As a Tech photographer, I was instructed to bring my camera and capture the chaos as it unfolds.  However, besides a small contingent of congenial protesters, the whole scene was relatively tame and not particularly newsworthy.  I decided instead to give up a good view of Mass Ave for the quiet service roads behind the buildings of MIT, where I was sure the motorcade will eventually park.  Joining a crowd of about 40, I waited between Buildings 12 and 24.  I was sure this is the right spot since there were a bunch of police, tracking dogs and even a couple of snipers on the rooftops.

After a 45-minute wait, the motorcade did indeed arrive, but quickly turned to another side road to the collective groan of the group.  We did see Senator John Kerry and the press corp, but of course my camera battery managed to die at that precise moment.  Disappointed and angry at the camera, I decided to get some lunch and then go to my lab to watch the live stream of the speech.

After grabbing food and walking back towards my lab, I was about to pass the entrance to the service roads on Vassar Street when I was stopped by a cop.  Right then, the president’s motorcade came out and I got a great view of President Obama and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick in the backseat of their limo. To the cheers of the small crowd that gathered, the president waved and sped off to Kresge for his speech.  During this stroke of good luck, I instinctively reached for my camera… and its dead battery.  I will never forget my spare again.

For the uninformed, Piled Higher & Deeper (PHD) is a cult comic strip by Jorge Cham about the experiences of graduate students. Its characters are Stanford graduate students who deal with impossible research projects, exasperating advisors and having to explain why they are still in school. It approaches these issues with a sharp sense of humor that is equally smart, funny and relatable.

But really, how much is grad school really like the goofy, cynical and oftentimes hopeless world portrayed by Cham? The EECS panel gave it a little thought and half-jokingly half-grudgingly assigned a value of 50%. I have decided a more careful analysis might be useful. After all, PHD Comics is the de facto guide to grad school and its strips influence a whole generation of students.

I assume 1) there is a particular set of topics that the comic addresses, and 2) the importance of these topics depends on their frequency of appearance. I rate the accuracy of PHD Comics for each topic and form an overall accuracy score by the simple summation

I randomly picked out 81 strips and categorized them into topics related to grad school (the choice of 81 yields more impressive percentages). I then assigned an accuracy score for each topic:

Student/advisor relationship (frequency: 14.81%)
The characters of PHD Comics are generally petrified of their advisors. Although it is true that professors are universally intimidating, there is a wide spectrum of styles and personalities. Finding a good match and being communicative will prevent the dreaded and awkward meetings in the comics.
Accuracy: 30%

Research frustrations (11.11%)
Research is frustrating almost by definition. PHD Comics does a great job capturing the inevitable dead ends, pesky bugs, and long nights, but rarely addresses the payoff.
Accuracy: 70%

Length of time to graduation (9.88%)
There are a few Mike Slackenerdys around (called n-th years) but most EECS students usually get their S.M. degrees in two years and take about three to four more to finish the doctorate.
Accuracy: 25%

Slacking off (9.88%)
Graduate students do have a reputation for slacking but it’s pretty unwarranted. Productivity tends to fluctuate with paper deadlines, “aha” research moments, and classes. The constant checking of emails is spot on.
Accuracy: 50%

The thesis (8.64%)
Writing a thesis is one of those arduous things no one wants to do more than once. Unfortunately, EECS students have to do it twice.
Accuracy: 80%

Personal life (7.41%)
Grad school is actually a very fun and exciting place to be. When not in lab, MIT students can be found sailing, ballroom dancing, skiing, hacking, gambling, or any number of other interesting things.
Accuracy: 10%

Being a TA (6.17%)
I was a little skeptical about being a TA, but it turned out to be a great experience. It’s a great chance to solidify one’s knowledge of a certain topic, learn how to communicate well, and become a mentor.
Accuracy: 25%

Free food (6.17%)
The old adage about the best things in life applies well here. Grad students are often too busy (or lazy) to cook, and slipping into an info-session for Bertucci’s pizza has kept all our stomachs full at some point.
Accuracy: 100%

Research group (6.17%)
I think this is one of the weak points of PHD Comics. There can be a lot of camaraderie and friendship that develop in research groups, but this topic is not really explored much.
Accuracy: 20%

Jobs and the future (6.17%)
No matter the job market, good talent is always in demand. Although the degree itself is specialized, the skills we learn by being graduate students are widely applicable and desired. At the career fair, EECS students are recruited not only by tech companies, but also the consulting, finance and law sectors.
Accuracy: 10%

Classes and quals (4.94%)
In our department, classes are mostly voluntary and quals are not particularly difficult. Similarly, the characters of PHD characters are not particularly worried either (despite being from Stanford).
Accuracy: 50%

Talking about research (4.94%)
I really dislike talking to my high school friends or family members about my research. It inevitably ends with the question “When are you finishing again?”
Accuracy: 75%

Stress/quitting (3.70%)
At some point, everyone thinks about leaving grad school for precisely the reasons the comic chronicles in its strips. By addressing and generalizing these pressures with humor and wit, PHD Comics makes students realize that they are not alone and that grad school is not always serious.
Accuracy: 75%

I want to emphasize that these scores are completely based on my own experiences and opinions. The great thing about grad school is that there is much universality that makes us feel like a community but each person will have a completely unique experience and different thoughts on the above topics. If I had to answer that question again, I would say PHD comics is exactly 45.8% like grad school.