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Looking to leave lab ASAP, am I burning bridges?
- Thread starter bayer
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To answer your question at the end. Does your PI know that you are gearing up for the MCAT in 2 months? This is something I would have communicated earlier on. If you have, then it won't be terrible for you to explain that the lab work is too time consuming at the moment. Certainly a notice of more than one week would be better.
As far as burning bridges goes, you'd be better off asking for a 2 months leave, or reduced hours, and then come back after the MCAT to work in the lab. Training new students is always annoying, and having experienced students around that stay committed is a huge plus and would probably be enough for a very positive LOR. There are students in my lab that take off for summer, studying abroad, studying for the MCAT, but it's always great to have them back. At least, IMO, since I'm always training new students.
Now, my advice is that you take all the time off you need to destroy your MCAT. I was in a similar situation during my undergrad. Worked for a postdoc that was leaving end of the year and trying to get something out of our otherwise going nowhere project. Ended up working 35+ hours per week and got a nice 27 on my first MCAT. Huge mistake on the one hand. On the other hand my commitment and my experience in the lab got me hired for a "temporary" position which I'm just getting into the second year of. Not terrible, since I too used to hate research, but now that I'm getting some publications I rather like it
Surely you aren't interested in double gap year like I was forced into. A bad MCAT is worse than no research LOR. I still think you could get an LOR from your lab even if you left as long as you handle it well.
Also, consider this. Watch the conduct of your postdoc carefully. As I mentioned my situation was similar, however once my postdoc's time was up at the end of the year, this individual attempted to present our useless data in a positive light, was "let go" from the lab, but did not leave gracefully. Such that I have what I believed to be (although as it is confidential I have no clue if it really is) an excellent LOR from this individual, which I can not affiliate with the University or Lab as they are no longer on good terms.
As far as burning bridges goes, you'd be better off asking for a 2 months leave, or reduced hours, and then come back after the MCAT to work in the lab. Training new students is always annoying, and having experienced students around that stay committed is a huge plus and would probably be enough for a very positive LOR. There are students in my lab that take off for summer, studying abroad, studying for the MCAT, but it's always great to have them back. At least, IMO, since I'm always training new students.
Now, my advice is that you take all the time off you need to destroy your MCAT. I was in a similar situation during my undergrad. Worked for a postdoc that was leaving end of the year and trying to get something out of our otherwise going nowhere project. Ended up working 35+ hours per week and got a nice 27 on my first MCAT. Huge mistake on the one hand. On the other hand my commitment and my experience in the lab got me hired for a "temporary" position which I'm just getting into the second year of. Not terrible, since I too used to hate research, but now that I'm getting some publications I rather like it
Surely you aren't interested in double gap year like I was forced into. A bad MCAT is worse than no research LOR. I still think you could get an LOR from your lab even if you left as long as you handle it well.
Also, consider this. Watch the conduct of your postdoc carefully. As I mentioned my situation was similar, however once my postdoc's time was up at the end of the year, this individual attempted to present our useless data in a positive light, was "let go" from the lab, but did not leave gracefully. Such that I have what I believed to be (although as it is confidential I have no clue if it really is) an excellent LOR from this individual, which I can not affiliate with the University or Lab as they are no longer on good terms.
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^^ This is excellent advice. Tell your PI that you need to take a break (2-3 months, however long you need) and then come back. Absolutely true that PIs hate to hire new people b/c it is considered a waste to train someone and have them leave after a few months. Take your break and phrase it in a way that leaves no impressions of leeway, i.e. I NEED to take time off to do well on my MCAT and then I can come back. This test is way more important than a research LOR but you do not want to burn bridges so don't cut ties immediately.
To answer your question at the end. Does your PI know that you are gearing up for the MCAT in 2 months? This is something I would have communicated earlier on. If you have, then it won't be terrible for you to explain that the lab work is too time consuming at the moment. Certainly a notice of more than one week would be better.
As far as burning bridges goes, you'd be better off asking for a 2 months leave, or reduced hours, and then come back after the MCAT to work in the lab. Training new students is always annoying, and having experienced students around that stay committed is a huge plus and would probably be enough for a very positive LOR. There are students in my lab that take off for summer, studying abroad, studying for the MCAT, but it's always great to have them back. At least, IMO, since I'm always training new students.
Now, my advice is that you take all the time off you need to destroy your MCAT. I was in a similar situation during my undergrad. Worked for a postdoc that was leaving end of the year and trying to get something out of our otherwise going nowhere project. Ended up working 35+ hours per week and got a nice 27 on my first MCAT. Huge mistake on the one hand. On the other hand my commitment and my experience in the lab got me hired for a "temporary" position which I'm just getting into the second year of. Not terrible, since I too used to hate research, but now that I'm getting some publications I rather like it
Surely you aren't interested in double gap year like I was forced into. A bad MCAT is worse than no research LOR. I still think you could get an LOR from your lab even if you left as long as you handle it well.
Also, consider this. Watch the conduct of your postdoc carefully. As I mentioned my situation was similar, however once my postdoc's time was up at the end of the year, this individual attempted to present our useless data in a positive light, was "let go" from the lab, but did not leave gracefully. Such that I have what I believed to be (although as it is confidential I have no clue if it really is) an excellent LOR from this individual, which I can not affiliate with the University or Lab as they are no longer on good terms.
Yes, my PI knows that I am taking the MCAT at the end of the summer. This sounds like a good plan. I will talk to my PI tomorrow and ask if I can take a break for 2 months and come back afterwards.
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I second or third the previous advice.
Try to keep an open mind. I didn't think I would do research past undergrad, and then I completed a truly independent senior thesis. I designed the experiment, read literature to find protocol, interpreted results, etc. Nothing significant was found, but it was an extremely valuable experience in that I learned I wanted to continue research into medical school and beyond. I love it, and there are plenty of research opportunities besides benchwork (if that's what you're doing now).
Try to keep an open mind. I didn't think I would do research past undergrad, and then I completed a truly independent senior thesis. I designed the experiment, read literature to find protocol, interpreted results, etc. Nothing significant was found, but it was an extremely valuable experience in that I learned I wanted to continue research into medical school and beyond. I love it, and there are plenty of research opportunities besides benchwork (if that's what you're doing now).
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