Ask Slashdot: Advice For Summer Before Ph.D. Program? 228
First time accepted submitter tookul03 writes "I'm a graduating senior from a small New England liberal arts college, and have secured a spot in a Biological Science Ph.D. program for the next five years. I realize this coming summer will be my last out of the lab for a long time and am not sure If I am interested in doing something related to my research interests or use it as an opportunity to find some new hobbies/interests. I figured the Slashdot community had a number of individuals who were/are in a similar position (albeit different fields) and could shed some light on things they (or others) had done. Thanks."
Hike the Appalachian Trail (Score:4, Funny)
It's a pretty awesome experience.
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Absolutely. I thru hiked the AT between work and law school. I made good friends I am in touch with 10 years later, and a set of memories I will never be able to surpass.
Standard start dates are around now for an August/September finish, so you might have to settle for a long section hike instead of a thru hike (2000 miles).
Do something... (Score:4, Interesting)
screw the Appalachian Trail...well, not really. Don't let other people's idea of 'adventure' bias your decision.
The idea is, do something that requires alot of time and commitment that you truly enjoy. Something that the future you're going for may not allow the flexibility for. It can be something challenging like a long backpacking trip. That's a popular thing to do in this situation.
Let's say you're going to be an oceanographer. You're going to have all kinds of adventures in your program. You probably already have had some interesting research trips. You might want to try to see a baseball game in every stadium in the National League or something like that.
Don't be the kind of person who does things 'for the story' so you can look cool.
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Posting on slashdot during a through hike is an act too deplorable for words.
Also, I'm jealous.
Go Get Laid (Score:5, Funny)
A lot...
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Get laid, start a gym and clean food regimen, and drop any bad habits you have NOW.
This is /. (Score:3, Funny)
Start working on your dissertation (Score:5, Insightful)
The sooner you start, the sooner you will finish and get a job that pays better or is more prestigious.
Re:Start working on your dissertation (Score:5, Insightful)
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So it cannot be done beforehand, and it takes ver
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But not too much. Budget some time for a genuine holiday, and when that's over, get to work. I would neither do work the whole summer nor relax the whole summer. The more you can manage to get done before you "officially" start, the better. It will save you on the deadlines later, but keep in mind this is a multi-year marathon and you have to pace yourself. Being overworked when you start is also a bad idea. So, balance it.
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start working and partying (Score:2)
Many commenters have said 'party' or 'get laid a lot'...this guy gets +5 for 'start working early'...both seem like good options.
The point is, by this point in your life, you should have some idea of what kind of 'work/life' balance works for you, so now you execute.
What I'm saying is, do both: get involved in work you love and get out and have some fun. You will most likely be in your current town for awhile. Branch out, start making professional contacts, go to art gallery openings, go to 'meet ups' or h
Re:Start working on your dissertation (Score:5, Insightful)
As soon as he's finished it's a never ending grind...
Right. People enjoy what they're good at. He's going for a Ph.D. Those are the kind of people that are good at making an impact. If we were good at "enjoying life", we would have pursued the path of greatest pleasure instead of the path of greatest impact. If he's not happier grinding, he's on the wrong path.
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He's going for a Ph.D. Those are the kind of people that are good at making an impact.
Some, for sure. But having spent ten years on staff at various colleges and universities, I can't agree with this categorically.
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Sorry, no. As soon as he's finished it's a never ending grind for 'what have you published lately?'. Now is the time to enjoy life. It's hard to get the chance after.
The next chance is emeritus
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And how could he do this without 1) A Lab, 2) Supplies, 3) An advisor, 4) A topic.
Easy. You start with a library (or these days, maybe a browser). He should read up on open research questions, read lots of papers, and try to get a feel for what he is interested in. Then he should try to find an adviser that shares his general area of interest. Then he should work with his adviser to pick a research topic. Then he can worry about labs and supplies.
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No no no.
He should spend his time researching potential advisers and committee members.
There is at least one person who will sink him if that person gets on his committee. His job is to have a good idea of who the 'bad ones' are before he has to face them.
Adviser choice is obviously paramount He should read every publication of potential advisers possible, reverse chron. He should also, somehow identify each of his potential adviser's rivals/enemies and allies.
I recommend he starts by getting the d
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Ideally, you should have 1, 3, and 4 picked out before you apply to graduate school. People who state 1, 3, and 4, with backup plans, will look better prepared to an admissions committee. Of course you can change your mind later.
Funding supplies is the advisor's job, at least in theory.
Travel! (Score:3, Informative)
Travel! Don't do research but travel and charge your batteries for what comes ahead.
(Currently writing up PhD thesis and in desperate need for a vacation)
Have fun. (Score:5, Insightful)
I travelled across the country going from music festival to music festival the summer before I went to grad school. You will have plenty of time to do something research related. Just relax and have a great fucking time, you've earned it.
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Have fun and travel. Depending how your life turns, this literally may be your last opportunity for the next 20-30 years to see the world.
I'm taking a wild guess here that you're from the US. The rest of us have time for travel even when we're working (admittedly not 3-6 months at a time, but then again if you want to travel that much you should look for a career that involves travelling).
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Actually, although you may not realize it at the time, by traveling around you will be collecting new experiences and inspirations. These could indeed turn out to be useful for your research later. Think of all the scientific discoveries that have been found by accident.
Sometimes if you are purposely concentrating, researching and looking for something, you don't find it. Maybe three years on, you will be stuck on a problem in the lab, and suddenly something from your travels will pop up to give you ins
Reconsider. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Reconsider. (Score:4, Informative)
Turn back while you still can.
I second this. Do you have any idea how many biological science phds there are? Any idea how much suffering and frustration you'll get doig a phd? Do anything else. I'm serious. You will make more money with just a masters or even a BA. You will feel better about yourself, still have your hair, have fewer ulcers, lower blood pressure and possible even be able to afford a family.
A phd ruined my life. Don't let it happen to you.
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Of course there were some rather stressful times, but if you want a stress free job, go find something else to do that doesn't require much thought.
No, if you want a stress free job, find something you enjoy doing. Stress is a result of doing things you don't want to be doing.
Re:Reconsider. (Score:4, Informative)
Turn back while you still can.
While you're going to ignore this, I know I would have, it's probably some of the best advice you'll ever get.
I'm a semi-recent PhD from a top-tier biochemistry program, and it was fucking terrible. I only know of one graduate of my old department who doesn't rabidly hate the place. We're talking nearly nervous breakdowns just seeing the outside of the building hate. I got the hell out as fast as I could and now work in industry.
Good luck on that "secured a spot for 5 years" thing. 5 years is the fairy tail they tell all incoming students. The median is more likely closer to 6, and I've known 8 plusers. Oh sure, 6 instead of 5 doesn't sound that terrible, right? Wrong! When you hit your 4th year of 6 day weeks and asshole professors and time slows down to a crawl, you'd sell your soul to be out just one week earlier.
The professors at universities, at least the good ones, are not there because they're the best and brightest minds. Sure, they're geniuses, alright, but the real reason they're at the university is because their personalities are too fucked up for the real world. The only people who can make through to getting tenure are warped, horrible people, and they become even more warped and horrible the longer they stay in that environment. I've seen so many students back stabbed and screwed over by PIs in my day. I was in a meeting where a professor, who was at that point on the short list for the Nobel Prize, absentmindedly talked about using his grad students as canon fodder for a larger goal, that sure changed my mind about joining his lab.
I have a good job now. I'm doing interesting research and have great coworkers. I met my wife in grad school. But in the time that it took me to graduate, I could have easily done a bachelors and masters in an engineering or CS field and be making more money in the area I live, and I would also have an interesting job with good coworkers.
Everywhere you look, cities, regions, and countries have mission statements saying that they want to be a biotech center. These are lies. There's probably only 3 places in the US with enough company density to reasonably consider living. They're all nice places, but they're expensive. The dirty secret about the biological sciences in general is that the only job you can get with a bachelors degree is technician, Most companies have policies in place that they won't promote you higher than essentially senior technician without a doctorate. So you're forced to do post-graduate work if you don't want a mind-numbing job. So now there's too many PhD's, so you can't even get a job with that anymore. You need a postdoc, so now those are even more of a competetive nightmare than they used to be.
Change your mind. Go to law school, or business school, or hell, go back for a degree in something that will get you a good job without post graduate work. Those will take a fixed amount of time (and less than a PhD) and money, which will let you plan your future while avoiding the horrible scars of a PhD.
TL:DR
Run!!!!
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Someone please tell me this is not the case for computer science PhDs. Because I may be on a collision course with one.
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if you are an assistant professor looking to go into industry, and you can't find better work than an entry level job, then something is very wrong.
The options to do better are generally to (a) hit up your network of contacts (you should have a huge number now---all your professor contacts will know an awmy of people who have left and gone into industry) to find sork in your area of expertise, (b) start commercialising some of your work or (c) do consulting work in your area of expertise.
The PhD is not an end-point (Score:5, Informative)
First of all, you need to find something else when you finish your PhD. Usually, academics went for a post-doc and non-academics went to industry. The game is a little different now, though, and pretty well everyone needs an academic post-doc, even to go to an industry position. Hence you should be thinking now about what you want to do when you finish, figuring out how to get there from where you are about to go. It really is never too early to start thinking about that. Some people say that the most important thing you do in grad school is line up a post-doc position.
Second, networking is critical. I highly recommend that you try to get to as many conferences as you can manage when you are a grad student.
Third, the job market for post-docs right now is terrible, unless you are in the right field at the right time. Right now it seems structural biologists are in high demand but in 5 years it could be something else entirely. Keep an eye on where the job market is going and know how to market yourself to the demand.
Fourth, start thinking right away about your committees for your time in grad school. You'll probably have a qualifying committee, an advisory committee, and a thesis exam committee. Obviously your advisor will be on all three but the rest might or might not carry over much between the three. Know how to deal with those people, how to keep them happy, and how to get them to help you graduate and network.
Fifth, if you don't have an adviser already, start talking to current students in the labs of advisers who are looking to pick up students. You want to know what your life will be like, and how long potential advisers generally keep their students around for before they graduate.
In other words, don't take this summer to escape academia. Take it to prepare for it. If your school graduates most PhDs in 5 years you really don't want to be the person who takes 7 due to lack of preparation.
Another way to prepare is to read: (Score:3)
http://disciplinedminds.com/ [disciplinedminds.com]
"In this riveting book about the world of professional work, Jeff Schmidt demonstrates that the workplace is a battleground for the very identity of the individual, as is graduate school, where professionals are trained. He shows that professional work is inherently political, and that professionals are hired to subordinate their own vision and maintain strict "ideological discipline."
The hidden root of much career dissatisfaction, argues Schmidt, is the profession
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Post-doc requirement for industry depends on your field.
Our engineering PhD students generally get industrial spots without a post doc. However, academics do need them now. That changed 10-15 years back, so maybe engineering industrial slots are headed the same way?
Re:The PhD is not an end-point (Score:5, Insightful)
One thing I can suggest as you prepare is to get your personal life together. I went through a divorce during my phd, and it definitely didn't help the process: be aware that doing a PhD can stress your personal relationships and take some time to work that out with your significant other or others you're close with, if you can. It's a time when you will be stressing hard without a whole lot to show for it, monetarily or otherwise. Build a support network with friends and family, and via counseling services at your university if necessary (my "grad student support group" helped tremendously with my own difficulties, both personally and professionally).
Oh, and since you're going into biological sciences, a great way to prepare for an awesome career is to learn programming, motherfucker. [programmin...fucker.com] (I suggest python.) The job market is tough for life sciences in general these days, but curiously not if they can program and work the command line...
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Learning programming before going to school is good advice. It can help you do problem sets if you expect them to be very computational. At the end of my grad work, I was just writing Python scripts and automatically importing them into Latex. Also, other grad students will respect you a lot, as will your advisor as there's never a shortage of computational work to be done. Even if it's just simple stuff like managing webservers and whatnot.
I wouldn't recommend killing yourself over it - it's probably not w
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Get the deans secretary drunk. Get all the secretaries drunk. Don't fuck any of them (yet).
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That all sounds like good advice if you believe, as the parent seemingly does, that maximizing your career is the highest and most worthy goal that anyone can attain.
While it would be great to be an idealist and follow all of one's interests regardless of the career, the job market for new PhDs does not allow it. We are producing too many PhDs and have not enough postdoc positions for them - and it only gets worse from there. Only the people who jettison everything else make it anywhere now, the rest get tossed aside. Even industry positions in biotech are now going only to those who had a successful academic postdoc, in part because that is an easy way for industry
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It depends on your professional track... (Score:3, Informative)
Out of the lab? (Score:2)
You mean there is something outside the lab?
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The world, is one big lab. Your lab log, is in your head.
Best to get started (Score:3, Informative)
Move to your new university and use the summer to do (at least one) research rotation.
Here's why: you said "for the next 5 years." I'm not sure where you got that time period from, but if you're doing your PhD in the US, you're going to find that it's a completely open ended process. This is *really* important to internalize, because every other form of education that you've had experience with has a fixed term: you do what they tell you to for the prescribed time period and at the end they hand you the diploma. You can't run down the clock on a PhD. You don't graduate until you can convince your advisor that you've done enough to merit the degree. And it's generally against your advisor's personal interests to let you graduate.
So, if you want to complete your degree in a reasonable period of time (e.g. 5 years), you have two tasks: 1) Find a lab with a research advisor who you like and trust, because you're putting your life in his or her hands. If you wouldn't give him/her copies of your keys and your ATM PIN, you shouldn't be in that lab. 2) Get established in that lab so you can start organizing and taking charge of your own project and working toward first-author publications.
The first step towards this is doing lab rotations. Summer is often a good time to do these, because your first year is likely to be filled up with classes which will make it difficult to spend enough time in a lab to really get a feel for it. Just make sure that the PI in whichever lab you're rotating in is going to be around (sometimes they are gone for months at a time in the summer) because the most important thing you need to get out of the rotation is deciding whether you trust the PI.
I suspect there will be several threads of people recommending various voyages of self-discovery or self-education. If you had something that you really *wanted* to do, I wouldn't try to talk you out of it, but from the way you've phrased your question it doesn't really sound like there is, and there's no point finding a new hobby this summer that you won't have time to continue once you start your program.
Best of luck with your program.
advice from current graduate student (Score:5, Informative)
Since your spot is secured, you either have obtained grants, you have an academic advisor, or both. Spend the summer reading everything your advisor has written, and read everything in your field. If you are coming into a new PhD program you will most likely have a comprehensive exam (ours is verbal) where your committee will test your knowledge in the field to the point they would be comfortable allowing you to research independently. If you have not formed a research committee, use the summer to select internal and external examiners for your project. Selecting your committee is like drafting for a hockey team: there are heavy hitters and there are marginal academics. you may even encounter, as i have, a committee member that will attempt to sabotage your research. that's all part of grad school, so investigate who you're working with through previous students. Your prospective committee's individual publications is a good first step.
Spend the summer reading to the level where you can converse with someone in your field and be able to drop first and last names of the most pertinent research done between the last 50-100 years ago; much of this research (at least in my field of fish larval development) will be in the stacks and in the library; it is incredibly irksome to encounter a PhD candidate that has no references out of what they could pull out of an online paywall. A lack of understanding the foundational research makes the researcher rootless; it is as if a leaf has no idea it is attached to a tree.
Don't stop reading. keep reading. you should be reading already, but keep reading throughout the summer. clearcut an entire state of trees if you need to; keep reading. This is a primary failure mode of the graduate student: not everyone can take graduate school because not everybody can stand having their brain physiologically rewired on a daily basis as they encounter conflicting research, bad research, obscure research, and science-related gossip. Read until you feel comfortable holding conflicting ideas in your head. read until you find yourself asking a question that leads to no answer, and begin to formulate your project from there.
Changing gears slightly, the second most important thing to knowing your pertinent research intimately is the ability to communicate science to non scientists. My program stresses and indoctrinates strong presentation skills. i would highly recommend reading a book like Randy Olson's Don't Be Such a Scientist [amazon.com]. Learn the jargon, and learn to internalise the jargon and be able to speak to non-technical audiences. the more you can communicate your message and research, the better you will be.
Good luck!
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read, comprehend, then post.
Take a long, unstructured vacation. (Score:2)
Now is your chance.
In between my Ph.D. and first post-doctoral stint, I took three months off. Bicycle touring, surfing lessons, and visiting friends across the country. It was one of the best things I've ever done (even considering the credit card debt).
So whatever counts as an adventure for you, go and do it now. Unstructured time off is hard to come by in the sciences, except for the very few elite scientists and engineers who can manage their career on a 40 hour work week. I'm now in year 5 of my po
WTF (Score:2)
"What should I do the summer before I start my PhD program, party or work?"
Jebus, dude, it's simple. Here ya go (budget 6 weeks for this):
1. Buy/rent skis and a good road bike.
2. Obtain plane/train/bus tickets to Zermatt in early June.
3. Ski the glacier for a week.
4. Ship the skis home (you don't want to haul them around for the next month)
5. Bike down the Alps to the coast, meeting the water at or around Nice
6. Continue your bike trip fr
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And once again, the collective /. intelligence drops a little.
"What should I do the summer before I start my PhD program, party or work?"
Jebus, dude, it's simple. Here ya go (budget 6 weeks for this):
1. Buy/rent skis and a good road bike.
2. Obtain plane/train/bus tickets to Zermatt in early June.
3. Ski the glacier for a week.
4. Ship the skis home (you don't want to haul them around for the next month)
5. Bike down the Alps to the coast, meeting the water at or around Nice
6. Continue your bike trip from Nice, down the coast, until you hit Barcelona
7. Turn inland, through Zaragoza, Guadalajara, until you get to Madrid
8. In Madrid, find a little bar. It's kinda near the Plaza del Sol. Tell Nico that Pete (the weird American that used to go out with Asphen) sent you. He'll hook you up.
9. Party a couple more days.
10. Sell the bike and fly home
11. Continue with the rest of your life.
12. Profit!
Oh...you don't like doing that? Well then...find something else. (but don't blame me when you have a crappier time)
I am interested in your life plan and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
And you're right, that's the way to do it.
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And once again, the collective /. intelligence drops a little.
"What should I do the summer before I start my PhD program, party or work?"
Drops a little?
To subby....WTF? You need to ask Slashdot what to do over the summer? Do you ask your parents for permission to stay out late on a school night too?
Go to Paris (Score:2)
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That will make your adviser seem like less of an asshole in comparison.
Bad news for you (Score:2)
Counting from the start of my PhD program, I have spent over 15 years doing science (biology) -- most of my grown-up life. I'm still doing science, it's my life. And what I have to say to you, young padawan, is not nice.
You are about to do the most thrilling (awesome, exciting, depressing, frustrating, crazy, fulfilling, everything at once) thing on Earth, you will be doing bloody science, and you think about getting ...new hobbies? New interests? All that in a fashion of someone shopping for a new T-shirt?
Take a step (Score:2)
Find a teacher and learn tai chi.
You will never regret it and may well find the benefits profound.
Last Hurrah (Score:2)
Really, the only thing to do that makes sense is to spend your time enjoying yourself in the most hedonistic way possible.
Once your classes start you will be working 16 hour days 7 days a week until your dissertation is accepted.
And then if you choose an academic life it will start all over again until you get tenure.
This is your last chance for what could be more than a decade. Make the most of it.
Live it up while you can... (Score:2)
I suggest hookers, a case of viagra and pounds of coke or ex.
get in the mindset (Score:2)
You don't want to pick up new interests unless they directly support your life/sanity as a PhD student. Things like learning to cook or getting into fitness, yes. Things like learning Haskell for a great good, picking up Arduino, not so much. Learning R, okay maybe that'll save you time down the road. You only have so many spare cycles for technical stuff, I've found, and any half-started projects will only linger around frustratingly.
If you have a qualifying exam in your program, find out what's on it and
A slight misunderstanding... (Score:2)
I can't believe... (Score:2)
No one has suggested this? Get yourself a wow account, huddle up in a basement somewhere and blow your year on a terrible addiction. Then you will not need your extra letters on your name, you will have a bloodelf that will do you proud!
Go have fun. (Score:2)
I graduate from my PhD program this May (*epic sighs of relief*), and have a lot of friends who are going the PhD route.
Some of them have a good time, more of them have been having a bad time. PhD programs have something like 50% dropout rates, and if you finally do graduate the job market sucks.
Regardless of how well you like it, you will work your ass off. It will consume the next five years of your life, and that's before you even hit "real life".
I actually had a pretty easy time during most of the fir
Qualifying Exams (Score:2)
Go for a hike- (Score:2)
I had a short summer, as my undergrad got out late and my grad school started early. Lucky for me, my little brother had just graduated from high school.
We started hiking the southern end of the Appalachian Trail, starting at Springer Mountain. After about three weeks, we managed to get to Clingman's Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
This experience changed my life. I absolutely loved it.
Brother and and I got struck by lightning. On separate occasions. (more like shocked)
We stopped for a
Get a jump on your new city and school (Score:2)
Some (many?) programs will let you start doing rotations and projects the summer before you start your program. There are a whole heap of reasons for getting there early. Once school starts you'll be expected to be taking classes, doing research, selecting a lab/PI, and getting familiar with a new area (going from a small liberal arts college to a research university may involve a change of city in your case).
In your early years there is a lot pressure to do well in classes, and f you are coming out of u
Do what most slshdotters do... (Score:2)
Travel (Score:2)
You have a few months to experience life in another location and with another culture with few restrictions. Seize the day.
Get a hobby... (Score:2)
if you don't already have one. And maybe try something out of your research area.
PhD students usually live their work, so you may be so used to not having hobbies that you don't realize it ;)
Anything that involves moving around is probably a good place to start.
Grow dope (Score:2)
seriously...
Will you get a job you are happy with? (Score:2)
My recommendation would be to spend some time looking at what jobs are available to PhD graduates in your field. Then look at the salaries. Make sure that you are happy doing the job and making that salary.
If you aren't, it's not too late to switch to chemistry or bio-chem or whatever you want to be doing when you graduate.
I cannot stress how important it is that you think hard about it now, because this will be your last chance to change fields without a massive hit to your resume or your personal life,
two words (Score:2)
Hang out in bars, talk loudly about your PhD (Score:2)
You're going to attract women like a shoe sale. There's a bar here in town where guys in med school and chiropractor's school hang out and women are all over it trying to land one. VERY HOT women I might ad. Females here Dr. and biology in the same sentence and you're going to think Brad Pitt is standing behind you.
Just take it easy and fun (Score:2)
The _last_ thing you want is to arrive to school already burned out. Realize that you will have plenty of opportunity for burn outs in school. Trying to look up and study something right now is probably a waste of time. Once in grad school, and under a watchful eye of your advisory, you will have the judgement on what to study and how to prepare yourself. For now, just take it easy and do something fun. I'd visit music festivals, national parks, travel abroad, etc. Enter the grad school well rested and read
Enjoy yourself, your next 5 years will be hard (Score:2)
But also, if you don't know how to program, you should learn, and quick. Not only will it help being able to create and run new simulations, it is also a fantastic fallback.
If you struggle to get a job in a lab afterwards, you could go for scientific/engineering developer with great domain knowledge. Think the guys that write software for bio-engineers.
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Advice he asked for? (Score:2)
Wow how about some advice that he actually asked for instead of a bunch of bitter, heres-the-reality PhD rants?
The summer between undergrad and my PhD I went on a 3 week road trip with another high school friend who was in the same position. We hit most of the southwestern US and visited several National Parks. It was a ton of fun and a great experience for both of us. We camped out a lot or stayed with friends/family which saves cash and was fun too. This was before digital cameras took off and I also got
Intern/Volunteer as a journalist (Score:2)
Re:It's never too late... (Score:4, Informative)
In almost every case it is acceptable to use a comma before "and". In the case of a series, it's a Harvard/Oxford/serial comma (and is either present or absent, depending on the editorial style of whoever you're writing for). In the case of a compound sentence, it is required. And in the case of a compound predicate (as in this sentence), it is considered optional. As a rule, you should not use a comma in a compound predicate unless the sentence is fairly complex. I probably would not have put in that comma, but I also probably would not have objected if someone else had put it in.
The only situation I can think of in which it is actually wrong (as opposed to being required or being a style issue) to use a comma before the word "and" is when you're writing a simple series of two things, e.g. "The boy, and girl went to the store."
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It's permitted whenever it reads well. It's a myth that one cannot start a sentence with "and" or "but", just as it's a myth that split infinitives are categorically forbidden.
re: commas don't go before "and." (Score:2)
.
There are three types of rules: rules meant to be followed, rules meant to be broken, and rules that fuck with your mind. [see the example of what I did there?] When you have a list with multiple items separated by commas, it is permissible to put the "and" prefacing the last item even though it will be preceded by a comma.
;>)
Just to be persnickety is why I point this out. Now that particular rule does not apply to the ask-slashdot-author's sentence, but I though
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Name one example of a 'rule meant to be followed'? Not a law of physics.
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It's never too late to go back to middle school; hopefully, this time they can teach you that commas don't go before "and." :p
Your use of semicolons is archaic; did you attend middle school in 1854? And there is nothing wrong with a comma before a conjunction. (Were you thinking of lists?) If you want to be picky, formal grammar would like an "I" pronoun in the second clause, but it is a slashdot question, not his thesis.
BTW, for us non-yanks (sic), hwo do you move from "liberal arts" to a science Ph.D. ? Have they lowered the entry requirements that much?
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He's attending a liberal arts college. He didn't say he was a liberal arts major.
Such places often have science curricula and grant science degrees.
Here is an example of such:
http://www.bates.edu/biology/ [bates.edu]
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He's attending a liberal arts college. He didn't say he was a liberal arts major.
That is not helping! What does a "liberal arts college" mean? What is the point in calling something a "liberal arts college" if it also does science degrees?
Here in the UK most universities do courses in a wide variety of subjects, from hard science through to fine arts, so it doesn't really arise, although you do get ones specialising in science subjects e.g. Imperial College.
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Semicolons are useful; some of us are sad we can't use regular colons more in everyday writing, and they let us pretend otherwise.
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I'm a graduating senior from a small New England liberal arts college, and have secured a spot in a Biological Science Ph.D. program for the next five years.
It's never too late to go back to middle school; hopefully, this time they can teach you that commas don't go before "and." :p
You should omit a comma before "and" when you're doing a list: apples, bananas, cherries and dates.
Otherwise, the normal rules apply, so that if it is a new clause, you can most certainly end the old one with a comma and start the new one with "and".
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Why not? The appalachian trail is driveable relative to you, or if you want an even more amazing experience go out to California
Why limit your horizons so tightly? He is young, has a whole summer, and there is a world out there.
No need to be a parochial American. Get a passport.
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America is a large place. There is plenty to do here, and if he's like most students he's going to need his money.
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America is a large place. There is plenty to do here,
I agree totally. But he already lives there. And how can he appreciate it if he has limited experience of elsewhere?
and if he's like most students he's going to need his money.
Then head for Central America. Even Mexico still has some great places to visit, though I admit its not looking much different to the US these days, with all the guns, and Mexicans.
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1. Mexico isn't in Central America.
2. The murder rates in Mexico and Central America are far higher than in the US.
3. I've been there. They don't look like the US.
4. There aren't as many guns there.
So your statements are pretty much 100% in error.
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Backpack Europe or somewhere more exotic
That one is so obvious, I wonder why he did not mention it in the question. Maybe he is a rich kid who did that before college?
If not, then do it! Or if not into backpacking, rent a room somewhere like Berlin for the summer. Is that still popular with American students?
Great city, though less central for travel than the old favourites like Prague and Paris.
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Second that.
I recommend the following site for those who are entering or those who are thinking of quitting.
http://100rsns.blogspot.com/ [blogspot.com]
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You're assuming that the poster is male (or a lesbian).
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Though
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Congrats on having your ego stroked by Slashdot. Who, except you, cares that you achieved a spot as a doctoral student. Big whoop. Must be a slow news day for this to be considered news for nerds.
I predict he'll spend the summer recovering after having broken his arm patting himself on the back.
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the college freshmen girls who think your hot shit cuz your going to graduate school.
You live in an amusing fantasy world.