Hi all, an advice request:
Help me choose between two labs at the NIH for an IRTA postbac?
LAB A
Pros:
* PI is an MD-PhD, so I would be able to talk about my understanding of the career path and MD-PhD insights in my application essays
* PI is super nice, warm, expressive, eloquent, and helpful and I feel will write a great LOR (seems like a caring mentor)
Cons:
* It is very obviously clinical research (essentially statistical analysis of clinical images of a disease), which MSTPs are biased against
* Research topic is decent but not the most interesting to me
———
LAB B
Pros:
* True basic science lab which is what MSTPs prefer
* I find this research topic quite a bit cooler than the other lab’s
Cons:
* PI is a PhD nice person and decent mentor (arbitrary 7.5 out of 10 mentor rating according to a previous postbac), but is quite reserved and unexpressive/undescriptive in writing and speech
* I’m also kind of afraid this PI seems harder to please, and will result in a sub-ideal LOR, although this is just my impression from talking to them and might not be true
———
Overall, both labs are led by well-established senior PIs, are small labs, will give me my own project to work on, and have approximately the same chance at publication
What do you all recommend?
Help me choose between two labs at the NIH for an IRTA postbac?
LAB A
Pros:
* PI is an MD-PhD, so I would be able to talk about my understanding of the career path and MD-PhD insights in my application essays
* PI is super nice, warm, expressive, eloquent, and helpful and I feel will write a great LOR (seems like a caring mentor)
Cons:
* It is very obviously clinical research (essentially statistical analysis of clinical images of a disease), which MSTPs are biased against
* Research topic is decent but not the most interesting to me
———
LAB B
Pros:
* True basic science lab which is what MSTPs prefer
* I find this research topic quite a bit cooler than the other lab’s
Cons:
* PI is a PhD nice person and decent mentor (arbitrary 7.5 out of 10 mentor rating according to a previous postbac), but is quite reserved and unexpressive/undescriptive in writing and speech
* I’m also kind of afraid this PI seems harder to please, and will result in a sub-ideal LOR, although this is just my impression from talking to them and might not be true
———
Overall, both labs are led by well-established senior PIs, are small labs, will give me my own project to work on, and have approximately the same chance at publication
What do you all recommend?
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