Talking to a Professor

ADVICE: Before ever talking to a professor, read some relevant and recent publications by that professor or some of their current grad students! It shows you know what you are talking about, and a sincere interest in the field.

I talked with Dr. Shawn Rowe today at Oregon State. It went really well! He was incredibly helpful in describing the different areas that I could pursue at Oregon State. The first big piece of information that made this helpful was that he pointed out that the Environmental Science program is an interdisciplinary program, drawing on students and faculty from three academic areas of ecology/biology, policy, and education. While this may not be what other students are looking for, this sounds great to me. I am far more of an interdisciplinary student that anything else. I love biology, but anyone who knows me knows that I bounced around to 3 other majors (and was undeclared for a period in between) before landing on biology. An interdisc program sounds FANTASTIC to me.

If I were to go into this program, I could obtain a Ph. D. in about 5 years. Dr. Rowe said that 5 years is a realistic expectation. Some students come in wanting to complete their degree in 3 or 4 years, but the expectations of workload for graduate students is significantly higher than what people expect, so 5 years is a more realistic goal. The breakdown looks like this:

• 2 years of coursework (dependent on the sequencing, so it would be difficult to speed this up regardless of how good someone may be)

• During this time, I would be working on pilot projects and assisting in smaller research projects to get experience in full-fledged research as well as lead to ideas for my dissertation

• Upon completion of coursework, taking qualifying oral exam with committee
• If successfully pass, then write a research proposal and present this to committee (exams and proposal takes about a year)
• Start collecting data (about a year)
• Write thesis (about a year)

However, if I started all of this while I was 24, then in theory I could complete a Ph.D. before I'm 30. That's exciting!

So, in order to be a competitive candidate for this program, I should have a very strong statement of purpose that illustrates that going into a Ph.D. program is the next clear, logical step in my life goals, not simply a ploy to stay in school. :) Dr. Rowe encouraged me to spend some time thinking about and journaling about what it is in science that fascinates me so much that I would want these questions answered irregardless of if I'm accepted into a program. The desire to learn and research these questions are going to be the driving force behind my application. It will also help me figure out what direction I want to go for my dissertation! 

I should also have a strong academic background (including some psychology classes), work experience, volunteer experience (meaning I'm definitely doing whale watching this winter!), and a solid understanding of what this degree entails. This is a research degree, not a teaching degree. 

I've got my work cut out for me! Next up, starting a really good statement of purpose. I highly recommend Graduate Admissions Essays by Donald Asher  for your essay writing. It includes exercises to help guide you in what to write, and how to polish your essay to make it stand out to an Admissions committee. This book and the Kaplan GRE Premier study guide just became my new best friends.

Until next time!