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I'm with the OP on this. It's too easy to get distracted by all the awesome things you can do and learn when at Grad School. > (a) become a broadly smart indiv

by amirmc 16y ago

I'm with the OP on this. It's too easy to get distracted by all the awesome things you can do and learn when at Grad School. > (a) become a broadly smart individual Do you need to be in grad school to achieve this? Why not just read widely and do the odd course here and there? I also suffered from the 'learn everything' bug and I think it cost me. I'm confident in my ability to learn so a lack of knowledge in one area doesn't bother me. > (b) do research later on anything else besides the tiny topic of your dissertation This isn't true at all. Learning the skills involved in focusing on one area can then be applied to another area later on. I've moved between Physics and Neuroscience and was (reasonably) focused on each at the time. However, the grad students who succeed in academia tend to focus on one thing for many years, right the way through post-docs. It's only when they become tenured that they begin branching out more. (Note: I went through the UK system)

jessriedel 16y ago
>> (a) become a broadly smart individual > Do you need to be in grad school to achieve this? No, but grad school is a fantastic place for it. Just because you can (partially) make up for a missed opportunity doesn't mean that missing it wasn't bad. > Learning the skills involved in focusing on one area can then be applied to another area later on. The fact that skills involved in one area can be applied to another doesn't mean you shouldn't be acquiring skills in many areas. In fact, it supports my point.
- amirmc 16y ago
  "The fact that skills involved in one area can be applied to another doesn't mean you shouldn't be acquiring skills in many areas" I was referring to the skill of being able to focus. It's one I ended up learning the hard way.
  - jessriedel 16y ago
    Ahh, I parsed it wrong. My mistake.
- Lewisham 16y ago
  No, but grad school is a fantastic place for it. Yeah, it is, and it's a great way to add years onto a career move that is paying you subsistence wages. You can attend other classes once you're a post-doc (unlucky) or a professor (better). Then, the university is paying you to be there, rather than someone else trying to find a salary for you in their limited grant funding.

by amirmc 16y ago

jessriedel 16y ago

>> (a) become a broadly smart individual > Do you need to be in grad school to achieve this? No, but grad school is a fantastic place for it. Just because you can (partially) make up for a missed opportunity doesn't mean that missing it wasn't bad. > Learning the skills involved in focusing on one area can then be applied to another area later on. The fact that skills involved in one area can be applied to another doesn't mean you shouldn't be acquiring skills in many areas. In fact, it supports my point.

amirmc 16y ago
"The fact that skills involved in one area can be applied to another doesn't mean you shouldn't be acquiring skills in many areas" I was referring to the skill of being able to focus. It's one I ended up learning the hard way.
- jessriedel 16y ago
  Ahh, I parsed it wrong. My mistake.
Lewisham 16y ago
No, but grad school is a fantastic place for it. Yeah, it is, and it's a great way to add years onto a career move that is paying you subsistence wages. You can attend other classes once you're a post-doc (unlucky) or a professor (better). Then, the university is paying you to be there, rather than someone else trying to find a salary for you in their limited grant funding.