I'm just finishing up my undergrad MS in ECE, and have been accepted to a school for a PhD program which, though I haven't formally accepted yet, I am about 95% likely too. I am trying to figure out exactly what I want to do the summer before. I know a lot of people recommend taking the summer before off, but I'd really prefer not to for financial reasons. Also I just generally don't like the idea of doing nothing for 2-3 months. I could look around for some standard part-time summer position, or potentially start research work early. The latter option strikes me as more tempting because I'd be doing something that (I hope, since I intend to spend 5 years doing it) I will enjoy, as opposed to just something which will pay the bills. This leaves me with a couple questions:
1) Is it fairly typical to start before the normal beginning of the Fall Semester?
2) Is it strange to ask my PI about the possibility of summer work when I haven't committed to the school yet?
3) Is wanting to start research early and shorten the break just a terrible idea I will regret if I do it?
Any thoughts appreciated!
