Congrats! You got into grad school(s). Now what?
So it's admission/recruitment season, which is super exciting and somewhat surreal, since one (fake, pandemic-riddled) year ago I was going through the same thing and now I'm one of the student hosts for prospective students. No one in my immediate family ever got a research degree that I know of, so I went into this whole process somewhat blindly. That said, one year later here's what I learned:
Vibe checks are KEY.
what does that mean? It means if you feel weird (even a little bit) about a lab's dynamics, one of the lab members, the PI, or the school in general, that is very important to note and consider when making your final choice. If you love the PI but the lab doesn't seem like a good fit in terms of the personalities of the current members... I personally would be really wary. You're going to be spending way more time with your lab mates than your PI, so if you don't like that environment it's going to be a long few years. If it seems like a lot of students across the department aren't happy, that's also a red flag because it suggests that student happiness isn't a priority to the faculty in charge, and it is likely that you will join the ranks of unhappy students. If the PI you're interested in has ridiculous work expectations that don't match up to what you're prepared for, that's also going to be a rough time. I personally asked at every lab I was interested in what the typical work hours were, if people worked weekends (and if yes, how often), and how much vacation time people were allowed to take. That helped me knock off several PIs and narrowed my school choice down.
Are you excited?
I think I often fall into the trap of thinking "hey, science is cool. I'm sure I could get excited about any science once I'm actively doing it". I would recommend not approaching grad school and grad school visits like this. You want to be actively excited about an area even at the get go- and I'm sure if you've applied to grad school that there is some topic that you have particular interest in. I would recommend finding out who does that work at the schools you're interested, and focussing on vibe-checking them as described above. If nobody is doing the kind of work you have particular interest in at a certain school, that's also a ding in my book.
How do people live?
This has some overlap with the vibe check in that you want the people who are in the department to seem fulfilled and happy with their situation. Specifically, it's worth asking how far the stipend stretches in the area. Is the cost of living high? If so, how much of the stipend goes to rent, parking, groceries etc? How much do people get to save? What opportunities do people have to have fun outside of school/lab? I would also lump in COVID policies in this section as the response will show how much the department prioritizes student/worker well-being vs productivity. It's also worth reflecting on your own preferences with regards to location - do you prefer living in a large city, adjacent to one, or farther away from one? I didn't take that into account in undergrad and I ended up moving out of campus housing because I didn't like being so far out in the suburbs.
Can you get involved?
This might be more of a personal thing but I also really wanted to find a school where I could get involved with things like science policy, science outreach, and diversity initiatives. If that sounds interesting to you, definitely look into what sort of extra-curricular opportunities the school supports for graduate students. Also, are students invited to departmental meetings? How do students make their concerns heard? I think those are all good things to know before committing to a school.
By the time decision date had rolled around, I'd narrowed my choices down to 3 schools. In the end it came down to 1. location, 2. which school had more people that did work I was interested in, and 3. which school had people who were most interested in me. I've been really happy so far so I think it worked out well. Hopefully this post helps some of you as well!
Grad school is an exciting new chapter! Congratulations on your well-deserved and hard-earned acceptances!!
*disclaimer: my experience is specifically in chemistry & chembio, but I do think this advice is fairly generalizable at least in STEM.
