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Author Topic: Do you regret going to grad school?  (Read 11588 times)
optimisticfungus
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Posts: 34


« Reply #45 on: November 08, 2011, 09:58:51 AM »

If I had known then what I know now (i.e. how graduate programs accept more students than there are jobs for, how much red-tape and bureaucracy there is in academia, etc.), I don't know if I would've chosen this path in this field.
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curiouser
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« Reply #46 on: November 11, 2011, 10:56:48 PM »

I regret going to grad school in some ways.  I feel as though I've seen a lot of sleaziness regarding research, institutional integrity, ethics, et cetera.  It has definitely colored my view of academia, and as soon as I graduate I would never consider working in this field.  This is mostly due to the institution.  I imagine my experience would have been different had I attended another school.

I have, on the bright side, learned much more than I did during my undergraduate degree.  The plus side of grad school is the freedom it allows you intellectually.  I feel as though if undergraduate programs were structured more like graduate school programs, we might have some different outcomes.  However, this could be due to age differences.  In some instances, I felt like some of my professors became important friends and mentors.  In other instances, I feel like the reverse happened (especially with tenured professors, but not only those professors.) 
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psyche74
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« Reply #47 on: December 03, 2011, 01:58:29 AM »

I'm still working on my PhD, and I don't regret it at all. Although I kind of miss sleeping...
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pathogen
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Posts: 261


« Reply #48 on: December 03, 2011, 01:40:07 PM »

Not one bit. I'm STEM (you know, the username) in a tt position. I went to grad school because I felt like I had found the thing I was supposed to do. I'm a lab rat. I love examining the experiment that works and troubleshooting the one that doesn't. I love to teach, I'm told I'm good at it, and watching my mentees go out into the world is immensely rewarding. But I have to be honest- I'm in a field where there are non-academic opportunities and no PhD glut. I chose from a couple of offers when I finished. I went to a top program and I know I grabbed the brass ring of a tt at a research university in a nice city, where my partner has a job. I have no regrets, but know I am extraordinarily lucky. So it's not a simple question.
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