Now that summer is here, it’s a great time for a little grad school friendly reading and Surviving Your Stupid, Stupid Decision To Go To Grad School by Adam Ruben (PhD!) is an entertaining look at the world of higher education. Best of all, it’s easy to read in small chunks so your chances of finishing it before your dissertation are good.
Adam Ruben ’01, a molecular biology major who developed a standup comedy act while earning his Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins, was back on campus May 6 to promote his new book, Surviving Your Stupid, Stupid Decision to Go to Grad School.
Read the book “Surviving Your STUPID STUPID Decision to go to Grad School” by Adam Ruben. lols will ensue.
Chapter titles like “Stop? Drop? Enroll?” and “Let My Pupil Go” characterize this Ph.D.-turned-standup-comedian’s cleverly caustic account of graduate school.
Today’s questions focus on what happens after the program, specifically on how Ruben got his book published and on why he decided not to become a professor after earning his degree.
Adam Ruben earned a PhD in molecular biology from Johns Hopkins University while enjoying a side career as a stand-up comic. The outcome of his career is not just his dissertation, but also the book “Surviving Your Stupid Stupid Decision to Go to Grad School.” Adam took the time to answer our many questions. Read on for advice on the proper care and feeding of advisors, including how to handle professors when they are in a party mood.
31-page excerpt of the full book, available on Scribd. But you should totally buy the book.
While most doctoral programs have some sort of orientation, the focus on such matters as required courses, time to degree and dissertation goals may diminish opportunities to consider really important matters — such as how to wander into a colloquium at which food is served, timing your entrance so you don’t need to listen to the talk.
There are so many different kinds of grad school programs, it makes giving grad school survival advice a tricky thing. So Adam Ruben takes a tongue-in-cheek approach that’s light on the actual, practical advice, and heavy on the humor. The result is a very funny, entertaining read and a light-hearted gift choice for the new college grad headed for grad school.
An affable biologist double-dips his chips for TV science.
Princeton Alumni Weekly
I’m married. I have no kids. I live in an apartment near the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and work at a biotech company in Rockville, Md. And later this month, for some reason, I will find it very important to share this information with people I have not seen since last May.
Popular Intersession course teaches students the art of stand-up.
Knowing we would attend a wedding in St. Louis, Missouri, one weekend and a bridal shower in Chicago, Illinois, the next, the two of us decided to turn the events into an excuse for a summer road trip through Illinois and parts of neighboring states from June 28 to July 4. [Coauthored with Marina Koestler Ruben.]
Includes my one-act plays “Out of Character” and “Shot At.”