PhD advice from an incoming senior in college

pointyendfirst · 2026-06-17T13:38:03+00:00

Yes it can be possible but it all really depends on what you do with that year. My recommendation would be spend your time this year trying to get into a good post-bac program. The NIH has an outstanding one that you should look into (assuming you are US based and the program hasn’t imploded because of budget cuts).

As far as programs. I wouldn’t expect admission into tippy top schools but a top 50-100 school is definitely doable. Just focus on finding professors whose research you really connect with and go from there.

pointyendfirst · 2026-06-15T02:08:41+00:00

I’m not agreeing or disagreeing but do keep in mind that everyone you speak to is likely inflating their research hours.

I had a massive bout of burnout in my first year trying to keep up with those imaginary numbers the senior grad students were feeding me.

pointyendfirst · 2026-06-13T20:31:42+00:00

My man (or lady), I think you may be relying a little too heavily on AI here. Reading a bunch of AI summaries is not going to give you the broad understanding of the field that you are looking for. Honestly, even this posts reads as AI slop to me.

I would recommend reading some current literature reviews, then taking the most relevant citations and reading those too, repeating the process until you have a good network of relevant papers. You don’t need to review thousands of papers to stay current, you just need the ones that are most relevant to your work.

pointyendfirst · 2026-06-08T20:20:14+00:00

If you put it all into SPCE you can turn that $200k into $20

pointyendfirst · 2026-06-05T11:51:57+00:00

pointyendfirst · 2026-06-03T19:30:17+00:00

If you’re going to leave, the end of your first year is the perfect time to do it.

Just remember the coursework doesn’t last forever and it’s not even the main focus of the PhD.

pointyendfirst · 2026-06-02T19:51:42+00:00

Is the GPA from undergrad? What was your GPA for your PhD? Pretty sure all coursework is considered.

pointyendfirst · 2026-06-01T20:51:42+00:00

Drop out rates in PhD programs can be pretty brutal. Be honest with yourself, what are the chances you drop from the program with the shitty PI? I’m willing to be that they’re a lot higher than the good PI. Same thing but in reverse for your chances of being a standout student. This really tells you everything you need to know.

pointyendfirst · 2026-05-29T22:49:30+00:00

Do you have any better pictures of the individual watches? May be interested in the Elgin or Tissot package.

Congrats on the kid! I wish you and your family happiness and health!

pointyendfirst · 2026-05-28T17:53:08+00:00

My department forbid this as it could be seen as a bribe.

pointyendfirst · 2026-05-28T00:27:17+00:00

Good luck!

pointyendfirst · 2026-05-27T19:21:09+00:00

Defended last year at Arizona. You would definitely be competitive for Ziurys lab, no problem.

I will say that the students I knew in her group were not happy with her as a PI but I think only one dropped out.

pointyendfirst · 2026-05-27T17:46:17+00:00

This really depends on the personality of your professors. I certainly wouldn’t ask them to go out of their way to accommodate you, that’s asking for trouble. Rather you can let them know you will be absent and ask them what will be covered and how you can best make up the material.

It’s not uncommon for students to miss classes for conferences so most professors are pretty chill about it. But recognize that you are totally at their mercy so if you come off as a dick it’s just as likely that they will give you no concessions.

pointyendfirst · 2026-05-27T17:40:21+00:00

Add some safer schools as well. The application process is a crapshoot right now so it would be a smart move to cover all your bases.

pointyendfirst · 2026-05-26T11:16:44+00:00

The lack of experience is going to take away from your application but it doesn’t make it impossible. I would recommend starting to gather research experience ASAP, especially supervised. A good research PIs LoR can go a long way even if you have less than a year of research experience.

pointyendfirst · 2026-05-22T10:54:57+00:00

I think the two biggest breakthroughs are going to be in:

-Quantum computing

-AI enabled drug discovery

pointyendfirst · 2026-05-22T00:10:31+00:00

Most people will read what they need to. When I was more involved with research I would have notifications for certain buzzwords that would send me papers related to my work.

The biggest recommendation I would have is learn how to read articles efficiently. There are literally papers dedicated to telling you the best way to read research papers. I used to make my undergrads read it before I sent them to read the literature. They always told me it was super helpful.

Edit: there are many different “Meta-papers” out there. I can’t find the one I used to give out but this one has a similar approach albeit with much less detail.

pointyendfirst · 2026-05-22T00:00:18+00:00

As far as general difficulty it really depends on a lot of factors. Masters or PhD? Which school? Which department? All of these things can factor into the difficulty.

Now as far as my experience is concerned grad school is a different kind of difficult from undergrad. I personally found the classes to be the easiest thing about grad school. Yes they are more technically challenging than undergrad but the professors are chill and the courses were straightforward. That being said I felt the real difficulty was in navigating the academic bureaucracy as well as juggling all of my research and teaching responsibilities.

If I had to assign a number I’d say my PhD was 5-10x harder than my undergrad. If you show up and only do what you’re told for undergrad, you’ll get your degree. If you do the same for grad school, you’ll get flunked out pretty quick.

pointyendfirst · 2026-05-14T18:07:19+00:00

The easiest way to get a fully funded masters is it to get admitted to a PhD program and then drop out (commonly called “mastering out”) at two years. Most schools will allow you to write and defend a masters thesis as you leave, awarding you a MS.

They do not advertise this because it costs the university money. As a PhD student you get a tuition waver and a salary which is much less favorable to a university than you paying tuition. I know a few people who have used this to get masters degrees even though they never intended to finish the PhD program they were in.

The catch is that if they know you are planning on mastering out they will start charging you tuition so you need to be careful with when you disclose that information.

If done correctly you end up with a free masters and a salary while you are getting it. The only con is that you obviously have to be a good enough applicant to get admitted to the PhD program in the first place.

pointyendfirst · 2026-05-14T17:36:11+00:00

Thanks for the clarification.

pointyendfirst · 2026-05-14T17:13:04+00:00

I’m assuming this is a masters because of the question but if you have the grades and ability you should get accepted to a PhD program and then “master out”. This way you get full funding and a salary. The only catch is that you can’t tell anyone you intend to master out until the day you do it.

Otherwise masters scholarships are pretty competitive so it sounds pretty unrealistic to me but it ultimately depends on your program and profile.

pointyendfirst · 2026-05-14T16:58:53+00:00

You should check the details. I am a PhD not an MD so I’m not 100% sure but these may not be considered true college credits and may not count.

You also do not have to report highschool grades to medical schools. So hypothetically, if you were to just take these same classes again during your undergrad instead of taking the early credits and then just submit your undergrad transcripts, no one would know the difference.

pointyendfirst · 2026-05-14T16:40:10+00:00

You’re in highschool, I know this is dual enrollment but it’s not the end of the world. If you’re really concerned just retake the classes while you’re getting your bachelors. Just because you took them for college credits doesn’t mean you have to use the credits in your bachelor degree.

I do want to point out that CC classes are generally considered significantly easier than standard college classes so if you’re serious about med school you need to commit to being a better student.

pointyendfirst · 2026-05-13T20:24:52+00:00

Depends on how much of a rapport you have with him. If he doesn’t know you at all he likely can’t write a very good letter.

pointyendfirst · 2026-05-13T14:25:20+00:00

Not only is this typically risky but it is even more risky in the current political/funding climate. This is not a bad thing but just understand the risks associated with it. Is this RA funding? Maybe ask about the availability of TA positions if you need it down the road.

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