My Graduate School Criteria
I have been looking into a few different graduate schools recently, but it has been hard to decide if I would be interested in going there or not. One thing I kept in mind is how close it is to my hometown. I have not traveled a lot in my life, and I will be going on a plane for the first time in my life in a few weeks. I have been worried about it because I have a lot of anxiety around large crowds, and being cramped in a plane seems like it would be bad for me. Hopefully, this trip will help me get more comfortable with traveling long distances, but if I don't fly well I'll have to take that into consideration.
Another detail I am taking notes about is the research opportunities at these schools. A few of the institutions I'm looking at provide amazing opportunities within their campus and with professional organizations. For example, John Hopkins University has its own Center for Health Security while also having connections with SPARC centers and the Urban Health Institute. I want to join a program that has many opportunities for me to explore.
Lastly, I have been deciding between Genetics and Epidemiology, and I've been struggling. I have been trying to decide between these two fields for about a year now, and I truly love both of them. In my graduate school search, I've looked at degrees in both fields and started to weigh pros and cons for both. One way I've started doing this is looking at published research from current students in a program I'm interested in and finding projects that sound appealing to me.
Professional Goals
As I am looking at graduate schools, I have also been making some goals for myself and my professional development. One of my main goals is to decide on a field by the end of this semester. As I mentioned earlier, I've been working on that recently. Another professional goal of mine is to write better. I have decent grammar and I can write a paper, but I want to improve my writing so that my papers are interesting. Scientific writing is difficult sometimes because you need to convey a lot of information to a variety of people, and a lot of your audience has little to no knowledge of your field. Writing in general is something I'm not too confident in, but it's important for me to develop this skill. This blog has definitely helped me work on it, so I'm grateful for that.
Looking Ahead
I am going to the McNair National Conference in a little over a week, so I hope to work on a few of my goals while I am there. During the workshops and speakers I plan to ask questions about these goals and work on improving my understanding of graduate school overall. My main goal is to talk to someone at the conference about the pros and cons of a PhD and a MPH. After the conference, I am getting ready to volunteer at NCUR, which is happening at my campus this year. Another thing coming up for me is I am getting trained into my lab over the next few weeks, so I will get some hands-on experience really soon! Overall, these next few months hold many opportunities for me to expand my viewpoint on graduate school and continuing research.
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