Going to graduate school can be an exciting decision, but you don’t quite know what you’ve gotten yourself into until you are fully immersed. These are a few of the things that I wish I would have known before my personal trek through getting my doctorate!
8. Money: Do NOT get your PhD if you want to be rich. DO NOT. Any compensation you are offered (for teaching or research assistance) during graduate school, will not put you above a position at a fast food restaurant. Moreover, there are big discrepancies between institutions and programs on what stipends PhD students receive – even in the same regions, see here and here. When I graduated, my husband’s friends were excited for us, thinking we would be set ($-wise). We laughed. Postdoc stipends ARE a step up from grad school, but the NIH regulates these, so in Boston, I was lucky to have a spouse who was also working. Once you break free from those chains, professors can make a great salary, depending on area/university. If you are willing to hold out, principal investigators (PIs) or other ‘alternative’ careers can also become lucrative, but remember….patience is a virtue.
7. Networking: Get Involved! Departments and/or advisors who encourage attendance regularly at conferences are a great thing. Conferences are imperative for networking, which is important for your career in either academia OR industry. It also gives you more education and helps to keep on top of the current trends in your field. And don’t forget to get LinkedIn!
6. Work-Life BALANCE: This should probably be closer to #1….but if you are getting your doctorate, let’s face it, you are a work-aholic. I wish I would have had more time to “smell the roses”, yet I believe if it were easy, everyone would have a PhD. One tip that’s über important is time management. Efficiency is your best friend. Write out daily what your experiments are for the following day/week- and use an online calendar! When I asked my advisor for 2 weeks off for my wedding, I presented her with goals of what I would finish before then (crazy, I know, but necessary if you knew her). One thing that is key is that you must have a stress reliever, be it hiking, the spa (provided #8 doesn’t get in the way!), or reading PhD comics to LAUGH!
5. Publications: It has been said that publications are the currency of a good research program. Yet when you are deciding on labs, big names who are only publishing in top tier journals are not always the best places for students. These PIs do not need papers, thus students get less “hand-holding”. They also have many people that are publishing, so it’s not mandatory to give students fruitful projects. More importantly, find someone who is capable of fostering a relationship, has time to help and needs to publish. One important question to find out: do the students publish their work in respected journals and how often?
Come back Monday for the MOST important things I wish I would have known in Part II, and be sure to check JoVE for great science video-articles when conducting your own research!
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