🚀 go-pugleaf

This is an interesting question.  You don't say how many years of graduate
study your friend has had.  Many new graduate students here in the Computer
Science department at Berkeley have feelings of inadequacy that generally
last until the middle of the second year.  The lack of any support facilities
in the department doesn't help.  Generally these students work hard
for those first three semesters and by that time have gotten over it.
Just about everyone I know here has felt this way.

Aside from that situation, which I did experience and did get over,
I had a similar problem last year (my fourth year).  It wasn't related
to feelings of inadequacy, but to burnout.  I had just spent several 
months preparing for qualifying exams when they had to be postponed a
week before I was to take them because a professor on the committee 
couldn't make it.  I tried to go back to work, but after a month I
realized that I hadn't done anything.  I went to my advisor and told him
that I wasn't satisfied with my progress and thought that a year
off might be good for me.  My advisor, who thought my work was fine,
thought that leaving for a year was too rash and suggested I take a
month vacation.  Basically, I decided to stay away from the department
for a month.  I visited my family for about a week, came back and
spent some days doing nothing, other days traveling, bought a car,
did some consulting, in other words, I did everything but worry
about my schoolwork.  After a month, I came back and was ready to work.

The moral of this story for your friend is that taking about a month off
is a good idea and that he shouldn't worry about fallling behind.
Timetables mean very little in grad school, and the ones that do exist
can be bent with the help of one's advisor.  Don't worry about getting
out in five years instead of four; it really doesn't matter.

Wayne Citrin
(ucbvax!citrin)