Thinking of Doing a PhD? Take this simple test

Structure of this thread:

MOC: I spent a year in graduate school. Life-wise, graduate school is a pretty negative experience.

Shardling: Probably worth pointing out that MOC has an extremely negative view of many of their life experiences.

That's exactly the form of an ad-hominem argument: Person A makes a statement, person B brings up some fact about person A that would lead them to make that statement, ergo person A's statement is invalid. The problem here is logical, not personal: just because MOC has made negative statements about other things does not mean this negative statement is without basis.

I read no such personal opinion into your post: I'm attacking your logic, not your tone.

1. When you finished your undergraduate degree, you ...

Worked for six months as a research assistant, and realized that while I liked the work a lot, I liked the idea of asking my own questions more, and knew there was no way I was really going to be able to do that without a PhD, regardless of how very supportive and generally awesome my work environment was.

2. You think that the hardest part of postgraduate study will be ... D. getting an appointment with your supervisor

Hard, but not the hardest. The hardest was when the "What am I doing with my life, is this all a mistake" changed frequency from once a semester to once a month, then once a week, then toward the very end essentially a rolling wave of panic and writing.

3. You like the idea of research, because ... D. you are wholly unemployable

This one made me roll my eyes a bit. I'm employable, and more employable now than when I started (whether or not going from an MS to a PhD changed much is up for debate). I like the idea of research because I like asking questions that haven't been asked. I like planning the approach, and seeing it come together, and ushering said idea to print.

4. When confronted with a difficult problem to solve you tend to be ...

Staring at the whiteboard I bought from an office liquidator. Usually with markers of about 10 colors.

5. If faced with a challenge requiring a wholly new solution you usually ...

Make sure it can't just be simulated first.

6. If asked to write up your work you ... D. spend a week configuring LaTex appropriately

Smirk at the math/physics/CS types who are convinced that their way is the only possible way science gets done, and go back to Powerpoint. Keynote if I'm feeling flashy.

7. Somebody criticises your discipline, you ... Since it's a fairly small number of specific criticisms, by now I've got a pretty well developed tier of questions to help guide the conversation. Did you read X? In X, did you notice Y, or read the companion article by Z?...

8. When it is suggested that that the solution to a particular challenge might be best found within another discipline you ...

I'm not at all surprised, considering my field as a discipline has kind of camped out at an intersection and shamelessly stolen from others.

9. You have told your family and partner that you are considering doing a PhD, they are ...

They were supportive at the time, and supportive still.

10. You will be part of a research team, this will allow you to ... Lab Happy Hour.

11. Your friends say you are ... "in my program, he's one of the infectious disease guys."

One question: why "stay single"?