Maybe instead of asking whether you need graduate school to achieve your career goals, you should instead ask whether you would consider it "an immense waste of time" if it didn't lead to the career you expected. If so, maybe it's not for you. You've got to love learning, thinking, research, and sharpening your mind for its own sake in order to plow through the challenges, low pay, and uncertain employment prospects.
Brad On Thu, Jul 19, 2012 at 11:54 PM, Aaron T. Dossey <bugoc...@gmail.com>wrote: > Jane, > > I agree completely. In fact, even before asking the "why" question, or at > least something to ask at the same time is: IF you NEED graduate school to > achieve your goals (career, etc.). You should definitely decide WHAT your > goals/dreams/interests are and then do your homework. If you can achieve > them without graduate school, then graduate school is an immense waste of > time in which all you'll achieve is helping some professor get promoted and > boost their publication and grant record. Better to spend those years on > things that take you steps toward your dreams (and hopefully making a > little money along the way, and ACHIEVING something significant). > > If you decide that you must go to graduate school, do a LOT of research on > the labs you are thinking about joining before picking one - and talk to > EVERY and all people who work in those labs and especially those who use to > (students and postdocs especially) and are now elsewhere. The latter can > and will probably give you more honest and better informed opinions of the > lab. > > Dr. Aaron T. Dossey > Unemployed Ph.D. Entrepreneur > > > > On 7/19/2012 9:43 PM, Jane Shevtsov wrote: > >> Hi Jeremy, >> >> You haven't told us the most important thing -- WHY you're doing a >> Master's and want to do a PhD. Answer that, and you'll be well on your >> way to picking a topic, with the rest being a matter of finding a >> specific question. >> >> I also highly recommend the book _On Becoming a Biologist_ by John >> Janovy, Jr. It is a very wise book that deals with these types of >> questions. >> >> Good luck, >> Jane Shevtsov >> >> On Thu, Jul 19, 2012 at 8:55 AM, Jeremy Fontaine >> <fonta...@student.umass.edu> wrote: >> >>> Hello all, this upcoming Fall semester I will be attending the >>> University of >>> Massachusetts Lowell to obtain my Master's Degree in Biology with the >>> possibility of a Biotechnology option. I want to do a Master's Thesis >>> because I want to get my PHD later on, but I am really not sure what I >>> want >>> to do my master's thesis on. I completed my bachelors degree in Biology >>> at >>> the University of Massachusetts Amherst and learned a great deal. >>> >>> Some guidance or advice for the process of picking a thesis topic or how >>> to >>> approach the situation would be very helpful. >>> >>> Thank you, >>> >>> Jeremy >>> >> >> >> > > -- > Aaron T. Dossey, Ph.D. > Biochemistry and Molecular Biology > Founder/Owner: All Things Bugs > Capitalizing on Low-Crawling Fruit from Insect-Based Innovation > http://www.allthingsbugs.com > https://www.facebook.com/**Allthingsbugs<https://www.facebook.com/Allthingsbugs> > 1-352-281-3643 > -- Bradley Evan Carlson PhD Candidate Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Ecology The Pennsylvania State University University Park, PA 16802 Email: carb...@gmail.com http://homes.bio.psu.edu/people/faculty/langkilde/index_files/carlson.htm https://sites.google.com/site/bradleyecarlson/home
