The Incredible Graduate School Journey!

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On my 29th birthday, I received my Master’s Degree certificate in Computer Science from National Chengchi University (NCCU) in Taipei, marking the end of my graduate school journey.

Graduation certificates

The journey was full of miracles, and it all began with a phone call more than 3 years ago…

Started Application After a Phone Call

Back in the summer of 2021, Taiwan was still under border closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Working in the tourism industry, there was little I could do. At the same time, learning to code was extremely popular. Even without a computer science degree, many people still managed to become software engineers through coding bootcamps or just a few months of self-study.

I had given up on learning to code twice — once in high school, and once in university, but this time felt different. I no longer had to worry about my grades, and I could just spend $20 USD for an online course on Udemy. I could also learn at my own pace. Why not give it another shot?

To my surprise, I had a good time taking a course on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript! It became part of my daily routine, and I was looking forward to becoming a software engineer after completing the online course. I even started to learn some basic theoretical subjects such as data structures, algorithms, discrete math, and linear algebra!

The notes I took on my tech blog in Chinese

However, when I shared what I was learning with a friend working in the tech industry, he gave me a strong piece of advise: go to graduate school. The reason? Tech companies in Taiwan mostly preferred candidates with a master’s degree from prestigious universities!

Applying for Graduate School

In Taiwan, there are mainly two ways to apply for graduate school: recommendation-based admission (推甄) and entrance exams. The recommendation-based way required CVs, GPA, recommendation letters from professors or employers, and a number of supporting documents — none of which I had. Therefore, the only possible way was to take entrance exams.

By coincidence, the exam subjects happened to be the ones that I had been learning online, including:

1. Data Structures and Algorithms
2. Discrete Mathematics and Linear Algebra
3. Computer Organization and Operating Systems

I only studied 1. and 2. since I couldn’t find any online course for 3. that I could finish in time. I also skipped practicing past exams because I couldn’t make sense of them. After about 3 months of studying, it was already time for the exams.

Coding Bootcamp at AppWorks School

I didn’t just apply for graduate school — I actually didn’t believe I’d get into any of the programs I applied to. Instead, I focused more on applying to Taiwan’s most prestigious free coding bootcamp: AppWorks School. The acceptance rate was only around 10%, and more than 90% of their graduates successfully became software engineers after graduation!

AppWorks School, the prestigious coding bootcamp in Taiwan at that time

I was lucky enough to be in one of their batches, and the training was extremely intense! We had to spend more than 70 hours per week on the assignments! I often struggled to keep up with the daily tasks and was constantly overwhelmed. In the final stage, job hunting, I couldn’t fully participate with the rest of my batchmates due to the below-standard final project.

Meanwhile, I received the admission letter from NCCU, and that marked the beginning of the three miracles of my graduate school life.

Miracle #1: Got Accepted by NCCU

To save money, I only applied to 3 schools-National Central University (NCU) in Taoyuan, National Taiwan University (NTU) in downtown Taipei, and National Chengchi University (NCCU) in the suburbs of Taipei. I chose them because none of them required me to book accommodation the night before the exam. Altogether, the total cost of application fees was only around $170 USD.

To my surprise, I was accepted by one of the schools, NCCU! NCCU is one of the top universities in Taiwan, but not particularly strong in STEM. Besides, their exam date coincided with those of other more STEM-focused universities (ex. National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST) in downtown Taipei)— which likely reduced the number of applicants for NCCU. That made acceptance a bit more attainable. And guess what? NCCU was my dream school back in high school, so why not?

Main entrance of NCCU

Most computer science graduate school applicants in Taiwan spent over six months — sometimes even years — preparing before getting accepted. It was truly a miracle that I got the admission letter after just about 3 months of studying, without going to cram school or practicing on past exams.

Miracle #2: Found Advisor Just 2 Days Before Semester Started

For graduate students, the most crucial step was to find the advisor. It was the key to shaping graduate school life experience — and sometimes determined whether we would graduate or not. I had heard of many cases where students ran into problems with their advisors and ended up dropping out. I didn’t want it to happen to me.

STEM graduate students in Taiwan typically started looking for advisors as soon as they were accepted — usually in December for recommendation-based admissions, and in March for those who took entrance exams.

Started Reaching Out Very Late

I was actually on the waiting list at first, so I didn’t find out I was accepted until June, not March. At that point, I was still busy with my project at AppWorks School, which left me no time to look for an advisor. In mid-July, when my final proejct was coming to an end, I finally started reaching out!

By then, it was already quite late — many professors had either filled their quotas or didn’t reply to my emails. I even considered just taking courses in the first semester and waiting until the next year to get an advisor.

And I Still Found the Advisor!

On the last day of August — less than 2 weeks before the semester started, I received an email from a professor that once rejected me, saying that he now had an opening, and I could contact him if I was still interested. As someone who hadn’t been able to find an advisor, how could I not be interested? I immediately scheduled an online meeting with him.

The meeting only lasted for about 30 minutes, and the professor didn’t really ask me any question. He briefly introduced his ongoing projects and explained the procedures to go through if I wanted to join his lab. As it was my only option, I completed the required steps right after the meeting, and he accepted me the very next day. That made me secure an advisor just in time — 2 days before the semester started!

As it turned out, this lab was quite popular — most of its slots had already been filled on the day the school released admission results. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to get in at the very last moment!

Secured a seat in the lab

Miracle #3: Finished My Thesis

The key to graduation for graduate school students in Taiwan was finishing the thesis, and for me, it wasn’t an easy journey.

I was assigned a novel AI-related topic during first semester, but due to technology limitations at the time, it was very difficult to even just generate the dataset. Since I still had required credits to complete, I focused more on the coursework at first.

By my third semester, I realized it would be nearly impossible to write a thesis proposal based on the original topic due to the lack of data. My advisor then recommended a new topic. The proof of concept seemed solid at first, so I wrote a 20-page proposal and submitted it to the department office.

Unfortunately, I struggled with the second topic as well. My advisor soon gave me the third topic. I was initially interested, but soon realized that even defining the research question precisely was a challenge. I felt stuck — but not discouraged. I knew that at this moment, the last thing I needed was to let frustration take over. I joined a dance club and yoga club to make my myself stay positive. For the dance club, there was a performance every semester, and the third miracle of my graduate school life came on the day after my final performance.

Found the Breakthrough After a Attending a Talk

It was mid-June in 2024, and most of my classmates were already doing their oral defenses. I, on the other hand, performed on stage with undergraduate club members. It was such a memorable night.

Performance with undergraduate members at the dance club

The day after that, I attended a talk at National Taipei University of Technology (NTUT). The topic was about education, which I felt little connection. However, for a brief moment, one of the speakers mentioned a new technology. I suddenly realized that it could be the solution to my first research topic. I could start to generate the dataset!

The speech at NTUT

I immediately sent this information to my advisor and started experimenting with it — and it worked! I then found more new research articles that were very helpful to this particular topic. From that point on, my research progress skyrocketed. Within a semester, I completed my thesis and made it to the oral defense.

Exchange in the USA and Graduation

Going on exchange had been my dream ever since I was in Finland back in 2019. I started to apply for it in my third semester and departed three days after oral defense — in my sixth semester.

The school I went to was University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), as it was the only option that year with a computer science department open to NCCU graduate students. It was in Oxford, Mississippi, a fairly remote town about 1 hour and 15 minute drive from Memphis, Tennessee. It wasn’t easy to travel around with public transport, so I focused more on my studies at first.

Ole Miss Student Union

The courses I took included:

1. Csci 223: Computer Org. & Assembly Language
2. Csci 450: Formal and Programming Languages
3. Csci 561: Computer Networks

I really enjoyed the courses and ended up with two A’s and one A−, for an overall GPA of 3.85/4.00. Since I didn’t need to transfer credits, the grades were simply a personal milestone.

My transcript at Ole Miss (Csci 450 is written as Csci 503 for graduate students)

After the semester ended, I set off on a big trip across the USA. I also took small trips to Texas, Washington, D.C., Nashville, Atlanta, and New Orleans during the semester, but the summer vacation trip was the first one that I could travel without worrying about assignments or upcoming exams. I remembered that I was even tearing up when I looked out of the window on the first flight. After all, it was my first adventure in 6 years, and the first one after COVID-19 pandemic!

My first flight during summer vacation

After leaving the U.S., I made additional trips to Vancouver, B.C., Canada and Tokyo, Japan. I returned to Taiwan in mid-June and began the graduation process. Finally, after 6 semesters, I received my graduation certificate on my 29th birthday — what a perfect gift!

The places I visited in the USA and Canada

A General Look Back at My Graduate School Life

For STEM students in Taiwan, earning a master’s degree was fairly common, as it was one of the basic requirements for most tech-related jobs. But for me, these three years felt like a dream!

During my undergraduate studies, I already knew I wanted to pursue a master’s degree, but I didn’t know what I wanted to study. Thus, I didn’t apply for it right after graduation. It took me another four years to return to school, and that was when I realized just how precious student life really was.

Aside from studying the subjects that I really enjoyed, I also tried many activities that I had never experienced before. The most meaningful ones were the dance club and yoga club, as mentioned earlier. I also joined a coffee-related club, took advanced driving lessons to obtain the license for tractor-trailer combination vehicles, and hosted “Colorful Finland” sharing event. What was more, I started tutoring computer science for the first time and was deeply moved when I realized that I could make a layperson understand the key concepts in this field.

I felt incredibly fortunate to have such experiences and to have earned the degree I’d long dreamed of — all while still in my twenties. Living that dream was truly a privilege, and I was just so lucky to have been part of it over the past three years — a journey I’ll cherish forever.

Dah Hsian Seetoo Library, my favorite place at NCCU