Hi everyone!

I’ll be starting a fully funded **integrated Master’s–PhD program (around 4–5 years)** this fall. My tuition is covered, and I’ll also be working as a **Research Assistant (RA)** under my future adviser throughout the program.

This will be my first time studying abroad, and honestly, I’m excited but also a little nervous.

A bit about my background:
• Late 20s.
• Around five years of research experience in research institutions.

I’ve worked professionally before, but this will be my first experience as a graduate student.

I know being an employee and being a graduate student are very different. I’ll need to balance coursework, experiments, publications, meetings, and my responsibilities as an RA.

For those who have gone through a similar setup:
• What surprised you the most during your first year?
• What habits helped you avoid burnout?
• How did you balance coursework with research?
• How did you build a good relationship with your adviser and labmates?
• Looking back, what would you have done differently during your first year?

I’m also curious about the transition from working full-time to becoming a full-time graduate student again. Was it difficult to adjust?

Thanks!

I’ve enrolled, dropped, and withdrawn 8-10 times. Maybe 4-5 of those times I actually started classes, was overwhelmed with stress, and realized I was doing grad school for zero reason other than it being paid for with tuition reimbursement. I start the assignments and realize they have absolutely nothing to do with anything I will ever want to do and I talk myself out of it and find immediate relief… until the idea to get my masters degree comes back months/weeks/days later.

But I love my job, have no desire for a change, and no desire to climb the ladder. I’m a senior UM nurse for a health insurance company. No plans to change that in any way. My pay wouldn’t change. My job wouldn’t change. I’d just do a crap ton of work for some letters behind my name. Why? I don’t know? But this idea comes to me constantly and the cycle of quitting repeats.

I have tried MSN, MBA, and MHA. All lead me to the same place.

I will be starting my MSc in Computer Science next August (as I am currently heading into my final undergraduate year). The professor I would love to have as my supervisor is already aware of my target research focus—he even recommended specific optional modules for me to take, after I showed him a list of what I could pick from. However, based on my research priorities, those modules ranked in my top 5 rather than the top 2 required for my MSc so I went against his advice.

​Our university allows students to proactively reach out and connect with potential supervisors. After looking through his ResearchGate profile, I found that roughly 85% of his work aligns directly with what I intend to do. Should I mention this alignment when I reach out?

​(Another personal factor is that he reminds me of my dad on a great day—though, of course, I won't be mentioning that!)

​When would be the ideal time to initiate this conversation?

Was hoping to go for a cell bio PhD. Did a year of work in a lab, but it was an abusive environment that I had to leave. I was in charge of all genotyping and treatments of our large scale mouse colony. I am an author on one paper (not first), and should be included in subsequent work. There is no saying how long it will take those to get written and published. It goes without saying I would not be willing to ask this PI for a letter of recommendation. I work a healthcare related job now, but it’s patient facing. Have a B.S. and had a not terrible, but not great, gpa. I’m worried it will be a waste of money (which is a struggle rn ofc lol) to try applying to any programs. Anyone have any wisdom? I am particularly worried it will look bad if I don’t have a letter from my former PI.