I knew 7 people from school that all took jobs at this one local biotech. One of them, my best friend from school, applied to graduate school but didn't get in where he wanted to. The other 6 mentioned they never really had an interest in pursuing a PhD. A few of them have moved up in their positions at this company, or changed labs within the company, and a few of them are taking classes towards a Master's at Harvard Extension because it suits their lifestyle. A few of them started families so to them they like that the company pays for their Master's degree and they can take the courses remotely. If they ever do chose to apply to a PhD program, they will be much better off having experience in their relevant field (and maybe some money saved up). This is a "safe" route to take.
Personally, I'm glad I didn't go right into graduate school as I didn't think I was ready, nor would I have realistically stood a chance at some of the programs I was looking at. Working at this start-up was hugely beneficial on a personal level and a professional level. Not only did I gain a huge amount of experience with a variety of analytical chemistry instrumentation and synthesis techniques, I was exposed to early stage business development, and most importantly, cultivated a fantastic network of people. Because of those people I met, and the support they offered, I left my job a month ago to try to start a company with my friend with some of them as mentors.
I mention this not to toot my own horn and sound like a wantrepreneur, but because, if I hadn't taken the job at this start-up in the incubator, I NEVER would have met all these people. The type of people that associate with start-ups and bio-tech incubators are the type of people that want to help others succeed. (At least where I am, can't speak for places like Cambridge, MA where I hear it can be pretty cut-throat). These are men and women who have made their millions, built and sold off a few companies, and now want to find younger versions of themselves to help.
That aside, I also worked alongside a kid who was applying to med school. He was trying to get into a pretty prestigious 5 year research MD program. He was working at a start-up next to me but in the same lab space, and he told me when he interviewed (and later got accepted) that they said working at that start-up weighed very heavily in his acceptance.
I think many grad programs would like to see experience outside of a few internships over the summer. Can you get in directly after undergrad? Yes. Will working at a startup or an established company in your area of interest help to make you a more attractive candidate? Yes.
I don't think working for a few years ever hurt anyone's chances of getting into graduate school, in fact, it probably increased them, the problem is you can get used to making a steady paycheck with benefits on a 9-5 schedule, and many people don't want to go back to a low paying stipend as a TA or RA alongside a committed 5 years of hard work every day.
On Sun, Jun 8, 2014 at 11:03 PM, Chowe <chowe@bgsu.edu> wrote:
Awesome! Thanks for the great advice guys.The startup atmosphere sounds very exciting, risky, emotional, character building, and an experience you can get nowhere else. Being younger I definitely see myself at least trying out the biotech startup scene and seeing where it takes me. I am leaning towards starting to work after college because I know graduate school can be a very big investment and sometime unnecessary. My only worry about starting work right away would be that I would be unqualified to do any significant research and would be stuck doing the boring and mundane technician jobs my whole career because I don't have any graduate experience.
Dakota - From you and your friends experiences are you guys glad that you started working right away or do you wish you would have continued to graduate school? Since they talk about how bored they get, do they want to get a higher degree or will they stick with the jobs they have?
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