So I've just wrapped my last grad school visit. I'm currently finishing up an undergraduate degree in plant breeding and plant genetics and am being heavily recruited by all the top programs in the country. Woo!
Throughout the interviewing process I've chatted with a few professors who seem to want me to know EXACTLY what research questions I am interested in asking. The truth is I've had a ton of research opportunities throughout my undergrad (multiple projects within two plant breeding labs at my university, research internships at two seeds companies), and frankly I haven't done anything that I haven't enjoyed. I know that in grad school I want to work on a project that involves statistical/quantitative genetics, retains a breeding focus, includes computational biology/bioinformatics aspects, etc. But I've discovered that isn't cutting it for some. A few profs I've talked with so far want to know exactly what "biological questions" I want to ask while working in their lab.
I'm still an undergrad, so naturally I'm not already an expert on the finer points of developing statistical models to predict genetic load of rare alleles or how to incorporate multidimensional data (ie. RNAseq, metabolite profiles) to dissect a metabolic pathway. Is it reasonable for a professor to expect me to know exactly what kind of project I want to do that just so happens to fit neatly within the confines of their grants, or am I just way behind in my own soul searching process? In my mind that seems like something that would be more often expected of someone coming in with a Masters degree already, but maybe I'm wrong.
Any advice or tips on how to answer those tough questions with prospective advisors would be much appreciate.
