Thoughts on Gradschool (Part 2 of Many)

It is currently 3pm CST. I just sat for HALF AN HOUR in the bowels of Walter library, waiting for my adviser to show up for our scheduled weekly meeting. No emails, no note, no phone call... Instead I plunked around on the internet in the weird reception area near his temporary office. Several weird looks were passed around and I eventually left, laptop in hand, head down.

I walked the stretch of half frozen pavement from Walter to the still-damaged EE/CSci building and made my way to the sixth floor. As soon as I sat at my computer, the professor that runs the lab in which I am temporarily stationed came in. He asked me about if I was going to switch advisers.

"If you were to assign a percentage to how likely you are going to switch advisers, what would it be?"

Probability. One of the many banes of my existence. Therefore, I feel I must make a pros and cons list, weight them accordingly, and come up with a real solid percentage estimate. After all, I am a scientist of sorts.

Unfortunately, I have several options. These include:

• Continue to be a part of my adviser's lab and get a Ph.D.
• Continue to be a part of my adviser's lab and get a Masters
• Switch to another lab and get a Ph.D.
• Switch to another lab and get a Masters
• Transfer to Penn State and get a Ph.D.
• Transfer to Penn State and get a Masters
  
• Transfer to Penn State after getting a Masters and get a Ph.D.

Damn.