grad school surprises

opooo
Wed, 07 Mar 2012 19:13:40 +0000

hi,

I’m currently in a grad program at a “prestigious” school. However, I’m currently considering the option of dropping out because 1) lack of interest in the labs available at this institution 2) competitive individualistic attitudes of my fellow classmates.

Long story short, I’m currently struggling to find a lab i want to join because the PIs I was initially interested in, have now become unavailable (either to lack of space/funds or poor “personality fit” I consider honesty to be very important).

The other big problem i have with this institution pertains to the students. Perhaps i’m simply naive since I’ve never experienced an academic environment such as this, but the students here are competitive. Very competitive. In my experience (which granted is a small sample size), I was surprised how often i’d hear my fellow classmates would wish other students in the class will do poorly or fail just so the class average will be low enough for them to get their A or B. I was also surprised how “guarded” students here become after simply asking how their rotations are going (something i consider small talk). Its almost as if they are trying hard to dissuade others from joining their favorite lab in fear of competition.

I guess what i’ve looking for is…Is this a normal grad school experience? I understand that the world is competitive, but i guess i’m surprised that competition would be so intense even among classmates. Its almost as if people are simply using grad school as a means to validate themselves, instead of pursing something they love in order to help people.

I don’t know. Sorry for rambling. Any comments/feedback/perspectives are greatly appreciated