I've less than a month now to pick a graduate school. For some handy reason of convention, they've all picked April 15th as "D-Day." Am I any closer to a decision? Perhaps. I found out the other day that I got into the University of Chicago. So, my four choices are:
University of Washington (Seattle)
University of Iowa (Iowa City)
University of California (San Francisco)
University of Chicago
Any thoughts? I'm surprised at all the advice folks around here have been willing to give me, whether I solicited it or not. But, in only a handful of incidents have I actually found their advice to be... well... productive. Person X tells me irrationally that I have to go to UW because, if I go to Iowa, I'll kill myself because it's "so God-awful there." When I ask Person X if he/she has ever been there, I hear back: "Oh God, no! But, it's pretty bad, right?" Um, no.
I wish I could say the above was an isolated incident. But, just as many irrational and unproductive comments have been tossed my way about UCSF, UW, and Chicago as well. Anything ranging from "You can't handle it at [name of school]" to "If you go to [name of school], you won't be able to find a job afterwards unless you're going into private industry." I've become quite good at picking out the arrogance now. For every one person I solicit advice from, I encounter three of those. Ugh.
So, I've undertaken a new strategy. I've started to contact professors at the above schools to ask directly about possible openings for a rotation student (and etc.) in his/her lab. I wrote the first batch of e-mails last night, thinking I wouldn't hear back until after the weekend. But, I've already heard back from most, all with positive comments. I'm feeling encouraged. And, I'm also feeling that, wherever I go, I'll be alright. My goals aren't huge. I don't want to "get my name out there," go to the biggest or best program, or pound my classmates into the dirt. I just want to go to graduate school, find a nice lab to work in, and try try try for the Ph.D. Perhaps I'm being naïve, but I couldn't give two flips about a program's national ranking. I just want a nurturing environment.
So, perhaps after hearing back from more profs, I'll have more ammo to come towards a decision. That isn't the end-all and be-all, of course. Zach and I have much to talk about in this regard. Without a doubt, he's been terrific and supportive through this entire endeavour. But, as D-Day approaches, we've much to discuss.
But, not right now. We're going to the Oregon coast tomorrow for a little... distraction. Yeeha!
Posted by James at March 17, 2005 06:52 AM