Working directly under PI or a Postdoc

[Neuralicious]

Hey folks,

I have a question.... how would you rate working under a postdoc as opposed to working directly under the PI?
I can expect you're much more independent and harder working directly under the PI but at the same time you would end up with more results working under a postdoc.

Do the ADCOM care? How do they rate working under a PI and under a postdoc?
What are others' experiences & inputs?

Thanks all!

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[goodkarma]

Hey folks,

I have a question.... how would you rate working under a postdoc as opposed to working directly under the PI?
I can expect you're much more independent and harder working directly under the PI but at the same time you would end up with more results working under a postdoc.

Do the ADCOM care? How do they rate working under a PI and under a postdoc?
What are others' experiences & inputs?

Thanks all!

It may just be my institution, but I rarely see PI's working at the bench and training the people in the lab, unless they are very new and not well established. All the undergraduates I know, including myself were trained by postdocs, grad students, and/or techs. I was trained by a grad student in my undergrad lab, and left to fend a little more for myself in my gap year lab, with some guidance from a tech and the grad students. I think the amount of results you get, how hard you work, and how independent you are depends on the personality and attentiveness of your mentor, not their title.

I'm no adcom, but I seriously doubt they care as long as you're doing meaningful work, learning enough, getting good experiences in techniques, presentation, writing, etc. I was never asked who trained me in any context during this app cycle. The only thing I have to comment about interacting with your PI is to find one who is interested in your progress, accessible, and good mentor to answer your big picture questions and guide you on your journey to graduate school, including writing a great recommendation letter.

 

[K31]

It makes no difference who you work under for admissions purposes. We all understand that it is unusual for a PI to be able to spend any amount of time in the lab. Postdocs and grad students are the ones who are doing most of the grunt work in science and it absolutely won't be held against you that they are the ones that you spent most of your time working with.

 

[Rumit]

It doesn't matter at all. Just make sure it's the PI that writes the letter of rec. You don't want a letter from a grad student or post-doc.