Sometimes I stumble upon websites that describe what grad school is like. They may do it to inspire/scare future grad students or give support to current students. Sometimes I have felt good because someone else seemed to know what it is like, and I'm not alone with my problems.
However, (too) often the websites/articles take the "universal truths about grad school" approach. They exaggerate, see things black and white, assume all students and universities (and professors) are the same and so on. They may say as a grad student you will never have any free time or any friends and you can't trust your advisor - or they may say you'll get tons of friends and the advisor is your best friend. And many other things.
In my experience there's a huge diversity in what grad students do, where their motivation comes from and what their problems are. There can be good specific solutions for specific problems (as in many threads on this forum) but otherwise "support" can be even misleading.
Do you think the general image of what PhD students are like is wrong? What kind of support would you have wanted when you started? Do you have this same experience - as I do - that the variety of paths through the program make it difficult to make generalizations?
I guess I read articles mostly aimed at biology or chem students that spent most of their time in the lab. Of course they make generalisations because everyone has a slightly different experience, but mostly I found them relatable. I like to read Adam Ruben on the science website. http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2017/01/i-m-not-doctor-i-play-one-my-cv Some of his stuff is really funny, because it's often familiar I guess.
PostgraduateForum Is a trading name of FindAUniversity Ltd
FindAUniversity Ltd, 77 Sidney St, Sheffield, S1 4RG, UK. Tel +44 (0) 114 268 4940 Fax: +44 (0) 114 268 5766
An active and supportive community.
Support and advice from your peers.
Your postgraduate questions answered.
Use your experience to help others.
Enter your email address below to get started with your forum account
Enter your username below to login to your account
An email has been sent to your email account along with instructions on how to reset your password. If you do not recieve your email, or have any futher problems accessing your account, then please contact our customer support.
or continue as guest
To ensure all features on our website work properly, your computer, tablet or mobile needs to accept cookies. Our cookies don’t store your personal information, but provide us with anonymous information about use of the website and help us recognise you so we can offer you services more relevant to you. For more information please read our privacy policy
Agree Agree