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Eigen, yes, you are absolutely right. Once you factor in all those things grad school (in the life sciences) starts to look like a pretty great deal on paper. It is also a pretty great deal in real life... We get to study what we love, learn new things every day, eventually get an advanced degree and get paid a living wage! So I am definitely not trying to complain. I made this thread because I want to learn how to protect my place in my program which is obviously my priority. This being said I also think that as grad students we should exercise our right to work on reasonable side projects, continue hobbies and participate in sports and events outside of our lab. Without the ability to do things outside of the lab many of us would (and some do) go insane. So far I have spent a very modest amount of time on this project. I think it is a cool project and something that I would like to continue to work on. Some graduate students in other disciplines are not compensated nearly as well. For example PhD students from our english lit department make about half as much as we do in the life sciences. Other students like Medical and Dental students rack up 6 figure debt that they will carry with them for years after graduation. I think that this website could become a valuable resource for graduate students from a wide variety of disciplines. It is set up in a way that allows students to post jobs that they know they complete quickly and easily and allows them to charge whatever they want for their work. This could provide a much needed source of easy extra income for students while minimizing the additional time commitment. Furthermore it has the potential to help connect graduate students to potential employers in industry.

Thanks for your input TakeruK! You bring up some very good points. I think I will try to talk to some people at my University, maybe the student legal services office, before I make my next move. Do you guys think that it is even worth pursuing this? I think it is a really cool idea but I am starting to see that it might be a serious time commitment. Building the website was the easy part... managing it might prove to be more cumbersome. I might need to recruit some people from the business school who are interested in startups or something. Would anyone use a site like this?

Hi Guys, I am starting my second year of graduate school this year in a life sciences PhD program. Over the summer our pay got reduced for tax reasons as a result of not being enrolled in classes during the summer semester. Because of this, I started doing Fiverr gigs, learning about TaskRabbitt and looking at the gigs page on craigslist to make a little extra money. This was actually a pretty cool experience. I got connected to some companies in industry, made some easy side money and most importantly it gave me an idea... Why not start a gig economy website specifically for grad students...? So I started one and currently have it up and running, although there is no user base yet. My question for all of you is, am I going to get in trouble with my program for doing this? Our program made us sign a non-compete clause in our contract that prohibits us from getting another job while we are in the program. But that same contract stipulates that we work 20 hours a week but the culture compells us to work about 60. Importantly, this website is not an employer. It is only a platform (similar to craigslist) that allows graduate students to become self employed. On top of that it is gig (task) based and not a steady form of employment. I really think that as grad students we highly skilled, highly motivated people that are being taken advantage of by being compelled to work insanely hard for low pay. I personally want and would use a platform where I can make a little bit of extra money on my own terms and my own time. I know this website will help a lot of students. But I also don't want to get kicked out of my program! What do you think?

Hey, I was in a similar type of situation. I graduated from a well known (in the midwest) liberal arts college with a 2.9 GPA. After graduation I spent 1.5 years working in a research lab at the University of Minnesota where I worked my ass off and really impressed my boss. Because I was a University employee I was able to take an organic chemistry class very inexpensively. I didn't take Orgo as an undergrad... I worked my ass off in and got an A. I applied this year to programs at large public universities with very solid research programs. I wasn't sure what to expect but I got one interview (so far) at the University of Iowa (molecular and cellular biology PhD program). I did well in the interview because I have been doing research and am able to talk in great detail about my project and how it relates to other projects going on at Uiowa. I had 7 interviews with various professors some tried to grill me but thats not a problem if you know what you are talking about. my application looked like this... a 2.9 gpa average gre scores stellar letters of recommendation 1 paper in Molecular biology of the cell, second author 1 A in a class I took after graduating from undergrad (This shows continued motivation to improve) a personal statement that briefly address academic shortcomings and spins it as a something that has become motivating. I was told during an interview that someone on the admissions committee pulled my application out of the reject pile because of the "Very flattering" letters of rec and personal statement. So maybe you have to have someone on an admissions committee go to bat for you a little bit So it can be done... but you have to determination, improvement and dedication. We dug ourselves into a hole and now we have an uphill battle to get out of it. Good luck, you can do it!

I was also wondering about this. I haven't seen or heard anything about Oregon or University of Colorado Boulder. I think maybe ill try calling to ask about the status of their decision process. Ill let you know if I get any info.

Accepted to University of Iowa Molecular and Cellular Biology PHD program! First and most likely only acceptance! I was getting worried... But now I have a future!

Hi guys, what are the typical conventions regarding sending thank you emails or other correspondence to professors we meet during interviews? Is it typical to send them an email saying a breif "thanks for taking the time to meet with me, I really enjoyed getting a chance to hear about your research. I am really excited about the program and look forward to hearing from the admissions committee." I had some really good interviews with a couple people who I have already been talking with about projects but what about other more typical interviews? Thoughts? Suggestions? Thanks!

Has anyone heard from University of Colorado Boulder (MCDB)? It is getting really late so I am assuming the worst. But I still haven't heard anything from them so there is still a tiny chance. I assume they have been having interviews already but I don't have any concrete info to support that assumption... Does anyone know anything about this program?

Rejected from UCSD Biological Sciences Ph.D. program this morning. But I am keeping my spirits high and i'm off to an interview!

You are GREAT!

I am also interested to hear about any recent interview experiences. What have your interviewers spent the most time talking about, how long have your interviews been and how many does each school usually send you to?

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories Watson School of Biological Sciences: 1/30-2/3 Columbia (Pathobiology & Molecular Medicine): 2/15-2/17 Emory University (Neuro): 1/31-2/2 & 2/14-2/16 NYU Sackler (Microbiology): 3/7-3/8 Northwestern (DGP): January 24 - 26 or February 7 - 9 or February 21 - 23 Stanford (Biology): 2/27-3/3 UCSF BMS: 1/24-1/26 OR 2/7-2/9 UCSC PBSE/BME: 1/24-1/26 UF (IDP): 1/27-29 and 2/24-26 U Mass Med (Biomedical/Neuroscience): 1/31-2/2 and 2/14-2/16 U Chicago (Biomedical): 2/21-2/23 U of Colorado, Denver (Basic Sciences): 1/31-2/2 or 2/21-2/23 UT Houston (GSBS): 1/31-2/3 or 2/21-2/24 U of Iowa (Molecular and Cellular Biology) 1/24-1/26 and 2/21-2/23 Washington University in St. Louis (Biochem): 1/25, 2/8Washington University in St. Louis (Biochem): 1/25, 2/8 WashU (Devo, Stem Bio): 2/8, 2/22 WashU (Evo, Eco, Pop): 2/22 WashU (Human Gen): 1/11, 2/8 WashU (Immunology): 1/18, 1/22 WashU (MCB): 1/11, 2/1, 2/15 WashU (Microbiology): 1/25 WashU (Neuro): 1/18, 2/1 WUSTL (Plant): 2/1, 2/15 University of Wisconsin-Madison (Entomology): 2/3-2/5

I was wondering the same thing! From what I hear it is more casual. I was tentatively planing to go with button up dress shirt and kaki pants. Should i go even more casual? I know that an interviewee in a suit would look out of place if they came to visit my lab at the U of Minnesota.