Graduate Students Thread

What are graduate studies how fldo they differ from under graduate I still don't understand what's your lectures are like or is it all work field like experience?

Theoretical Physics (probably gonna do astro or hep)
Most years left; just started a year ago, still in coursework.
I'm actually loving it, and thought I'd ask for advice/thoughts.
So far grad school has been piss-easy and I'm scared it'll stop. My coursework has been about 3 hours per class weekly for 3 classes, reading the book and doing the homework (I don't attend lectures, book's a lot easier to learn from). My TA assignments have been no more than an hour of grading homework weekly, and I have office hours but usually nobody shows up and I work on learning/homework.

So basically I'm making 30k a year for 10hr/wk. Is this normal? Will it become the super-stressful 80+hr/wk shitfest most people seem to experience? I can't imagine research will take much work when I start doing it, since I'm not in experimental (and pretty much every other grad student is, since they hate theory, so can't ask them)

Thoughts?

you got it made homie

also
> I can't imagine research will take much work when I start doing it, since I'm not in experimental (and pretty much every other grad student is, since they hate theory, so can't ask them)
so they're paying you 30k to grade an hour a week and no one is shitting down your throat to publish more papers? what is this madness

Literally this, but he's first year so he might be doing rotations?

>(and pretty much every other grad student is, since they hate theory, so can't ask them)

Really? This actually slightly inspires me.

I didn't go for it and regret it, cos I wasn't 100% committed and sure, and I felt like all the driven inspired people just had these connections and people skills and hardwork I lacked.

But now a year or 2 into a job I notice that the people who went onto grad school actually weren't the smartest guys in class, and are struggling. And they aren't significantly harder working than me they just made connections while I was battling depression instead.

Also I've socialised with grad students since taking my job. They're mostly aspie as fuck, and often not as smart as they think they are.

Pretty much not expected to do research yet (but I do plan on starting soon since I got all this extra time). Also they don't know how long my grading takes, I might've just gotten lucky with the TA class. Plus it seems most other grads take 10+hr/wk per course.

Pretty much. I knew some theory-interested people in my undergrad (they're rare) but haven't found any yet here. Guess I'm lucky that I fucking love theory.

2nd year applied math

anyone want to collaborate over break (or longer)? I'm open to consider any and all ideas. I just submitted a paper and other projects are slowing down over holidays due to people having families and lives. I prefer to work balls to the wall permanently otherwise I get bummed out.

let me kno

>chemistry / materials engineering
>I just started, so 5.
>I like it more than I thought I would. Made sure I got into an interesting, good job field project and ran with it
>I dont really have any advice, I'm a noob. but If I could say one thing it is live close to campus. dont commute an hour as a student that hasnt passed their qualifying exams yet. its a pretty bad idea if you plan on sticking around

Horror story
>student up for his second year qualifying exam
>gives his presentation
>professor basically shits on him to the rest of his committee because he doesnt like him (?)
>has to either leave grad school or abandon his project and switch to another lab after 2 years of work

I see this all the time. grad students bragging about how relaxed their work is.

you'll end up with a degree in theoretical physics with no one willing to hire you.

why do you say that?

wtf what did the student do to piss off the prof so much that he sabotaged his entire qualifying exam?

Grad student in philosophy here. I came here to get flamed.

I was planning on finishing in two years, but because i'm me and everything always sucks for me, the two professors I wanted to work with on my thesis went on sabatical and left permanently right when I was time for me to get started. Now I'm delayed another semester at least.

This is the last week of finals week and I still have two essays to finish. one stupid bullshit one on the ethics of immigration where I try and present a positive account for broadening the definition of refugee to include those who's state has failed to realize any of Elizabeth Anderson's three modes of being an individual (as a human being, as a participant in the cooperative system of economic production, and as a citizen of a democratic nation.) The international community is obligated to admit these people into their borders because, in their source country, they're unable to exist as moral equals. This account is motivated by Anderson's democratic equality, which seeks to equalize moral consideration.

The other paper I have to finish is for phil of experimentation. I'm writing on the problem of coordination. Doing a review of hans reichenbach's treatment of the problem of coordination from his dissertation all the way through Philosophy of Space and Time. Then I plan to refute some criticisms of an article by this dude named Andrew Peterson who's treatment of Reichenbach is anachronistic. He accuses reich's treatment of the problem of coordination as too a prioristic, when that was only characteristic of reichenbach's earliest account.

Fucking kill me now i just want to be done

>What field?
neutrino physics
>How many years (approximately, because research is research) left?
5-6 years
>How are you liking it?
kinda, no work so far, probably because of the holidays
>Any advice?
for what?
>Any horror stories
I don't earn shit.

What experiment? I am interested in SNO+ for phds

Also it seems that tutoring is the only way to have a stable income if you're a grad student. And if you're doing science in general. Grants and post-doc. contracts are awesome but they're not reliable source of income.

GERDA.
I'm actually supposed to go there next year. Not sure when though. Everyone is lazy as fuck right now because it's the end of the year.

Postdoc here. If you're doing a theory Ph.D and plan to go on the academic job market, you won't get far unless you have twice as many pubs that an experimentalist has.

So get off your ass and start publishing for fuck's sake.

Can somebody explain the concept of grad schools to a britbong? Are there separate schools only for graduates, or is it just a name? I'm doing my phd at the moment and just work in the physics department of my university.

Computer Science student here. I'm in a 4+1 program where I can double count a bunch of courses - for every grad credit I take, it also counts for undergrad (there's a cap obviously). With research and a final thesis I'll be graduating after 1 year.

Any thoughts on 4+1 programs? It's a completely no name uni but it's ABET accredited and all that jazz. I figure the name isn't a big deal since it's CS and the degree is free due to research and TAing.

Any thoughts would be cool, feel free to shit on the cs meme

it's just a name for anything above bachelor's, i.e. master's, phd, postdoc

Aerospace engineering (CFD). Doing first year of my masters. I'm debating whether to stay at my current school for my PhD or apply to somewhere more ambitious. What I feel lacking in my application are my recommendation letters and lack of publications. I can get one really good letter from my current research supervisor, but the other 2 will have to be from profs I only took a course with. If I really buckle down, I can get a conference paper before I finish. Will this be enough to get me into top schools? Anyone have experience applying to grad school after doing a masters?

I was invited to interview at Duke, UNC chapel Hill, U Chicago, and Wisconsin. Can anyone from those schools, or even anyone who has been to a grad school interview and gotten accepted, give me some tips? They say they're gonna take me to a kareoke bar with current students. That sounds fucking awful. Any way to get out of it without looking like a dick? My field is genetics.

My interview into graduate school was incredibly relaxed. I'm in physics but the interview was like 30 minutes long and they only asked me 2 subjective physics questions. the rest was things like hobbies and what field I'm interest in. Honestly don't stress too much about it. They want to interview you because they think you're a viable candidate. I would just go, be polite but not super formal or uptight. In graduate school professors start to see you as a peer, not as a student that needs to be spoon-fed, so you don't have to suck up to them all the time and act like they're leagues ahead of you.

Sup bro. PhD student in Philosophy & History of Science here. Sounds like we take different tacks though. I'm more of a phenomenology & SSK nigga myself.

I'm at UChicago but in an entirely different field. They make you do interviews for STEM?! Damn.

This. Apparently if you get an interview you're already have 50/50 shot of getting in. Usually its even higher.

As a matter of fact, the interview is really a ruse for them to try and convince you to choose their school over others.

Undergrad from University of New Hampshire here, trying to go to a top tier grad school.

What do you guys think of my profile?
>B.S. Mechanical Engineering trying to do Ph.D. in applied math.
>I have research experience, but did not publish.
>I have good grades (3.95 GPA) but average GRE scores
>I am confident with the quality of my recommendations.

If you're research is already in applied mathematics you're probably in a good spot. If not it'll probably take some convincing for them to accept you. Unless you took a lot of extra math courses you might not be very well prepared and that might make schools wary. If you're confident, make sure your letters of rec focus on general problem solving and mathematics and don't focus on the engineering background. Also, it's probably worth taking the math gre if you haven't.

>good grades but average gre scores
rofl i'm the opposite.
i'm doing an ms in applied math
>1.5 years left
>it's k. like the work ok. classes are tougher than i remember them being.
>feels like too much busy work
probably end up in some mid tier phd program. i'm not very motivated. i just want to coast thru life doing math.

>I'm at UChicago but in an entirely different field. They make you do interviews for STEM?! Damn
The competitive programs do. Pretty sure it's like that for top hummanities programs, too. It's just a matter of supply and demand I guess. They have so many qualified candidates to pick from that it couldn't hurt to have an interview to make sure the guy isn't a total sperg, an asshole, or borderline schizophrenic.

Weird. Not to anonymously show off how enormous my dick is, but I got into a couple Ivy programs + UChicago, which is super well-rated for my department, and I didn't get asked for any interviews.

>Not to anonymously show off how enormous my dick is
it's ok i'm sure you just can't help yourself

Sometimes it's irresistible.

i'd probably do it too if i was ever that good of a student

I'm thinking about applying to UoW-Madison, and UNC-Raleigh?

Any advice on how easy/difficult it is to get into either? I visited a friend in Madison and really fell in love with the place, going to be really sad if I can't get in.

Nah in all seriousness I just about shit my pants when I got into any of the programs I did. I think a lot of it comes down to schmoozing and luck at the end of the day. I was being serious about not wanting to be a braggart asshole.

Just giving you one in the ribs m8.

ok. This gives me confidence.

I have made moves to take high level math courses next semester (PDEs and High Performance Computing) so I think that will impress, based on what you say. I have belabored my math skills in my personal statements and asked my recommenders (one of whom was my Vector Calc Professor) to speak to my math skills. I will take the math GRE as per your advice.

When it comes to personal statements, what is it that schools are really expecting? I'm really confused about what I even want to write.

Here are my stats:
I have my name in one publication
My undergraduate GPA was a 2.7, from Cornell but my GPA during my Master's degree was a 3.85.
My GRE bio was 97th percentile. Math was 93rd percentile, verbal reasoning 98th percentile. Two of the professors I asked for letters knew me personally, outside of just teaching a class I did well in. Also in my essay I mentioned faculty I wanted to work for by name, and was pretty clear about my skills etc and what type of work I was interested in doing (I do cell culture work, and said I wanted to keep working with cells and also potentially learn a mammalian model.) For UNC I had to disclose that I got in trouble for smoking pot in undergrad.

So there are some good aspects to my application but also some not so good stuff so it seems there is room for not being perfect. Of course I might still get rejected, but this is the story of profile that gets you an interview at least, apparently.

>he's in grad school and he's not even a golden boy
Rofl. Your life is going to be totally fucked after graduation. No one in industry wants to hire a science Ph.D. No one in academia gives a shit about you if you're not a golden boy. Your life is going to be shit. I really hope your piece of paper that certifies your autism to the world is enough for you. I really hope you are braindead and servile enough that being granted a degree from an institution means the world to you. Because you will have nothing else. You should probably just kill yourself.

What the fuck is a golden boy?

Should I just stop at a master's? I got invited to interviews at a lot of good schools but if it's really like that maybe I should just quit while I'm still young. You're saying my job prospects will go down if I get a PhD? Is that true?

Favorite student of the principal investigator, who gets all the support and opportunities.

No one really knows, man. That's one of the worst things about applying. Get a lot of advice from high level professors on that one.

Oh why didn't you just say asskissers only?

I recommend looking at personal statements of other people that are posted online for programs similar to your own.

In general its a chance to explain other circumstances (e.g in my case, being a first generation college grad and coming from a impoverished background)

HAhahahaha yep that'll do it

That wasn't me, but it's a common term in grad school slang. That guy is exaggerating anyways. Don't listen to him.

Please respond.

You should include a paragraph about why that school in particular is a good fit for you. Talk about how you were attracted to it not only because of its storied history of turning out brilliant researchers, but also because of the robust curriculum, the interests of the faculty, and any other features that attracted you to the school, for example if it exists at a nexus of biomedical research or contains special facilities or collaborative programs.

You should also include a paragraph about one, two, or maybe even three professors you want to work for. For maximum impact, cite one of their recent publications and if possible connect the techniques they use in their work to your own research experience.

If you have research experience, elaborate on it in detail, because your resume might not completely capture the nature of your involvement, skillset, and motivations.

I'm not he sounds like a person who has read a lot of boards and has zero experience...like everyone here basically

In my case, my personal statements were 90% about showing that I had concrete research proposals. But I'm in a different discipline.

Seriously, you want as many opinions as possible from people in your field about what constitutes an interesting statement/proposal. Don't listen to any one person.

ALSO: IF YOU ARE APPLYING TO GRAD SCHOOL, REACH OUT TO POTENTIAL ADVISERS. THIS IS HUGE. TALK TO THEM EARLY ON.

Haven't been accepted yet, but what I did:...

>Talk about professional interests
>Name your intended specialization and why it interests you
>Mention professors you would be interested in working with during your grad schooling (i.e. potential advisors)
>Talk about work you've done and how it prepares you for grad school in your intended field
>Talk about relevant skills you have
>Talk about steps you've taken to improve your skills and make you a good fit for grad school

professional interests is a big one, I guess. My professor said nobody really likes to read the hokey stuff about why you always wanted to be a scientist. Rather, you want to give the impression that you have a clear endgame and have a plan to reach it.

It depends on your field and your interest. If you are a math4lyfe autist you have no choice.

Yes, yes, of course. Don't listen to the mean man saying those negative things! Just get your Ph.D, bro! Jobs will come flying at you! You'll be a great big success at what you're passionate about! You two really are naive people. Go ahead and chase your "dream," you dumb faggots. I really don't care. But what I am saying is the truth. See you in 6 years when you're an adult. Hopefully you can handle it by then.

>It depends on your field and your interest. If you are a math4lyfe autist you have no choice.
Well what about biology? I have been looking into this professor who works on fluorescent proteins, which I think will have commercial applications. Is it a good idea to do a PhD if I think that there is a clear path to industry?

I got my 1st class BEng in mechanical engineering, and tried to go for a phd in physics, but they wouldn't have it. Apparently masters is almost a requirement for a phd now. You can get in without one, but only if you've proved yourself already or get along with the professor really well. If you're trying to move up schools AND switching disicple AND don't have a masters degree you're pretty much gonna get trumped by 90% of other candidates.

Britfag here, but I can't imagine its that differant.

>ALSO: IF YOU ARE APPLYING TO GRAD SCHOOL, REACH OUT TO POTENTIAL ADVISERS. THIS IS HUGE. TALK TO THEM EARLY ON.
So if I have already been accepted to an interview but never contacted someone, should I do so now? They told me to include a list of potential collaborators so I could speak with them, but should I also email some of these people or would that be annoying?

You're not "saying" anything you're offering a narrow worldview with zero experience to back it up and projecting to boot.

No you'll risk fucking everything up. Just go along to the interview and don't sperg out.

different guy
how do you mean? I thought it was important to reach out and be heard, as with an application to any job in general.

If he's already got an invite for an interview then he's doing just fine. They already know about him and want to find out more about him. However, they'll want to do this in their own time. The people doing the selection process are busy people. Getting in contact without a legitimate reason could lead to you being perceived as an irritant.

Earth Sciences / Climate / Remote Sensing
about 1.5 max
Pretty good
Advice: take the PhD seriously from day one, keep tabs on your progress and flag up issues as soon as you're aware of them
Horror stories: nope, because I work with competent people. Also Earth Sciences seems to be littered with jobs, every PhD seemed to find a job/postdoc like 2 months after graduating, some even before. Meanwhile my friends from astrophysics go a year or two without a job.

>don't sperg out

Easier said than done. Are there any resources where I can learn to pretend to be a normie? I'm really bad at it. For example they want to take me to a kareoke bar to socialize with current students, but I don't want to drink (since my coworker said they watch out and select against people who drink) but also can't deal with noisy bar environments. I think the problem is that since it's so loud, I can't follow what anyone is saying. Can I just opt out? Is that too rude? It just sounds like it'll be a horrible experience. In fact I suspect that they're trying to do this to annoy people.

That seems really, really strange for an interview. I'm guesing they're just wanting to make sure you get along with the rest of the people there, a lot of professors really value the whole team atmosphere thing. Just be polite and friendly, ask people about their research and don't talk about anything that you've ever seen posted on here. Also (a big one) don't try to go in and prove that you're smart, you'll just come across as an asshole. Arrogance is the biggest turn off for meeting new people. They know you're qualified enough or they wouldn't have invited you for the 'intrview'.

For some reason all the schools I got invited to are doing something like this. It's awful, instead of a one day interview like a sane person, they're paying my travel and lodging expenses so I can do three days of tours, dinners, interviews (they want me to interview with three professors and the admissions committee) and a gay poster session. And I literally can't say no if I want to get in. It's horrible. Whoever decided that this was a good idea should be forced to attend the whole event every year.

Are there any Americans or Canadians here that go to grad school in the UK? I've always wanted to study abroad, but my school only offered classes abroad for the humanities. I figured grad school would be a good opportunity for this. I was wondering what the process of applying, getting funding, and whatnot is like.

Like what other people said, don't try to act superior. Most likely everyone there is just as qualified to be there as you are, and some will be way more so. It really shouldn't be that hard to socialize, since everyone at least has the common ground of the PhD program. Talk about research, talk about some stuff from undergrad, and try to enjoy yourself. If you decide to go you'll be around the people you'll be seeing for the next like 5 years, so you might as well get to know them now. Also I wouldn't worry about drinking. Clearly don't get wasted, but having a drink and talking with other colleagues and professors is perfectly normal. I'm only a first year and I've gone out drinking with professors and talked about classes while drinking and stuff. Just remember everything in moderation.

Tell me how to get a postdoc in physical chemistry. I finish in less than 8 months and I have no idea what I'm doing. Is it too late already? I have 4 papers submitted/almost submitted, none published yet, and I want to get out 2 more. Is that shit?

If you have a realistic idea of what you want and how to get it, go for it. I am warning against people from being influenced by pie in the sky idealists like this fool who brag about how "comfy" their postgrad life is.

You've offered nothing of substance. I'm not even sure what your position is other than trying to discredit what I am saying. Your claim that I have no experience comes from nothing. Keep living in your delusional fairy tale.

What do I do about two interviews falling on the same weekend?

Ask to reschedule the one you care less about. Be polite as hell, but inform them that another school wants you. This can work in your favor where if they really want you they'll start a little bid war.

You go to the first one, sit down and talk for a few minutes. Then you say you really need to use the men's room. Run out into the street, hail a cab and then go to the second interview. Apologize for being late and talk for another 5 minutes. Ask to use the restroom again, and return to the first interview.

wew lad. If only the schools weren't literally several states away.

Also by what time can I say that "I'm not getting an interview from this school?"

That's what I used the statement of purpose for. Previous research experience and a simple research proposal. I applied for a Comp Bio/Bioinfo program, so it could be different.

>field
neuro
>years left
1 year research left 2 years medschool. MD-PhD. doing 2 years medschool, 3 year phd, last 2 years med.
>How are you liking it:
awesome. in a meme field where have multiple first author pubs and many more 2nd/3rd author papers. Everyone in this field publishes like 10-20 or more papers a year. If a mouse so much as farts you can write a paper on it in this field. get free med school + stipend.
>Any advice?
The only thing that matters is if your mentor is nice enough to put you on a lot of papers. I have seen students graduate without any first author pubs and only 2-3 2nd/3rd author because professor was stingy. also need a mentor who publishes a ton.
ideal mentor is a 45-50 year old white male who publishes at least 5-10 papers a year (varies with field). need a mentor who is still "peaking" and motivated to do 10+ papers a year, but also want a mentor who had at least one student before. Don't want a female as she might get pregnant and then you are screwed. Minorities usually from Asia and could decide to return at a moments notice. Also usually don't speak english well. Don't want an older mentor as they are often in a slow down mode doing maybe 2-3 papers a year rehashing what they did in their prime.

>Any horror stories
Even at top institutions maybe 1% of PhD students go on to get tenure. I am doing this with the full expectation that I will likely never have tenure, but at least I can work as an MD as backup.

>photonics
>3 years left, started in september
>its going good
>get an industry sponsor if possible. i'm earning more than most of the people I know in grad jobs
>haven't heard any horror stories

its the school where graduates go

I'm in electrical engineering and I think I might want to go to grad school for photonics. Any recommendations?

>What field?
"Theoretical chemistry". I do mostly soft matter based research though.
>How many years (approximately, because research is research) left?
1
>How are you liking it?
I'm not exactly thrilled with the subject, but I've learned useful skills. I absolutely dislike 99% of my peers though, as they are always cold, hostile and dismissive.
>Any advice?
In relation to the above, try to go to a school where you think you'll fit in and be able to bond. Being in the situation where you're the paraih for not "fitting in" with the crowd only shortens your opportunities for success and your chances of success.
>Any horror stories
You've already read 90% of it.

would definately reccomend pic related

Oops, should have said advice for an undergrad. I'm a little worried I won't have enough physics knowledge since my schedule for the next two years is mostly EE and math stuff.

How do you become a golden boy? Or is it just luck of the draw?

Combination of luck, brown nosing and some hard work.

Hey. I was interested in getting into material science. Could you tell me what your research/project is on? Was your undergrad research related to what you"re doing right now?

plant molecular biology. probably about two and a half years left. program average is a little under six years.

i'm enjoying it, but i lucked out and landed in a lab with a good PI.

>advice
the only person with your best interest as their first priority is you. grad school is a job application, treat it like a real job. Ask your PI about salary, benefits, expected hours, time off. make sure you have a clear understanding of your expectations.

>any horror stories
jesus christ yes. people who rotated in labs that turned out rarely accept students and just want free rotation student labor. people who joined labs that turned out to have a long history of refusing funding for students past their third year (not strictly allowed anymore by department rules but there's always ways around it). people who joined labs that just turned out to have toxic atmospheres or PIs that decided to passive-aggressive-push their students out of the program because they didnt' like the student or their project anymore. PIs who are so toxic that their lab members tell everyone interested in the lab to stay teh fuck away. PIs who are so narrow-mindedly focused on their favorite research that they just assume everyone is ok with working 14 hour workdays every day of the week and set the tone for the whole lab by hiring like-minded people, so anyone who joins the lab who isn't like that burns out in three months

I was interested in doing that for grad school. Could you tell me a bit about your research? Does undergrad major matter much or does it just need to be stem?

For those of you in grad school, did you reach out or have an existing correspondence with your graduate advisor/professors before you applied?

I guess what I'm asking is: do departments need to recognize your name from the pile of applications or do you basically just shotgun off a bunch of applications to different schools without ever talking to potential advisors before hand?

computational chemistry/physics
Time left: Well, not really sure, but if the 5 year average holds, another ~42 months. Been in my program 3 semesters now, which is just long enough to knock out my course requiresments (acutally I have one small one left because the guy who was supposed to teach it took a year off), do my rotations, find my PI and join their lab, find two others to be on my committee, and get the general picture of what the lab does. But I am no-where near figuring out what I myself will do, I've just been learning my lab's background. Going from a regular chemistry background to computational chemistry is a big transition so most of what I have been doing the last ~3 months is learning a lot about coding, programming, computer systems, etc with minimal chemistry.
Liking it: Well, I'm getting paid enough to juuuuuuuuuuust pay my rent and go out to eat with friends once in a while, and I don't work very hard yet. Now that the first class I TA'd (freshman chem lab, not as bad as I thought it'd be) is done, I think I actually put in about 15 good hours of effort + 7 or 8 more of half-assing a week, frankly.

continued:

The PI is relaxed (Maybe a bit too much for my own good, to be honest). THere is only one other grad student in the group. All three of us remote access the computers so I often don't actually see anyone except the people at the grocery store for days, it's kind of depressing. I don't live where I grew up so all my friends are in my old town. PI is only in his 3rd of 4th year after his post doc, but he seems to be doing pretty well in his field with a couple of connections.
I'm worried that I have no idea what I'm doing, though. I find little bits to learn, like how to use this computational chem program, this bit of theory X, that part of derivation Y, etc but no real big picture stuff. I have no idea how I will get my name on my first paper in the immediate future.

Horror stories: Nothing too bad, just the implicit, ever present horror that some time I will realize I'm too far behind because I didn't work hard enough and have to leave, or that I will suddenly realize what I should be doing, but have to work 60+ hours a week to catch up

In my case somebody who read my application told my eventual PI about it because the stuff I said I was interested in was the stuff he does. I didn't even know about the PI's work when I applied. I got an email from him asking if I wanted to talk, and that's how it started

>Biophysics
>Approximately three, currently in my third year. Expect around five and a half years, based on previous students' PhDs and on the average for my program.
>I am content with my decision. I have a tremendous passion for the work, and I am pleased with my development and my mentorship, and the progression of my project.
>There's a ton of ways to run with this. For starters, you need to have solid reasons to earn a PhD. You shouldn't go because you don't know what else to do, or you don't want to do med school, or whatever.
>None yet as a PhD student. Though, before grad school, I was a tech in some academic labs, and there I definitely had a few rough experiences in different labs. Looking back now, part of me is surprised I was able to move on to grad school.

I think so. Doing a PhD does not mandate a career in academia. In fact, in biomedical research, approximately 1 in 12 PhD students go on to tenure-track faculty positions. So, the vast majority are not in academia, and many go into R&D in industry.