walkmaster

First of all, thanks to everyone who's replied. This is some great feedback. Secondly, I'm actually not sure how far I could take it, or how long it would take. I work with annual fruits, so testing with future samples would definitely take some time! I don't believe by any measure that my work is going to win any awards, but let's just say that I've found something that connects some dots that nobody else found yet. Best case scenario, sticking around for one more semester would allow me to potentially write and publish one more paper, but that would be about it. Also, since I know I'll get at least one good paper under my belt by graduating this fall, and since I don't plan to go into academia (or teaching in academia, at the very least), I can't imagine that having one more published paper will contribute to my career (I plan to go more into the business/consulting/management direction) that heavily. I guess it's just that I'm a non thesis major who's ready to join the real world, but at the same time has found something worthy of a thesis, so I'm not sure if there's a right or wrong choice for what I should do. Once again, thanks in advance to any feedback!

I have a bit of a personal dilemma that I'm not quite sure how to address. I've been a grad student for two years now. I became a non thesis Masters so that I could graduate sooner and take more coursework that would prepare me for industry instead of academia. However, over the last few months, I've actually made some great progress with my research, and I'm not entirely sure how to proceed. After months of repetitive data analysis, I actually discovered something that has enough support and value that it could easily be published in a top-notch journal (Frontiers in Plant Science, to be exact) and there's lots of potential to make further notable discoveries. I switched from PhD to non thesis Masters because a) I personally don't feel that I am neither ambitious nor patient enough to make it all the way to a PhD, b) I want to leave town and relocate to a larger place (my grad school is in a VERY small town), and c) I'm ready to be done with school and find a job. On one hand, the research I'm doing seems like it could have real implications for future research projects. While I will definitely get at least one solid paper published with my name, I almost feel like it is a waste to graduate when you're on the cusp of a meaningful discovery. Sure the lab could easily continue the work and let another student take on the project, but it doesn't change the fact that I could still potentially stick around and make further discoveries/publications. On the other hand, I REALLY would like to graduate, get a job, and try to start living at least a semi-ordinary life, again. It would be great to get a job where I could actually make some real money for a change. Basically, I'd like to be done with grad school, enter the workforce, and stop living as an impoverished grad student, but part of me feels that I'm passing up a great opportunity to make some meaningful scientific discoveries. If I wanted to, I could postpone my graduation for a later date (I'd like to graduate this December) and continue to research in the same lab, so it's definitely an option if I chose to stay. Still, it would mean living in a small town while making very little money, which are two things I'd really like to avoid. Does anyone have any feedback on what I should do? I'm not sure what is the best choice for me, considering that I'm not planning to go into academia. Thanks in advance to anyone who can offer me some feedback.

Thank you guys! This is precisely what I needed to hear!

Do graduate students have to do whatever research is available, regardless of their interests? If you've had a harder time than you thought getting into grad school, do you suck it up and do whatever you have to do to get your degree at wherever you're accepted? Is it wrong for me to be picky about which lab I join when it's hard to find a lab of interest that has funding? I'm a masters student and I just finished my first year of grad school. I have spent the last year in a lab doing research I'm not that interested in, and my advisor and I have just recently decided that I'm not a good fit. She says it's not due to my performance; we just don't communicate very well and our work styles are too different (i.e. I'm a perfectionist and can be too cautious, hence I work slowly). However, I'm actually not that upset that I don't have an advisor right now, because I didn't actually want to be in her lab. The question is, do I try to join another lab at my own institution, even if it means that once again I'm researching a topic I'm not interested, or do I try to transfer to another institution where I can actually have a passion for my research? For years, well at the beginning of my, I knew that no matter what career direction, I wanted to go to graduate school and study a topic that I was really, truly interested. My dream was to be PASSIONATE about my research; not do lab work as a chore, but because I genuinely wanted to. However... my graduate life turned out to be nothing like I hoped it would be. Despite having a BS in Molecular Biology with a GPA of 3.45 and GRE scores of 156 (verbal), 160 (quantitative) and 4.5 (essay), I didn't get into school nearly as easily as I hoped I would. I applied to ten different schools, and only got into one (my safety school... and my last choice). Some schools I knew I wouldn't get into, but most I felt were right up my alley and suited my interests. I had already spent two years out of school getting research experience to strengthen my resume, but I really started to resent my job and didn't want to take any more time off, so I decided to enroll in my safety school. Sadly, it turns out that my advisor of choice didn't actually have the funding I thought he did, so I had to settle for an advisor who, despite being incredibly nice, patient, and understanding, she was not doing the kind of research that I wanted to do. Also, she did not have enough funding for a full assistantship, so for this past year I've had to do work on the side in order to supplement my income, and there's no sign that that would ever change until I graduated. After a year study, she could tell that I was not a good fit for her lab. Still, she's offered to write a positive letter of recommendation should I want it, and I haven't actually been dismissed from her lab, so I'd like to think that that's a good sign. The fact of the matter is, I'm just not satisfied with where I'm going to school. It's a nice school in a quaint little town, but I just can't find any professors whose work truly interests me. I know that my credentials aren't THAT impressive, I know that there are literally THOUSANDS of applicants out there that have better grades and more research experience than me, and I know that applying to grad school isn't AT ALL easy, but I guess I still thought that there was room in the academic world for me to pursue my own interests. So now I've got a dilemma. One choice is take a semester off (meanwhile doing some form of work to pay the bills) while waiting to see if I can get into a lab of interest at a different institution next spring, all at the risk of once again not getting into a school of interest. The second choice is that I try to find a professor at my current school who already has funding, and do whatever research is available so I can finish my degree sooner than later. Anyone have any experience with a situation like this? I know that this is a long post, and I appreciate those of you who took the time to read it all the way through (pant, pant, cough, lol) but I'd really love some feedback, here. Thanks.