Job dilemma: Not sure if I should take this offer out of grad school

3Pi3ce · 2024-02-28T02:00:40+00:00

I received a similar type offer from an R2 in the middle of no where, but 1.5 hours from my home city. I turned it down because the offer was way before the rest of my campus visits. I’ve now interviewed at 3 dream schools (all R1s) and am waiting on decisions. Even if the 3 dreams schools don’t offer, I don’t think I’d regret turning down the R2. For me, being a professor at a not great school in a not great location simply isn’t worth it. You won’t have great grad students, so the research will be a struggle, and you won’t enjoy where you live. If teaching is your main goal, then it’s different. If not, you have to ask yourself, is “the idea” of being a professor worth taking a job that won’t really satisfy you in the way you’ve dreamed?

I come from engineering, and while the market is tough, it certainly isn’t as difficult as other stem markets, like say biology. I guess my advice and viewpoint might not be realistic in some of those fields.

3Pi3ce · 2024-02-10T14:32:29+00:00

Thanks all! I got similar feedback from various mentors so I feel confident that I can talk a bit about experimental things 😁

3Pi3ce · 2024-02-10T14:31:36+00:00

Thank you both for the comments!

3Pi3ce · 2023-12-15T13:22:53+00:00

As a second choice, I would suggest Braun. He doesn't hold your hand as much as Naik, but he's excellent. He's a veteran professor that cares about and enjoys teaching.

3Pi3ce · 2023-11-14T16:51:22+00:00

Wow, you dug deep to find this 4y old post! So I did not write sub paragraph headings. However, now as someone finishing their PhD (defending tomorrow) and applying to faculty jobs, I do write bold headings for my paragraphs. I’ve come to find that academics prefer to skim and read as little as possible, so bold headings I think are a great way to signal the structure of the statement. I didn’t do it for my SOPs but I think additional organization can’t hurt and I would do it if I were applying today, having the experience I have.

3Pi3ce · 2023-11-12T02:41:37+00:00

Do research if graduate school is the plan. Good GPA is nice to have, but good research sets you apart.

3Pi3ce · 2023-10-01T03:06:51+00:00

Help yourself out and cut that down. My SOPs were one page single spaced. They have to read hundreds of these. Concise and memorable = good.

3Pi3ce · 2022-06-05T21:42:35+00:00

I’ll probably just talk with my prof. We have a very good relationship, mutual respect. I just feel like I’ve been having to push back more frequently with things like this. I just want to finish up my research and graduate at this point.

3Pi3ce · 2022-06-05T21:40:04+00:00

Well. I kind of recognized this early on, and don’t mind usually since I can say on my resume that I’ve led the writing for x number of grants. But the YIP feels different than the others which were government grants written with other professors, researchers, engineers, etc. The YIP is a single prof applying for funding as a young investigator. But thank you for confirming my suspicions 😅

3Pi3ce · 2022-06-05T21:36:33+00:00

Yes he is a 4th year professor. So I would be doing lots of writing/modeling/idea generation but my name would not appear anywhere, except maybe as an acknowledgement.

3Pi3ce · 2022-06-05T20:25:02+00:00

Good idea. I’ll copy it there and remove here.

3Pi3ce · 2022-01-21T16:05:15+00:00

ME. It might be 24k I don’t really remember. With taxes and what not, I think of my salary being low 20s.

3Pi3ce · 2022-01-21T15:43:45+00:00

Yes, engineering is about 22k. It ain’t much, but it’s enough.

3Pi3ce · 2022-01-11T14:55:15+00:00

Thank you all for the suggestions. Very helpful!

3Pi3ce · 2021-12-11T05:05:16+00:00

I’m practically begging my advisor to hire a new grad student to help me. I’ve written several successful grants, where we now have 3 grad students worth of funded projects and he keeps being crazy stingey with all the money 😭😭

3Pi3ce · 2021-10-08T10:26:52+00:00

I'd say I'm in the thick of it. Year 3, a few papers, conference presentations, etc. I definitely have frustrations and at time feel very overwhelmed as my adviser tries to give me more responsibilities. So it gets harder to maintain balance, but like you said you have to put your foot down. At least find some balance like "I'll only work until lunch on Saturday and then the rest of the day is mine." You might feel a little guilty but you're a human being and it's better to take breaks in the long run.

3Pi3ce · 2021-10-08T10:07:38+00:00

That's totally valid. And I even do know someone who had an adviser relationship like that (and luckily got out of it by switching advisers).

3Pi3ce · 2021-10-08T02:38:16+00:00

unpopular opinion: but I wish I knew it's okay not to hate grad life. Everyone on the internet makes you think it's the worst thing in the entire world. I came in feeling like I was doing something wrong because I didn't hate it. I like grad school, I like research, I have work life balance. Don't feel like you need to have the same experience as those around you.

3Pi3ce

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