Got Kicked Out of Lab?

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lalex said:
No I trust the PI that has been lied to and I corrected the grad students lies.
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Just remember that a PI is always going to trust his/her grad student over you. And if you plan to get a letter from this lab, there is a good chance that your PI will have your grad student write it and just sign his/her name. So don't piss off the person you're working with. From a lab's perspective, where there is one undergrad there could be 5 other ones who are equally talented/helpful.
Moving forward make sure you establish your schedule, tasks etc early on so that both you and your grad student have a clear picture on your responsibilities. I've had great mentorships and bad ones and it always came down to our ability to communicate effectively. And if you make any mistakes in lab, be upfront and clear about them even if you're embarrassed or nervous.
 
baratheonfire said:
I was in a similar boat this year. I'd been working in my first lab for 3 weeks, in the summer, and I thought I'd gotten to the point where I could casually disagree with my grad student supervisor's daily extreme left wing rants. Turns out, I couldn't, so I got put on probation (really stupid, I was neither paid nor given credit).
So I just left and luckily found another lab to work in within 2 or 3 days. I've been there for 6 months and actually get paid now, (also I love their research). I'm not even going to list that other lab on my resume.

I'd advise you to do the same. If someone was willing to kick you out, there's no reason to try to stay.
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The labs some of you all are in are pretty pathetic...
 
cloudmurder1 said:
The labs some of you all are in are pretty pathetic...
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Hey, that was my first lab. And I agree, it was a pathetic lab. Especially compared to the one I'm in now. But if I'd stayed in that lab, I'd never have been able to meet the people in my current lab, or work on the kind of project I'm currently working on. Or even get paid, probably. So I'm pretty glad I got kicked out. And I'm pretty sure that it was just a matter of when, not if. My grad supervisor was a total *****.
 
lalex said:
I already am in another wet lab but this lab was so cool and the PI loves me (letter!). 🙁 Oh well, I'll try to find another psych lab, they seem to be easier to get into than wet labs.
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If the PI let you be fired, they don't love you. A letter isn't going to work...

(Edit for mistaken info...)
 
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ThoracicGuy said:
If the PI let you be fired, they don't love you. A letter isn't going to work...

On the other had, with this set of exchanges, I understand why your MCAT verbal scores ranged from 3-6...
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I think you're confusing me with someone else. I got a 36 on my ACT, go to a top 5 school, and have scored 510 on my practice MCAT while being under-prepared (so I did not take it). Verbal is the last section I'm worried about. :laugh:
 
lalex said:
I think you're confusing me with someone else. I got a 36 on my ACT, go to a top 5 school, and have scored 510 on my practice MCAT while being under-prepared (so I did not take it). Verbal is the last section I'm worried about. :laugh:
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Hopefully you came off as a humble and sincere person in your email to your pi. good luck (genuinely)
 
Glazedonutlove said:
Hopefully you came off as a humble and sincere person in your email to your pi. good luck (genuinely)
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lol going to my school, you have to be humble. heard a guy say he got a 518 on his MCAT in class today and was retaking it.😡
 
Can you post the email of your PI, we all want to email them.
To help of course.
Also you should call for the grads' resignation. And you can take the spot.
If worse comes to worse, just protest outside the lab. Organize a march.

No but all jokes aside, keep us posted. We are on page 3. Everyone wants to know how it ends :corny:
 
Can this turn into OP "live tweeting" their life? These occasional15-30 character updates are rich.
 
I'm not sure what to update. I am back in the lab but will get yelled at tomorrow about meeting expectations.😎
 
lalex said:
I think you're confusing me with someone else. I got a 36 on my ACT, go to a top 5 school, and have scored 510 on my practice MCAT while being under-prepared (so I did not take it). Verbal is the last section I'm worried about. :laugh:
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My mistake. I confused you with another premed.
 
Lalex, you know there is only one top 5 quarter-system school? I'm not saying that you are a bad communicator, but if people here and people you know in person think that you are, it wouldn't hurt to work on your communication skills.

As for the lab, if everything happened exactly as you said, I, personally, would not go back to the lab. Even if you did miss a scheduled training session, the rational response from the grad student would have been to find out what happened and clear up the miscommunication. The fact that grad student was annoyed enough to fire you means that you will be walking on eggshells your entire time there.
 
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lalex said:
I think you're confusing me with someone else. I got a 36 on my ACT, go to a top 5 school, and have scored 510 on my practice MCAT while being under-prepared (so I did not take it). Verbal is the last section I'm worried about. :laugh:
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In your part of the country, do you and others even have a concept of humility? It really boggles my mind how you are in college, but your posts make it look like you're still in high school...
 
Krupke said:
Lalex, you know there is only one top 5 quarter-system school? I'm not saying that you are a bad communicator, but if people here and people you know in person think that you are, it wouldn't hurt to work on your communication skills.

As for the lab, if everything happened exactly as you said, I, personally, would not go back to the lab. Even if you did miss a scheduled training session, the rational response from the grad student would have been to find out what happened and clear up the miscommunication. The fact that grad student was annoyed enough to fire you means that you will be walking on eggshells your entire time there.
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Not necessarily. Maybe I only looked at "best schools in Cali" list. You know how people always like to claim their school is the best. Yeah, I'm not sure if it's a good thing he agreed to take me back.
 
cloudmurder1 said:
In your part of the country, do you and others even have a concept of humility? It really boggles my mind how you are in college, but your posts make it look like you're still in high school...
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Yes, someone insults my intelligence and claims I got a 2 on the Verbal MCAT, and I can't fire back. I have enough humility. Part of the reason I did so bad in school among other things is that I compared myself to people who get a 518 on the MCAT and are not satisfied.
 
lalex said:
Not necessarily. Maybe I only looked at "best schools in Cali" list. You know how people always like to claim their school is the best. Yeah, I'm not sure if it's a good thing he agreed to take me back.
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Well the one I'm thinking of is known for having awkward communicators :angelic:
 
Lawper said:
Ouch. Nice burn lol. That thread is an epic disaster, but I can see the easy confusion between the two. Stubbornness, ignorance and neuroticism are a damaging combination.
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Neuroticism? Have you seem my post about getting terrible grades due to anxiety? A huge part of which is due to inferiority.
 
Krupke said:
Oh man. There are two in the US News top 5. I stuck my foot in it.
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like I said, I might not be going based on those rankings. There are lots of them not just US.
 
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this thread. I personally would have left.
 
Had the meeting.
TURNS OUT he mentioned it to the PI who has had bad experiences with RAs being flaky. BUT BOTH my emails to BOTH the PI and the grad student showed them how motivated I was and how it was all a big misunderstanding.

So k thanks bye to the people who criticized me emailing them both.
 
lalex said:
Had the meeting.
TURNS OUT he mentioned it to the PI who has had bad experiences with RAs being flaky. BUT BOTH my emails to BOTH the PI and the grad student showed them how motivated I was and how it was all a big misunderstanding.

So k thanks bye to the people who criticized me emailing them both.
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Well have fun worrying about what they write about you in their rec letters lol
 
candbgirl said:
I thought you said the PI loved you and you were counting on a great letter from him?
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Way to twist my words. Yes I said he loved me until a grad student lied.... Pretty understandable? Even then, my email cleared things up.
 
I really don't understand the problem. I hope 7+ (gap year?) months of showing how motivated and reliable I am trumps a bad fluke at the beginning when I just got fully trained.
 
lalex said:
I really don't understand the problem. I hope 7+ (gap year?) months of showing how motivated and reliable I am trumps a bad fluke at the beginning when I just got fully trained.
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But you have to hope it does, that's the thing
You'll never be certain
 
lalex said:
Way to twist my words. Yes I said he loved me until a grad student lied.... Pretty understandable? Even then, my email cleared things up.
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But you JUST said you barely know the PI yet...but you stated earlier the PI loves you. Those statements are typically not viewed as congruent.

That is what is causing the misunderstanding...well, one of many in this thread it seems.
 
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Dral said:
But you JUST said you barely know the PI yet...but you stated earlier the PI loves you. Those statements are typically not viewed as congruent.

That is what is causing the misunderstanding...well, one of many in this thread it seems.
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Why not? I was in the lab for 2 months and out of 7 new RAs, I'm definitely his favorite. I'm the only one that goes to lab meetings, shadows when I don't need to, etc. That doesn't mean he will look over someone telling him I don't care about research.​
 
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lalex said:
Why not? I was in the lab for 2 months and out of 7 new RAs, I'm definitely his favorite. I'm the only one that goes to lab meetings, shadows when I don't need to, etc. That doesn't mean he will look over someone telling him I don't care about research.​
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I think you overvalue your importance dude
 
baratheonfire said:
I think you overvalue your importance dude
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What the **** does a PI liking a RA have anything to do with importance? I really like the cashier at Walgreens, do I overvalue his importance? No he's a cool human being.
 
lalex said:
Why not? I was in the lab for 2 months and out of 7 new RAs, I'm definitely his favorite. I'm the only one that goes to lab meetings, shadows when I don't need to, etc. That doesn't mean he will look over someone telling him I don't care about research.​
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You shadow PIs? In my day we called that "on the job training."
 
lalex said:
Shadowing the research techniques. Jesus Christ for premeds, some of you can't read between the lines tbh.
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PI: You take the pipet, and you turn the knob to 100, then you attach a tip like so, then you press the plunger, then you dip the pipet in the solution, then you release the plunger–

[self-insert here]: Wait wait wait, can you show me that first part again?
 
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