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Thinking of Doing a PhD? Take this simple test

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Re: Thinking of Doing a PhD? Take this simple test

#31

Post by kedean »

Xcelerate wrote: post #9
michaelochurch wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of those. Here's one: http://www.cs.unc.edu/~azuma/hitch4.html There's also, I believe, a CMU computer science "guide to graduate school survival" out there. I don't think that this (somewhat self-deprecating) graduate school literature is unrealistically negative. Academia is pretty awful. Life-wise, graduate school is a pretty negative experience. If you enjoy the subject matter and have an almost…

> Life-wise, graduate school is a pretty negative experience. I don't think grad school is like that for everyone. My undergrad had such a huge workload that I rarely had time for any kind of fun. Grad school so far is like the college that I didn't have, except I also get to work on research that's really exciting to me. I'm also kind of young for a grad student so I can hang out with undergrads just fine. It's a wi…

As a whole I think graduate school is a good thing, but moment to moment it's pretty negative, by my experience and the experience of all of my classmates. I just ended my first year of masters study, and I couldn't name one person I know within the program who didn't seriously debate dropping out numerous times over the first year. On the other hand, most of us have overall gained good experiences and knowledge, and I do not regret staying.

Re: Thinking of Doing a PhD? Take this simple test

#32

Post by klt0825 »

I've been reading far too much about the downsides lately when trying to decide if I want to do it, so this was a fun diversion. I'm 28, fresh out of a CS MS program, work full time at a job doing computer security 'research' and really still feel like I don't know as much I as I want too.

Interesting, the question about family/friends is what peaked my interest. My girlfriend of 10 years is about ready to kill me if I commit 4-6 more years.

Re: Thinking of Doing a PhD? Take this simple test

#33

Post by michaelochurch »

shardling wrote: post #27
michaelochurch wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of those. Here's one: http://www.cs.unc.edu/~azuma/hitch4.html There's also, I believe, a CMU computer science "guide to graduate school survival" out there. I don't think that this (somewhat self-deprecating) graduate school literature is unrealistically negative. Academia is pretty awful. Life-wise, graduate school is a pretty negative experience. If you enjoy the subject matter and have an almost…

Probably worth pointing out that this particular poster has an extremely negative view of many of their life experiences! (e.g., look for their comments about working for Google.)

Actually, my year of graduate school was pretty positive, as far as things go. No complaints. I did look ahead and realize that academia was not the best deal in the world.

Also, you're a douche for bringing up irrelevancies like that.

Re: Thinking of Doing a PhD? Take this simple test

#34

Post by shardling »

michaelochurch wrote: post #33
shardling wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably worth pointing out that this particular poster has an extremely negative view of many of their life experiences! (e.g., look for their comments about working for Google.)

Actually, my year of graduate school was pretty positive, as far as things go. No complaints. I did look ahead and realize that academia was not the best deal in the world. Also, you're a douche for bringing up irrelevancies like that.

I think that, if someone asks for a level-headed analysis of grad school, it is totally worth pointing out that an anecdotal response is from someone that has highly charged and divisive opinions about many things, especially institutional culture!

Also I'm pretty sure I've seen you say that you're proud of the fact that your perspective on life isn't typical -- so at least own that fact here.

Re: Thinking of Doing a PhD? Take this simple test

#35

Post by hyperbovine »

michaelochurch wrote: post #33
shardling wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably worth pointing out that this particular poster has an extremely negative view of many of their life experiences! (e.g., look for their comments about working for Google.)

Actually, my year of graduate school was pretty positive, as far as things go. No complaints. I did look ahead and realize that academia was not the best deal in the world. Also, you're a douche for bringing up irrelevancies like that.

Really? I find that to be entirely relevant. Subtract the bias to get an unbiased estimator...

Re: Thinking of Doing a PhD? Take this simple test

#36

Post by nostrademons »

shardling wrote: post #27
michaelochurch wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of those. Here's one: http://www.cs.unc.edu/~azuma/hitch4.html There's also, I believe, a CMU computer science "guide to graduate school survival" out there. I don't think that this (somewhat self-deprecating) graduate school literature is unrealistically negative. Academia is pretty awful. Life-wise, graduate school is a pretty negative experience. If you enjoy the subject matter and have an almost…

Probably worth pointing out that this particular poster has an extremely negative view of many of their life experiences! (e.g., look for their comments about working for Google.)

Ad hominem alert!

FWIW, much as I get annoyed by Michael's constant negative comments about Google (experiences which are fairly foreign to my own experience there), they are still his experiences. Take them with a grain of salt, but take everyone's experiences from the Internet with a grain of salt.

Also FWIW, I have a number of friends who are generally shiny happy people who were basically ground down into dust in their Ph.D programs. They stayed for the whole time and not just the first year, but around year 4-6 even the most mentally stable and cheerful of them start saying things like "My life is miserable. I just want this to be over."

Re: Thinking of Doing a PhD? Take this simple test

#37

Post by jlees »

denzil_correa wrote: post #14
michaelt wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The experience of doing a PhD varies wildly - between countries, between schools, between departments, between professors, and as time passes. Even at the same school, one person reported to me that while he was in his second year his supervisor told him he probably had enough material to pass if he wrote it all up - while another person worked long hours and reported to me that his supervisor had shouted at him for…

In general, the thumb rule I would like to apply for a PhD is the function of the relationship between the graduate student (employee) and the advisor (manager). Most (not all) graduate student experiences turn bitter due to ethical and professional issues with your advisor. If I were to give any advice to a graduate student, I would write this on the top of my list.

I completely agree; in my time as a PhD student and looking at my friends who did and did not finish, the only ones who made it through had a fantastic relationship with their supervisor; except for one, who was extremely driven to finish despite neglect on the part of her supervisor.

Re: Thinking of Doing a PhD? Take this simple test

#39

Post by shardling »

nostrademons wrote: post #36
shardling wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably worth pointing out that this particular poster has an extremely negative view of many of their life experiences! (e.g., look for their comments about working for Google.)

Ad hominem alert! FWIW, much as I get annoyed by Michael's constant negative comments about Google (experiences which are fairly foreign to my own experience there), they are still his experiences. Take them with a grain of salt, but take everyone's experiences from the Internet with a grain of salt. Also FWIW, I have a number of friends who are generally shiny happy people who were basically ground down into dust in…

Please look at the definition of ad hominem before tossing the term around.

You also seem to have read a personal opinion into my post that simply isn't there!

Re: Thinking of Doing a PhD? Take this simple test

#40

Post by pgbovine »

maurits wrote: post #7
jdotjdot wrote: post #4

I wish someone would post an article that actually provided a serious, levelheaded view of the ups and downs of a PhD as well as what it's actually like instead of the overly negative articles? I understand that it might not be what it seems, but it's hard to figure out what's for real and what's just somber humor for the uninitiated.

I would recommend reading "The Phd. Grind" by Philip Guo [1]. [1]: http://pgbovine.net/PhD-memoir.htm

so would I!
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