<p>What kind of breaks should I expect son to be home for when he is in graduate school? Since he is in the science field, I expect he will be working in a lab as well. Will he start in May or not until September? How about Christmas? Will he have a three week break like he does now as an undergrad?</p>
<p>He’ll have the same sorts of breaks from classes that he does as an undergrad, but he may not be able to come visit you during them, because he’ll be working. Think of his assistantship - whatever lab or teaching work is providing his funding - as a job, which is what it is. Academia tends to be flexible about work schedules, but he probably won’t be able to just come home for several weeks at a time.</p>
<p>Different programs (and different supervising profs) have different expectations, so it will be best to talk to him about his schedule.</p>
<p>Most programs start in the fall, just like undergrad programs.</p>
<p>it totally depends on the program and on the lab that he joins. Most programs start in august/september, but some have an optional summer rotation, in which case he could start in july. In terms of breaks, it mostly depends on the professor who he works for. In my case, I took about the same winter break as the undergrads had (2 weeks), and I’ve also taken some other random breaks. I don’t expect to have all spring breaks off or anything like that. The school breaks are also irrelevant to my life, since my program finishes classes during the first year. My PI is very flexible regarding time off, as long as you are working while you are here and are making progress and getting results. Some PIs are not as flexible-- it’s definitely something to look at during rotations. Generally I would say that most people in my lab take off about 10 days at christmas and about the same during the summer, along with a couple other random three day weekends.</p>
<p>My kids aren’t in grad school yet, but our experience with our friends with kids older than ours are like the above. The grad school kids pretty much try to pop in and see the parents once or twice a year and during the Christmas holiday period. If they are far away Christmas seems to be the big reunion time although I noticed that most of the grad school kids left earlier (the undergrads many are still home). Many work so have limited time off and have launched into their own adult lives using time off to do things separate from the parents. It’s abit bittersweet sometimes for our friends and definitely another milestone in the on-going separation.</p>
<p>It depends on the grad school and the student. Many graduate students work year round, including in jobs/internships related to their fields, so aren’t able to take the time off that undergrads take. Graduate students also may be of an age that they are in serious relationships, and may spend part of their breaks with their partners’ families.</p>
<p>My D is a grad student and is on a compressed schedule. Her Christmas break is very short compared to undergrad–12/20-1/3.</p>
<p>This schedule is unique to her program and as many have said above, it entirely depends on the school, and quite possibly even the program within the university.</p>
<p>Best way to think about graduate school, is more like ‘job’ and less like ‘school’. Even has a faculty member my parents never really understood why I wasn’t home more ‘if i wasn’t in class’! But the main occupation is not sitting in class but doing research. That goes on all year. The breaks are informal, but the length and time depend upon who one is working with.</p>
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<p>This has been ours and most of my friends’ experience. Although they may have 10 days off, they may want to spend only 3 or 4 days with you and then go back “home”. It’s hard to accept this at first since I have been paying for their plane tickets home and they would only stay a few days. However, I’d rather see them even for 2 days than not.</p>