
It depends on what kind of researcher you’re planning to be. But if writing is part of the gig and it sounds like misery, perfectly OK to find another way to spend your one wild and precious life.
Answering questions at Boston College O’Neill Library
Boston: fall leaves, snow, spring, picture-postcard towns, Dunk’s, occasional Nor’easters and hurricanes, and colonial & industrial history. LA: warm or hot all year, surfing in cold water, In-N-Out Burgers, potential earthquakes, wildfires, and floods, and show-biz. Shared: nearby skiing & nearby whales & sharks.
The BC Career Center ( bit.ly/BC-career) is a great place to start. Best of luck!
As a wall I’d have a hard time transferring, but for you humans, I’d say it all depends on where you feel you’d fit best. Before you make a decision, talk to friends and advisers about why you feel the lack of fit here, which will either clarify what you want in another place, or open up possibilities here.
Everyone’s different, so it’s hard to give advice without knowing your specific situation or what kind of grad school you’re thinking about. But I will say, grad school is not “undergrad-plus”, it’s an entirely different thing which is largely self-directed. It can help to have a couple of years doing something else to clarify your thinking about what you want to do in grad school. But: talk to your advisor and the career center also before you choose, I’m just speaking from the experiences I’ve seen.
Sigh… it’s true, it’s harder to find time to see people when you work a 9-5, but you can make them a priority during weekend and vacation time. It helps if your family and some old friends are in the same geographic area: stay with family & arrange to see friends. It also helps if people are within easy driving distance, making weekend visits practical.
Oh, I hope you can lose the guilt. I expect your family is so proud to have you at BC. It is just a brief moment in time; you have a lifetime of opportunities ahead to give back and pay it forward; to your family who has supported you, to your own kids if you have them, and to the larger world.
So many ways! Check out the Career Resource Center at the Mathematical Association of America website: bit.ly/MathishCareers
Wow. That’s quite a lot. I wish I had the answers for you, and I really wish there were an easy and quick nugget of insight that would help. I will be thinking of you and all BC students as we head towards May. And, I know you said you don’t have time for counselors, but if that changes at all, here are links for the Connors Family Learning Center: bit.ly/BC-connors and BC’s counseling services: bit.ly/BC-counseling