Question for grad students - former or current

[MathematicalPhysicist]

How is it naive? You're second guessing people as much as I am!

Privacy to do what, exactly?

Ok, so picture the situation: you are a new grad student in a department, and you have been shown your room, introduced to your supervisor, and are now sat at your desk, in your private office. Now, if you get stuck, who do you go to? Your supervisor: ok, fine. But what happens when he's not around, or if it's a stupid 3 second question, will you go and knock on the grad student down the corridor's office and ask him? Compare that to a situation with a shared office, you come in, get introduced to your supervisor, and are then introduced to your office-mates. You sit down and work, come across a problem, you ask the guy sat opposite you for help, and he gives you the answer you needed.

There are so many occasions like this when it's useful having someone else in your office you can ask advice/questions to. Do/did you have your own office as a grad student, or did you have a shared office and find it hard to work in?

Not yet, but if I were given the opportunity I should think what kind of a room they're suggesting.
for example I was in some grad physics student's office, which was a caravan up on the roof, well the caravan was pretty darn small, but he was alone, and I also was in a grad maths student's office which was a shared office which had more space than the physics guy, then in this case I would prefer the shared office.
But the social benefits are second for me, especailly if I could get an office which has enough space for my legs.
anyway you can interact in the students workshops and other activties.

p.s
if it's not understood yet, I'm still a UG student.

 

[cristo]

anyway you can interact in the students workshops and other activties.

What's a "student workshop and other activities"?

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

students' seminars.