Grad School Update

WARNING - LONG POST - Do not read unless you are really interested in my grad school diliberations!

I still don't know where I will be, but things are starting to come into focus. I interviewed at BYU, and my professor I have been doing research with there actually decided to ask the graduate committee to accept me and if there is a question about funding, he will pay my stipend, tuition, and insurance out of his own pocket (meaning from his personal lab grants, not his checking account, but still he is committing up to around 100,000 dollars - if not a little more if he had to cover the whole ammount, and with the state of the economy grants are not easy to come by) so he seems to think that is a pretty much done deal. I'll still feel much better about it when BYU gives me an actual official offer, but if the committee doesn't have to worry about funding a student and a faculty member wants him, there is no reason not to take him. If I get an offer in the next week, I will have about 4 weeks to accept and committ to BYU. I really like working with my research mentor and he is very good at what he does, and very good at teaching other people how to do it. I worry that if I leave BYU I might not find another professor so teaching-oriented who still manages to publish a lot of work. If I do find one, there would be competition to get into the lab. Many professors seem to either teach well or research and publish well, but not always both. The other huge advantage with staying in the lab is that I have already been doing research on related projects for over a year, and it is very possible that I could have a big publication ready during my first year if I stayed. That is huge considering you only need 2 to finish your Ph.D (in addition to other candidacy requirements). I would be able to be doing productive work immediately and could potentially finish up my Ph.D with a couple of extra papers on top of the minimum requirements, which would be a huge advantage when applying to post-doc positions. The offer was (and is) still very much unofficial, but the professor is one of the 4 on the graduate committee and he felt like it would definately go through.

I am still waiting to hear back from VCU Medical College. I really enjoyed my visit there, and we really liked Richmond. The stipend is a little higher, and the research is a little more focused in on my areas of interest. I felt like the interview went really well, and after my interview, VCU was my top choice, but I tend to be more excited about the schools that seem more excited about having me, and I don't know when VCU will be telling me their decision. I guess I will find out in the next 4 weeks, but I don't know anything more specific than that. Most professors have said if they flew me out for the interview and I felt it went well, they would most likely extend an offer. While a change in lab, research area, and venue would be refreshing and maybe even helpful in my transition to Ph.D from undergrad work, I would have to start over searching for a professor who was a good fit for me and then I would have to start at ground zero learning about their work. It would take me about a year to be up and running on productive research.

Unless someone comes in and really suprises me, I will be going to one of these two programs (unless I don't get into either, and then i'll try 7-11). I feel pretty good having 2 pretty solid prospects to hopefully choose from, but I will be very relieved when I have some kind of official offer in hand.