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So I got offered a job as a research tech at a Top 20 school at a lab that's 100% within my interests. The university is closeby to friends and family, and the city is a perfect place for other lifelong interests. The school's stats are also a match, so it's looking like one of my top choices. I know that connections can help (though they won't save me), so a good LoR from the PI will put me in an even better position.
I told my current PI about my plans, and he strongly discouraged me going to this university. He did his postdoc there, and said that the dept leadership is terrible, all of his colleagues there hated it, and was an all around malignant program. He also said that they were slow to adopt state of the art methods.
The PI that has offered me a job doesn't indicate any of these things. He's very new/young - started in 2018 after a postdoc at a Top 5 school. He has a lab manual on his website where one of the first lines is something like "I'm here to support you professionally, financially, and emotionally". The manual very clearly states his expectations of students. I spoke with past students at his lab who had nothing but good things to say. While he hasn't been a PI long enough to graduate any PhDs or postdocs, his undergrads have gone onto top institutions for grad school.
Finally, looking at the department that my current PI had a bad experience at, all of the MD/PhDs in that dept graduated in 8 yrs, and went onto top institutions and started their own labs. Only one went into private practice.
That said, my PI's warning was very strong and I have no reason not to trust him. It's a shame because this was my dream program when accounting for lifestyle..
My question: are the horror stories we hear of PhDs or postdocs getting screwed by their advisor/dept reason to be suspicious of an MSTP program? I was hoping that the NIH funding forces departments to hold a high standard.
I told my current PI about my plans, and he strongly discouraged me going to this university. He did his postdoc there, and said that the dept leadership is terrible, all of his colleagues there hated it, and was an all around malignant program. He also said that they were slow to adopt state of the art methods.
The PI that has offered me a job doesn't indicate any of these things. He's very new/young - started in 2018 after a postdoc at a Top 5 school. He has a lab manual on his website where one of the first lines is something like "I'm here to support you professionally, financially, and emotionally". The manual very clearly states his expectations of students. I spoke with past students at his lab who had nothing but good things to say. While he hasn't been a PI long enough to graduate any PhDs or postdocs, his undergrads have gone onto top institutions for grad school.
Finally, looking at the department that my current PI had a bad experience at, all of the MD/PhDs in that dept graduated in 8 yrs, and went onto top institutions and started their own labs. Only one went into private practice.
That said, my PI's warning was very strong and I have no reason not to trust him. It's a shame because this was my dream program when accounting for lifestyle..
My question: are the horror stories we hear of PhDs or postdocs getting screwed by their advisor/dept reason to be suspicious of an MSTP program? I was hoping that the NIH funding forces departments to hold a high standard.