I agree. The default first year for many students requires 3 core courses, not to mention prep time for a qualifying exam or two. I've increasingly noticed th

I agree. The default first year for many students requires 3 core courses, not to mention prep time for a qualifying exam or two. I've increasingly noticed that I can only handle 3 activities in grad school: 3 classes and no research, 1 class and some research, 0 classes and lots of research, or 1 job, 1 class, and little research.