In case I have readers who I don’t know in real life and are not on twitter, I have news: I got into the physiology grad program that I wanted.
Unlike some of the braver bloggers I read, I didn’t feel up to blogging about the application process because I was convinced I would get rejected from everywhere. Some of my reasons were irrational and some were rational (I was just making the grade cut-offs for the programs I applied to), but apparently none were justified. I’m still surprised that someone (aside from me) think that I have what it takes to succeed in grad school.
So that leaves me with a week of school, one exam, and a summer before I begin my MSc and i’ve got some things on my mind. I hope you don’t mind me unloading in the form of a list.
- I’ve run out of motivation for school work despite still having my senior thesis, two essays for a social science course, a review for my seminar course, and an exam. Seriously how the fuck am I supposed to get myself to do this crap?
- I’ve been having a minor argument with a friend who is also heading for grad school over the way I went about choosing a potential lab. He seems to think that I should have focused more on whether they use the shiny-est, newest, most awesomely over-hyped techniques rather than finding a lab that works on stuff that I’m interested in. Dude has been going on about which schools have X-equipment and which ones have Y-equipment and why he totally wants to go somewhere with Y available. I am so fucking tired of hearing about this. He also seemed surprised at how much emphasis* I put of the social environment of a potential lab. Can’t wait to see that come back to bite him in the ass.
- I need to figure out what I’m doing this summer. I have three options:
- I can start working in my future supervisor’s lab over the summer. Pro: I get a head start on my project. Con: I lose my last real summer vacation.
- I can try and find another lab to work for over the summer. Pro: Learn stuff that I might not get a chance to later. Con: I lose my last real summer vacation. Also, Lab Tech in current lab has been hinting that she wants me to stay for the summer and I’m not sure staying** will be good for my mental health.
- Find biology-unrelated job that pays well. Pro: I will actually feel like I had a summer vacation. Con: No science. Plus, the “pays well” part is probably a pipe-dream.
—
* That is, more than zero.
Hi, I stumbled on your blog from Scienceblogs. Congrautlations on getting into grad school. From someone who recently completed grad school…
1. You got into grad school, have fun with the rest of the year, finish your work and as long as you don’t fail, don’t worry about it.
2. when choosing a lab, I’m all about social environment. I’d much rather be in a lab that allows me to work my way and have fun along the way than in one that is headed by a big-named researcher with shiny, new techniques/equipment. I picked a smaller lab that I fit in with really well and was way more productive than I could have imagined being elsewhere.
3. You could start work in your new lab and have a summer vacation at the same time. I started working in my grad school lab in the summer and spent most of my time catching up with the new field I entered. It’s definitely something that could be done part time. Go in the lab for half the day, spend the other half getting to know your new environment… but this may be your last chance of having a real summer off.
Stumbled here via twitter. I haven’t read any other posts, but I was you a year ago. Here’s my input (applies only to me, obviously. but it might be helpful)
1. Just do it. It sucks. I have never procrastinated so badly as I did at the end of my undergrad. I was writing papers right up until I moved out of UndergradTown. Sorry I don’t have any more concrete advice.
2. You can have both shiny equipment + good social environment. You probably don’t have a super specific idea of what you want to work on (if you do, great! But don’t exclude other topics) so if there’s any possible way you can try out a couple labs before committing (like some kind of rotation system), do it. Do it do it do it. You’ll get a much better idea of what the atmosphere in the lab is like and how the PI likes to run things, but you’ll also find out what the pace of research is in the lab and how well things are going. One benefit of shiny equipment is if it’s in wide use when you’re done your degree it can be more of a marketable skill. You’re more right than your friend, in terms of choosing something you’re interested in (that you can work on without losing motivation for the next couple years), but don’t lock yourself in to one topic. There’s lots of interesting science out there. Another reason to try some stuff out. I don’t know if you’ve chosen a school/department yet, so maybe you don’t have the option of rotations, but this leads in to the next point:
3. If you think you’ve chosen a department that has a few PIs you’d be interested in working with, but you have to pick a permanent supervisor right away, there might be some value in working in a lab over the summer without committing to a thesis there. Dunno if the PI would go for it. Also, if you have some extra cash, you might want to take some vacation time before you get locked into school again. I took a month off and traveled for a couple of weeks before starting work in a lab over the summer (which I ultimately ended up not joining) and I’m glad I did.
Hope it helps. Or at least didn’t confuse you more. Good luck. Enjoy your summer.
MXH – Thanks for the advice. That half-day idea might be a good way of balancing things if I can convince Future Supervisor that it’s a good idea and if I can figure out how that’ll work with my finances.
Lab Minion – Yeah, I don’t have the option of doing rotations, which is kind of a bummer. The best I’ve been able to do was spend a couple of hours in my prospective labs and ask around friends who’ve done undergrad work in those labs (also, institutional rumour mills are hilariously informative).
If you are into taking unsolicited advice from strangers, boy, have I got some advice for you!
First of all, social fit is VERY important when choosing a lab. Don’t doubt yourself on that front. If I didn’t get along with my labmates as well as I do, I don’t know how I would have ever survived my first year. The fanciest equipment in the world might make you look good on paper, but what’s the point of that if you burn yourself out before you can graduate because you don’t have a mental and social support network?
I highly recommend that you don’t try to do any school-related work over the summer, especially if you’re feeling burnt out right now. You will need to feel refreshed when you start your program in the fall. I actually took 9 months off between undergrad and grad school, and I am SO VERY GLAD that I did. I never would have been able to handle it if I hadn’t had time to relax and regroup.
Congrats on getting into a good physio program, btw. That is a subject very near and dear to me.