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Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

brown.edu

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Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#121

Post by jarenmf »

wanderingmind wrote: post #78

For all the fantasy here, let me remind you doing a PhD at an early age is one of the worst things you can do to your financial security (CS Ph.D being a major exception). It does not teach any employable skills, leads to a very high level of depression/anxiety compared to regular jobs and creates a huge opportunity cost where you miss out saving money early that has true compounding capability. The 2019 Nature surve…

A PhD is a journey of self discovery. There's something uniquely fulfilling about being on the edge of human knowledge on one particular subject and pushing that edge a tiny bit. No one does a PhD for the money. Even if you don't get any skills from your PhD which I'm sure you will (data analytics, writing, etc...) you'll certainly gain a boost in self confidence and first hand experience in managing a research project.

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#122

Post by wanderingmind »

bitwize wrote: post #116
wanderingmind wrote: post #78

For all the fantasy here, let me remind you doing a PhD at an early age is one of the worst things you can do to your financial security (CS Ph.D being a major exception). It does not teach any employable skills, leads to a very high level of depression/anxiety compared to regular jobs and creates a huge opportunity cost where you miss out saving money early that has true compounding capability. The 2019 Nature surve…

A Ph.D. is pretty much a license to do science in many fields, such as biochemistry. Unlike CS, you just don't get to do the cutting edge work without one -- you will remain forever a lab tech unless and until you get your doctorate.

maybe that is a good enough reason to avoid those fields and focus on fields that actually value your ideas and implementations rather than a credential.

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#123

Post by arvindamirtaa »

thatguymike wrote: post #100
tombert wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which I find weird; are European/British PhDs generally considered less valuable than American? I didn’t think they were but there’s a lot I don’t know about this.

One major difference between UK and US undegraduate courses is that when you study undergraduate at a UK university, you _only_ do courses in your chosen course of study. No faffing about for a year or two picking a major, no time spent filling language requirements or taking interesting-sounding courses to scratch an itch. As a result, UK graduating undergraduates tend to have spent more time in their chosen field o…

This is actually one of the most honest takes on the UK/Europe vs US undergrad formats.

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#124

Post by wanderingmind »

ekianjo wrote: post #117
wanderingmind wrote: post #78

For all the fantasy here, let me remind you doing a PhD at an early age is one of the worst things you can do to your financial security (CS Ph.D being a major exception). It does not teach any employable skills, leads to a very high level of depression/anxiety compared to regular jobs and creates a huge opportunity cost where you miss out saving money early that has true compounding capability. The 2019 Nature surve…

> For all the fantasy here, let me remind you doing a PhD at an early age A PhD is mainly if you have an interest (or could have an interest) in an Academic career.

Most PhDs start because of an interest in academia and yet more than 90% of them never make it to academia.

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#125

Post by Scarblac »

tombert wrote: post #44
melvinmt wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, part-time PhD's are pretty common in Europe. They also commonly take 3-4 years instead of 6...

Which I find weird; are European/British PhDs generally considered less valuable than American? I didn’t think they were but there’s a lot I don’t know about this.

In Europe the Bachelor is already fully focused on a subject, and you have to get a Master degree before you can enter PhD programs.

In the US the Bachelor is much wider in scope and you can get the Master during the PhD program.

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#126

Post by [deleted] »

wanderingmind wrote: post #78

For all the fantasy here, let me remind you doing a PhD at an early age is one of the worst things you can do to your financial security (CS Ph.D being a major exception). It does not teach any employable skills, leads to a very high level of depression/anxiety compared to regular jobs and creates a huge opportunity cost where you miss out saving money early that has true compounding capability. The 2019 Nature surve…

[deleted]

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#127

Post by yangcheng »

wanderingmind wrote: post #78

For all the fantasy here, let me remind you doing a PhD at an early age is one of the worst things you can do to your financial security (CS Ph.D being a major exception). It does not teach any employable skills, leads to a very high level of depression/anxiety compared to regular jobs and creates a huge opportunity cost where you miss out saving money early that has true compounding capability. The 2019 Nature surve…

it's really depending on people. Dr Steiner already holds a phD and MD at early age. older life is a continuation of earlier life

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#128

Post by sytelus »

arpa wrote: post #106
skeeter2020 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As stated above European PhD are not typically the same as North American PhDs. I've never seen a respected program here that allows for part-time let alone while holding down a full-time job.

PhD is still a PhD in any continent. How academics organize their work is another question.

It is actually not. Many 3 year PhD or part time ones are not recognized for immigration or jobs in USA.

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#129

Post by onion2k »

azhenley wrote: post #5
tombert wrote: post #3

This is really cool. I'm 30 right now, and only just recently finished my bachelors and have been looking to get a PhD, but it's really hard to find a program that will let you work full time while doing it. It doesn't help that a part of me does sort of feel "too old" to do this sometimes. The PhD system in the US is really tailored around the assumption that you haven't entered the corporate world yet. Anyway, it's…

Professor here. You definitely aren’t too old, but I would never take on a PhD student that wants to continue working elsewhere. A PhD is a full-time job. It took me 6.5 years and was hard enough with very little outside distractions.

A PhD is a full-time job.

That should mean it's a 40 hour a week commitment, not that it's the only thing you do for half a decade or more.

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#130

Post by bombadilo »

evanb wrote: post #111
melvinmt wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, part-time PhD's are pretty common in Europe. They also commonly take 3-4 years instead of 6...

… if you already have a master’s degree, which takes 2 years. In the US many 5-6 year PhD programs do not require—and in fact include—a master’s degree.

A masters is typically one year full time, two years part time.
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