Bio_Info_Seeker wrote:
Quote:
Most of the advice I've gotten around the department says to pick your advisor before you pick your school, talk to their current graduate students to make sure they're a good match for you, and then apply to the school with them backing you.
Yes, that seems to be a good way to do it, but it's really difficult to do that. Especially if you are applying to schools that are far away. And for me it seems weird to base your education around one person. But maybe I had it easy because I applied to the same university where I did my bachelors and masters, so I knew most of the departments and professors.
Positions for Phd students are usually announced like regular jobs, so you will be applying directly to a certain team or even to a certain project. I don't really understand why picking a certain advisor is always recommended. I would say choosing the field is more important, but it may be different for you, so I should not try to affect your decision.
I think a lot of the people that advocate checking the advisor out had bad experiences with their own advisors - because clashed or the advisor just wasn't easy to get along with, or there was some other drama. I mean, you'd pick out people who are doing stuff that interests you. But before applying you'd sent a email to one of their current students to ask what it's like to work under them. I've heard more than one horror story about <insert person here>'s master's thesis. Since I'm the type to avoid drama at all costs this makes a certain amount of sense to me. If I ended up with someone I hated for 2+ years, I can't say I'd fare well. And then last week I was having lunch at the same time as this older student who told me about the state of funding in Canada nowadays (read: not good), and he said if he went back to do it again he'd make sure to pick someone who's sure to get a lot of money. (Me: x.x)
Oh,if I stayed at my current university for my master's I know the people I'd want to work with. But my university is very, very small (~3,000 students) so there aren't many master's positions available. Mostly professors will hire undergrads for honours work or research-based courses.
Yeah, I've seen little notices on professors' websites that say they're looking for masters/PhD students.
12 Jul 2012, 6:05 pm
