So I am finishing up my year-off lab experience before MSTP. Honestly I treated it a little too much like a vacation and really slacked. I mean I did what I was told and had some successful experiments etc. and I wasn't rude but I was not begging to do experiements or seeming really interested. Today my PI acknowledged my slacking and told me that I needed to be an experimentalist to succeed (I know this by the by 
). He reassured me that I can still use him as a recommendation etc. and that he "won't say anything negative" if asked. Its not that I don't trust him, but he is not going to exactly sing my praises. I know I treated this year as a paid vacation. I am already accepted into an MSTP program so its not like I need his recommendation for that....but are people down the road going to want to talk to him about me? He sort of indicated that people would for residency etc...but I assume that the experience will be so far back by that time that only graduate work will count for residency directors. What do people think?
). He reassured me that I can still use him as a recommendation etc. and that he "won't say anything negative" if asked. Its not that I don't trust him, but he is not going to exactly sing my praises. I know I treated this year as a paid vacation. I am already accepted into an MSTP program so its not like I need his recommendation for that....but are people down the road going to want to talk to him about me? He sort of indicated that people would for residency etc...but I assume that the experience will be so far back by that time that only graduate work will count for residency directors. What do people think?
