Question about getting a PHD

[shaq786]

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Few questions, if you guys dont mind answering:

1. I am looking for a good list of grad schools for a PH D in chemistry. I found this website. http://www.phds.org/rankings . Is this website somewhat accurate?

2. After I get my PH D...whats next? How does the system work? My friend was telling me you can immediately start working for the govt. or industrial company.

3. Upon coming to the SDN forums after a long time, this thread scared me http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=252577 . Is the original poster referring to the research lifestyle at a particular school?

4. From # 3 above, my biggest fear is getting a PH D in organic chemistry, not being able to find an industrial or govt. job, getting stuck at a school institution, and getting 35,000 a year. The good girls dont want a guy who makes less than them . So I guess my question is...is it really tough to get an industrial or govt. job as a chemist or even a biologist for that matter? Monster.com has a nice listing, but I am speculating that all those places must be getting fresh applications from places like harvard, Berkley, Stanford, Columbia etc.

5. Would a university ever let me transfer out if I am on their PHD program? Sorry I know the answer is going to be no, but I have to hear it from you guys.

 

[QofQuimica]

I just graduated with my PhD in organic chem. I'll try to answer some of your questions as best as I can.

1) That's a cool website; I'd never seen it before. I like that it lets you pick what matters to you to use as criteria. I guess its accuracy depends on your honesty in answering the questions. 😉

2) Most people do a post doc after finishing their PhDs. From what I've seen, getting a post doc is not so hard, but getting a "real job" is quite a bit harder. One of my friends went directly into industry after school, and he's making a lot more money than the people who go into academic post docs. Me, I'm starting med school this summer.

3) I don't know the OP, so I can't answer this one.

4) Well, there's definitely a risk of that. Like some of those posters in the thread you linked said, it is fairly common for people to complete multiple post docs for several years after their PhDs before they finally land a real job. One of my friends finally got his first professor job after five years as a post doc. Another decided to go home to India and work for industry there. And another, last I heard, is still working as a post doc because she hasn't managed to get a job yet.

Don't worry too much about not earning enough for a "good girl." If she's only after you for your money, she probably isn't a very good girl, you get me? 😉

5) Transfer out into what? If you mean med school, probably not. If you mean into another school, definitely. I dropped out of my first PhD program with a MS, and then started at another school to get my PhD. I had to start all over again with my research, but I did not have to repeat coursework that I took at the first school. People switch schools, labs and PIs, committee members, etc. all the time. Definitely doable if you stay in the same field.

 

[Arsenic]

moving to the biomedical science forum...