Anyone else out there in the "teeny-weeny cohort club"?

[SeriousSillyPutty]

In the fall, I will be one of two (2!) students entering my PhD program. I met some of the current students and it seems like a friendly group, and I'm already on the radar of my advisor-to-be, so I feel okay about it, but I do suspect it will be a quite different experience. Can anyone else offer reflections on how being part of such a small group affects dynamics, classes, etc.?

[Gneiss1]

Can't say on the experience as I haven't begun yet, but I found out I was my adviser's only new incoming student. Talk about putting on the pressure haha:) good luck!

[Dal PhDer]

I was the only PhD student for the first year in my program...it's an interdisciplinary program, so you essentially make up your own committee and are part of a parent department. So in my program, I have a wide range of PhD students from hard to soft sciences.

It was a bit lonely, but was still alright. I was lucky to be in a lab with one other person..ha ha ha...we connected well and spent a lot of time studying together. It is a bit different, but it also is kind of nice- you don't have that competition or comparison.

[3point14]

Can't say on the experience as I haven't begun yet, but I found out I was my adviser's only new incoming student. Talk about putting on the pressure haha:) good luck!

Me too. I'm also pretty sure I'll be his ONLY student for a while because the other one is taking some time off. But there are a couple of people (not undergrads) volunteering in the lab, and my actual cohort is pretty large so hopefully it'll work out ok!

[grizzlygirl87]

I am actually the only incoming graduate student for my advisor this fall, and there are only two others (a post doc student and a masters student) who work with my advisor as well. There are a couple other people in different labs who work pretty closely with ours, but even then there are only five of us total. I haven't had any experience with classes so far since that doesn't start until August for me, but I have been doing research and helping out in the lab for over a month now.

So far, I find it really enjoyable. There is almost always someone on hand to help out, and we are all involved in the others' research. We are a rather tight knit group, and we enjoy getting together outside of work just to try to keep each other sane. There is some sort of get together almost every week - a BBQ, a coffee date, going out for lunch or a couple beers. Even more helpful is the fact that everyone also maintains their own social networks independent of the lab, so everyone has connections in other departments which is really beneficial.

Typically, a good advisor will only take on as many students as he or she can efficiently manage. So it definitely can be a good thing that your cohort is small! Good luck to you!

[crazygirl2012]

I'm one of four in my cohort, and that sounds large to me now! I think having a tiny cohort could be good. You'll still have the more senior students for company, and you probably won't have to worry quite as much about competition as people with larger cohorts will.

[prettyuff1]

I guess I'm not so small I'm one of 5 in the department. In the total program there is 25 per year. 5 disciplines and max 5 students/ year

[SeriousSillyPutty]

Interesting!

I agree about things being less competitive -- at least, that's the vibe I've gotten so far.

The good thing about our program is that it's pretty customizable, but the bad thing is that that means I will be taking classes in other departments, in a different order from most students. I'm sure they're all trying to strengthen relationships within their departments/cohorts, but I hope they're willing to meet other people, too!

[rising_star]

I'm jealous of you guys and your small cohorts! My incoming cohort was 15 for my MA and 16 for my PhD, though both times I was my advisor's only incoming student. The downside of being in a large cohort is that you never really get to know everyone because there are just too many of them. Of course the downside of a small cohort could be that you get to know everyone too well or don't get along with someone and can't really avoid them... Hmmm. Definitely something I gave no thought to when applying to programs.

[rockhopper]

Interesting thread, I am also going to be my advisor's only student and I was kind of nervous about that but it seems like maybe it could be a good thing, and get me more individual attention. Does anyone have experience where this was a bad scenario? I'm not sure about my actual cohort, but it's a pretty large department so I think it will be around 20.

[phdconfessional]

I am the only one in my cohort this year. I havn't started yet, but thankfully the 2nd year students have already begun to take me under their wing. I have corresponded with them quite a bit thru email and found out yesterday I will share an office with them, yay! My advice to other teeny-weeny cohort folks, reach out to those who have gone ahead of you. Especially when it comes to signing up for first year classes i.e. what classes are good, what professors to avoid, etc.

[imonedaful]

My specific program never admits more than 3 students a year. So I can imagine I will be in a small cohort. However, I randomly found a guy on a dating website who is in my same exact program two years ahead of me. Somebody I can ask a bunch of random questions. haha

[phdconfessional]

Same here Imonedaful. My program typically only admits 2-3 students, but this year it is just little ole me

[butterfingers2010]

Wow, I'm jealous of you guys! I'm starting a master's program and there are 25 people in my cohort. We will also be taking classes with students from the "three year" program who started this year, so we have quite the group. I kind of wish it was smaller because I enjoy tight-knit groups where everyone knows everyone well (this is what my current office is like). On the bright side, there's lot of new friends to choose from. : )

[coonskee]

The Master's program I began (but didn't finish) had about 22ish people in the entering cohort, composed of MSc and PhD students (they lumped us all together b/c we all took the same first-year class). My new cohort will be 12 and that seems teeny-tiny to me -- I can't imagine entering as one of 1/2/5. I'd love to hear how it is and compare notes as the year progresses!

[comp12]

I'm in the Arts where most subfields tend to have small cohorts within each specialty. I am one out of three incoming, which seems to be an average year.

[GreenePony]

I'm doing the inverse. My department was small in UG (I think there maybe 5 who graduated with me) and I'm going to a much bigger department. I really enjoyed having small classes since that meant the professors tended to interact more with the students in discussion but it also meant I had to be careful about not burning any bridges no matter what I thought of the other people in the program (a friend in the same program- and going to the same grad- got to hear what I really thought ). I'm going to really miss the department I'm coming from, it was a bit like a slightly dysfunctional family- everyone tended to know each other and their quirks.

[Chasely]

I think I'm the only PhD student entering my group this year. In general, the concentration area is fairly small (6 professors). I will be in a lab with (I think) four other people. Since they've "been there, done that", it seems like their won't be much of a competitive environment and I'll really be able to learn a lot from them. One of my peers just won the Fullbright fellowship, so I'll definitely be picking her brain!

[cajunmama]

I guess I'm not so small I'm one of 5 in the department. In the total program there is 25 per year. 5 disciplines and max 5 students/ year

This is very similar to my situation. I think I'm one of three coming in but the only one directly from undergrad. We are more or less "arranged" along the lines of advisor, with each advisor having an office for their grad students to share. And I'm my advisor's only PhD student, the 3 others in my office are all doing their masters.

[katerific]

I was one of 11+ for my incoming class (which is about the third of the grad student pop in my dept). I really like the people, but the size made it harder for me to socialize. I tend to be ridiculously shy, and I missed the boat when the mini-cliques formed within my cohort.

It's been a year since I got here and I feel like I've finally found my niche... hanging out with postdocs (from all departments, not just my own). It is weird.

[SeriousSillyPutty]

The grad student adviser for our department is so sweet. She seems to be aware that watching out for mental health with help with the retention rate, so she's trying to arrange for me and the other student to have a few classes together, even though we're in very different sub disciplines, because she wants to give us space to get to know each other. Isn't that nice?

[cajunmama]

This is very similar to my situation. I think I'm one of three coming in but the only one directly from undergrad. We are more or less "arranged" along the lines of advisor, with each advisor having an office for their grad students to share. And I'm my advisor's only PhD student, the 3 others in my office are all doing their masters.

Just got some news. Two guys I graduated undergrad with have now joined the PhD program, although both of them are in different concentrations but still in the same program. So that makes five coming in with three direct from undergrad.

[Alyanumbers]

My cohort is 4 people, and it's a multi-disciplinary program, which means we're each in a completely different subfield. It's great because it means no competition, and we got to know each other pretty well over the past year. I think I'm lucky in that I love and get along with everyone in my cohort. My department also has a "buddy system", where incoming students are put in contact with older students with similar interests; that works great to connect to the rest of the department.

On top of that, our required course is the same as for the MA program, which in my year had 18 incoming students, so we also get to have a bigger cohort. My closest friends are actually MA students.