Post-bacc. or Lab Manager/Coordinatior/RA

[psychotheatre]

Hello,

So I am weighing the options of accepting a lab manager position or *attempting* to land a post-bacc research fellowship. The latter would be much more competitive, but also much more substantive and involved (from my impression).

Specifically, I am looking to Yale's ESI-Prep, Columbia's Bridge to PhD, and MIT's BBS Post-Bacc Research Scholar Program in Neuroscience. The manager position is at a well-known school.

I would say statistically/on-paper I am a competitive applicant (strong GPA, good letters of recc., some research experiences). These programs *appear* to serve communities for which I am not a part of (namely, Black and Latinx students; I am Vietnamese American); though I am first-gen, low-income, and the Asian demographic has very varied educational attainment outcomes depending on ethnicity (Vietnamese/SE Asian being among the lowest among Asians, and lower than White).

I am looking for advice whether it's worth to try to my hand at these fellowships and reject the manager position offer (I would apply to other lab manager positions that may have a later timeline that allow me to hear back from these post-bacc programs). Or perhaps advice in how to frame wanting BOTH accept the position, and apply to these post-bacc research fellowships--Is this asking to have a cake and eat it too?

Wanting to hear any opinions/or advice. Thanks :)

[socneuro]

On 2/13/2019 at 11:09 AM, psychotheatre said:

Hello,

So I am weighing the options of accepting a lab manager position or *attempting* to land a post-bacc research fellowship. The latter would be much more competitive, but also much more substantive and involved (from my impression).

Specifically, I am looking to Yale's ESI-Prep, Columbia's Bridge to PhD, and MIT's BBS Post-Bacc Research Scholar Program in Neuroscience. The manager position is at a well-known school.

I would say statistically/on-paper I am a competitive applicant (strong GPA, good letters of recc., some research experiences). These programs *appear* to serve communities for which I am not a part of (namely, Black and Latinx students; I am Vietnamese American); though I am first-gen, low-income, and the Asian demographic has very varied educational attainment outcomes depending on ethnicity (Vietnamese/SE Asian being among the lowest among Asians, and lower than White).

I am looking for advice whether it's worth to try to my hand at these fellowships and reject the manager position offer (I would apply to other lab manager positions that may have a later timeline that allow me to hear back from these post-bacc programs). Or perhaps advice in how to frame wanting BOTH accept the position, and apply to these post-bacc research fellowships--Is this asking to have a cake and eat it too?

Wanting to hear any opinions/or advice. Thanks

Hello! 

I feel like it depends on a few things: length of the commitment, salary, who you'll be working with.

I assume the goal is to apply to graduate school. If there's a lab position open in a lab where the PI works closely or is the PI that you're interested in applying to for grad school, I'd say work there since the letter of rec will be a lot stronger by someone they know and work with and will be a great networking opportunity. 

Some programs have a year long commitment, others are 2 yrs +, I've even seen some lab project coordinators with only a 6 month commitment. The question there really depends on when you want to go to grad school. Are you delaying to save up money or trying to get in as soon as possible and just beefing up your CV?

Either program / lab manager position you choose, it'll look good on your CV. I will say some lab manager positions are different than others. Some only want you to do office work and answer phones, while others will actually mentor you and help you get on papers. If the position you're looking at is more of the office type than I'd say definitely turn that down as you ideally want to get as much experience as possible and not just at office tasks. You can always ask the PI what your tasks will be and if they're open to starting new projects with you and have opportunities to get on papers.

[TrustedTheProcess]

I think you should focus on the experience you would be getting at these positions rather than the title of the position itself. Which is going to be the position that allows you more opportunities for paper/poster writing and presenting, leading research projects, etc. The experiences themselves are going to matter more on your CV rather than the name. 

I also second the poster above who advised to look into perhaps working with PI's that are well known in your research field or who work with PI's of your interest. Letters of rec and connections matter a lot. However, if there's a PI you really really want to be a graduate student with, I would be cautious about applying to work for them. Many PIs have a a strict or informal rule against taking students from their own lab, whereas others are open to it. My PI for example was very forthcoming that she only takes students from her own lab in very unusual circumstances. Best of luck to you!

[paraent]

Couple of cogneuro labs I applied to when anxious about GS apps: UVA’s Nicole Long, Bonner/Isik at JHU, Shenhav at Brown. They all seem to be recruiting still!

Oh I misread OP. Would recommend taking the lab manager position tbh. If it’s at a good enough location, research oriented, and you work hard, you’ll be very well positioned for GS apps. Sure helped me a lot. I don’t know that the  programs you mentioned would necessarily give you that much of an extra leg-up to justify the risk, and one in the barrel is worth two in the bush anyway. But I don’t know your full situation.

Otoh, would certainly encourage exploring all the opportunities you can if you can make the room to.

Edited February 19, 2019 by paraent