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When I decided that I was going to start looking for grad school positions, I was in the beginning of my third year of undergrad (I like to have things organized well in advance!) I decided that I wanted to attend the University of Calgary for several reasons. I was doing my undergrad in Edmonton, and I had heard lots of great things about the UofC. I’m a big time skier, and Calgary is really close to several great ski hills. And lastly, my boyfriend was going to go there. (We are now broken up, but I’m really happy to be at the U of C) I had told him that I would only go to the U of C if I found a really cool lab there that I was totally pumped about. I did, so here I am.
Initially, I started to look at the zoology department, but I quickly realized that the strong point of the U of C is actually in the medical research area, and totally not in the biology department. In my undergrad I took many zoology courses, but also many neuroscience courses. So, naturally I started to look at the neuroscience department too. I talked to some different profs at my home university about the people that I was thinking about in Calgary. It helped me narrow down the search a bit. They had a good idea of which labs would be better ‘carreer’ moves than others. Finally, I contacted four potential supervisors in the early spring of my third year to let them know that I was interested in their labs for grad school. I read a few of their papers so that I would be familiar with what they were doing in their lab. That summer, I had the opportunity to attend the Society for Developmental Biology conference which was held at the U of C. I arranged to meet with the four profs while I was there for the conference.
At the poster sessions, I got the chance to talk with a bunch of grad students about the labs that I was interested in. Not only did I talk to grad students from the labs that I was interested in, but I also chatted with students from other labs. The students from other labs gave me some great information that I probably wouldn’t have gotten otherwise, about the dynamics within the labs themselves, not only about the supervisor, but also the other students in the lab. It gave me a good idea of which labs sounded more fun, or productive or positive. Chatting with the grad students in the lab gave me an idea if I would fit in with the lab in addition to the scoop on the supervisor. I think that talking about your potential supervisor is super important. You need to know what you’re getting yourself into. What is the supervisor like? Are they going to drive you like a workhorse? Are they around to talk to? Are they a good teacher? That kind of information is crucial because you’re going to have to be here for a few years, so it had better be a situation that you can enjoy. Finally, I met up with the profs. I knew immediately, whose lab I wanted to be a part of. The prof who I was most interested in asked me to send her the names of three references, my transcripts and my CV (academic resume). After doing so, she contacted the references and then wrote to me saying that she would be happy to offer me a position in her lab. Yahoo!
In the Faculty of Medicine at the U of C, there are no TAships. The students either get their own grants, or the profs pays them a stipend. My supervisor said that she could pay me, but I ended up getting a CIHR grant so I don’t have to worry (for now at least). Even though there are no TA ships here in the department, I do want to TA, because I think that teaching is important, a skill that a grad student should try to develop. I don’t know if I will get the opportunity to TA at all, but time will tell.
Based on accounts that I’ve heard from other grad students, I seem to have had an easy time securing a position. I’m not sure if that is a result of the field that I’m in, or not. During my undergrad, I worked in a lab for my last two years. That gave me some serious research experience as well as a great reference letter, and even a paper that will be out soon. I was really involved in a biology student group, as well as athletics. This kind of well-roundedness probably helped. As for my grades in undergrad, I had pretty much discounted ever getting a big scholarship, since my first three years were good (but certainly not great). But, I was wrong! So, don’t give up on it!
In summary, I would suggest that you start early. Ask lots of questions from the prof, other grad students, and even other faculty members. And don’t be afraid. I remember when I was first writing the emails to the profs, I was SO nervous. But, I did it, and now
here I am in a really cool lab in a school really close to mountains!
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