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I Dropped Out of Grad School Today

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Re: I Dropped Out of Grad School Today

#21

Post by sam »

ced wrote: post #12
ninwa wrote: post #3

It's brave to drop everything you've been working so hard for in sights of opportunity, but is it really in the electronic part search market? Sorry, I don't mean to sound negative, but a PhD in physics would have opened such a large expanse of possibilities. You're going to throw it away for a chance at more women and on the whim of one man (PG's) advice. Best of luck.

A PhD in physics today opens up some opportunities in the one very specific field that you studied. Getting post-doctoral positions is hard; there isn't that much money floating around. I know that I'm dropping out soon.

Exactly. If you are devoted to one specific field then grad school makes a lot of sense. I also dropped out of grad school in October partially because I didn't see myself devoting my career to the particular sub-field I was in.

Re: I Dropped Out of Grad School Today

#23

Post by smagister »

ashu wrote: post #14
amichail wrote: post #6

I suspect that startups are for more creative people. So you need to decide whether to pursue an analytical phd or a more creative startup. BTW, you might find this discussion interesting: http://weblog.fortnow.com/2006/07/science-and-art-of-computation.html

Creativity rules everywhere. A good Ph.D. from a good school requires tons of creativity.

I wouldn't say "requires". There is a common saying in physics grad schools: Put monkey in lab. Wait 10 years. Monkey gets PhD.

Re: I Dropped Out of Grad School Today

#24

Post by psbt »

jmzachary wrote: post #16

Couldn't you have taken a sabbatical? I mean, did you just totally walk away from it? I took a sabbatical for a year from a PhD in CS to pursue some medical science ideas, then went back when they didn't go far enough to make a living on. Not flaming, just curious.

if you take a sabbatical then you haven't really risked anything. you have to go all the way. what do you guys think about James from Hot or Not giving up his millions. He probably went out to a nice dinner to celebrate.

Re: I Dropped Out of Grad School Today

#25

Post by smock »

Its interesting to me that everyone here seems to have advice to offer, some of it very personally critical, to a man who is merely outlining his own train of thought, not telling anyone to follow his path. I am nearing the end of my fourth year in physics grad school and have never been closer to quitting. My own experience has been very isolating-I work long hours in the basement of a lab, limiting of my personal growth-I've been in a kind of 'stasis' where I'm in this college environment but very clearly do not fit the mold of a college student, and professionally frustrating - not only do I not have the kind of control over my project which people claim as the holy grail of a Ph.D., there is no clear end in sight to what I am doing. The only thing keeping me here is momentum and fear. Here is a man who just took his life off the usual path and spat in the face of fear. That deserves respect.

Re: I Dropped Out of Grad School Today

#26

Post by clamgroin »

psbt wrote: post #22
clamgroin wrote: post #20

you're bananas if you think a startup is going to help you meet girls or improve your social life. especially an electronics website startup... yikes.

as long as the startup makes money the girls wont care what it's selling.

if only that were really true. y'all never been to a silicon valley singles thing, huh? all the ladies are lining up to bang the bartender.

Re: I Dropped Out of Grad School Today

#27

Post by jmzachary »

psbt wrote: post #24
jmzachary wrote: post #16

Couldn't you have taken a sabbatical? I mean, did you just totally walk away from it? I took a sabbatical for a year from a PhD in CS to pursue some medical science ideas, then went back when they didn't go far enough to make a living on. Not flaming, just curious.

if you take a sabbatical then you haven't really risked anything. you have to go all the way. what do you guys think about James from Hot or Not giving up his millions. He probably went out to a nice dinner to celebrate.

There's risk and then there's prudent risk. Taking a 12 month sabbatical to focus on the startup would be a prudent risk. And, it's going all the way, just for 12 months. If you don't know in 12 months if the business will succeed, it probably won't (especially in this space). Anyway, I wish the guy lots of luck and success. I supposed if he makes millions, he can always go back.

Re: I Dropped Out of Grad School Today

#28

Post by jmzachary »

psbt wrote: post #24
jmzachary wrote: post #16

Couldn't you have taken a sabbatical? I mean, did you just totally walk away from it? I took a sabbatical for a year from a PhD in CS to pursue some medical science ideas, then went back when they didn't go far enough to make a living on. Not flaming, just curious.

if you take a sabbatical then you haven't really risked anything. you have to go all the way. what do you guys think about James from Hot or Not giving up his millions. He probably went out to a nice dinner to celebrate.

There's risk and then there's prudent risk. Taking a 12 month sabbatical to focus on the startup would be a prudent risk. And, it's going all the way, just for 12 months. If you don't know in 12 months if the business will succeed, it probably won't (especially in this space). Anyway, I wish the guy lots of luck and success. I supposed if he makes millions, he can always go back.

Re: I Dropped Out of Grad School Today

#29

Post by nostrademons »

psbt wrote: post #24
jmzachary wrote: post #16

Couldn't you have taken a sabbatical? I mean, did you just totally walk away from it? I took a sabbatical for a year from a PhD in CS to pursue some medical science ideas, then went back when they didn't go far enough to make a living on. Not flaming, just curious.

if you take a sabbatical then you haven't really risked anything. you have to go all the way. what do you guys think about James from Hot or Not giving up his millions. He probably went out to a nice dinner to celebrate.

I got the impression from James's post that he wasn't actually "giving up" his millions, he was locking up all future profits in the business and reinvesting them. He converted HotOrNot from an S-corporation to a C-corporation. You can certainly reinvest profits from an S-corporation into the business or pay out profits from a C-corporation as dividends, but the incentives go different ways. S-corp earnings are taxed as ordinary income (none of the double-taxation of corporate profits) and S-corps can't give out different classes of shares, so there's an incentive to distribute the profits out to the shareholders. C-corp earnings are taxed once at the corporate level and then once as dividend earnings, yet they can have multiple classes of shareholders. The incentive is to build up the business and eventually seek an IPO, acquisition, or other liquidity event. It almost looks like James is positioning HotOrNot to get big and get bought.

Re: I Dropped Out of Grad School Today

#30

Post by nostrademons »

ninwa wrote: post #3

It's brave to drop everything you've been working so hard for in sights of opportunity, but is it really in the electronic part search market? Sorry, I don't mean to sound negative, but a PhD in physics would have opened such a large expanse of possibilities. You're going to throw it away for a chance at more women and on the whim of one man (PG's) advice. Best of luck.

I did the first 7 semesters of my undergrad in physics, and still have a lot of friends doing Ph.Ds in physics. A bachelors in physics opens up a large expanse of possibilities - finance, management consulting, economics consulting, computer programming, high school math teacher, and of course physics grad school. A Ph.D in physics qualifies you for exactly one job: physics professor. There are far more opportunities for a physics drop-out than a physics Ph.D, particularly for someone who doesn't absolutely, positively love the subject.
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