This post is part of our blog series The Unwritten Curriculum. Previous posts include How to Apply for Grad School in Ecology and Evolution, Demystifying the Qualifying Exams, and Paths to Ecology - Part I. Our goal is to help those considering graduate school in ecology and evolution to see how it all works, from our own experience. This post is by second-year Stanford Biology PhD student Mallory Harris.
During graduate school interview season, one of the most difficult questions you’ll have to answer is, “Do you have any questions for me?” I’d like to start off by gifting you with my favorite question to ask current graduate students, “What did you do today?” I noticed that this tends to get a more candid answer to the questions you actually want to ask about work-life balance, housing, quality of life, and departmental culture. From when I began considering grad school up through my decision to commit to Stanford, I found that I didn’t have a great sense of what the “grad student lifestyle” actually was, or how it differed between schools. Of course, the “lifestyle” varies a great deal depending on personal circumstances, especially for those with dependents; I can offer only my personal experience.
1. Flexibility – While writing this, I took a break to exercise. Earlier today, I was able to hop on a quick Zoom with my sister for some homework help. I celebrated the first unbearably warm day of the year with an outdoor picnic for lunch. I’m planning to meet a few folks from the lab for an outdoor hangout later today, but building in time to stop by the Trader Joe’s and return some pepperjack cheese (which inexplicably became moldy within 48 hours of purchasing, despite being unopened). Your schedule as a grad student can vary tremendously depending on PI expectations, constraints related to your experiments, and whether you’re taking classes or teaching. This can mean relative freedom and control over your own schedule, or enable less-healthy habits in the absence of firm boundaries. Get a sense of how current graduate students structure their days to know how you’ll be spending yours.
2. Pay, insurance, and benefits –You’ll likely get folders full of this information during your interviews, but it’s worth digging more. As a baseline, PhDs in ecology and evolution should offer you a full stipend, tuition and fees, and health insurance (and possibly also dental, vision, and retirement). Find graduate students, especially those who can speak to your particular financial situation, and ask them to help you read between the lines. Do they have money left over after they pay for groceries and rent? How available is university aid? Have they had issues with when funding gets deposited vs. when rent is due? Again, this will vary significantly depending on where you are, and any comparisons should account for the cost of living (for example, Stanford’s graduate stipend seems generous in part because it’s adjusted to the especially high local cost of living).
3. Where you live – Silicon Valley notoriously has some of the highest housing prices in the country, so it’s quite common for Stanford students to opt for on-campus graduate housing. It is a very good idea to look at local rents and on-campus housing rates to get a sense of just how much of your stipend your housing will eat up, and to ask current grads about housing costs and options. I’ve lived in a two-bedroom for the past two years and opted to renew my contract for a third year due to the convenience. It’s sunny almost every day of the year (except when the wildfire haze dyes the sky crimson) and campus, along with the surrounding area, is tremendously bikeable, which I knew would be important for my day-to-day wellbeing. The Bay Area is close to beautiful beaches, forests, and mountains, and there is decent public transportation (especially for getting to and from San Francisco), but you would want a car to access that nature and to get around the area. The particularities of the place you will be living for the next five to six years are not trivial.
4. The work you do – I get to spend my work day solving problems that are motivating to me. I’m currently preparing for my qualifying exams, so everything I’m working on right now is an idea I came up with. I’m especially grateful to be able to work on projects that align with my values and interests. For example, in April 2020 I started a new project looking at the relationships between county-level social distancing orders, socioeconomic conditions, and early COVID-19 outcomes in my home state of Georgia. When I got frustrated about the spread of misinformation about herd immunity, I was able to organize an expert panel to help share recent work on the subject with the public. In graduate school, you’re granted the freedom to deeply explore topics you care about.
5. The people – Recently, a member of my cohort posted in our group chat asking if anyone wanted to go for a weekend hike to see some redwoods. With minimal planning, all of us ended up showing up. It makes a difference when you get to work with people you get along with and enjoy being around, and it’s not prying to ask current grad students about their fellow students, lab techs, and postdocs*. Along these lines, picking an advisor who will help you grow as a scientist and support you along the way is key. This relationship can quickly open itself to power imbalances, so it’s imperative you pick someone you trust and feel comfortable with. On the other hand, your advisor can be a long-term mentor who helps you through rough patches and helps to advocate for you. Again, it is really important to ask current grad students about your potential advisor--how accommodating they are, how much time they make for advisees, how they’ve helped students grow. Getting to work with and spend your time with other people who likely share many of your interests is one of the best perks of the job.
*For those unfamiliar with the term, a postdoctoral research position, or ‘postdoc’, is a job many people take on for 2-6 years or so following a PhD that allows them to continue their research, training, and publishing as they prepare to apply for longer-term jobs like professorships or industry scientist positions.