No advisor, what do I do now?

[qat]

I'm an (incoming) second year PhD student in a department that does rotations (i.e. there's a semi-structured system where students work with professors for a term and then choose one).  I rotated with three professors last year and all of them turned me down.  I don't have a rotation for fall quarter yet, and I have no idea who I'd want to rotate with.  Also, the first year students have already submitted their fall rotation choices (whoops), so a lot of professors may not have spots.

 

However

 

1) I do have a rotation lined up for winter quarter, with a professor whose research I like.

2) I also have a TA position lined up for fall quarter, which would give me full funding.  I will probably accept the TA position regardless of whether I do a rotation this fall, if only because the offer acceptance deadline is in like two days (well, they didn't actually give me a deadline, but they said they would release TA decisions next week).

 

Should I still try to find an advisor for fall quarter, or should I just TA and take classes?

 

Thanks.

Edited August 30, 2014 by qat

[bsharpe269]

Definitely try to find an advisor, even if you do accept the TA spot.

 

Do you know why the 3 professors turned you down? Did you just get unlucky and rotate with 3 professors who ended up with less money than expected? Did you choose super competitive labs to roate in? Did you slack off more than you should have? I think you should reflect on what happened here and make any necersary changes to find a spot in a good lab.

[qat]

I proposed to A at the end of fall quarter.  He said he'd like to take me on as a student but I should rotate with other people first.

 

I kind of slacked off during B's rotation.

 

At the end of spring quarter I proposed to C first.  He said he didn't have funding (and hadn't applied for any grants), but he was optimistic about getting money from the department so he could support me.  So I waited for a few weeks, and he still didn't have money, so I proposed to A.  By that time A had already taken three other students, so he said no.  I also proposed to B, who said he ran into funding issues and couldn't commit for the next few months.

[fuzzylogician]

I think you should try and find an advisor this quarter too. Keep as many options open as possible. And if you like the advisor you rotate with now, I would spring into action and try and secure a position in their lab rather than continue to rotate. 

[Tall Chai Latte]

Can anyone in the department help? I went through similar situation like you, with two labs didn't think I was a good fit, and the other two I didn't think I was a good fit for. So that was four mismatches in a roll. My problem stepped in to help me find a place to rotate, both me and my new lab home had to compromise in terms of research interest to make things work out in the end.

[qat]

I asked the director of something or other, and he basically told me to email people.  I don't think he can tell anyone to take me or anything because really the professors are in charge.  I don't really know how this works though.

 

Anyway apparently I can't RA at the same time that I'm TAing because I applied for a 50% TAship, not a 25% TAship.  So I guess I'll just chill this term.

 

Thanks for your help everyone!

[bsharpe269]

I asked the director of something or other, and he basically told me to email people.  I don't think he can tell anyone to take me or anything because really the professors are in charge.  I don't really know how this works though.

 

Anyway apparently I can't RA at the same time that I'm TAing because I applied for a 50% TAship, not a 25% TAship.  So I guess I'll just chill this term.

 

Thanks for your help everyone!

 

Whether you can RA or not, I would still volunteer in a lab asap.

[St Andrews Lynx]

Even if you can't formally conduct research, I would encourage you to meet in person with professors to ask them about their research and see if they're taking on students. Volunteer if you can't get an RAship. 

 

Even if the professors have no free lab space/project for you, at the bare minimum I would try to sit in on their group meetings, chat with the group members to find out about their work/see if you click with them. You've already seen firsthand the consequences of leaving things too late - the PIs take on other people. 

 

Also, avoid proposing to PIs before figuring out what their funding situation is. Unless they tell you that they have current active funding that enables them to take on PhDs, politely thank them for their time and move on. 

[qat]

Update: I found an advisor!

I actually feel very fortunate because I like him and his research area better than any of the other people I worked with.  He just joined the university this year so I wouldn't have gotten to work with him if the other three people hadn't turned me down.

[fuzzylogician]

Congrats! Thanks for the update.