My haggard "I'm tired, overworked, and just want to be quiet right now" look has, I've learned recently, been misinterpreted as a "get the heck away from me, I'm angry" look. I hadn't the slightest idea.
If I'm a competitive student, with a very good record and lots of promise, my decision on what grad school to attend will probably depend on pay, faculty, and facilities. In that order.
If your advisor doesn't own a group copy of citation software, convince him or her to purchase one. If your PI's a cheapskate, invest in your own copy.
As Dwight Eisenhower once said, "In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." The same may be said for careers.
To choose a career path without first examining all the options--in detail--would be to sell myself short. I intend to be as mindful as possible about the steps I take once I leave graduate school.
Peering in from the outside, the research lab I visited for about a month provided a completely different research experience than what I was used to in the United States.
"Integrity and honesty are the foundations upon which scientific inquiry and discovery are built. Trust allows us to believe what others have done and to use the results of others to drive our own research."
What you don't always think about when starting graduate school is that sometimes the choice to go to graduate school--especially when you haven't already met that special someone--can delay or impede your social progress, even as it advances your career.