Formal Education - aspirations?

woohoo! graduation! congrats

i'm still running at that phd...
will have a MSc as of the end of may, provided i pass oral exams

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Apr 19 2006, 10:37 AM) [snapback]242053[/snapback]</div>

even with the stipend, being a student is not a very lucrative profession :lol:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Apr 19 2006, 09:37 AM) [snapback]242053[/snapback]</div>

Hmmm. If I ever visit, you can try out your cooking on me. I'm not an expert cook, but I'm an expert eater.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Apr 19 2006, 11:39 AM) [snapback]242054[/snapback]</div>

No kidding. Talking about working for peanuts (or actually paying to work)! Gets very frustrating at times.

I recently found out that I passed my qualifying exams, so I am officially a doctoral candidate, so it is only a few skips (dissertation, internship) to being completed. Just a matter of time in my mind now, so the running is less frantic now that I can see the finish line in sight. Technically I should have my MA in May, but paperwork deadlines may make me push it to December.

 

I want to go well beyond my stupid BA... Problem is, I have no frickin clue what I want to do, and I'm pretty lazy.... :lol:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(micheal @ Apr 19 2006, 12:23 PM) [snapback]242107[/snapback]</div>

wow, there's a big difference between our programs. passing orals/prelims/quals is just the beginning of the second half of grad school for us :blink: it's like the last big hump to get over before writing the dissertation- but to write the dissertation we have to go through 2-3 more years of benchwork and publish a bunch of crap.

congrats on passing quals! i'm working on following suit.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Apr 19 2006, 01:49 PM) [snapback]242125[/snapback]</div>

It is a little different, but not as much as it may have sounded in my post. Since most people are doing survey work, it doesn't take quite as long, but it is still about 2 years for most people (and much longer for others). I don't plan on being one of those others though. By the time people propose their diss, they are done or almost done with classes (I will only have 1 or 2 left) and are mainly focused on getting clinical experiences. The big difference is the year of internship (done at another location), with most people still working on writing their diss and finish it after their internship year.

I do still have 2 or 3 years remaining (when including the internship) as most others do after finishing quals, but it is pretty much guaranteed at this point, as long as I finish the diss. They don't (at least I have never heard of it) kick people out after they have finished their quals. They might make them give up assistantships and such to focus on their dissertation, but that's it. Plus very little of our time is spent in the dept at that point with much time getting (hopefully) paid for getting relevant experiences for their career.

Thanks and good luck on your quals!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(micheal @ Apr 19 2006, 01:06 PM) [snapback]242134[/snapback]</div>

ok i do see substantial similarity then. by the time prelim season starts here, we have finished all of our classwork and ethics in research training. (my last class ever is tomorrow! ) the next 2-3 years are spent at the bench, writing grants, writing and publishing papers, etc. it can be shorter or longer depending on the nature of your project. i guess the lab portion of our work is similar to picking up clinical/internship experience in your program.

some nasty PIs have kicked 4th year students out of their labs, however if you have a good boss and work enough to make good progess that's pretty much not going to happen. the only ways to get kicked out of grad school before prelims is to either fail out (3.0 gpa or lower) or not do any work in the lab.

interesting- and here i thought we biomed scientists didn't have much in common with clinical practitioners.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Apr 19 2006, 02:17 PM) [snapback]242142[/snapback]</div>

NOOOOO!! Must fight the urge......can't have that much in common! I hadn't really thought of it that way, but it does make sense that your lab portion is similar to our clinical/insternship experience. Almost all, if not all of the psych PhD programs (mine included) definitely try to have a scientist-practitioner model, so I would hope that there is much in common. This seems like a good example of the consistency and rigor of the PhD program, regardless of the area. I think there is a good reason why earning one still suggests a certain level of training and education.

Boy that would really suck to get kicked out after 4 years, but it sounds like would be a good reason. There was actually one person kicked out of the clinical psych program in the dept prior to their quals (from what I have gathered, they weren't making progress in completing them.).

 

I would like to do a D.Science or Arts (teaching degree) that is well grounded in field research. Too many Ph.D.s (research) out there who end up teaching and not serving students or the community well.