoyan?
A: In fact, this question is not more important-because summer camps generally require you to submit the certificate of the ranking of the academic chapter or the academic affairs office chapter. The summer camp enrollment teachers will use this stamped ranking as the standard, so from From this point of view, which ranking can be drawn by your undergraduate school, which ranking is of course more important. What time period can be drawn which ranking is different for each school. It is best to inquire about the policy of your undergraduate school in advance. Many summer camps are based on the grade point rankings of the first 5 semesters, and they will be exempted in September. What is open is a comprehensive professional ranking for 6 semesters. (Of course, last year I also heard that many schools did not issue certificates, so there is no way.)
Q: I have been in the teacher’s graduate group for a period of time, but I have not published a paper or any results. Can this be included in the personal statement?
A: Yes. You stayed for a while, if you really did some work, it is a good experience, and the teacher will also value it. Mainly present some of the work you have done (remember it well), and if there is no result, you can write about your own gains. During the interview, the teacher may also ask if you have stayed in the teacher's group, to see how your scientific research literacy is. This experience can make a difference.
But if you're stroked all the way, then write it up carefully, or don't write it.
Q: Can seniors sort out some of the frequently asked questions in interviews for graduate studies, or questions that seem to be relatively common but are actually difficult to deal with? For our reference to sort it out.
A: This problem is really big. I feel that it should be possible to make a series of courses. . I am afraid that I am not clear in a few words, because the style of each school is different. You can take a look at the blog I wrote about chx's road to computer research in 2020 (5)-summer camp interview questions and thoughts .
Q: What are the pitfalls that should be paid attention to when answering questions in the research interview?
A: Because I was almost entirely online summer camp and pre-rolling exemption last year, I may not know too much about some offline rules. Let’s talk about online interviews based on my own experience, but they are also general. In the end, you still have to rely on yourself to continuously summarize your gains and losses during the interview process.
① Answer the questions organized and logically. Sometimes it's not that it won't, it's that it can't express it. You can use the strategy of drawing conclusions and then explaining, or you can divide the discussion into sections, avoiding long-form discussions.
② You must learn to transfer when you encounter problems that you don't know, and the answers to some related questions will make up for your shortcomings.
③ You can express your opinions, but don't pretend to understand, and be humble.
④ After the answer is over, signal to the teacher, don't let both parties wait for each other, wasting time.
⑤ During the interview, you can cooperate with your eyes, nodding, and gestures to better communicate with the teacher.
⑥ Some teachers may be more strict. Even if the teacher is ashamed, don't give up on yourself (because other people may also be ashamed), let alone answer the questions. Adjust your mentality and answer the remaining questions.
⑦ When encountering some politically sensitive issues, we must embody the core values of socialism. . Don't be dead, don't let the teacher think that you have psychological problems. If you are a party member or a probationary party member, some schools will ask you about party theories and you need to prepare in advance.
Q: Seniors, is it necessary for the marginalists to participate in time-consuming competitions such as computer software design competitions? (Because I have to prepare for the postgraduate entrance examination, and worry that these team competitions will affect me)
A: First of all, the bonus points of these competitions are very limited. For marginalists in the research, the way to quickly improve their rankings and keep their place in the research should be to start with GPA. So I think the most important thing at the moment is to improve the scores of this semester's classes (if any) as much as possible. If you feel that you still have energy, you can go to some competitions to add to the icing on the cake. The most important thing is definitely the university’s qualification for postgraduate studies, otherwise everything will be neglected.
Q: Senior, where can I usually know the registration information of summer camp?
A: Let's briefly talk about several acquisition channels.
① WeChat public accounts such as Baoyan people are the most convenient and not easy to miss. Generally, the WeChat public account of the insurance research institution will list the summer camps of each college in a timely manner. If you are afraid that the house is not completely organized, you can pay more attention to it. Set a fixed time every day to see if there is any update.
② Go to the official website by yourself, it is not very efficient, and it will take a lot of time.
③ The fellows in the research institute help each other and exchange information.
④ There are also some websites, such as the Baoyan Forum, etc., which will be summarized, which is also very convenient to check.
……
That's it for the time being, everyone is welcome to discuss it together in the comment area.