glow_gene

I'm going to second BabyScientist and say that starting rotations early is the most straightforward and productive use of your time

Hey all, After suffering a pulmonary embolism, a house fire in which I lost all my belongings and a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment during grad school, I finally have a defense date for February, 2019 (after 6.5 years!)! I'm feeling nostalgic about my application process and sadness at the thought of leaving Washington University in St. Louis. I just want to offer my input if anyone would like any insider info on WashU, applying here, living in St. Louis or finding a lab at a large institution. I'm going to do my best to keep track of gradcafe. Best wishes and best of luck to all applying! Hello to everyone I recognize from years ago! :D ~glow

Congrats! Especially on that WashU acceptance!

@Dank Why don't you start a "2017 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results" thread? No harm in getting it started early. I think there would be a lot of people willing to give feedback if it didn't derail the current topic and application cycle.

As usual, just gonna put a little note in this thread. I'm finishing up my 3rd year at Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) in the Molecular Genetics and Genomics PhD program. Please feel free to message me with questions about WashU/genetics programs/PhD programs/St. Louis/any of the schools in my signature/questions about making decisions. I really do enjoy helping prospective students make the most out of their application season Best of luck! ~glow

Whoo! I'm glad you found a place and, if you're in town, I hope you're enjoying this gorgeous weather .

f*ck this noise. Spent the first part of the week in the hospital for the second time in two months. At least my apartment didn't burn down again so theres a silver-lining. Oh wait! But that grant application is still due on Friday! No way it's going to get funded now, but I still have to try. No data again in lab meeting because all hell has broken loose. I am tired of feeling like a broken failure. My arm really hurts from the IV. I'm so tired. I just want to get up to speed and stay there for a little bit....just make a little actual progress before I get knocked back down again. So hard to stay focused.

BeakerBreaker covered much of the basics, but I had just a couple things to add. St. Louis is very much like a quilt made of different neighbourhoods. Each neighbourhood has its own feel and it's own culture. Some places are great and some not so great. It's difficult to gauge where you'll fit in best until you move here, but there are lots of great places to live and spend time. I personally choose to live close to campus in a very quiet neighbourhood and spend most of my free-time elsewhere. Places like Clayton and Brentwood (lots of upper-scale stores, restaurants, franchises and the mall) have a MUCH different feel than South Grand or Benton Park (ethnic cuisine, coffee shops, smaller boutiques) but both share similarities with the Delmar Loop. I have previously heard fellow graduate students complain that St. Louis is too close-minded. I have rarely, if ever, had that experience as I choose to spend the majority of my time around people who are open-minded and have found many, many places to speak with like-minded folks. That being said, I do think St. Louis is best enjoyed if you have a car. It's possible to get by without one, but you would likely miss out on finding some of the more out-of-the-way neighbourhoods you might enjoy. I've generally found people to be friendly no matter where I go and my boyfriend and I almost always make new friends when we go out, even if we're just waiting in line at the grocery store. Anyway...I'm rambling to avoid grant-writing...please feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions . Aside from "It's a big city that feels like a big town", it's hard to succinctly sum-up St. Louis.

Belatedly: Sure thing! I added 1 or two new spots. I could add about 100 more but I don't want it to get too overwhelming

Thanks, guys . I went to talk to my PI and basically said, "I'm super having trouble motivating: Can I meet with you individually each week for a few minutes and decide on goals that must be presented at next week's lab meeting?" She seemed surprised but totally willing. She's too easy on me most of the time and I hope she holds me to this. Also, our R-01 (the one full of my data) was funded so woohoo!. Also, in additional venting-related news: why in the hell are grant applications so darn difficult? So much to write! So little time! What is my third rec-letter writer doing? How do I EVEN?!

My life kind of imploded in February. Now I can't seem to get back into the swing of things in lab despite all the major non-lab issues being dealt with. I'm scared I'm going to stay this disconnected from my work until it's too late to recover/get data/graduate. Sometimes I find myself just staring at my computer screen. Just needed to get that off my chest. My friends keep telling me it'll be fine and I'll get back to it...but sometimes I just need to vent my fears.

Apparently I really like maps....here's another one! I made it editable by anyone, so people are welcome to add their own favourite places. This way you have access to their websites/addresses etc. I added small notes so you can click on the red marker and find out why I added it. Hope this helps! https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=znSq18U6Bxo4.kU-6heM8gSjU

I highly recommend doing the best you can and advertising here for editors. We can help you edit a document, but you shouldn't ask us to write it for you. Justifying funding will likely be a large part of your career and it's a good idea to start now.

^^^Good advice. I mostly got in touch with the program coordinator. He/She is usually the one doing all the paperwork and any message you send to anyone else will ultimately have to go to him/here to be official. I then usually sent a thankful/regretful e-mail to any POI I had been in touch with. Be careful with your order of operations, though. I did this at one school and got a "WAIT! But we have this extra-funding for you!" after I had already officially declined. Awkward turtle. I feel like I burned a bridge there because I declined to hear about the funding offer, despite her insisting.....I could/should have handled it better but I was caught off-guard.