Who is getting excited!?

[bsharpe269]

I love the positivity here. I wish this for all of us.

I guess my question was whether breaks do exist at all (I'm aware summer doesn't, but that's fine). I don't take a lot of time off, but if I'm moving across the country it would be nice to know if once or twice a year I could have 2-4 days off to visit my family. Do you think the average PI would see this as reasonable? I know that's an ill-posed question, but I don't have a gauge for "reasonable" as of yet.

Definitely! A reasonable/good PI will encourage you to do this. Your Mental health will suffer if you don't see your family. Many phd students in my program who live on other side of the country or out of the country go home for like 3-4 weeks during the summer even and just send email updates on their work.

Edit: I guess I need to add that I do computational work so this is an option but either way, a good PI will encourage you to take time off to see family.

Edited December 13, 2014 by bsharpe269

[mop]

Definitely! A reasonable/good PI will encourage you to do this. Your Mental health will suffer if you don't see your family. Many phd students in my program who live on other side of the country or out of the country go home for like 3-4 weeks during the summer even and just send email updates on their work.

Edit: I guess I need to add that I do computational work so this is an option but either way, a good PI will encourage you to take time off to see family.

3-4 weeks in the summer is not common in lab based programs. Yes for Thanksgiving, Christmas/New Years it is expected to take time off, and maybe a short time other parts of the year, but a whole month will not make any PI happy no matter how relaxed they are. A week probably would be fine for most PI's at my program.

[Crucial BBQ]

Interesting.   For those not familiar with my story, I did not begin college until the age of 23.  Every year I was in school I came across students who were anticipating "the real world".  All I could think was You are in for a rude awakening.  8 - 4, M - F, week in and week out.  No three month summer vacations, no month long winter break, no Spring Break, only one day off for Thanksgiving, maybe if they were lucky their vacation time would be approved....

 

It was a tough transition coming straight out of high school, I fought tooth and nail.  Now I am glad that I experienced it earlier rather than later, though.  It is no wander why many who go straight from high school to university to graduate school have a tough time in grad school--there was no transition period and grad school was the first time in their lives when they were expected to do real work.   

 

These days I could not imagine taking an entire summer off, let alone three weeks.  It now feels like such a foreign concept. 

[Vene]

I actually feel like I'm getting tons of time off. I got Labor Day off, I got a whole week for Thanksgiving, and I get a week and a half off during the winter. I will grant that the week off for Thanksgiving was very much needed, doing classes, TAing, and research at the same time is exhausting. But, the amount of time I'm getting off during the holidays is unreal.

[Bonez]

I work as a technician right now, and I get a similar amount of time off as the graduate students in my program. I get 3 days for thanksgiving, 10 days for winter holidays, and various holidays (MLK day, labor day, etc) throughout the year. I also take 1-2 weeks off during the year for vacation, and that's pretty standard for most students in my department. Most PIs will start to worry about you if you don't take time off; they don't want to work with cranky burnt-out students. 

[poweredbycoldfusion]

It was a tough transition coming straight out of high school, I fought tooth and nail.  Now I am glad that I experienced it earlier rather than later, though.  It is no wander why many who go straight from high school to university to graduate school have a tough time in grad school--there was no transition period and grad school was the first time in their lives when they were expected to do real work.   

I took time between undergrad & (hopefully next fall) grad school. I've seen mixed results from friends who went straight into grad school. Some have done fine, but there were some who would've benefitted from several years out of school. IMO, maturity seems to matter a lot in dealing with pressures and setbacks.

[Appsitude]

I took time between undergrad & (hopefully next fall) grad school. I've seen mixed results from friends who went straight into grad school. Some have done fine, but there were some who would've benefitted from several years out of school. IMO, maturity seems to matter a lot in dealing with pressures and setbacks.

 

On the flipside, I have friends who took multiple years off after undergrad (some up to 7!) and are having a tough time with graduate level coursework now that they are back in school. I came straight out of undergrad and haven't had many problems, but I still think the ideal situation is to take 1-2 years off and do research/tech full time after undegrad (but to each their own!)

[Crucial BBQ]

On the flipside, I have friends who took multiple years off after undergrad (some up to 7!) and are having a tough time with graduate level coursework now that they are back in school. I came straight out of undergrad and haven't had many problems, but I still think the ideal situation is to take 1-2 years off and do research/tech full time after undegrad (but to each their own!)

Yeah, I can definitely understand the coursework might be difficult to handle if one has been out of college for many years.  I just don't think that many undergrads are prepared for the daily grind of research/dissertation.  

 

I agree that 1 -2 years of full-time work between undergrad and grad school would be ideal.  For most students, anyways.   

[glow_gene]

Yeah, I can definitely understand the coursework might be difficult to handle if one has been out of college for many years.  I just don't think that many undergrads are prepared for the daily grind of research/dissertation.  

 

I agree that 1 -2 years of full-time work between undergrad and grad school would be ideal.  For most students, anyways.   

 

I'd just like to agree whole-heartedly with this. Including my own class, I've now watched 3 rounds of grad students coming in and students who took 1-2 years off to work in the field seem to handle the transition best. They're also the most frequently accepted group. That's not to say more or less time is a deal-breaker and you're definitely going to struggle. 

 

Just my 2 cents! 

Edited December 17, 2014 by glow_gene

[ghostoverground]

I'd just like to agree whole-heartedly with this. Including my own class, I've now watched 3 rounds of grad students coming in and students who took 1-2 years off to work in the field seem to handle the transition best. They're also the most frequently accepted group. That's not to say more or less time is a deal-breaker and you're definitely going to struggle. 

 

Just my 2 cents! 

 

 

Do you (or anyone else) have any advice, etc. for someone who IS planning on going straight from undergrad? Like maybe what is hardest for those people? I'm sure it's what I want to do, but I'd be grateful to hear your opinions or tips. 

[glow_gene]

Do you (or anyone else) have any advice, etc. for someone who IS planning on going straight from undergrad? Like maybe what is hardest for those people? I'm sure it's what I want to do, but I'd be grateful to hear your opinions or tips. 

 

Don't worry too much about grades. I found that the highest-achieving students who came straight from undergrad (especially those who were used to As and 4.0s) had the most trouble. Grades in a PhD program really don't matter as much as your rotations/lab work. I personally found grad school MUCH easier class-wise than my undergrad (but my undergrad was insane and I had pretty much already given up on ever achieving straight As. 97.5% and above an A? Come on guys...anyway...) but regardless of how easy the classes are, sometimes you just won't have enough time to study as much as you'd like...and that's OKAY. 

 

Seriously...this caused the most nervous breakdowns and ultimately didn't matter. 

 

Secondly, for those going to do bench work, there will be a learning curve when it comes to doing it full time. This was the second most common pitfall I saw. A year off prepares you for largely unstructured time in a lab where you have to schedule your own time/projects 24/7 in a way that undergrad doesn't. Summer programs where you do lab full-time are some preparation but that year off still helps. 

 

So many people had existential crises because they didn't take to lab like a fish to water. "Imposter Syndrome" seemed more prevalent in straight-from-undergrads. Just take deep breaths and work through it, you're here to learn in lab as well as class. Take lots of notes, ask lots of questions and do your best and your rotations should go fine. 

 

I'm not sure how different that would be for a computational program...but I think the same general themes still apply:

 

-Research > Grades  (Make sure you pass, but don't look at Non-As as failures)

-Be cautious and intentional with your time management 

-Don't sweat the fact that you don't know everything yet. You're not supposed to. 

[Vene]

Do you (or anyone else) have any advice, etc. for someone who IS planning on going straight from undergrad? Like maybe what is hardest for those people? I'm sure it's what I want to do, but I'd be grateful to hear your opinions or tips. 

Here is my bit of advice, it's a job and you should treat it as such. Try to spend at least 8 hours each day on campus. You are likely to have to spend more time at home as well. While on campus your first priority is research. If this means you get lower grades so be it, just don't drop below the minimum. It is far more valuable to establish a good relationship with a PI than to get an A instead of a B+. Although, it is perfectly acceptable to be working on homework or studying while you're doing something like running a gel.

 

Also, you can take time off, with a word of caution. Do not take as much time off as undergrads. If the campus isn't closed you should expect that the lab is open and people will be working. That said, if the PI is away, the campus is closed, and there are no techs or other grad students then there's no need to show up.

[ghostoverground]

glow_gene and Vene, thank you so much!! This is invaluable advice. I really appreciate it!

[shadowclaw]

It's finally January! At last, all of us with January deadlines (or adcomms that don't meet until January) can start freaking out about the upcoming interview invites. IU should be sending out invites next week, and UNC and UT will be later in the month. I wish I knew if Oregon did interviews. The results search only has results for the masters in Environmental Science, and it seems that there were no interviews for them. Can't find anything about Utah State.

[mayanway]

Shadowclaw - which department did you apply to at Oregon State?  Zoology (now integrative biology) does not do interviews according to the PI I'm applying with there. 

 

I can totally commiserate about the wait, too!  I submitted all of my applications in November, but most of my programs haven't even started reviewing applications yet and typically Feb-March notifications according to results search.  Not sure if this is common to EEB/zoology or just the schools I applied to.  Here's hoping some good news will be arriving soon for the other late deadline folks. 

[shadowclaw]

Mayanway - I applied to the Environmental Sciences program. I suppose I could just ask my POI about it. That would make things a lot easier! I don't if it's common to EEB programs, but it sure seems like the majority look at applications much later than other science programs.

[Pitangus]

Shadowclaw - which department did you apply to at Oregon State?  Zoology (now integrative biology) does not do interviews according to the PI I'm applying with there. 

 

I can totally commiserate about the wait, too!  I submitted all of my applications in November, but most of my programs haven't even started reviewing applications yet and typically Feb-March notifications according to results search.  Not sure if this is common to EEB/zoology or just the schools I applied to.  Here's hoping some good news will be arriving soon for the other late deadline folks.

Mayanway - I applied to the Environmental Sciences program. I suppose I could just ask my POI about it. That would make things a lot easier! I don't if it's common to EEB programs, but it sure seems like the majority look at applications much later than other science programs.

I don't know how representative it is of other EEB-type programs that have interview weekends, but MSU Zoology reviewed its applications during the week of Dec 15th. Fellowship nominations are still being worked out, but invitations to the recruiting event should be going out by mid-Jan (the recruiting event is usually held during the first week of Feb).

[shadowclaw]

I don't know how representative it is of other EEB-type programs that have interview weekends, but MSU Zoology reviewed its applications during the week of Dec 15th. Fellowship nominations are still being worked out, but invitations to the recruiting event should be going out by mid-Jan (the recruiting event is usually held during the first week of Feb).

I'm fairly certain IU looked over applications that week too, because I got an email from the department saying my application was being sent to the committee right around then. UNC had a December 2 due date, but my POI said the adcomm wouldn't meet until early January. UT's due date was today, so they should start reviewing shortly. I submitted my app way early (December 5), so I'm kind of hoping they might have already had a look.