<p>I applied to a research internship in France and was originally planning on just working the summer, but they said they have funding for up to 6 months. I would really like to stay for 6 months, but I’ve already applied to a number of phd programs for next fall. The research I would be doing would be related to what I want to study in grad school. I don’t know if I should defer grad school for a year to stay in France for 6 months or if I should just go this summer instead. </p>
<p>One reason to consider deferring is because this research center is located in a touristy area in southern France, along the mediterranean, and the place I would really like to live, which is a 20 minute bus ride away from work, rent is much higher during the summer. It is lowest between November and March, are much more reasonable than July and August. </p>
<p>I would really like to be able to travel during my free time on weekends and stuff because there are a lot of places with in a 5 to 6 hour radius of where I will be, such as Milan, Venice, Geneva, Zurich, and Barcelona. So, the more money I can save on housing the better. </p>
<p>I’m getting mixed opinions from my letter writers. One of them said I should just go this summer or see if I can split my time between this summer and next summer, another said to defer, the third didn’t offer me any advice and just said its my decision, but that I should keep in mind I’m going there to do research not travel.</p>
<p>I would agree with that third person. Why do you want to defer a year for travel experience? Remember that you will have to explain why you deferred a year in your grad school app.</p>
<p>I haven’t been accepted to any yet, I’ve only applied so far, but all my choices were reasonable, and I didn’t aim too high. My letter writers are confident that I will get in at least somewhere. I applied to 9 schools. Of course nothing is certain though. </p>
<p>One reason why I need to figure this out soon though is because I was told by the people in France that I need to get clearance from a Security Defense Officer before I can apply for a visa. They said the entire process will take a minimum of about 4 months so I should plan accordingly. So, if I want to go this summer I need to get all the paper work done by the end of January. Before I can send these forms though they want exact dates for my stay. </p>
<p>I don’t know if that matters or not, but I never had the chance to study abroad, and apart from London, I’ve never been to Europe.</p>
<p>Forget about unfunded PhD programs. Go to France, enjoy life & enjoy improving your resume for both the real world & for getting a funded PhD program slot.</p>
<p>Be aware that some graduate programs won’t allow you to defer. The question came up at a few graduate open houses I attended. Two programs said that they assume applicants apply when they mean to enroll; they’d only consider exceptions for prestigious international fellowships or unexpected emergencies.</p>
<p>I emailed a bunch of the places I applied to and a few have said they would allow me to defer if admitted.</p>
<p>@hopingforbetter, I wouldn’t just be traveling the entire 6 months I am there. My main focus would be on research, especially during the week, but I’m sure that over the course of 6 months there will be at least a few weekends where I have enough to just hop on a bus or train for 5 hours on a Friday afternoon to go Italy or something for the weekend. </p>
<p>This summer when I did research I generally found the weekends were mine. I was not expected to do work, but sometimes I did because I wanted to. I don’t know what it would be like in France, but I’m assuming it would probably be the same. </p>
<p>Also, the research I’m doing would possibly be directly related to what I would study in grad school. I haven’t decided on the specific area I want to focus on in grad school yet, but I’ve narrowed it down to areas. I have a little bit of research experience in one from last summer and going to France would give me research experience in the other. The description of the internship also cited a number of papers by professors at grad schools that I applied to. </p>
<p>Really, if I had known about this internship before I applied to grad schools I wouldn’t have applied to grad schools this year. I didn’t find it out about it until after I had already applied a bunch of places, and was originally only planning on working this summer, but if they are willing to fund me longer, then why not stay? I may even get a publication out of it.</p>