Science with Mandy

Current role: Second-year postbac researcher and graduate school applicant

Undergraduate college: University of Washington

Undergraduate major: Biology; Concentration: Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology

How did you know that you wanted to go to grad school? Was it something you have always known or was there a specific thing that you learned that sparked your interest? I actually graduated high school with the goal of going to medical school. However, I realized that it may not be the best path for me when I was a freshman in college. But I knew that I wanted to do something that has to do with finding the cause of disease/how to treat it and having indirect patient care.

Why did you decide to study biology in undergrad? What was your main motivation for that? I switched from a biochemistry to biology major because I learned that I am more interested in living organisms overall rather than their molecular components, like proteins and carbohydrates.

How did you decide to pursue graduate school for STEM instead of another subject? I did a summer program in basic neuroscience laboratory research and it was what pivoted me towards the track of research; I feel that going to graduate school would best prepare me for a career in research.

What is one thing you wish you had done differently to prepare for grad school as an undergrad, if anything, and why? I wish I had more actively sought out research labs; I was emailing professors, but maybe if I had physically gone to their offices, I would have had a better chance of doing more undergraduate research.

What made you decide to do a postbac? Why did you choose two years instead of one? Because I did not join any undergraduate research labs and COVID prevented me from being on campus for 1.5 years, I felt that I was lacking research experience. Deciding to do a postbac would really let me know if research was really something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I chose to do a two-year postbac simply because I knew I would not be ready, mentally and experience-wise, to apply to graduate school [after one year].

What made you choose your specific lab to work in as a postbac? When I went on the website of all the faculty [to choose from], I knew I was not interested in several areas of research, so I went through a few PIs in the other areas and read about their research. What really interested me was research on autoimmune diseases, so I actively looked for labs that studied autoimmunity, and that landed me in my current lab that studies Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

What is something you have learned in your postbac that you’ve found most interesting or intriguing? Something that I have found the most interesting while doing my postbac is the autonomy I am given. I thought that with my level of experience, there would be a lot of hand-holding or just observing procedures. But I am grateful that my lab is giving me my own individual project, and I think that is most likely what I would be doing in graduate school.

Has there been anything you have found surprising about professional research since you started your postbac? One surprising thing is just how many kinks there would be to designing a project. Whenever I was in undergrad, I was taught all the components to making a good experimental design, but once you actually implement it, a lot of problems arise and it could take a long time to figure out what would be best for testing out the hypothesis.

What do you think has been the most valuable experience you have had as a postbac that has helped you on your journey to study science professionally? Regular lab meetings have been helpful in learning what it is like studying science professionally. Problems are discussed, new methods are brought up, and they just overall make me excited about doing science.

Which of your experiences as an undergrad or a postbac has set you up for the most success as a grad school applicant? I think doing full-time research has taught me time-management and organizational skills. While having a project that requires careful planning and outputs a lot of data, it is crucial to formulate a good system early on.

Did you ever consider a Master’s Degree instead of a PhD? If so, how did you finally decide to pursue a PhD specifically? I came into this postbac program wanting to go into a Master’s. I eventually realized that there are some scientific questions that I would like to answer for myself, and having a PhD would enable me to do that.

How is the grad school application going for you so far? Anything especially challenging about it? My applications are still ongoing and it is stressful because I would like to provide my recommenders with a draft of my personal statement, but at the same time I have to devote a good amount of time to research each program’s faculty.

What aspect of grad school are you most looking forward to? I’m looking forward to doing research full-time and unlike undergrad, I’d be spending most of my time in the lab instead of a lecture hall.

Is there anything you expect to find particularly challenging in grad school? If so, how do you plan to deal with that? I think communicating my research to my PI or other researchers would be something particularly challenging in grad school, because I’d be explaining a niche concept that not all scientists would be able to understand, so in order to do that, I would have to become an expert in what I study. Also learning how to not feel frustrated when the data isn’t looking like what I want it to.

Any advice for current undergrad students looking to earn their PhD in the biological sciences? Go out and explore what you like and don’t like, actively seek out a senior who has been where you are and ask for their advice. And don’t be afraid to talk to your professor; recommendation letters are too important.