November 27, 2024, 08:38:12 AM
Forum Rules: Read This Before Posting


Topic: Graduate School  (Read 4389 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline MrHappy0

  • Regular Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 68
  • Mole Snacks: +1/-3
Graduate School
« on: September 19, 2011, 11:07:06 PM »
I am an undergraduate Chem student at the University of Vermont and lately I am thinking I have been overlooking the difficulty and competition that arises when applying to graduate school. Back when I decided to go to college for Chem I made the assumption that chem wasn't a common major for many people. Now that I think about it there has to be a lot of chem majors around the world at much bigger schools. Any advice?

Offline JGK

  • Chemist
  • Full Member
  • *
  • Posts: 738
  • Mole Snacks: +66/-19
  • Gender: Male
Re: Graduate School
« Reply #1 on: September 20, 2011, 03:34:20 PM »
Ask your self this:

Are you happy studying Chemistry?
Is it something you want to and more importantly enjoy doing?
Can you see yourself doing it for your working life?

If you do, everthing else is incedental.

As someone who is definitely not a brainiac I barely scraped through my biochem degree and got int analytical chemistry almost by accident. However I am in a field I enjoy and have entheusiasm for. This has served me much better in my chosen career than anything else.

This "bigger school" thing is largely irrelevant once you start a working career (in academia it may be different). If you get a job and prove your worth, in 6 months nobody will care where you went to school.
Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

Offline MrHappy0

  • Regular Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 68
  • Mole Snacks: +1/-3
Re: Graduate School
« Reply #2 on: September 20, 2011, 09:35:49 PM »
Oh, very cool! That is how I originally thought about it. sigh

Sponsored Links