misslitty

Thank you so so much for your response and advice. I don't have any aligned backups, as I can't really contact potential labs without risking him finding out, but I honestly think he will fire me once he knows that I will leave anyway. I may just bite the bullet and start asking around. Best of luck to you in your transition!

I am going to save the whole backstory and just get into my question. I am a first-year PhD student, and I came to this university because my PI's research is a perfect fit. I came out over the summer to begin research early and get into the swing of things, but this is undoubtedly NOT the lab for me. I'm miserable and it is a horribly toxic environment. I have contacted both of my previous PI's and they agree that I need to change labs. My question is, how do I go about doing so? As soon as word gets back that I'm looking into funding available in other labs, my PI will fire me on the spot. He also would not give a good reference once he learns I am leaving. There is also no departmental staff that I can inquire to about departmental support in the case of funding lapse- there is only 1 staff member who hasn't quit, and they would tell my PI if I asked about anything. I don't know what to do.. I feel like I'm forced to make this decision blind.

I'm not in your field, but are you confident about your personal statement? I feel like that made a very big difference in my applications

I'll be starting my PhD in Bioengineering there this Fall(:

I think we would need a bit more background to give a realistic estimate- do you have practice GRE scores available yet? I think those are a great variety of universities, but I would strongly encourage you to add 2 universities with a bit lower notoriety/name recognition. Find the programs that have the research that you find most interesting, don't simply apply because they sound fancy.

So I have accepted a PhD offer at a very prestigious institution, but I am concerned about the PI that I will be working under. He has exhibited a lot of red flags, and I am under the impression he is not a good mentor, bordering on labor abuse. Is it possible to defer my other PhD admissions for a year, granting me time to see whether my concerns are valid, or if the relationship can work? If so, how should I phrase this to the other institutions?

????

Ooookay I'm fucking livid and I'm mostly to blame. F/G, E/VG, VG/VG I'm a BS/MS student, but when I applied, I had no graduate courses counting towards my GPA. The only academic level that can reapply, as BS/MS students can, is level 1. So that's what I selected. WOW THAT WAS A MISTAKE. The ONLY negative comment on my application was from Reviewer 1, same comment for both IM and BI: The academic level is 1 for this applicant. However, she is already in here first year of graduate school. NOT HAPPY

God I didn't know this was coming soon, and had a nightmare I didn't receive it last night. That was quite an accurate prediction. Honestly, I'm crushed. Congrats to all who were awarded it!

I emailed them last night: "Award announcements are traditionally made by early April. If there is a change that warrants notification to the community, it will be provided as soon as possible."

I've accepted a PhD position to join a specific group's laboratory. We have already gone over the details of the position, and they sent a group email to his lab members welcoming me. I don't start until Fall, and am wondering how I should keep the communication lines open with this PI without annoying him.

I've accepted a PhD position to join a specific group's laboratory. We have already gone over the details of the position, and they sent a group email to his lab members welcoming me. I don't start until Fall, and am wondering how I should keep the communication lines open with this PI without annoying him.

I had actually booked my flight for the visit, but canceled it after I received that email. That is not the kind of environment I'm looking for. Very bummed such a great program could be so unprofessional.

Background: I asked the outreach person if I could receive the same materials that visiting students receive in the case that I can't make the visit myself. I made clear I wanted to go, but if I could not, I didn't want to be missing any of the information. Email got forwarded to the department head, and he was fucking RUDE. The whole thing was basically a call out of how I'm going on too many visits (I've only been on 2...). I never said where the school is on my list (it WAS top 3). Here's the line that really got me: "If we are that low on your list, I would much rather have you simply decline our offer now rather than waste everyone else's time"

I've been accepted to 5 programs so far, and all have invited me to their grad student visit days. I have crossed one, a school whose offer I won't be accepting, off my list. With the other 4, I just don't know which I'll accept yet, they all have their benefits. I am still in school and my research lab, however, and I don't want to miss that much time to go on visits. I truly don't know how to prioritize which program visits I should attend. Any advice is much appreciated!