(no subject)

[ru]

I have a question for the grad students in the audience:

How did you decide on the subject of your thesis? Did you already have it planned when you started grad school, or did you decide on it some time after you got in? How much did you know about your subject before you started doing research on it?

I ask because I'm realizing that this is a big anxiety of mine when it comes to moving ahead with trying to get into grad school--to a certain extent, I have no idea what to focus on for my research. I mean, the botany part is obvious, but what in it should I work on? There's still a lot I could do with the research I started in undergrad, and I liked working on it, so I could continue with that. On the other hand, I'm really interested in paleobotany, despite the fact that I know both diddly and squat about it, since I couldn't take the class on it as an undergrad, thanks to bad timing (the class also caters to grad students, so I could take it later). So since I know nothing about it, really, I don't know if I'd like it or not. Or maybe there's something completely different that I could do a ton with, but don't know about it yet.

In a nutshell, I feel like I'm supposed to have a direction before I walk in the door, but I don't, so I don't know how that would affect me, and if I have to somehow one before I get in. So, any advice would be appreciated. <3

Comments

[liich.livejournal.com]

well, i can't exactly help you there...i think canadian systems are different, plus, i didn't do any thesis. ^^;; didn't want to. buuuut.....i think the thing to do is either ask one of the school counsellors (which, i think is more last resort for me. the ones at my university were NOT good at all...but that isn't necessarily true for your school) OR, and i think this is the best way to go, is ask your profs. specifically the ones who have the grad students working with/for them (ie. the ones who oversee the students' thesises...however you spell the plural of thesis). i think they'd be the best to help you find a topic and direct you where you need to go. the profs at my uni were the greatest and were always willing to help students.