Pros
Time off to interview, I got into the school I wanted
Cons
Heavily saddled with repetitive technician work. PI and others lied about what my responsibilities would be in the laboratory but by the time I arrived it was too late to leave without delaying graduate school applications. It was very clear our job as postbacs was to be technicians willing to do tedious labor for long hours at low pay for a letter of recommendation. PIs regularly abuse postbacs. 0 accountability. Administration will never side with a 2 year postbac over a tenured faculty member regardless of the offense Lack of mentorship, Baltimore is too far from Bethesda to take advantage of the NIH graduate school resources. My PI offered me next to nothing to help me with my career goals. Treated like technicians not trainees Extremely political. Science came second to the agenda of people in power. Your experience will be highly dependent on your PI. Vet them thoroughly because once you join you are stuck until you apply to school. Avoid labs with alot of postbacs because they are using them for cheap labor. Look into RA programs at your school of choice before considering the NIH.
