Lin herself harbored no desire to study in the US, and instead entered the Academia Sinica's Institute of Economics as a research assistant. Thinking she would stay in Taiwan to finish her graduate studies, she also enrolled in a doctoral program at National Taiwan Normal University.
林滿紅原本沒有出國唸書的打算，反而進入中研院經濟所擔任研究助理，並考上台師大博士班，留在國內進修。