This is a series of letters to a new graduate student, where we share learnings from our experience, and things we wish someone shared with us. In this letter, we tell the story of folks who made different choices during advisor selection. Read the previous letter for tips on advisor selection

So advisor selection process is over, and you’ve picked an advisor now what? Let’s address a group of people that aren’t feeling too great at the moment – those who did not get the advisor they wanted. Maybe that person is you, reading this letter. Maybe it’s your friend (go ahead and share this blog article with them). And you’re wondering to yourself, how do I go through this process again? None of the research topics left sound interesting to me. How am I expected to ever find an advisor?

We offer you stories of 4 people who had completely different experiences with advisors. Our hope is that you can learn a thing or 2 about how you can make the situation work out for you.

Graduate Advisor #1. Different research interests.

Meet Sarah. Sarah is passionate about recycling and making processes greener. She didn’t get her first, second, or third pick advisor in this advising selection round. Now she is at a crossroads. The remaining 6 research projects are uninteresting to her. Her options don’t seem great. So Sarah asks herself 3 questions.

• What do I really want to get from my graduate school experience?
• What skills do I want to learn by the end of my graduate career?
• Are there any projects that can enable me gain these skills?

With this new perspective, Sarah is able to find a project that she works on for the next 4-5 years. Despite it not being in a field she is in love with initially. Upon graduation with her PhD, she has no regrets. Her underdog research topic positioned her to contribute to statewide research. In addition, she also acquired transferable skills which enabled her to pivot to her dream career in the end.

Graduate Advisor #2. Nonchalant Advisor

Daniel gets matched with an advisor that is his top choice. The advisor seems great and Daniel is excited to work with them. 6 months in, Daniel realizes that the advisor is not interested in helping him grow as a scientist. By the end of year 1 with this advisor, it becomes clear that Daniel needs to change. Remember what we said previously about the similarities between picking an advisor and picking a spouse? Yeah, let’s just say this was a rocky/borderline abusive 1^st year of marriage. Daniel gains the courage to leave his advisor and finds a new one. And although this sets him back by 1-year, by the end of his PhD program, Daniel gained a unique set of skills that opened up countless opportunities for him.

Graduate Advisor #3. Toxic Advisor

Meet Joan. We generally like to encourage people to make good choices. However, there are times when going with your gut is better than being safe. This particular graduate student knowingly selected an advisor who had a reputation for running a toxic (from a character stand point) lab as their top choice. Her reasoning was that she was willing to sacrifice 5 years of tranquility to work with a professor at the top of their field, albeit being a hard-to-work-for professor. 5 years did come and go. Joan developed lots of new skills in research and people management, and was eventually able to use her professor’s reputation to get a job. In addition, her insane productivity allowed her file a green card application easily. In the end, it all worked out.

Graduate Advisor #4. Worth the wait

Kevin. Kevin, unlike Sarah, decided he was not going to pick the next best advisor that was available after the initial matching round. He instead was going to wait for a spot in a research area he was interested in. It took 6 months from when his peers had joined research labs for him to finally find a lab that matched his interests. This risk ended up paying off big time. His research project led him to publish a paper in the top 0.5% journal in his field. A feat that most academics don’t achieve in their lifetime. In addition, he ended up with an advisor who was supportive and great to work with.

TLDR: There is no right or wrong approach with whatever you decide to do if you don’t get your first pick advisor. Select a path that most reflects your convictions at the moment and forge ahead. It all works out in the end. And remember that we are only a call away if you need guidance on how to navigate your options.

We’ll leave the land of advisor selection and talk about qualifying exams in our next letter.