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Hey everyone, I'm beginning my interview weekend tomorrow at Emory. Any biology PhD's got any advice/info about what to do? I've got 7 interviews with different PI's in the department and besides reading a few of the papers they've published I'm not sure what else to do.
Also, as a followup for my last blog about letters of recommendation, the secretary of guy who said he would write my letter ended up contacting me the day before the letter was due to tell me that the guy was at a conference and wouldn't be back for a week. I contacted a researcher I've worked with at Emory and the guy bailed my ass out submitting a letter within a day. I had been thinking about asking him a month earlier but didn't for some reason, I really should have just done it and saved me some stress.
 
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You should send him a thank-you card... You got lucky 
Not a bio major, so no ideas about the interviews though, good luck!
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Interviewed at 8 elite PhD programs, got into all of them.
If you get an interview, you are already in. All you need to do is not be a creep or an idiot in your interview. You just need to be yourself, explain your research, and genuinely be interested in the PI's work.
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On February 04 2011 00:42 MangoTango wrote:
Interviewed at 8 elite PhD programs, got into all of them.
If you get an interview, you are already in. All you need to do is not be a creep or an idiot in your interview. You just need to be yourself, explain your research, and genuinely be interested in the PI's work.
This is not true. It varies a lot for some places. Some places basically you are in, but others only take about 50% and some even as low as 10%...
Regardless, making it to the interview obviously is a good sign.
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On February 04 2011 00:39 Cambium wrote:You should send him a thank-you card... You got lucky Not a bio major, so no ideas about the interviews though, good luck!
I've already met him in person to thank him. I am pretty lucky to know him, he's a very busy guy but seems to always have time for helping people out.
On February 04 2011 00:42 MangoTango wrote:
Interviewed at 8 elite PhD programs, got into all of them.
If you get an interview, you are already in. All you need to do is not be a creep or an idiot in your interview. You just need to be yourself, explain your research, and genuinely be interested in the PI's work.
I've heard that before but I'm still pretty nervous. I guess there's not much I can do to prepare besides figuring out how to not look/act like a serial rapist or something?
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On February 04 2011 00:53 ZeaL. wrote:Show nested quote +On February 04 2011 00:39 Cambium wrote:You should send him a thank-you card... You got lucky Not a bio major, so no ideas about the interviews though, good luck! I've already met him in person to thank him. I am pretty lucky to know him, he's a very busy guy but seems to always have time for helping people out. Show nested quote +On February 04 2011 00:42 MangoTango wrote:
Interviewed at 8 elite PhD programs, got into all of them.
If you get an interview, you are already in. All you need to do is not be a creep or an idiot in your interview. You just need to be yourself, explain your research, and genuinely be interested in the PI's work. I've heard that before but I'm still pretty nervous. I guess there's not much I can do to prepare besides figuring out how to not look/act like a serial rapist or something?
Just be enthusiastic about your research.
Most interviews are set up like you introduce yourself. The PI talks about his/her research, then you can ask them questions. It's usually very chill and its more of a you interviewing them than the other way around. The point of the interview is to confirm your fit since you already look good on paper.
Like I said again, in some cases programs will interview 50 only to take like 8. It just depends on the program.
What department are you (specific department)? I'm a student at Georgia Tech btw.
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On February 04 2011 01:02 AppleTart wrote:Show nested quote +On February 04 2011 00:53 ZeaL. wrote:On February 04 2011 00:39 Cambium wrote:You should send him a thank-you card... You got lucky Not a bio major, so no ideas about the interviews though, good luck! I've already met him in person to thank him. I am pretty lucky to know him, he's a very busy guy but seems to always have time for helping people out. On February 04 2011 00:42 MangoTango wrote:
Interviewed at 8 elite PhD programs, got into all of them.
If you get an interview, you are already in. All you need to do is not be a creep or an idiot in your interview. You just need to be yourself, explain your research, and genuinely be interested in the PI's work. I've heard that before but I'm still pretty nervous. I guess there's not much I can do to prepare besides figuring out how to not look/act like a serial rapist or something? Just be enthusiastic about your research. Most interviews are set up like you introduce yourself. The PI talks about his/her research, then you can ask them questions. It's usually very chill and its more of a you interviewing them than the other way around. The point of the interview is to confirm your fit since you already look good on paper. Like I said again, in some cases programs will interview 50 only to take like 8. It just depends on the program. What department are you (specific department)? I'm a student at Georgia Tech btw.
Thanks for the tips. I'm applying to the Population Biology, Ecology, and Evolution program. I've actually worked at Emory for the last 1.5 yrs so I know a lot of the people I'm interviewing with already so I guess I have that advantage.
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On February 04 2011 01:02 AppleTart wrote:Show nested quote +On February 04 2011 00:53 ZeaL. wrote:On February 04 2011 00:39 Cambium wrote:You should send him a thank-you card... You got lucky Not a bio major, so no ideas about the interviews though, good luck! I've already met him in person to thank him. I am pretty lucky to know him, he's a very busy guy but seems to always have time for helping people out. On February 04 2011 00:42 MangoTango wrote:
Interviewed at 8 elite PhD programs, got into all of them.
If you get an interview, you are already in. All you need to do is not be a creep or an idiot in your interview. You just need to be yourself, explain your research, and genuinely be interested in the PI's work. I've heard that before but I'm still pretty nervous. I guess there's not much I can do to prepare besides figuring out how to not look/act like a serial rapist or something? Just be enthusiastic about your research. Most interviews are set up like you introduce yourself. The PI talks about his/her research, then you can ask them questions. It's usually very chill and its more of a you interviewing them than the other way around. The point of the interview is to confirm your fit since you already look good on paper. Like I said again, in some cases programs will interview 50 only to take like 8. It just depends on the program. What department are you (specific department)? I'm a student at Georgia Tech btw.
Remember that if a program offers 8 slots, they'll likely have a class of 1 or 2. Programs will give 2 to 5 times as many offers as they have positions, becuase they're not going to get 100% of the people they give offers to.
Also remember that the interview weekend isn't just about the interviews, you need to not be a creep in the social interactions with the rest of the interviewees. The students also get an input, so make sure to be social and enjoy the traditional night out. Nobody likes a party pooper.
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I'm glad that letter of recommendation ordeal worked out for you. Sounded rather stressful. 
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I earned my Ph.D. in Genetics from Univ. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in '09. The interview weekend is mostly a formality though I believe only about 80-90% were given offers. They are trying to sell themselves more than they are judging you. Usually only 2-3 of the 7 PIs you are visiting with (or sometimes a student also) judge you and report back to the admissions committee. The rest of the PIs just want to show you their work and maybe recruit you to their lab. Usually you can identify these guys because they are 1st or 2nd year assistant professors. Just be enthusiastic about science make sure you can very clearly explain your undergraduate research project and show interest in their work as well. Just come off as a nice guy who is excited (and more importantly competent) about science and you should have no problem. Additionally, are you in one of the 1st interview weekends? That's usually a good sign. We had about 8-9 interview weekends and if you were in the first few weekends they really really wanted you.
On a side note, is this really what you want to do man? I mean I got my Ph.D. and now I'm a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA but I just don't see a single soul getting a job. In fact, in over 8 years in the field I don't know a single person who has got a decent job, and that includes people who were postdocs when I began my graduate career 8 years ago. People get stuck as Postdocs forever and the good people over there at Nature Journal even reported that only about 5% of Postdocs land desirable jobs (Professorships). Biotech companies aren't hiring like they used to and more and more people are doing 6 years postdoc and finding themselves w/o jobs. Someone here in my lab at UCLA was a postdoc 6 years followed by 'research scientist' (AKA glorified postdoc w/o tenure track) for another 9 years and he recently went back to school to completely switch careers to Clinical Lab Science after being unable to land a professorship. This dispite having several first author publications in journals such as PNAS, Nature Medicine and JBC.
Just think about it man. I only say this because I wish someone had told me about these honest facts when I started out. If I could do it again, I would go into nursing. 2 - years of work to get an almost guaranteed job starting at around 90K in California. FUCK YEA I would kill for that right now. (I'm making 39K/year as a postdoc). I mean people always told me I wouldn't make much money in Science, but nobody told me that jobs are damn near impossible to get and most people get stuck in a 'training' (postdoc) job. Think about it man.... 5% of postdocs land tenure track professor jobs and 100% of postdocs are looking to land those very jobs. That's like going to Medical School, earning your M.D. degree then doing residency and only 5% OF THOSE GUYS BECOME DOCTORS.
But I wish you good luck whatever you choose!
EDIT: also, don't come off as cocky. I was helping at recruitment weekend back in '07 and this jackass know-it-all recruit from brandeis university was such a pompus asshole that dispite having great grades/ GRE's/ and a 1st author paper he was not accepted into the program.
Another EDIT: Usually, you will meet up with current graduate students before your actual interviews occur. Take that opportunity to ask the graduate students what they know about the professors you are going to interview with. Ask the graduate students which of the professors are friendly and which are hard asses. Most graduate students will be very honest and give you a honest opinion and some suggestions. That's what I would do for recruits when I helped out during the recruitment weekend. I'd tell them 'watch out for this guy, he's a prick' or 'this guy is awesome don't even worry about this guy'.
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On February 04 2011 03:53 GreatFall wrote:+ Show Spoiler +I earned my Ph.D. in Genetics from Univ. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in '09. The interview weekend is mostly a formality though I believe only about 80-90% were given offers. They are trying to sell themselves more than they are judging you. Usually only 2-3 of the 7 PIs you are visiting with (or sometimes a student also) judge you and report back to the admissions committee. The rest of the PIs just want to show you their work and maybe recruit you to their lab. Usually you can identify these guys because they are 1st or 2nd year assistant professors. Just be enthusiastic about science make sure you can very clearly explain your undergraduate research project and show interest in their work as well. Just come off as a nice guy who is excited (and more importantly competent) about science and you should have no problem. Additionally, are you in one of the 1st interview weekends? That's usually a good sign. We had about 8-9 interview weekends and if you were in the first few weekends they really really wanted you.
On a side note, is this really what you want to do man? I mean I got my Ph.D. and now I'm a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA but I just don't see a single soul getting a job. In fact, in over 8 years in the field I don't know a single person who has got a decent job, and that includes people who were postdocs when I began my graduate career 8 years ago. People get stuck as Postdocs forever and the good people over there at Nature Journal even reported that only about 5% of Postdocs land desirable jobs (Professorships). Biotech companies aren't hiring like they used to and more and more people are doing 6 years postdoc and finding themselves w/o jobs. Someone here in my lab at UCLA was a postdoc 6 years followed by 'research scientist' (AKA glorified postdoc w/o tenure track) for another 9 years and he recently went back to school to completely switch careers to Clinical Lab Science after being unable to land a professorship. This dispite having several first author publications in journals such as PNAS, Nature Medicine and JBC.
Just think about it man. I only say this because I wish someone had told me about these honest facts when I started out. If I could do it again, I would go into nursing. 2 - years of work to get an almost guaranteed job starting at around 90K in California. FUCK YEA I would kill for that right now. (I'm making 39K/year as a postdoc). I mean people always told me I wouldn't make much money in Science, but nobody told me that jobs are damn near impossible to get. Think about it man.... 5% of postdocs land tenure track professor jobs and 100% of postdocs are looking to land those very jobs. That's like going to Medical School, earning your M.D. degree then doing residency and only 5% OF THOSE GUYS BECOME DOCTORS.
But I wish you good luck whatever you choose!
EDIT: also, don't come off as cocky. I was helping at recruitment weekend back in '07 and this jackass know-it-all recruit from brandeis university was such a pompus asshole that dispite having great grades/ GRE's/ and a 1st author paper he was not accepted into the program.
Another EDIT: Usually, you will meet up with current graduate students before your actual interviews occur. Take that opportunity to ask the graduate students what they know about the professors you are going to interview with. Ask the graduate students which of the professors are friendly and which are hard asses. Most graduate students will be very honest and give you a honest opinion and some suggestions. That's what I would do for recruits when I helped out during the recruitment weekend. I'd tell them 'watch out for this guy, he's a prick' or 'this guy is awesome don't even worry about this guy'.
Not sure if this is the first weekend, I think Emory's PBEE program only does 1 weekend. I'm actually going to a dinner in a few hours with the grad students/prospective grad students and I'll be sure to try to get some info and try not to be a dick.
As far as whether or not I'm sure I want to do this, I dunno to be honest. I don't need too much money to live and a post-doc salary would be more than enough for me, especially since my gf is a medical student. Asides from money if I was a postdoc for life I think I'd be pretty damn sad. I'm aware of the problems since I work with a 30 something year old and a 40 year old who are still both postdocs and in my undergrad I knew a guy who had published in Nature, PNAS, etc but was also a postdoc still. I figure I'll do it because I enjoy being in the lab and if I want to do anything related to biology Imma need to do it, whether in industry or in academia. If after I graduate I really can't do anything besides work as a lab tech I'll tutor asian high school kids chemistry. I was making bank one summer right out of high school, more than I'm making now as a technician per hour and I enjoyed it. I guess its just something to do while my girlfriend goes through med school/residency which will "hopefully" open up some avenues after I graduate.
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On February 04 2011 03:53 GreatFall wrote:
I earned my Ph.D. in Genetics from Univ. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in '09. The interview weekend is mostly a formality though I believe only about 80-90% were given offers. They are trying to sell themselves more than they are judging you. Usually only 2-3 of the 7 PIs you are visiting with (or sometimes a student also) judge you and report back to the admissions committee. The rest of the PIs just want to show you their work and maybe recruit you to their lab. Usually you can identify these guys because they are 1st or 2nd year assistant professors. Just be enthusiastic about science make sure you can very clearly explain your undergraduate research project and show interest in their work as well. Just come off as a nice guy who is excited (and more importantly competent) about science and you should have no problem. Additionally, are you in one of the 1st interview weekends? That's usually a good sign. We had about 8-9 interview weekends and if you were in the first few weekends they really really wanted you.
On a side note, is this really what you want to do man? I mean I got my Ph.D. and now I'm a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA but I just don't see a single soul getting a job. In fact, in over 8 years in the field I don't know a single person who has got a decent job, and that includes people who were postdocs when I began my graduate career 8 years ago. People get stuck as Postdocs forever and the good people over there at Nature Journal even reported that only about 5% of Postdocs land desirable jobs (Professorships). Biotech companies aren't hiring like they used to and more and more people are doing 6 years postdoc and finding themselves w/o jobs. Someone here in my lab at UCLA was a postdoc 6 years followed by 'research scientist' (AKA glorified postdoc w/o tenure track) for another 9 years and he recently went back to school to completely switch careers to Clinical Lab Science after being unable to land a professorship. This dispite having several first author publications in journals such as PNAS, Nature Medicine and JBC.
Just think about it man. I only say this because I wish someone had told me about these honest facts when I started out. If I could do it again, I would go into nursing. 2 - years of work to get an almost guaranteed job starting at around 90K in California. FUCK YEA I would kill for that right now. (I'm making 39K/year as a postdoc). I mean people always told me I wouldn't make much money in Science, but nobody told me that jobs are damn near impossible to get and most people get stuck in a 'training' (postdoc) job. Think about it man.... 5% of postdocs land tenure track professor jobs and 100% of postdocs are looking to land those very jobs. That's like going to Medical School, earning your M.D. degree then doing residency and only 5% OF THOSE GUYS BECOME DOCTORS.
But I wish you good luck whatever you choose!
EDIT: also, don't come off as cocky. I was helping at recruitment weekend back in '07 and this jackass know-it-all recruit from brandeis university was such a pompus asshole that dispite having great grades/ GRE's/ and a 1st author paper he was not accepted into the program.
Another EDIT: Usually, you will meet up with current graduate students before your actual interviews occur. Take that opportunity to ask the graduate students what they know about the professors you are going to interview with. Ask the graduate students which of the professors are friendly and which are hard asses. Most graduate students will be very honest and give you a honest opinion and some suggestions. That's what I would do for recruits when I helped out during the recruitment weekend. I'd tell them 'watch out for this guy, he's a prick' or 'this guy is awesome don't even worry about this guy'.
Are you serious? Only 5% of MDs become medical doctors? What about the others?
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On February 04 2011 04:46 Sufficiency wrote:Show nested quote +On February 04 2011 03:53 GreatFall wrote:
I earned my Ph.D. in Genetics from Univ. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in '09. The interview weekend is mostly a formality though I believe only about 80-90% were given offers. They are trying to sell themselves more than they are judging you. Usually only 2-3 of the 7 PIs you are visiting with (or sometimes a student also) judge you and report back to the admissions committee. The rest of the PIs just want to show you their work and maybe recruit you to their lab. Usually you can identify these guys because they are 1st or 2nd year assistant professors. Just be enthusiastic about science make sure you can very clearly explain your undergraduate research project and show interest in their work as well. Just come off as a nice guy who is excited (and more importantly competent) about science and you should have no problem. Additionally, are you in one of the 1st interview weekends? That's usually a good sign. We had about 8-9 interview weekends and if you were in the first few weekends they really really wanted you.
On a side note, is this really what you want to do man? I mean I got my Ph.D. and now I'm a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA but I just don't see a single soul getting a job. In fact, in over 8 years in the field I don't know a single person who has got a decent job, and that includes people who were postdocs when I began my graduate career 8 years ago. People get stuck as Postdocs forever and the good people over there at Nature Journal even reported that only about 5% of Postdocs land desirable jobs (Professorships). Biotech companies aren't hiring like they used to and more and more people are doing 6 years postdoc and finding themselves w/o jobs. Someone here in my lab at UCLA was a postdoc 6 years followed by 'research scientist' (AKA glorified postdoc w/o tenure track) for another 9 years and he recently went back to school to completely switch careers to Clinical Lab Science after being unable to land a professorship. This dispite having several first author publications in journals such as PNAS, Nature Medicine and JBC.
Just think about it man. I only say this because I wish someone had told me about these honest facts when I started out. If I could do it again, I would go into nursing. 2 - years of work to get an almost guaranteed job starting at around 90K in California. FUCK YEA I would kill for that right now. (I'm making 39K/year as a postdoc). I mean people always told me I wouldn't make much money in Science, but nobody told me that jobs are damn near impossible to get and most people get stuck in a 'training' (postdoc) job. Think about it man.... 5% of postdocs land tenure track professor jobs and 100% of postdocs are looking to land those very jobs. That's like going to Medical School, earning your M.D. degree then doing residency and only 5% OF THOSE GUYS BECOME DOCTORS.
But I wish you good luck whatever you choose!
EDIT: also, don't come off as cocky. I was helping at recruitment weekend back in '07 and this jackass know-it-all recruit from brandeis university was such a pompus asshole that dispite having great grades/ GRE's/ and a 1st author paper he was not accepted into the program.
Another EDIT: Usually, you will meet up with current graduate students before your actual interviews occur. Take that opportunity to ask the graduate students what they know about the professors you are going to interview with. Ask the graduate students which of the professors are friendly and which are hard asses. Most graduate students will be very honest and give you a honest opinion and some suggestions. That's what I would do for recruits when I helped out during the recruitment weekend. I'd tell them 'watch out for this guy, he's a prick' or 'this guy is awesome don't even worry about this guy'. Are you serious? Only 5% of MDs become medical doctors? What about the others?
I didn't say 5% of MDs become medical doctors. I said 5% of Ph.D.s in biological sciences will land tenure track professorships. It would be as if 5% of MD residents landed Medical Doctor jobs. I see it all around me and Nature published a story about the crisis. Most Ph.D.s nowadays stay at the postdoc level indefinitely or switch careers completely.
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On February 04 2011 04:46 Sufficiency wrote:Show nested quote +On February 04 2011 03:53 GreatFall wrote:
I earned my Ph.D. in Genetics from Univ. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in '09. The interview weekend is mostly a formality though I believe only about 80-90% were given offers. They are trying to sell themselves more than they are judging you. Usually only 2-3 of the 7 PIs you are visiting with (or sometimes a student also) judge you and report back to the admissions committee. The rest of the PIs just want to show you their work and maybe recruit you to their lab. Usually you can identify these guys because they are 1st or 2nd year assistant professors. Just be enthusiastic about science make sure you can very clearly explain your undergraduate research project and show interest in their work as well. Just come off as a nice guy who is excited (and more importantly competent) about science and you should have no problem. Additionally, are you in one of the 1st interview weekends? That's usually a good sign. We had about 8-9 interview weekends and if you were in the first few weekends they really really wanted you.
On a side note, is this really what you want to do man? I mean I got my Ph.D. and now I'm a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA but I just don't see a single soul getting a job. In fact, in over 8 years in the field I don't know a single person who has got a decent job, and that includes people who were postdocs when I began my graduate career 8 years ago. People get stuck as Postdocs forever and the good people over there at Nature Journal even reported that only about 5% of Postdocs land desirable jobs (Professorships). Biotech companies aren't hiring like they used to and more and more people are doing 6 years postdoc and finding themselves w/o jobs. Someone here in my lab at UCLA was a postdoc 6 years followed by 'research scientist' (AKA glorified postdoc w/o tenure track) for another 9 years and he recently went back to school to completely switch careers to Clinical Lab Science after being unable to land a professorship. This dispite having several first author publications in journals such as PNAS, Nature Medicine and JBC.
Just think about it man. I only say this because I wish someone had told me about these honest facts when I started out. If I could do it again, I would go into nursing. 2 - years of work to get an almost guaranteed job starting at around 90K in California. FUCK YEA I would kill for that right now. (I'm making 39K/year as a postdoc). I mean people always told me I wouldn't make much money in Science, but nobody told me that jobs are damn near impossible to get and most people get stuck in a 'training' (postdoc) job. Think about it man.... 5% of postdocs land tenure track professor jobs and 100% of postdocs are looking to land those very jobs. That's like going to Medical School, earning your M.D. degree then doing residency and only 5% OF THOSE GUYS BECOME DOCTORS.
But I wish you good luck whatever you choose!
EDIT: also, don't come off as cocky. I was helping at recruitment weekend back in '07 and this jackass know-it-all recruit from brandeis university was such a pompus asshole that dispite having great grades/ GRE's/ and a 1st author paper he was not accepted into the program.
Another EDIT: Usually, you will meet up with current graduate students before your actual interviews occur. Take that opportunity to ask the graduate students what they know about the professors you are going to interview with. Ask the graduate students which of the professors are friendly and which are hard asses. Most graduate students will be very honest and give you a honest opinion and some suggestions. That's what I would do for recruits when I helped out during the recruitment weekend. I'd tell them 'watch out for this guy, he's a prick' or 'this guy is awesome don't even worry about this guy'. Are you serious? Only 5% of MDs become medical doctors? What about the others?
Lol reread it. 5% of postdocs get to be tenure track professors. If science PhD track was analogous to MD that would be like 5% of med students getting to be doctors. AFAIK if you get through residency and all that there's a 99%+ chance that you'll get a job as a doctor somewhere.
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On February 04 2011 04:52 ZeaL. wrote:Show nested quote +On February 04 2011 04:46 Sufficiency wrote:On February 04 2011 03:53 GreatFall wrote:
I earned my Ph.D. in Genetics from Univ. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in '09. The interview weekend is mostly a formality though I believe only about 80-90% were given offers. They are trying to sell themselves more than they are judging you. Usually only 2-3 of the 7 PIs you are visiting with (or sometimes a student also) judge you and report back to the admissions committee. The rest of the PIs just want to show you their work and maybe recruit you to their lab. Usually you can identify these guys because they are 1st or 2nd year assistant professors. Just be enthusiastic about science make sure you can very clearly explain your undergraduate research project and show interest in their work as well. Just come off as a nice guy who is excited (and more importantly competent) about science and you should have no problem. Additionally, are you in one of the 1st interview weekends? That's usually a good sign. We had about 8-9 interview weekends and if you were in the first few weekends they really really wanted you.
On a side note, is this really what you want to do man? I mean I got my Ph.D. and now I'm a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA but I just don't see a single soul getting a job. In fact, in over 8 years in the field I don't know a single person who has got a decent job, and that includes people who were postdocs when I began my graduate career 8 years ago. People get stuck as Postdocs forever and the good people over there at Nature Journal even reported that only about 5% of Postdocs land desirable jobs (Professorships). Biotech companies aren't hiring like they used to and more and more people are doing 6 years postdoc and finding themselves w/o jobs. Someone here in my lab at UCLA was a postdoc 6 years followed by 'research scientist' (AKA glorified postdoc w/o tenure track) for another 9 years and he recently went back to school to completely switch careers to Clinical Lab Science after being unable to land a professorship. This dispite having several first author publications in journals such as PNAS, Nature Medicine and JBC.
Just think about it man. I only say this because I wish someone had told me about these honest facts when I started out. If I could do it again, I would go into nursing. 2 - years of work to get an almost guaranteed job starting at around 90K in California. FUCK YEA I would kill for that right now. (I'm making 39K/year as a postdoc). I mean people always told me I wouldn't make much money in Science, but nobody told me that jobs are damn near impossible to get and most people get stuck in a 'training' (postdoc) job. Think about it man.... 5% of postdocs land tenure track professor jobs and 100% of postdocs are looking to land those very jobs. That's like going to Medical School, earning your M.D. degree then doing residency and only 5% OF THOSE GUYS BECOME DOCTORS.
But I wish you good luck whatever you choose!
EDIT: also, don't come off as cocky. I was helping at recruitment weekend back in '07 and this jackass know-it-all recruit from brandeis university was such a pompus asshole that dispite having great grades/ GRE's/ and a 1st author paper he was not accepted into the program.
Another EDIT: Usually, you will meet up with current graduate students before your actual interviews occur. Take that opportunity to ask the graduate students what they know about the professors you are going to interview with. Ask the graduate students which of the professors are friendly and which are hard asses. Most graduate students will be very honest and give you a honest opinion and some suggestions. That's what I would do for recruits when I helped out during the recruitment weekend. I'd tell them 'watch out for this guy, he's a prick' or 'this guy is awesome don't even worry about this guy'. Are you serious? Only 5% of MDs become medical doctors? What about the others? Lol reread it. 5% of postdocs get to be tenure track professors. If science PhD track was analogous to MD that would be like 5% of med students getting to be doctors. AFAIK if you get through residency and all that there's a 99%+ chance that you'll get a job as a doctor somewhere.
I am applying for PhD. If you followed my blog I got in Washington already and I have a shot at JHU.
The way I look at this professorship thing is that if I can't get one, I'll go teach math at a high school for far superior salary and job security than a post-doc :3. I am pretty sure my GPA is good enough that Teacher's College in Ontario will beg me to apply.
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On February 04 2011 04:57 Sufficiency wrote:Show nested quote +On February 04 2011 04:52 ZeaL. wrote:On February 04 2011 04:46 Sufficiency wrote:On February 04 2011 03:53 GreatFall wrote:
I earned my Ph.D. in Genetics from Univ. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in '09. The interview weekend is mostly a formality though I believe only about 80-90% were given offers. They are trying to sell themselves more than they are judging you. Usually only 2-3 of the 7 PIs you are visiting with (or sometimes a student also) judge you and report back to the admissions committee. The rest of the PIs just want to show you their work and maybe recruit you to their lab. Usually you can identify these guys because they are 1st or 2nd year assistant professors. Just be enthusiastic about science make sure you can very clearly explain your undergraduate research project and show interest in their work as well. Just come off as a nice guy who is excited (and more importantly competent) about science and you should have no problem. Additionally, are you in one of the 1st interview weekends? That's usually a good sign. We had about 8-9 interview weekends and if you were in the first few weekends they really really wanted you.
On a side note, is this really what you want to do man? I mean I got my Ph.D. and now I'm a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA but I just don't see a single soul getting a job. In fact, in over 8 years in the field I don't know a single person who has got a decent job, and that includes people who were postdocs when I began my graduate career 8 years ago. People get stuck as Postdocs forever and the good people over there at Nature Journal even reported that only about 5% of Postdocs land desirable jobs (Professorships). Biotech companies aren't hiring like they used to and more and more people are doing 6 years postdoc and finding themselves w/o jobs. Someone here in my lab at UCLA was a postdoc 6 years followed by 'research scientist' (AKA glorified postdoc w/o tenure track) for another 9 years and he recently went back to school to completely switch careers to Clinical Lab Science after being unable to land a professorship. This dispite having several first author publications in journals such as PNAS, Nature Medicine and JBC.
Just think about it man. I only say this because I wish someone had told me about these honest facts when I started out. If I could do it again, I would go into nursing. 2 - years of work to get an almost guaranteed job starting at around 90K in California. FUCK YEA I would kill for that right now. (I'm making 39K/year as a postdoc). I mean people always told me I wouldn't make much money in Science, but nobody told me that jobs are damn near impossible to get and most people get stuck in a 'training' (postdoc) job. Think about it man.... 5% of postdocs land tenure track professor jobs and 100% of postdocs are looking to land those very jobs. That's like going to Medical School, earning your M.D. degree then doing residency and only 5% OF THOSE GUYS BECOME DOCTORS.
But I wish you good luck whatever you choose!
EDIT: also, don't come off as cocky. I was helping at recruitment weekend back in '07 and this jackass know-it-all recruit from brandeis university was such a pompus asshole that dispite having great grades/ GRE's/ and a 1st author paper he was not accepted into the program.
Another EDIT: Usually, you will meet up with current graduate students before your actual interviews occur. Take that opportunity to ask the graduate students what they know about the professors you are going to interview with. Ask the graduate students which of the professors are friendly and which are hard asses. Most graduate students will be very honest and give you a honest opinion and some suggestions. That's what I would do for recruits when I helped out during the recruitment weekend. I'd tell them 'watch out for this guy, he's a prick' or 'this guy is awesome don't even worry about this guy'. Are you serious? Only 5% of MDs become medical doctors? What about the others? Lol reread it. 5% of postdocs get to be tenure track professors. If science PhD track was analogous to MD that would be like 5% of med students getting to be doctors. AFAIK if you get through residency and all that there's a 99%+ chance that you'll get a job as a doctor somewhere. I am applying for PhD. If you followed my blog I got in Washington already and I have a shot at JHU. The way I look at this professorship thing is that if I can't get one, I'll go teach math at a high school for far superior salary and job security than a post-doc :3. I am pretty sure my GPA is good enough that Teacher's College in Ontario will beg me to apply.
I was indeed aware of your stats skills and looking at JHU :D. About teaching high school let me tell you what I found out because I actually looked into it. In the U.S. you have to do a 2 year long certification program to earn a teaching certificate before you can teach H.S.. This is even if you have a Ph.D. degree. It takes 2 years + minimum ~$3,500 before you can earn your teaching certificate and begin teaching high school kids. That would require me leaving my Postdoc position and having little or no income from side jobs while paying for a teaching certificate for 2 years before I can teach the little buggars. I think it's insane, why should I have to take 2 years of additional schooling on top of my Ph.D. and postdoc experience to teach high school kids? I'd have to be crazy to leave my current job to pursue that. And they wonder why there is a shortage of math and science teachers in high school in the U.S.
Additionally, if I want to teach at the junior college level, there is a similar problem. First of all you have to teach several years as an adjuct teacher (absolute minimum 1 year) before you can land a full time teaching gig. However, due to the fact that so many Ph.D.s can't find work these adjunct jobs are scooped up so fast that even finding postings is difficult. I've lived in L.A. for 2 years now and about once a month I'll hit the junior college job listings in the area. I have never once seen a posting yet for adjunct biology teacher.
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sigh... The outlook looks grim even now. 2 years ago when US was hit by the depression, I thought I'd dodge it by going to a PhD program instead of looking for a non-existent job (Chemical Engineering btw).
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Chemical engineering is one of the best things to go into... any sort of engineering is really good.
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Part of the reason only 5% get a professorship is because the amount of PhDs out there is ridiculous. Pretty much anyone can become a PhD in this day and age, and the amount of schools out there offering PhDs in pretty much any desirable field is ridiculous. If you're going for a PhD you need to be working with a top professor at a top school getting tons of papers, and applying to prestigious post-doc positions.
On February 04 2011 06:27 GreatFall wrote:Show nested quote +On February 04 2011 04:57 Sufficiency wrote:On February 04 2011 04:52 ZeaL. wrote:On February 04 2011 04:46 Sufficiency wrote:On February 04 2011 03:53 GreatFall wrote:
I earned my Ph.D. in Genetics from Univ. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in '09. The interview weekend is mostly a formality though I believe only about 80-90% were given offers. They are trying to sell themselves more than they are judging you. Usually only 2-3 of the 7 PIs you are visiting with (or sometimes a student also) judge you and report back to the admissions committee. The rest of the PIs just want to show you their work and maybe recruit you to their lab. Usually you can identify these guys because they are 1st or 2nd year assistant professors. Just be enthusiastic about science make sure you can very clearly explain your undergraduate research project and show interest in their work as well. Just come off as a nice guy who is excited (and more importantly competent) about science and you should have no problem. Additionally, are you in one of the 1st interview weekends? That's usually a good sign. We had about 8-9 interview weekends and if you were in the first few weekends they really really wanted you.
On a side note, is this really what you want to do man? I mean I got my Ph.D. and now I'm a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA but I just don't see a single soul getting a job. In fact, in over 8 years in the field I don't know a single person who has got a decent job, and that includes people who were postdocs when I began my graduate career 8 years ago. People get stuck as Postdocs forever and the good people over there at Nature Journal even reported that only about 5% of Postdocs land desirable jobs (Professorships). Biotech companies aren't hiring like they used to and more and more people are doing 6 years postdoc and finding themselves w/o jobs. Someone here in my lab at UCLA was a postdoc 6 years followed by 'research scientist' (AKA glorified postdoc w/o tenure track) for another 9 years and he recently went back to school to completely switch careers to Clinical Lab Science after being unable to land a professorship. This dispite having several first author publications in journals such as PNAS, Nature Medicine and JBC.
Just think about it man. I only say this because I wish someone had told me about these honest facts when I started out. If I could do it again, I would go into nursing. 2 - years of work to get an almost guaranteed job starting at around 90K in California. FUCK YEA I would kill for that right now. (I'm making 39K/year as a postdoc). I mean people always told me I wouldn't make much money in Science, but nobody told me that jobs are damn near impossible to get and most people get stuck in a 'training' (postdoc) job. Think about it man.... 5% of postdocs land tenure track professor jobs and 100% of postdocs are looking to land those very jobs. That's like going to Medical School, earning your M.D. degree then doing residency and only 5% OF THOSE GUYS BECOME DOCTORS.
But I wish you good luck whatever you choose!
EDIT: also, don't come off as cocky. I was helping at recruitment weekend back in '07 and this jackass know-it-all recruit from brandeis university was such a pompus asshole that dispite having great grades/ GRE's/ and a 1st author paper he was not accepted into the program.
Another EDIT: Usually, you will meet up with current graduate students before your actual interviews occur. Take that opportunity to ask the graduate students what they know about the professors you are going to interview with. Ask the graduate students which of the professors are friendly and which are hard asses. Most graduate students will be very honest and give you a honest opinion and some suggestions. That's what I would do for recruits when I helped out during the recruitment weekend. I'd tell them 'watch out for this guy, he's a prick' or 'this guy is awesome don't even worry about this guy'. Are you serious? Only 5% of MDs become medical doctors? What about the others? Lol reread it. 5% of postdocs get to be tenure track professors. If science PhD track was analogous to MD that would be like 5% of med students getting to be doctors. AFAIK if you get through residency and all that there's a 99%+ chance that you'll get a job as a doctor somewhere. I am applying for PhD. If you followed my blog I got in Washington already and I have a shot at JHU. The way I look at this professorship thing is that if I can't get one, I'll go teach math at a high school for far superior salary and job security than a post-doc :3. I am pretty sure my GPA is good enough that Teacher's College in Ontario will beg me to apply. I was indeed aware of your stats skills and looking at JHU :D. About teaching high school let me tell you what I found out because I actually looked into it. In the U.S. you have to do a 2 year long certification program to earn a teaching certificate before you can teach H.S.. This is even if you have a Ph.D. degree. It takes 2 years + minimum ~$3,500 before you can earn your teaching certificate and begin teaching high school kids. That would require me leaving my Postdoc position and having little or no income from side jobs while paying for a teaching certificate for 2 years before I can teach the little buggars. I think it's insane, why should I have to take 2 years of additional schooling on top of my Ph.D. and postdoc experience to teach high school kids? I'd have to be crazy to leave my current job to pursue that. And they wonder why there is a shortage of math and science teachers in high school in the U.S. Additionally, if I want to teach at the junior college level, there is a similar problem. First of all you have to teach several years as an adjuct teacher (absolute minimum 1 year) before you can land a full time teaching gig. However, due to the fact that so many Ph.D.s can't find work these adjunct jobs are scooped up so fast that even finding postings is difficult. I've lived in L.A. for 2 years now and about once a month I'll hit the junior college job listings in the area. I have never once seen a posting yet for adjunct biology teacher.
^^^This isn't true. If you wanted to teach at a private or charter school they would pretty much DIE to have a PhD. You don't need a teaching certification, and for the schools that do require one (public) you can just take a test and get your cert. Also, as far as the community college jobs are concerned, you just need a masters and you need to pass a test. These jobs don't pay that well, but if you teach at a public school you get awesome retirement. Also, its something to keep you afloat while the economy keeps sucking.
I'm not sure if you know about Teach For America, but basically they place you in a job at low-income communities and help you get certification and everything. That's also a possibility.
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EPT
