Recently, I interviewed a student. He gave me a clear answer, 'if MIT gives me Offer, then I will go to MIT. Otherwise, I will come to Umich'. I recalled when I had interview many years ago, I said something similar, 'if Harvard gives me an offer, I would go to Harvard. If not, I would go to Princeton'. Look backing today, how ignorant I was!
The choices made by 20-year-olds are often blind. They do not know what exactly they want. If it is just for a Ph.D title from a famous school, then five years of life is too long.
I think most of the students who choose to do a PhD have some kind of dreams, or illusions, about science and technology, at least when they begin. Then the most important thing is to find a mentor that share the same dream with you. When you get into graduate school, you will soon find out, many people are here, not because they love science or love to profess, but because they love the title of professor. Or it is because they are in a major where there is no job market, and after doing many years of postdoctoral, they lost the opportunity to change to another major. Some of the professors, they hate research. In my discipline, bioinformatics, it is reflected by that they don't want to touch a single line of code; and when talking about programming, a look of contempt appears on their face and it looks as if they want to stay away it as far as possible. The day they become independent, is the same day their scientific life ends, because they would never do or even care about any experiment any more. Of course, they would still claim that 'I am interested in the XXX problem'; however, this "interested in" is nothing more than saying 'without this research topic, I would have to go on the street'. They care about papers and funding, but only because these are a way to make a living. They can be very successful in other people's eyes. But, living such a life is pathetic. And when you find out that the professors you have long admired are no more than just struggling for a living, pursuing for some ridiculous 'reputation' or 'recognition', your value system will collapse.
I think a happy life is that one can do what s/he loves to do everyday, while getting paid. Ever since my Ph.D., I have seen numerous unfairness, lies and manipulations. In a short summary, it is like Lu Xun said, humanity is depicted as the true, the good and the beautiful, but between the lines, there is only one word --- 'cannibalism’. The only thing that supported me to go this far is that I have an irreplaceable interests in studying various kinds of data. Even if I am doing other jobs now, I would spend all my spare time looking at these data. Everyone who chooses to work in academia will have to go through many things that are quite opposite to their initial imaginations. If there is not a true attachment to science or technology, this road will be very painful, and not worth to follow. On the other hands, if one has this attachment, it is easier for her to detach from the many of the unfairness or cruelness in this world.
However, to be able to do what you like, is a luxury. For most people, there is no such choice. To have this choice, I think there are two ways: First, to be born with a silver spoon in the mouth. Rich people have many choices. Second, you need to have certain technique that only a few people possess, and there are ones who are willing to pay for your technique. I think a shortcut is through 5 years of doctoral training, to acquire the technique you want. This technique is not only your hobby, but also your job. So this is my second suggestion: find a mentor who is capable to teach you hand-by-hand the techniques you need.
One big difference between PhD and undergraduate is that you do not have a lot opportunities to experience the so-called 'campus culture', or get to know many professors. Instead, It is like getting married, you need to stay with someone for five or six years. When I chose my advisor, people all said I was not wise. Because my advisor was just an assistant professor at that time, and bioinformatics was a new discipline and was not favored by some traditional molecular biologists. I chose my advisor among my three rotation labs not because I thought she was able to help me in the future, or that I foresight to the future of bioinformatics. But because I was a bit scared to talk to the other two. I just want to live a nice life for 5 years. So my last suggestion is to find an advisor who you feel you like to stay with for a very long time.
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