So one of the cool things about having a Weebly blog is that I can see "stats" of how many people are reading my stuff on the reg (thanks for that, you rock if you are reading this right now. Hi!)
I noticed a trend lately: my page view numbers are quite boosted compared to my number of unique visitors (see blue charts below). My lab mates and I have hypothesized that this odd pattern correlates to around the same time that the PSU interview requests were sent out to potential grad students. Or, you know, maybe it's just my parents and boyfriend reading it all because they feel like they have to, but I prefer to think that people considering graduate school, or higher ed in general, are reading my blog. If that is the case, then this post is for you (and good luck with your interviews!!!)
I noticed a trend lately: my page view numbers are quite boosted compared to my number of unique visitors (see blue charts below). My lab mates and I have hypothesized that this odd pattern correlates to around the same time that the PSU interview requests were sent out to potential grad students. Or, you know, maybe it's just my parents and boyfriend reading it all because they feel like they have to, but I prefer to think that people considering graduate school, or higher ed in general, are reading my blog. If that is the case, then this post is for you (and good luck with your interviews!!!)
One thing my parents have often said to me is "I wonder where you came from". No, I'm not an alien from outer space who came to Earth on a shooting star. No, I'm not adopted either (I had my DNA sequenced, and inherited exactly half from my dad, so there). When you look at me, I am an exact 50:50 mix of my mother and father (literally). But my whole family has always told me that I was a little bit different.
I was different because I liked reading more than I liked talking to people most of the time. I was a little bit odd because at 5 years old I wanted to be a marine biologist, not at all like my sister's goal of becoming a mermaid (true story). My family has always been quick to point out how quirky and unusual my interests are to them, and it's all stemmed from my lifelong aim to be a scientist. My reason is a simple one: there's just too much in the universe for my curiosity to ever be satisfied.
I was different because I liked reading more than I liked talking to people most of the time. I was a little bit odd because at 5 years old I wanted to be a marine biologist, not at all like my sister's goal of becoming a mermaid (true story). My family has always been quick to point out how quirky and unusual my interests are to them, and it's all stemmed from my lifelong aim to be a scientist. My reason is a simple one: there's just too much in the universe for my curiosity to ever be satisfied.
One of the many steps required to earn the scientist title was acquiring an education suited for my interests. It was one of my fifth grade teachers that told me of a seemingly magical high school about 30 minutes drive from my house where the students learned how to become marine biologists. I was privileged to grow up within the bounds of the Monmouth County Vocational School District (MCVSD). | MCVSD Mission Statement "The Monmouth County Vocational School District prepares students for an evolving workplace, lifelong learning and further education through specialized academics, career and technical programs and achievement of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards." |
The MCVSD is composed of five magnet high schools, called "career academies", that students could attend for no personal cost to gain skills in either Allied Health and Science, Biotechnology, Communications, High Technology (engineering), and Marine Science and Technology. I sent in an application, sat an exam, and eventually was permitted to attend MAST (check out map below - my high school was in the middle of the bay!).
My four years of high school were absolutely amazing! I played field hockey for my hometown high school because MCVSD schools didn't have sports teams. I was enrolled in a curriculum where I not only was guided by the scientific method and acquiring skills for conducting research projects, but where I was also enlisted in a Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (NJROTC). |
I'll dedicate whole posts to my high school years, but will say that it was one of my most favorite teachers in high school that suggested I broaden my mind during my undergraduate years. To use words that are probably remarkably close to her actual ones: Yes, marine biology is wicked cool, but there is so much more out there to discover in the world of soft, squishy things.
One thing I cannot thank my family enough for is allowing me to grow as a person, learn responsibility at a young age, and to take charge of my life. It was understood that I would save up by working hard to earn and pay for my higher education. Neither of my parents had gone to college/university, nor most of my extended family, so I was pretty much on my own for the application process. I decided that an in-state tuition was more appropriate and practical than traveling outside NJ, and began my search.
Honestly, I had no idea what to look for, and while most of my family hadn't pursued college degrees, they always tried to give me helpful advice. Find a nice campus where I could comfortably and safely live for ~4 years. Find a program that offered lots of scholarship opportunities. Find a great general biology program, with really interesting faculty-led research groups. Find a place far enough, but not too far away, from home. Find fitting on-campus job opportunities.
I found all of these things, and more, at the Richard Stockton College of NJ (now Stockton University). Again, I'll dedicate whole posts to my blossoming, beautiful alma mater, but for now I want to stay on the topic of my decision-making process.
My applications for graduate school were not unlike those for undergrad. I really didn't have much guidance from my family this time, but by that point they trusted me to make my own mind up about where I'd like to spend another ~5 years of schooling. This is where my super rad undergrad research advisor offered some excellent words of wisdom throughout my application process, which I'll paraphrase here: "This is a liberal arts school. You did the broad bit of learning here, now you've got to focus on the research. Go to a big research school with decent funding, find a great advisor and cool project to get involved in, and everything else will happen naturally. And don't bother applying to a ton of programs all over, apply to the best ones that work for you." He also may have mentioned PSU once or twice, considering he worked there for a number of years before moving back to NJ...
The major difference in my grad school application decisions was what my current advisor calls the "two-body problem". Daniel and I had only just started dating during our undergraduate application process, and agreed that we shouldn't limit our undergraduate attendance solely to wherever the other person got accepted. So he went north to Colgate University (which he absolutely loved), and I went south to Stockton. We successfully did the long-distance thing for four full years, and decided at the end of it that we'd had enough of that.
We decided to apply to graduate schools in the Northeast United States (so we could still stay sort of close to home) that had excellent biology and physics departments. When I interned at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a few of my colleagues shared their experiences with rotation programs - the idea was that you could try out a few different lab groups to see which one felt like it best fit your academic and personal interests. This seemed an obvious thing to look for in biology Ph.D. programs, but I was surprised to find that it was still a relatively new concept that was slowly being integrated into programs throughout the US. While this limited our options a bit, we were glad for it because it helped us narrow down our search enough to focus on finding labs that were cranking out really cool research publications. I wanted to find an energetic advisor with high expectations that would mold me into the kind of scientist I've always wanted to become, and also wanted to delve further into the thus-far personally unexplored territory of bioinformatics and genetics. We ended up applying to four programs based on our relatively short list of "things to look for in a graduate school that we could both attend", and were accepted to two of those four.
I'd like to end my post with a few tips for those of you who might be considering an application to educational programs, or who will soon be interviewing for one:
- Get in touch with people you are interested in working with before your interviews. Grad students, PIs, technicians, whomever, just let people know that you exist and are excited to meet potential future colleagues and coworkers.
- Ask lots of questions about funding for grad students and graduate program requirements (such as teaching time and number of required classes) during your interviews. Know what to expect from the program you're about to pledge several years of your life to before you actually accept the offer. Even the requirements between departments of the same institution can be dramatically different.
- Ask the current grad students in your prospective program about how they like living in the area, food options, hobbies, and the things they do to decompress. PSU ended up being perfect for Daniel and I because we apparently really enjoy living in a state that isn't New Jersey (for a number of reasons, please don't jump to any weird conclusions. We generally just like a bit less people and a few more trees than we grew up with.)
- Email me if you need someone to vent to during your application process. I'm serious. I've been there, Daniel's been there, and it's a doozy of a thing to go through, so if I can attempt to relieve anyone's stresses during their time of need then I would certainly like to try.