Hey! It’s always great to hear from old students to see how they’re doing; please reach out, I’d love to get your message!

The most common request I get from past students is regarding recommendation letters. If you are interested in getting one, please fill out this form: https://go.ncsu.edu/batista-rec-letter

There are usually two ways that I reply to recommendation letter requests:

1. Yes, absolutely! I’d love to write you a letter.
2. I don’t think a letter from me would be helpful.

If you receive (2), please don’t be offended. It’s nothing to do with you; instead, it’s about knowing a little more about letters of recommendation. So here’s some extra information similar to what I usually send in my response and what’s at the beginning of the form I linked above.

To give some context, admissions are usually looking for letters that show how you (i) could perform well at the next academic level and (ii) maybe research potential; (ii) more so for Ph.D. apps. If I’m giving you this reply, try to think of professors that you may have:

• worked on projects outside the class (e.g., research);
• worked as a TA for them;
• interacted a lot during their lectures (e.g., asking questions, trying to answer questions they asked);
• attended their office hours regularly;
• etc.

If you can think of other people that fit any of these, they would be much better in showcasing (i) and (ii), compared to a letter from me saying you took my class and got this grade. So, if I suggest looking for someone else, I’m probably trying to help you strengthen your application; and although I could write you a letter, it will not be very helpful.

Regardless, please take a look at the form and shoot me an email with any questions you have. This is just a heads-up that not all letters are equally good, and if I don’t think my letter will be helpful, I’ll tell you exactly that! Keep in mind that you should give letter writers some time to prepare things. That means you probably want to reach out to me at least one month before your earliest deadline.

Lastly, I only submit confidential letters, as I do want to reserve the right to be honest in the letter and confidential letters are also often considered stronger. So if I get a request where the right to review the letter has not been waived, I will decline the invitation to submit.

That being said, you don’t need to worry that I will write you a bad letter just because you cannot read it. Writing a recommendation letter takes time, and if I cannot write you a strong letter, I will decline your request and suggest you find someone that can do a better job in recommending you.

If you’re currently an undergrad student at NC State and have interest in working with me, please check my lab page: batistacomputinglab.com

I am NOT looking for graduate students in the foreseeable future!

Currently, I don’t have any funded research projects so I cannot financially support students. However, if you’re a prospective Ph.D. applicant, you do not need to secure an advisor before applying to CSC at NC State, so I encourage you to submit an application. Please see this link for more information: https://www.csc.ncsu.edu/academics/graduate/future-students.php

At NC State, TA assignments are decided through the department. I can only “recommend” someone to work in my courses, but they need to be in the pool of applicants already, which only includes Ph.D. students. If you’re a current M.Sc. student, your best bet is to apply to be a grader: https://go.ncsu.edu/cschiring

With all that being said, I do reply to most¹ emails I receive, so if you have some other questions I haven’t covered, e.g., you just want to chat or get advice on something, please shoot me an email! If you want to make sure you will get a reply, include the word “ZotPack” in your subject line. Just be advised that if your message is about funding, you will receive a response like the above.