<p>I'm a junior at Syracuse University. I will potentially graduate with a bachelor of science in Psychology with an integrated major in Neuroscience. I am currently working, and doing an internship in a Neuroscience Lab. I have experience working with labs, library academic research and among other skills. I currently maintain a GPA of 2.9, with a curriculum that has a strong science background.</p>
<p>I've been thinking a lot about my future in regards to my mediocre academic achievements. Where should I head from here? Will I get into a graduate program that is worth my time? My academic advisors have given me a lot of criticism because I cannot focus in a single field of science/knowledge. One day I will be very interested in biopsychology and two days later I will be researching about quantum mechanics. Truth is I like being a renaissance man, capable of understanding various disciplines of science and humanities. My advisors say that this is a gift and a curse, because I do not perform well solving micro-problems such as those that are encountered by many scientists (an experiment regarding a specific molecule, within a specific set of neurons, in a specific part of the brain, with an specific animal doing a specific task). However, they agree that I can handle macro-problems such as those concerned with neurophilosophy, antropology, etc. While I agree with this statement, I cannot figure out how I can do this. Should I go to grad school for philosophy? Or a similar subject? And if so, do I even have any chance of getting into a graduate school?</p>
<p>I will take a break after undergrad and figure out if I want to take grad school exams and apply to programs or if I want to do something else. I could go to the peace corps, I could simply get a regular job that gives me enough time to explore books and write, or I can figure something else out. </p>
<p>Additional Info:
-I am fully bilingual (English & Spanish).
-I like computers and have some skills using Linux OS. Will improve skills soon (possibly code). Might consider a field involved with computer science and neuroscience.
-Anything helps. Even if it is something outside the US.</p>
<p>You’re skipping ahead of a crucial question, which is whether or not you actually need a graduate degree to do what you want to and need to do. If you don’t know what you want to go to graduate school for yet, then you aren’t ready to go. Graduate school is a focused course of study into one particular topic in order to earn a degree that you need to do a job you can’t do without it.</p>
<p>Your advisors are both right and wrong. Your entire PhD is not spent solving one micro-problem; that’s just your dissertation. Depending on the kind of program you attend, you will investigate a small area or agenda of the research within your field. For example, I am interested in HIV prevention in black Americans and secondary prevention for black Americans and LGBT people already infected with HIV. I’ve done a number of projects within that area, working with two different populations at different times (adolescent girls and black gay men). Yes, my dissertation is one small area of that, but I see it as part of a larger research agenda, not my life’s work. It’s basically 3 or 4 scientific papers written at once. Research in general is like that, too. For several years at a time, you may work on a specific problem, but it won’t be a micro-problem. The individual papers you write will be, but you should be able to get 4-10 research papers out of every research project/grant you write. </p>
<p>Your problem is interest in too many broad areas. You can’t do both quantum mechanics and biopsychology (unless you find a way to do research at the intersection of both). The vast majority of researchers are not Renaissance men - in fact, it’s impossible to be a Renaissance man today. Human knowledge was much less vast in the Renaissance, so then it was possible to know a lot about a lot of different areas because the “lot” they had then wasn’t actually anything like the “lot” we know now.</p>
<p>I agree - take a break. Take a few years. Do stuff you like to do. You don’t necessarily need to plan out the next 5 years of your life - just find something to do for the future. Join the Peace Corps, if you want, or do Americorps or a Fulbright or JET or EPIK or something. Or get a regular job that allows you to write and read. Get a library card and read widely, and write down your thoughts and explore your interests. And while you’re on the job, take note of what you like to do and what you don’t like to do. Becoming more aware of your interests, strengths, and skills will help you shape what you want to do in the future.</p>