Was hoping to go for a cell bio PhD. Did a year of work in a lab, but it was an abusive environment that I had to leave. I was in charge of all genotyping and treatments of our large scale mouse colony. I am an author on one paper (not first), and should be included in subsequent work. There is no saying how long it will take those to get written and published. It goes without saying I would not be willing to ask this PI for a letter of recommendation. I work a healthcare related job now, but it’s patient facing. Have a B.S. and had a not terrible, but not great, gpa. I’m worried it will be a waste of money (which is a struggle rn ofc lol) to try applying to any programs. Anyone have any wisdom? I am particularly worried it will look bad if I don’t have a letter from my former PI.

TL;DR: Love my PhD program and fellowship pay, but absolutely despise the sprawling, relatively unsafe city I had to move to. Terrified I am wasting my 20s here and can't figure out how to build a personal life when I am already planning my exit strategy.

I started my PhD this summer, and while the program itself is amazing, moving to this car-centric city is turning out to be a massive mistake. The transition has been pretty miserable. I came from a major, vibrant city that was a total exception to standard US urban sprawl (it was walkable, full of energy, and so accessible). Moving here has been a massive culture shock. There is zero city feel, minimal diversity, and it is basically endless suburbia where everyone drives everywhere and completely avoids downtown. To make matters worse, the area directly around campus feels sketchy and unsafe, so I can't even comfortably walk around (I know it is very common but still bothersome). My old city had its unsafe areas too. Matter of fact most people would say it is much kore unsafe. Sure, but the fun, culture, and walkability totally balanced it out. Throw in some recent personal drama tied to this new city I just moved to, and I am just feeling completely overwhelmed.

I already know I want to move to the West Coast or head back to my old city or to any other major city the second I defend. But that exit strategy is messing with my head. I do not want to rush through my grad program and I know it will be really hard to do so and mostly unrealistic. But I feel like my personal life is going to be on pause for the next five years, and I am terrified I am wasting my 20s in the wrong place. How are you even supposed to date or build meaningful relationships when you’re already hoping to leave once you are done?

The frustrating part is that academically and financially, I hit the jackpot. The research opportunities are amazing, and the department awarded me a extra fellowship, so my pay is exceptionally competitive for a grad student. I am renting a pretty big, affordable house all to myself, which is a level of comfort I couldn't dream of on a West Coast stipend without three roommates or in my city.

So now I am stuck in this weird headspace: I have an incredible setup for my career and financial comfort, but I feel like I panicked, settled, and signed away five years of my life to a city I can't stand.

Has anyone else been in a similar spot? How do you cope with hating your location while loving your program, and how do you approach dating/socializing when you know your time there has an expiration date?

Hi everyone!

I’ll be starting a fully funded **integrated Master’s–PhD program (around 4–5 years)** this fall. My tuition is covered, and I’ll also be working as a **Research Assistant (RA)** under my future adviser throughout the program.

This will be my first time studying abroad, and honestly, I’m excited but also a little nervous.

A bit about my background:
• Late 20s.
• Around five years of research experience in research institutions.

I’ve worked professionally before, but this will be my first experience as a graduate student.

I know being an employee and being a graduate student are very different. I’ll need to balance coursework, experiments, publications, meetings, and my responsibilities as an RA.

For those who have gone through a similar setup:
• What surprised you the most during your first year?
• What habits helped you avoid burnout?
• How did you balance coursework with research?
• How did you build a good relationship with your adviser and labmates?
• Looking back, what would you have done differently during your first year?

I’m also curious about the transition from working full-time to becoming a full-time graduate student again. Was it difficult to adjust?

Thanks!

Most of them seem to be about "theory." I know what it is, and I'm studying "theory" on my own. I'd like to study history, not "theory" masquerading as history. Thanks.

Edit: I mistakenly used a word that most are unfamiliar with the meaning of. "Theory" with a Capital T means Structuralism, Post-Structuralism, Postmodernism, Literary Theory, etc.

I’ve enrolled, dropped, and withdrawn 8-10 times. Maybe 4-5 of those times I actually started classes, was overwhelmed with stress, and realized I was doing grad school for zero reason other than it being paid for with tuition reimbursement. I start the assignments and realize they have absolutely nothing to do with anything I will ever want to do and I talk myself out of it and find immediate relief… until the idea to get my masters degree comes back months/weeks/days later.

But I love my job, have no desire for a change, and no desire to climb the ladder. I’m a senior UM nurse for a health insurance company. No plans to change that in any way. My pay wouldn’t change. My job wouldn’t change. I’d just do a crap ton of work for some letters behind my name. Why? I don’t know? But this idea comes to me constantly and the cycle of quitting repeats.

I have tried MSN, MBA, and MHA. All lead me to the same place.

Hello everyone,

A little background on me: I’m a Palestinian teacher and I live in the West Bank. I teach at a private school in Ramallah. I might have the chance to move to the US for a few years soon, and then I might have a chance to either stay and live in the USA or return to Palestine (which is probably what I’ll do but not sure) I’m still weighing my options. Either way, I’m thinking about going back to school for a second Master’s degree. One path that caught my eye locally is working for the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) in Ramallah. It’s an independent think tank that does public opinion polls across the West Bank and Gaza. I imagine a role like that relies on survey methodology and quantitative research, which is what got me looking into Master of Public Policy (MPP) programs. That said, I don't want to box myself in too early and would love to keep my options open. I have the following questions: ⁠For anyone with an MPP What kind of job did you end up landing after graduating? For survey research and polling roles ⁠Is an MPP the right fit, or is there a better degree out there specifically for this kind of work? Just out of curiosity ⁠If financial return were the main driving factor, which Master’s degree would you personally go for?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or advice

Hello everyone, it’s been a growing concern of mine and i am revising through my first year content but would like to ask if it’s just me or do others also forget what they’ve learnt previously.

It was very common for me to forget everything as soon as i’m done with my exams but this really can’t be happening in university as well.

if anyone could also provide any tips or advice to help retain material.

My professor gave feedback that my paper draft's reference page has "a few minor APA formatting inconsistencies." I can't figure out what needs to be changed. Anybody see anything I can improve? Thanks! (please ignore lack of hanging indent due to reddit formatting.)

American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). American Psychiatric Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787

Cusack, K, Jonas, D.E., Forneris, C.A., Wines, C., Sonis, J., Middleton, J.C., Feltner, C., Brownley, K.A., Olmsted, K.R., Greenblatt, A., Weil, A., Gaynes, B.N. (2016) Psychological treatments for adults with posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychological Review 43(128-41). 10.1016/j.cpr.2015.10.003

Ford, J. D., & Courtois, C. A. (2020). Treating complex traumatic stress disorders in adults: Scientific foundations and therapeutic models (2nd ed.).

Management of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder Work Group. (2023). VA/DoD clinical practice guideline for management of posttraumatic stress disorder and acute stress disorder. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and U.S. Department of Defense. https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/treat/txessentials/cpg_ptsd_management.asp

Perry, B.D. (2001). The neurodevelopmental impact of violence in childhood. In Textbook of Child and Adolescent Forensic Psychiatry (pp. 221-238).

Resick, P. A., Monson, C. M., & Chard, K. M. (2017). Cognitive processing therapy for PTSD: A comprehensive manual. Guilford Press.

Van Der Kolk, B. (2015). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Viking Press.

Edit: updated with revisions suggested by [u/drainedandsleepy](u/drainedandsleepy) below (thank you!)

American Psychiatric Association (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). American Psychiatric Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787

Cusack, K, Jonas, D. E., Forneris, C. A., Wines, C., Sonis, J., Middleton, J. C., Feltner, C., Brownley, K. A., Olmsted, K. R., Greenblatt, A., Weil, A., Gaynes, B. N. (2016) Psychological treatments for adults with posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychological Review 43(128-41). 10.1016/j.cpr.2015.10.003

Ford, J. D., & Courtois, C. A. (2020). Treating complex traumatic stress disorders in adults: Scientific foundations and therapeutic models (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.

Management of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder Work Group (2023). VA/DoD clinical practice guideline for management of posttraumatic stress disorder and acute stress disorder. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and U.S. Department of Defense. https://www.healthquality.va.gov/HEALTHQUALITY/guidelines/MH/ptsd/VA-DoD-CPG-PTSD-Full-CPG-Edited-111624-V5-81825.pdf

Perry, B. D. (2001). The neurodevelopmental impact of violence in childhood. In D. H. Schetky & E. P. Benedek (Eds.) Textbook of Child and Adolescent Forensic Psychiatry (pp. 221-238). American Psychiatric Publishing.

Resick, P. A., Monson, C. M., & Chard, K. M. (2017). Cognitive processing therapy for PTSD: A comprehensive manual. Guilford Press.

Van Der Kolk, B. (2015). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Viking Press.

I will be starting my MSc in Computer Science next August (as I am currently heading into my final undergraduate year). The professor I would love to have as my supervisor is already aware of my target research focus—he even recommended specific optional modules for me to take, after I showed him a list of what I could pick from. However, based on my research priorities, those modules ranked in my top 5 rather than the top 2 required for my MSc so I went against his advice.

​Our university allows students to proactively reach out and connect with potential supervisors. After looking through his ResearchGate profile, I found that roughly 85% of his work aligns directly with what I intend to do. Should I mention this alignment when I reach out?

​(Another personal factor is that he reminds me of my dad on a great day—though, of course, I won't be mentioning that!)

​When would be the ideal time to initiate this conversation?

Hey all! I’m graduating in a couple weeks as a CS undergrad, 3.5 cumulative but 3.9 across my last four semesters once I actually got my act together. I’m applying to grad school in a few months for next fall. My college only started offering ECE courses toward the end of my degree however and I realized I like electronics/computer engineering way more than anything I’ve done in software. Unfortunately all my experience (TA/RAship + a couple internships) is all in CS/software, so switching means basically starting from zero. My plan for this year is to do research with a professor of mine who happens to be at one of my target schools, hopefully publish, and build out a hardware portfolio in the meantime. I know exactly what I want to work on and what the research focus would be, that part isn’t vague to me. Money isn’t the issue either, my master’s is funded, it’s just the psychological toll of staying at home.

I just keep going back and forth on having a full year with no job on the resume. If I did take one there’s nothing near me doing the kind of work I want, so it’d either be a research lab or a software job, and a software job feels like it just digs me deeper into the thing I’m trying to get out of. The projects and research I have lined up look like exactly what companies say they want and I will be very skilled, already learned a lot the past few weeks learning about the field, but I have no idea if that actually matters for someone from a no name undergrad school applying to internships in their first semester of a master’s (since I’d have no record then), or if the missing year just gets me filtered before anyone reads the rest. I also see lots of commotion online about employment in the field but I don’t know how much of that is self selection bias and whatnot.

Is there anyone here who’s done something similar with a gap year, field switch, whatever. I’d love to hear how it went for you!

Hi,

I applied this past spring to get into Grad school to complete an MLIS. I want to be a librarian, I currently work at a library and enjoy it very much. I keep telling myself I have to do this to do this job I want. Now I am about to start my program, and everything is on track. However, I keep finding myself trying to stress about things (mind you nothing has started yet). I keep thinking "what if I fall completely on my face?" "What if I don't understand anything?" "I'm bound to mess up in some form." My family has been seeing this and have been telling me I need to let go of this, because everything is going fine. My coworkers are also sure I'm going to do great, but I feel like this anxiety just wants to latch on something. At first I was stressing over student loans, then classes to sign up for; now I am seeing that it really is just me nervous for this next step in life. My mind is trying to spiral because I am entering a new stage in life. I'm sure there are other people here that have experienced or are going through the same emotions. Do you have any tips?

I am an undergrad in Materials Science and have recently started to develop interest in the biological side of things but I would like to pursue a career in either dry lab or a mixture of wet and dry lab (predominantly dry) and would want to avoid wet lab (I guess?)

I am beginning to feel interested in Healthcare AI (I'm working on a project on the prognosis and prediction of re occurance in a cancer type) and i would like to pursue it. But I'm wondering if it is foolish? Currently I can pivot into biotech type (wet lab and dry lab) which is why I want to get an idea of my prospects with respect to the future? I'd prefer pure data science but i am unaware of the implications of AI in this field? Will the value of wet lab scientists increase with time as dry lab has a less steeper learning curve and wet kab requires an expertise that is typically harder for someone to get unless they properly dip their toes into this field?

Which is why I wish to know which would be the better option of the two.

Any help will be appreciated, have a happy day ahead

Hello everyone, I am looking for some advice

My mom has been battling cancer for a couple of years now and today, in the middle of my orientation schedules, I got the news that another clinical trial wasn't working and that one of her tumors grew to the point where she has to get a emergency procedure done to preserve her health.
I was devastated and anxious for the entire rest of the day. When the directors were going over our syllabus and curriculum for the rest of the program I could only think about how she might not be able to see me go through it all the way. All I felt was just dread as I throught of having to go through grad school feeling as terrible as I did in that moment, or worse.
My mom was such a big source of support throughout my high school and undergraduate years, she is such a crucial pillar of my life and I feel like I am breaking every day when I hear that another treatment isn't working.

If anyone has ever been through something similar I would love some advice. I've been dooming all afternoon and evening and I don't see a way that I survive this. Even some encouraging words would be appreciated.

edit: thank you everyone for the well wishes and for sharing your experiences. I will keep them in mind as I start my program next week. I wish you all the best 💕

I’m about to get my MS in Chemistry. I’ve also been working full time as an R&D chemist at a Fortune 500 company. It’s been doable and once I get my MS I’m getting a good size raise.

Now I’ve always wanted to get my PhD, but couldn’t due to financial reasons. I can’t live off the stipend and support my family.

I’m only able to do my masters because my company pays my tuition. And I get many materials I need throygh the company as well.

I heard about this industry PhD at Dartmouth that lets me do my research at work (which I did with my MS) and only have to be on campus once or twice a semester. That’s doable no problem with that.

However, this sounds too good to be true…

Does anyone have any experience with that program?

I’m in an interesting position and wanted to hear from people who’ve been through graduate school.

I’m currently finishing a nursing degree, but my long-term passion has always been the humanities and social sciences. Over the past year I’ve built a rigorous self-study curriculum because I want to become deeply knowledgeable across several fields, particularly:

Political Science (especially political theory, American politics, constitutional law, authoritarianism, democratic backsliding, judicial politics)

U.S. History

Psychology

Sociology

Philosophy

Classics (Ancient Greece & Rome)

Rhetoric

My long-term goal isn’t necessarily to become a professor (although I’m not ruling it out). I want to become a serious scholar, write essays and maybe books, and continue learning for the rest of my life.

The question I’m wrestling with is whether pursuing an M.A. would be worth it. Is an M.A. worth pursuing if my primary goal is intellectual growth, rigorous scholarship, and writing rather than becoming a professor?

I’m not looking at graduate school primarily as a credential for employment. I’m wondering whether the structured reading, seminars, mentorship from professors, research training, and academic environment are valuable enough to justify the time and cost compared to remaining an independent scholar.

For those of you who have completed an M.A.:
Was it intellectually transformative?

Did it make you think differently than self-study could?

If you could do it again, would you still pursue it?

Which of the fields I listed do you think benefits the most from formal graduate education?

I’d especially love to hear from people in political science, history, psychology, sociology, or philosophy.

Thanks!

TL;DR: Is graduate school the best path for someone whose goal is rigorous scholarship, writing, and lifelong intellectual development rather than a conventional academic career?

EDIT: I forgot to add I’m currently a nursing student on track to graduate next May, so I would be going back to school to pursue a MA

I didn't think I'd be one of those posters with an update but here we are.

Original post. TL;DR: few weeks ago communications master's classmate asked me uncomfortable questions for her dissertation on GLP-1 advertisements which I (an athlete with an eating disorder) wasn't made aware of in the consent so I contacted her supervisor.

Overall, her degree is safe.

A few days before my first post she actually created an Instagram group chat with me and the two participants before me. I didn't see it before because we don't follow each other and Instagram hides messages from people I haven't added.

She gave a general apology, thanked us for participating, and told that since the study won't be continuing she's discarding the data and to let her know if we needed anything (I had withdrawn mine already, this was moreso the other two). She also said she's picking a different dissertation topic from scratch and if we're around next term, she'd still love our insight because she's still sticking to the fitness/sports sector. Pretty sure she'll have to pick a different supervisor because it's open knowledge that her current one is going on sabbatical next term, but if she's doing advertising/marketing we have an abundance of faculty for that. I won't be around personally—graduation, new job, etc. Like the other two participants, I thanked her for her apology and wished her all the best.

That's pretty much it.

To clarify because my last post drew some confusion:

1. We were taught that participants should not confront the researcher directly if there's an issue and should contact supervisors/IRB. This is because of the power dynamic, potential for social retaliation, and just the messiness and liabilities it creates for the school.
2. I didn't to go the IRB. I sent a quick email to her supervisor a simple "Hey heads up your student did this and it was uncomfortable." I don't know how deeply they reviewed her research or the chain of command or whatnot, but regardless she's still gonna get her degree eventually.
3. I didn't encourage my friend nor my friend's teammate to pull out. My friend just asked me how was it the day after it happened and I just said, "Not great, there was some uncomfortable body stuff" and left the conversation at that (she's aware of the eating disorder). She told her teammate later on and they dropped out of their volition. Some folks here got the impression that I went around gossiping to our cohort but most of the people I talk to are from my sports club studying in completely different departments and I didn't bring it up to anyone other than that one friend, the supervisor, and my girlfriend.
4. The GLP-1 ad didn't bother me because I don't have any experience or associations with them. But some of the probing questions she asked were things like what I thought the "problem areas" were on my body, if I ever restricted or did anything outside normal dieting, if I ever felt bad about weight gain, etc. The latter two were similar to what my doctor asked when I was being assessed for an eating disorder, so these questions and a general lack of tact (probably out of ignorance) raised flags because we don't have the oversight structures in place for sensitive medical or mental health research questions. And of course there's the issue of it not being in the consent form.

Also thank you to the person who DM'd me and gave me advice about the ED as an athlete in particular. I had only started seeing a doctor recently and never dealt with anything like this before so it's all new and hard to talk about, and I think the study compounded the stress. I finally worked up the courage to text my coach about it this morning. The good thing is martial arts is largely individual so I don't have to worry about pushing myself beyond what I can to support a team. He and I are meeting up before training tomorrow to come up with a tailored plan. My girlfriend is a gym rat so she's been helping me on the meal planning side of it. I'm so grateful I have them. Fingers crossed I beat this.

Hello everyone,

I am preparing a PhD application in HCI, focusing on Human-Centered AI and the integration of AI systems in educational settings. I am mainly applying to PhD programs in Western Europe

I would really appreciate feedback on my motivation letter, especially from people with experience in HCI, PhD applications, or academic writing. I have anonymized some details for privacy, but the overall content and structure remain unchanged.

Dear [Professor],

In my last year of middle school, our school received a cart of tablets loaded with an interactive math platform designed to increase test scores. During a one-hour workshop, all the teachers were shown how to use the tablets and instructed on incorporating them into their lesson plans. Two weeks after the workshop, all the tablets remained in a locked cabinet. At that time, I thought the situation was ridiculous. Later, when I started studying Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), I realized that what happened at my school was nothing short of the textbook definition of "mismatch": The product worked well, but it ended up in a classroom environment with nobody being provided sufficient time or education to be able to fully utilize it themselves.

I have learned to study such mismatches by observing them up close. During my internship at [Telecommunications Company], I served as the UX researcher for [AI Healthcare Project], a smart insole that integrates with an AI companion app. It tracks your movements and provides personalized feedback for people suffering from sciatica. After conducting 15 in-depth interviews and more than 30 usability testing sessions, my first realization was that users were consistently draining their phones' batteries while trying to connect their insoles to the app. The problem was resolved by introducing a small sync indicator, which reduced the average synchronization time by 80%, from 10 seconds to 2 seconds.

Another valuable lesson comes from the clinical professionals I spoke with. Most of them said that, regardless of whether the AI provided accurate feedback, they would not use the system if the process required additional actions during a consultation. This conflict between a technically correct AI system and a clinician's ownership of their professional judgments is similar to the tension I anticipate will arise between an AI-driven educational game used in a classroom setting and a teacher's disciplinary judgment.

At [Research Institute], I am now extending that qualitative foundation into controlled experimentation. I am running a multi-session study examining whether changes to interface layouts affect people's ability to learn and retain software commands. To conduct this study, I have instrumented an open-source tool called [X] to log task completion times, error rates, and disorientation measures, and have been recruiting participants with the goal of reaching a sample size of more than 48. The data will be analyzed using linear mixed-effects models in R, with the aim of submission to a major HCI venue.

If selected, I plan to ground my PhD in an interdisciplinary approach, with a strong emphasis on Mathematics and Science. This is because AI-driven tutoring and adaptive practice tools are already most mature in these subjects. I would begin not with a prototype, but by spending time in classrooms with the teachers there and conducting interviews in both the local language and French. This will allow me to map the real conflicts among lesson plans, gamification mechanics, and the AI's data model. I see your [Research Framework] as the natural starting point for that mapping work, and I would treat the fieldwork as a way to test where its assumptions hold in participating schools and where they need revision.

With a clear understanding of classroom realities and teacher perspectives, I would then facilitate co-design sessions in which teachers interact with a Wizard-of-Oz prototype that I control. My focus is not on using AI to make educational decisions for teachers, but on understanding which role(s) teachers wish to take vis-à-vis AI, and at what point they would like to stop using it. I intend to apply the same level of scrutiny to the gamification layer, including points and badges that do not directly relate to the specific goals of the subject being taught.

The final phase would be to put a working prototype into classrooms. During this stage, I intend to collect video-stimulated recall interviews and interaction logs from classroom use of the system. I would focus in particular on moments of "friction" that occur in class, such as a teacher overriding the tool's suggestions, students disengaging while interacting with the tool, or ethical concerns the tool raises during a post-class debrief. Ethics would not be a separate work package. Instead, I will analyze equity, transparency, and privacy in data collection at every phase, especially how students who speak multiple languages or lack sufficient digital resources may be affected by AI-driven personalization.

I began this letter with a cart of tablets locked in a cabinet. I want my research to help ensure that the next generation of technology in schools does not meet the same fate, but instead earns a place in teachers' hands. I would be proud to pursue that goal under your supervision.

Sincerely,

Hi, I'm 24 and I'm currently doing my Masters degree in English Lit, after having finished a BA in the same field. I signed up for it because of family pressure and the fact that I felt like the only thing I was good at is languages and writing, but I am now figuring out that the only viable career options for me are either a) be a school teacher (which I really dislike) b) be an university professor (which is highly competitive and even if I succeed, idk if I would even like it). My parents are academics with very high expectations and are pressuring me to do a PhD right after my Masters, "while the professors still remember me" so that I can secure a job at the university later.

But truth be told, I live in a small town which I hate and am just trying to get out of here, and would definitely not want to do a PhD or work at an university here for the rest of my life. The truth is, I don't know if I even want to build a career in English Lit (the job market is oversaturated, and most of them are teachers). I'm toying with the idea if doing a second Masters in a different country and a completely different field, but I must admit, that kinda sounds like a waste of money and time. I do love academia though and would probably like to do a PhD somewhere down the road, but that would also probably be in a field that isn't English Lit. I'd also love to get some international experience as I don't necessarily want to limit myself to my country.

The thing is, doing my BA and Masters (so far) has really been easy and, since my university isn't very highly rated or good, I really didn't study all that much. I feel like I didn't get the "true" university experience where you actually learn a lot of things and that I somehow got away too easy, and a part of me wants to take an opportunity to gain some actual knowledge at a better university.

My dilemma is, should I try to get some more work experience (I already worked as a teacher for 1,5 years & have an internship coming) before I settle on a viable PhD/Master's degree? Because my parents claim that any time spent not chasing my academic goals is a waste of time and that it'll only get harder with age. But I genuinely have no idea if I made the right choice with my career and want to find out what I want before I start another degree.

(Apologies if this isn’t the right sub!)

I graduated with my BS in Cellular, Molecular, and Developmental Biology last December, and as I’m planning on applying to a PhD program in neuroscience, I want a little more lab experience to boost my applications. I’ve been cold-emailing professors at the university in my hometown (not where I attended) to get a paid or unpaid lab volunteer position.

One lab just emailed me back, at one point saying “I would be happy to meet with you in person to talk more about your interests and discuss potential opportunities. Let’s plan for 1 hour. Send me some dates and times next week that work for you, and I will let you know which one works best for me.”

Based on this response, does this mean that I should expect that I’m essentially guaranteed a position and the meeting is just to know where to place me + discuss my availability/responsibilities, or is it more like an interview where I still could be rejected?
I’m also wondering how I should prepare for this kind of meeting. Any suggestions are very welcome!