Remember: why i choose to go to grad school...

[Miro]

Hello guys,

 

It's recruitment weekend and I am hosting some of the recruits sadly i am currently questioning why i decided to go to grad school. so to help me dust off my gloomy attitude as well as other people who are struggling right now. Drop a phrase. why did u decided to go to grad school and why have you stayed?

[SeriousSillyPutty]

Free food.  Student discounts.  Getting to spend large percentage of time with smart people.

 

I was working and loved what I did, but was there long enough to see changes that needed to be made -- but that I didn't have the power to do anything about.  Now I am in grad school so that I can contribute to my field in broader ways while here, then hopefully position myself to make a larger impact when I get out half a decade from now.

 

Grad school is stressful, yes, but it's only brought me to actual tears once, and that was out of frustration with a poorly designed computer program as much as anything. My program doesn't offer me everything I hoped it would, but I look at my job and I don't regret leaving; I was asymptotically approaching what I could learn from that job, whereas hear in in grad school I think the learning curve is exponential .  One of the good things about working before grad school... the "what if...?" questions have much more tangible, less romantic -- and thus less attractive -- answers.

 

I was never someone who felt nostalgic about the good ol' days of college, but now that I'm back on campus, I have to say it really is nice to be around such an intellectual atmosphere.  People are having intelligent conversations about all sorts of things.  Speakers come and share their thoughts on issues you never knew existed, but now appreciate.  Academia very disconnected from the rest of the world, but it's also nice in its own way.

 

And it's nice to feel like people are investing in me.  I mean, none of the profs in my department are taking me under their wing or showing me the ropes like I hoped they would, but just the fact that there is an organization that is paying me to be a student is pretty remarkable.  Yes, we agree to be indentured servants for 4-6 years, but I didn't make enough money that I could have paid tuition at my school, even if I had twice as many hours in the day.  And then there's things like a career center and writing center and teaching center and student health services with free counseling and even people that will walk you to your car at night (I'm in a city)... as an undergrad, I didn't appreciate all the support systems my school invested in on behalf of students.  Now I really appreciate them, and how unusual they are in comparison to the rest of the world.

 

Miro, have you looked at your personal statement from your application season?  Some things may be depressingly different than you hoped, but it might remind you of what seemed possible.  Good luck!

[sansao]

Science! But also, meaningful work, increased earning potential, to prove myself to myself, to get out of the desert...

[MoJingly]

I know you probably had your recruitment weekend already, but maybe for others...

In my experience prospectives only really ask about why you chose YOUR school, not why you decided to go to graduate school altogether. They already decided to go, after all.

[manierata]

why would you ever want to do anything except read think and write about what you love most in the world???

[RxPhD]

I wanted something more intellectual.

[ion_exchanger]

I obviously need to earn a living, so I'd like for it to be in something meaningful. I want to make a contribution to the scientific community. I honestly want to continue the same type of work that I'm doing now, I just want an advanced degree and become a staff scientist. People think I'm crazy because I don't want to be a professor

or a PI of a lab, but that's not for everyone. I think I would kick myself watching college graduate after graduate come through my lab and leave and pursue their dreams if I didn't give my own a chance.

[zabius]

There's a bunch of good "why I want to go to grad school" stories in this thread, mine included:

 

 

I know that the OP's recruitment weekend has long since passed, but the thread above could be a nice read for anyone else in a similar situation (e.g. people planning accepted students' weekends or next year's recruiting events).

[Nanolol]

Free food.  Student discounts.  Getting to spend large percentage of time with smart people.

 

I was working and loved what I did, but was there long enough to see changes that needed to be made -- but that I didn't have the power to do anything about.  Now I am in grad school so that I can contribute to my field in broader ways while here, then hopefully position myself to make a larger impact when I get out half a decade from now.

 

Grad school is stressful, yes, but it's only brought me to actual tears once, and that was out of frustration with a poorly designed computer program as much as anything. My program doesn't offer me everything I hoped it would, but I look at my job and I don't regret leaving; I was asymptotically approaching what I could learn from that job, whereas hear in in grad school I think the learning curve is exponential .  One of the good things about working before grad school... the "what if...?" questions have much more tangible, less romantic -- and thus less attractive -- answers.

 

I was never someone who felt nostalgic about the good ol' days of college, but now that I'm back on campus, I have to say it really is nice to be around such an intellectual atmosphere.  People are having intelligent conversations about all sorts of things.  Speakers come and share their thoughts on issues you never knew existed, but now appreciate.  Academia very disconnected from the rest of the world, but it's also nice in its own way.

 

And it's nice to feel like people are investing in me.  I mean, none of the profs in my department are taking me under their wing or showing me the ropes like I hoped they would, but just the fact that there is an organization that is paying me to be a student is pretty remarkable.  Yes, we agree to be indentured servants for 4-6 years, but I didn't make enough money that I could have paid tuition at my school, even if I had twice as many hours in the day.  And then there's things like a career center and writing center and teaching center and student health services with free counseling and even people that will walk you to your car at night (I'm in a city)... as an undergrad, I didn't appreciate all the support systems my school invested in on behalf of students.  Now I really appreciate them, and how unusual they are in comparison to the rest of the world.

 

Miro, have you looked at your personal statement from your application season?  Some things may be depressingly different than you hoped, but it might remind you of what seemed possible.  Good luck!

 

As I am in upvote jail, I can only tell you how much I agree with your opinion this way 

[ShortLong]

I just committed to a grad school, so I haven't actually started yet. But, I decided in high school that I wanted to go to grad school. But last fall, I started freaking out and going to the career fair and interviewing for jobs. I never tried that hard, but I had a moment of clarity when I was sitting in an interview with a manager that hired me for an internship a few years ago. He looked at my resume, then looked back at me and seriously asked me why I wasn't going to grad school. Then farther along in the conversation he told me about two different career paths that I could take, and I can't do both. One would be fine with a masters or a bachelors, the other needed a PhD. I realized that I wanted to do the latter option, and then I attack my grad applications with a fervor and I am so excited that I did.