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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

#201

Post by oytis »

conjectures wrote: post #180
ildon wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EU Professor here. You're right, expectations are very different in the "old continent". Things very quite significantly from country to country, but generally speaking in most EU you can do your PhD while working. Retrospectively, knowing what I know know, I should add that if I were to start a PhD now I wouldn't trust a university that asks for a full time commitment, no exceptions. I would be very suspicious that…

> in most EU you can do your PhD while working. You really can't at good universities in the UK. At Cambridge we had to get special permission to live more than 10 miles from Great St Mary's. My advisor's advice was that it was near impossible to finish up while working. Had enough of Americans telling me about their excruciatingly long PhD programmes when half of that time is spent teaching and doing exams which we'…

Well, UK is not EU anymore.

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#202

Post by cromka »

garmaine wrote: post #167
blip54321 wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

New continent: - Full time commitment seems critical to the process. A Ph.D is a time of intellectual exploration, and you can't really do that fighting work and family deadlines. - On the other hand, time can be squished for older people by virtue of industry experience making them more efficient - I'd be hesitant about remote, since so much of a Ph.D is learning from others. Hallway conversations are critical. That…

> Full time commitment seems critical to the process. A Ph.D is a time of intellectual exploration, and you can't really do that fighting work and family deadlines. This is BS. In every other field great strides have been made by individuals who balance a multitude of life requirements. Being able to devote every waking hour to something only results in burnout. And, I suppose, graduate students slave labor, which is…

Agreed, this is just the stereotypical, American "hustle porn" boot-strapping mentality, mixed-up with a dash of Stockholm syndrome.

Source: European, have lived in the US since 6 years now.

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#203

Post by gspr »

agustif wrote: post #187

‘My students never knew’: the lecturer who lived in a tent https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/oct/30/my-student... I say fuck to those big name universities that pay peanuts to their most overexploited workers. === Edited: no absolutisms is better Do only a PhD if you're sure you can afford it.

Ugh. I agree that the exploitative behavior of some big name universities is horrible, but I don't at all understand how you from this conclude that "academia is over", and in turn from that that people should avoid doing PhD.

Your comment is 10/10 HN.

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#205

Post by gspr »

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…

But in return you might get to do amazing research and discover things that our species did not know before. That's worth something to those of us who don't view life as a monetary optimization game.

Sheesh, HN is depressing sometimes.

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#207

Post by conjectures »

oytis wrote: post #201
conjectures wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> in most EU you can do your PhD while working. You really can't at good universities in the UK. At Cambridge we had to get special permission to live more than 10 miles from Great St Mary's. My advisor's advice was that it was near impossible to finish up while working. Had enough of Americans telling me about their excruciatingly long PhD programmes when half of that time is spent teaching and doing exams which we'…

Well, UK is not EU anymore.

Ba-dum tish!

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#208

Post by zd123 »

cg30e wrote: post #71

This is very inspiring. I too am young and been in the work force for several years, but unlike the other comments in this thread I am not settled down as an older student returning to school. I am willing to give up a high paying salary to return back to school as a PhD student and I am not tied down with a mortgage or anything else. I find mathematics simply too interesting to not learn at the highest level. Workin…

Do you mind sharing the books you found helpful to self learn math with a tutor?

I am looking to also go on a self study mathematical journey

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#209

Post by programLyrique »

Zababa wrote: post #162
azhenley wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. It took me 6.5 years and was hard enough with very little outside distractions. Interesting, in France in computer science, PhDs are often made while working part time on something related to the PhD.

Are you referring to CIFRE-funded PhD thesis?

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#210

Post by lixtra »

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.

In many places of the world PhD candidates officially work 50% and more as teaching assistants, system admins or other vaguely related jobs. I see little scientific downside to work part time in a well paid related job instead.
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