This is good advice. As somebody who basically did what you’re describing, I can say that it worked for me.
The only things I would take issue with are: grades/fellowships/awards are not totally useless. They can help you signal you will be a good asset to a lab, and they can help you get funding from big agencies later in your career. I agree that undergraduates overvalue their grades relative to getting actual research experience or publishing something (the best currency once you graduate), but I would not endorse completely disregarding your grades.
I totally agree that they’re not useless—prestige/signalling in general is useful! And I think the median student is probably not going to be the kind of person who can fail out and still be wildly successful.
But, I think they are way overvalued. If the choice is between getting straight A’s and honor societies and awards, or getting B’s and also getting paid to do research, I think too many people choose the former over the latter.
This is good advice. As somebody who basically did what you’re describing, I can say that it worked for me.
The only things I would take issue with are: grades/fellowships/awards are not totally useless. They can help you signal you will be a good asset to a lab, and they can help you get funding from big agencies later in your career. I agree that undergraduates overvalue their grades relative to getting actual research experience or publishing something (the best currency once you graduate), but I would not endorse completely disregarding your grades.
I totally agree that they’re not useless—prestige/signalling in general is useful! And I think the median student is probably not going to be the kind of person who can fail out and still be wildly successful.
But, I think they are way overvalued. If the choice is between getting straight A’s and honor societies and awards, or getting B’s and also getting paid to do research, I think too many people choose the former over the latter.