I get a lot of mail from prospective students during application periods and I cannot respond to all, so here is some general points: I do accept new students (MS and PhD), but only after they are admitted to a…
Posts
Reference Letters II
Now that I am teaching courses with 300 students, I am getting so many reference requests. So here are couple of points on this topic: When you write to ask a recommendation letter, give all necessary info! It is not…
Choosing Your Field of Study in the Age of AI
This question comes to us often, naturally. So here are my two bits. We are in an era in which artificial intelligence is significantly impacting our lives. Choosing a major has become more challenging than before, especially for students about…
Yapay Zeka Çağında Alan Seçimi
GazeteSU’ya yazdığımı şuraya da koyayım: Yapay zekânın hayatımızı ciddi şekilde etkilemeye başladığı bir dönemdeyiz. Özellikle üniversite çağındaki gençler ve aileleri için bölüm seçimi artık eskisinden daha zor bir karar ve bu konuda öğrenciler ve ailelerinden çok soru geliyor. Gerçekten…
Course Evaluations
At the end of the term, the university asks students to evaluate the course. Many students ignore this request with various assumptions. Some think that the course is over, so what good will it do for me. Others think that…
Good presentations
AI is advancing at an enormous pace, so we all benefit from people who writes blogs or presentations about a paper. If you are the one doing a presentation about a paper, you may want to watch for the following:…
Course Selection (SU or otherwise)
While this post is mainly for Sabanci students, it may also apply to other students. I get a lot of questions as to which courses to take, especially in the sophomore year. After reading the information in cs.sabanciuniv.edu, I would…
Not Ms, not Hanım, not Bey….
You should not call women profs Madame or Hanim or Mrs or Ms; nor call male profs as Mr or Bey. The correct form of addressing is Prof. X (Hi Prof. Berrin) or X. hoca (Hi Berrin hoca) in Turkey.…
Getting a place in an undergraduate research project
After we announce our graduation projects for the term, we get many emails from students. Some write too short (“I am interested in your project, can you tell me more about it”) without any useful information about their background or…
Email Etiquette
I have been bothered by the tone or content in some emails I receive. When you want to meet, you should not say “…. when are you free?” This is a bit too direct or impolite (I have double checked…