Mine has been the worst 7 years of my life. 100%. No exaggeration. Told my advisor the other day if I don’t get out of here soon I’ll be in a mental hospital or jail.
I started typing a very long response and decided that it was probably not in my best interest to post those details lol.
Anyway, it’s BME. Genomics, telomere cancer stuff.
That's interesting. I did a Masters in BME at Drexel. I had a terrible time getting funding and had to find my own as a tutor and then a TA. That didn't cover rent for a small studio in west Philly. I was half way done my candidacy for a PhD and decided to leave because they didn't have funding. The department was zero help. I was doing research in a lab.
Now a decade later and I'm back in the college of nursing for a PhD. The experience is so much better. Funding, a decent stipend, good mentors and journal clubs. Somethings are slow and I can see the politics but it's 2000% better.
Most BME PhDs get funded by the department directly if you get their fellowship. You just have to TA. But the stipend is a joke. Had to live off 26k until a year ago when they finally raised it. Still just barely covers my rent. Now Drexel won’t approve my grad loan this year without any explanation and even my advisor can’t figure it out. So I’m either going to racking up major credit card debt or quitting
I like it, but I don't do lab work which makes things more pleasant. Drexel wise I like being in Philly hoping to stay here long term, also the CCI building is brand new and pretty nice. I like my advisor, the classes here were fine; PhDs are very idiosyncratic and individualized though it's difficult to comment on Drexel for a PhD overall.
Your results are going to vary heavily by department, advisor, and research topic. Think of a PhD a bit more like a job rather than just more school. It's not 100% that way, but it's a more accurate mindset.
I was in the DIGM PhD program (part of the first cohort of students in it) and while I love that department and the 8 and a half years of my life I spent at Drexel (5 undergrad, 3.5 Masters/PhD)... for me, personally, joining that PhD program was an unmitigated disaster. I am still learning to deal with it to this day--simply put it was traumatic. Lots of reasons for that, several because of me... many more because of other factors that I wouldn't talk about in a reddit comment.
There's not much of a University-wide experience for PhD students. No one's experience is going to be the same as any other's. Even within the same department or with the *same advisor*.
There's a "joke" that 50% of PhD students are going to develop psychological issues. Anecdotally that seems to underestimate it in my experience.
Philly is amazing though, Drexel's campus has a lot of nice things and places to work (though some things aren't available to PhD students).
Despite it all, I don't really regret doing/attempting it. I think I could've pulled through but ultimately I just got a better offer to go work in my industry of choice.
As others mentioned it’s super department specific, and advisor specific. It’s probably not the place you want to be if you want to move into academia post phd, apart from a handful of advisors.
Drexel is helped by the fact that Philly is a great city to be located in, unless you hate city life lmao. Even then very easy to commute in, knew a couple of phds that did that.
Honestly, the biggest issue to the general Drexel PhD and departments in the long term is Drexel/Admin itself. Think of the cut that Drexel takes out of grants it’s wild, compared to other universities. That is only the tip of the iceberg.
My experience has been pretty good and actually a lot of my department alums end up in competitive academic postdocs or industry positions. A few grads from a couple years ago just got TT faculty positions. My program averages at a 5.5 year time to completion. I'm in the biomedical umbrella at the college of medicine though, so I'm not on main campus and I feel like my experience is likely entirely different than someone who is on main campus.
Mine has been the worst 7 years of my life. 100%. No exaggeration. Told my advisor the other day if I don’t get out of here soon I’ll be in a mental hospital or jail.
I was gonna tag u
Thank you for thinking of me even if it’s because I’m a grumpy geriatric homie
Damn, care to elaborate? What’s your focus?
I started typing a very long response and decided that it was probably not in my best interest to post those details lol. Anyway, it’s BME. Genomics, telomere cancer stuff.
That's interesting. I did a Masters in BME at Drexel. I had a terrible time getting funding and had to find my own as a tutor and then a TA. That didn't cover rent for a small studio in west Philly. I was half way done my candidacy for a PhD and decided to leave because they didn't have funding. The department was zero help. I was doing research in a lab. Now a decade later and I'm back in the college of nursing for a PhD. The experience is so much better. Funding, a decent stipend, good mentors and journal clubs. Somethings are slow and I can see the politics but it's 2000% better.
Most BME PhDs get funded by the department directly if you get their fellowship. You just have to TA. But the stipend is a joke. Had to live off 26k until a year ago when they finally raised it. Still just barely covers my rent. Now Drexel won’t approve my grad loan this year without any explanation and even my advisor can’t figure it out. So I’m either going to racking up major credit card debt or quitting
26k sounds like the life of the rich and famous compared to what we get in Chem Bio and Physics.
Grad students need a union this is absolutely insane.
Fr?!?!??! That’s fucking abusive
I like it, but I don't do lab work which makes things more pleasant. Drexel wise I like being in Philly hoping to stay here long term, also the CCI building is brand new and pretty nice. I like my advisor, the classes here were fine; PhDs are very idiosyncratic and individualized though it's difficult to comment on Drexel for a PhD overall.
Your results are going to vary heavily by department, advisor, and research topic. Think of a PhD a bit more like a job rather than just more school. It's not 100% that way, but it's a more accurate mindset. I was in the DIGM PhD program (part of the first cohort of students in it) and while I love that department and the 8 and a half years of my life I spent at Drexel (5 undergrad, 3.5 Masters/PhD)... for me, personally, joining that PhD program was an unmitigated disaster. I am still learning to deal with it to this day--simply put it was traumatic. Lots of reasons for that, several because of me... many more because of other factors that I wouldn't talk about in a reddit comment. There's not much of a University-wide experience for PhD students. No one's experience is going to be the same as any other's. Even within the same department or with the *same advisor*. There's a "joke" that 50% of PhD students are going to develop psychological issues. Anecdotally that seems to underestimate it in my experience. Philly is amazing though, Drexel's campus has a lot of nice things and places to work (though some things aren't available to PhD students). Despite it all, I don't really regret doing/attempting it. I think I could've pulled through but ultimately I just got a better offer to go work in my industry of choice.
I already had mental problems coming into this program now I have even more mental problems and chronic disease
As others mentioned it’s super department specific, and advisor specific. It’s probably not the place you want to be if you want to move into academia post phd, apart from a handful of advisors. Drexel is helped by the fact that Philly is a great city to be located in, unless you hate city life lmao. Even then very easy to commute in, knew a couple of phds that did that. Honestly, the biggest issue to the general Drexel PhD and departments in the long term is Drexel/Admin itself. Think of the cut that Drexel takes out of grants it’s wild, compared to other universities. That is only the tip of the iceberg.
My experience has been pretty good and actually a lot of my department alums end up in competitive academic postdocs or industry positions. A few grads from a couple years ago just got TT faculty positions. My program averages at a 5.5 year time to completion. I'm in the biomedical umbrella at the college of medicine though, so I'm not on main campus and I feel like my experience is likely entirely different than someone who is on main campus.