Summers

Graduate School
1

<p>I did a search on this board but wasnt really able to find a thread to answer my question so here it is:</p>

<p>I'm going into my soph year of Chem.Eng. and I pretty much know I want to go to grad school and get a PhD. That said, I pretty much see that I have 2 ways to spend (at least next) summer.</p>

<p>One would be to get a paid internship with an eng. company. I'll soon be starting the process of applying to a few oil, computer, and bio/nanotech companies.</p>

<p>The other would be to do (most likely unpaid) research with a prof at my school. Since I have a place near by I could stay, I can't just rule it out due to not making any money. I know that building a good relationship with a prof is critical for letters of rec. I plan on continuing working with a prof I started with last semester (really I plan to stay with him until i graduate)...</p>

<p>So which would look better? Working with IBM/Exxon-Mobile or maybe getting my name on a published paper?</p>

2

<p>I faced the same decision and went with research. The benefit is I'm really starting to understand how graduate level research is done and how the reviewing process works. The minus is of course money and I'm starting to have some mixed feelings about the decision because I don't want to rely on my parents every term for college costs. Almost all the money I made last summer from my internship has been spent on rent and food, and the stipend I'm getting paid for research isn't going to cover it. </p>

<p>It really comes down to money and how committed you are to grad school. Keep in mind that priorities change.</p>

<p>I thought money wouldn't be an issue initially, but now, I'm starting to desire some degree of economic independence. Going back to my company last summer would have resulted in a raise too. It's not that my parents can't fund me, but simply a matter of wanting to be self-sufficient for once.</p>

<p>So to answer your question, without a doubt, your name on a paper will look better. </p>

<p>However, there is some cynicism I have toward working 70 hr weeks and getting paid not so much. I used to tell myself not to care about money, but it's hard to work exhaustingly and get rewarded only by a miniscule publication. Keep in mind that grad school is going to be 5 years like this. I assume you probably have a high GPA, but you will be working 70 hr weeks for minimal pay while your friends headed for industry with 3.0 GPA's will be making 40-50k per year.</p>

<p>So I guess my point is you should look at the long term...beyond the Ph.D, what do you want to do? It's not an end in itself, and a lot of grad students get caught into thinking that, which is why you have so many recent Ph.D's who respond "I'm not sure" when you ask them what they plan to do next. I was pretty set on being a professor one day, and always thought I could beat the tough odds, but you have to be realistic, especially once you meet post-docs who are infinitely smarter than you and who still can't even get an interview for a faculty position. The truth is, if you look at faculty webpages, most of their Ph.D graduates end up in industry, often with jobs that are less desirable.</p>

<p>So I would say go with research and see what happens. Unless you submit to Science or Nature after a year, don't rule out the industry internship the next summer because you <em>might</em> be headed there after the Ph.D anyway.</p>

3

<p>You're going into your sophomore year... it means that you don't even know what chemical engineers do for a living yet. I urge you to figure out what we do before you get yourself into it. Nanotech is way out out of the main curricula. I was in the same shoes as you a few years ago. let's just say that people who think they'll be learning nanoscience/chemistry will be greatly disappointed. It might even be the biggest disappointment in life. However, if you're going to graduate school you'll learn great/real science.</p>

4

<p>
[quote]
You're going into your sophomore year... it means that you don't even know what chemical engineers do for a living yet. I urge you to figure out what we do before you get yourself into it. Nanotech is way out out of the main curricula. I was in the same shoes as you a few years ago. let's just say that people who think they'll be learning nanoscience/chemistry will be greatly disappointed. It might even be the biggest disappointment in life. However, if you're going to graduate school you'll learn great/real science.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>not entirely true. i was able to place out of a lot of requirements this year and was able to take materials and energy balances along with the little "YYY engineering intro class" most schools (including mine) offer/require. i'll be taking p chem this next year. in addition, i did intern at a generic drug maker in high school.</p>

<p>i don't want to go into nanotech, i just live in albany ny where there are 10+ nanotech startups here and it would be fairly easy to get an internship with one since my parents have a few professional contacts there already</p>

<p>really what i want to do is go into pharma...looking at starting salaries, the opportunity cost, for me, is worth spending the extra 3-5 years in school</p>

<p>cherrybarry - thanks for the advice :)</p>

5

<p>I don't know much about your program, but if you wanna go into pharma stuff, you'll need to take a lot of classes on your own time because undergraduate chemical engineering doesn't even deal with that. materials and energy balance will be the kind of classes that you'll be taking... wait until unit operations. A lot will be plumbing unfortunately. But you have professional connections so it will work out great for you.</p>

<p>Good luck! :)</p>