Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why I'm Getting a PhD

johnbender.us

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 125 posts

Re: Why I'm Getting a PhD

#81

Post by omnisci »

tensor wrote: post #78
freyr wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wrong, it's extremely important. You're devoting the next 5+ years of your life to a single task. You're forgoing your programmer salary for the next 5+ years, which could easily add up to $300k - $500k in opportunity cost. Your forcing your wife and kids to come along for the ride. You're going to end up a world expert in a tiny niche that, quite possibly, nobody outside of academia cares about. You should have a pr…

This sounds a lot like you are telling us what you value in life. There are no rules in life and it's not a requirement to have your whole life planned out at every moment in time. Most people don't, including highly successful people. That's ok. What's important is taking advantage of opportunity when it is presented. If a goal of yours is to learn, then a PhD is a great opportunity for this. The value of the PhD is…

[bill lumbergh] I'm gonna have to go ahead and disagree with you on that. [/office space] (My PhD is in behavioral neuroscience, so YMMV)

I've found that if people want to learn, then they will learn. You don't need a PhD for that, and the process of going through a PhD doesn't really teach you anything more than you couldn’t have gotten yourself. Passion drives someone to learn, not getting accepted into a PhD program.

Re: Why I'm Getting a PhD

#82

Post by jseliger »

jofer wrote: post #53

For whatever it's worth, as someone who just finished, you're doing a PhD for all of the right reasons. You do it because you want to. Because you like getting to delve into a wide array of things. Because you want to focus more on interesting problems than interesting solutions. (Obviously, those two aren't mutually exclusive.) If you're doing it with a career focus, it's not worth it. A PhD can be a hindrance in th…

For whatever it's worth, as someone who just finished, you're doing a PhD for all of the right reasons.

That's true. I think it's telling, however, that the writer doesn't mention getting an academic job, or tenure. I hope his PhD works out for him and his family, who are implicitly along for the ride.

I also hope that, in three to four years, the OP writes an essay about what he thinks after he's gone through the academic grinder.

For an alternate perspective on academia, see Philip Greenspun's "Women in Science" (http://philip.greenspun.com/careers/women-in-science).

Re: Why I'm Getting a PhD

#83

Post by keypusher »

geebee wrote: post #34

I truly wish you the best of luck, and for an excellent outcome. One thing - you just can't say "why I'm getting a PhD", even from an elite school, the way you'd say "why I'm getting a law, medical, or business degree". Even if you've been admitted to an elite program, you can really only say "why I'm rolling the dice on the possibility of getting a PhD". At elite programs, there is essentially no involuntary attriti…

I suspect Berkeley is on the high end of the spectrum as far as attrition goes. I went there for undergrad, and the pressure and difficulty was extreme in areas like EECS. For perspective, after graduating I moved to the East Coast and worked in a research lab at MIT and took courses at Harvard, both of which felt quite laid back after Berkeley. It was the only school experience I had where I saw smart people work crazy hard and still receive C's and D's in some classes. The PhD candidate I lived with decided to take a year long internship with Intel (as a vacation) for mental health reasons.

Re: Why I'm Getting a PhD

#85

Post by 6d0debc071 »

011011100 wrote: post #28

"Because it's my life and I believe it's worthwhile to me." I don't understand why people bother to defend personal choices, like education, as if they're in some sort of formal argument. This says more about culture and your own insecurity.

Maybe they value others opinions/encouragement/feedback. A degree of insecurity isn't necessarily a bad thing, it can stop you making mistakes. I wish I'd taken some of the questions of my friends at school Why do you want to get a degree anyway? more seriously years ago.

Re: Why I'm Getting a PhD

#86

Post by marincounty »

I never wanted to leave college. Why leave--it's fun and the social benefits were unbelievable.

Although, I think a college degree is overrated. I truly believe a determined individual can use the Internet as a substitute for a college degree, especially Programmers. When I went to school I thought General Education requirements were a waste of time, but as I aged, I'm glad I was exposed to philophy, and psychology courses. I'm amazed how many people go through life not knowing what the Placebo Effect is.(yes--Strunk would be mad, but tired.).

Re: Why I'm Getting a PhD

#87

Post by apl »

vrnm wrote: post #76
hayksaakian wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I may need money someday, but right now I don't, so I might as well take advantage of the situation. That's partly why many people see a Phd as a luxury or as something not entirely useful or necessary. Many people NEED to make money RIGHT NOW.

In Germany you get around 2000-2500 netto per month for doing a PhD. Its like an entry level engineering salary, but instead of working for someone else, you are working for your self (on your own PhD, which is a lot of fun). Furthermore, you are still a student, so you get all the student benefits available (really cheap transportation, cheaper food, cheaper sports, travels...).

That applies to some of the hard sciences (more precisely: engineering, as well as some branches of physics and chemistry), but not in general. PhD students in biology earn around 1400 after taxes; a philosopher or what have you is lucky to make any money at all.

Re: Why I'm Getting a PhD

#88

Post by polaris9000 »

Looking back, I regret not having pursued a degree in Physics or Mathematics. I took the "easy way out" and pursued a liberal arts degree just to be done with college and move on.

In retrospect, it would have been great to have majored in something that, perhaps, may have been more difficult but more rewarding in the long run.

Therefore I suggest that, if you have the opportunity to do so, pursue your PhD. You never know when older age will sneak up on you and you will no longer have enough time to do so :)

Re: Why I'm Getting a PhD

#89

Post by oldmanjoe »

burntsushi wrote: post #18

Is anyone else doing their PhD (or did their PhD) just because they thought it was a lot of fun and a great way to learn a lot in a short time period? Not that it's the only way to do any of those things, but I've found the lifestyle of a graduate student in CS to be extremely appealing. My mentor once suggested that a PhD is only worthwhile if you plan on doing research after you graduate. But as he got to know me b…

I did a PhD for the fun of it. And the challenges were so special and different and the whole crazy un-inuitiveness of academia (as opposed to the corporate world I was used to) was a complete breath of fresh air. I completed my PhD and went on to become an academic and never looked back. Its not for everyone, but if you like uncertainty, left-field and often unpredictable ways of thinking combined with talking with smart people all the time then it is a great place.

Re: Why I'm Getting a PhD

#90

Post by eli_gottlieb »

burntsushi wrote: post #60
enraged_camel wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have a PhD, but I hear it depends a lot on the school, the field of study, and most importantly, the mentor they assign you. Your mentor specifically has the ability to make your life hell and completely obstruct your learning.

A few points: 1. My mentor is not the same person as my advisor. (I use the word "mentor" to describe a professor who is both my friend and someone whose advice I value deeply.) 2. My advisor is not the same person as the advisor I was assigned to when I entered graduate school. But I agree with your main point: your advisor (and the way you receive your advisor) can play a big role in the level of misery of your gra…

Oh GOD yes. I was assigned my current MSc-thesis advisor from the small selection of experts remotely close to topics I was interested in, by an admissions committee reading my personal statement.

Now that I'm looking at actually doing my MSc thesis (writing the proposal these days) and inshallah going on to a PhD, I'm having to think hard about where to get an advisor and what sort of topics to do.

Post reply on HN