Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89 • Hacker News Board

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#251

Post by ryan93 » Tue, Nov 02, 2021, 1:57 PM UTC

Loughla wrote: post #245

the_only_law wrote: post #242

I don’t even have a bachelors. I’ve been thinking about going back to school and pursing higher levels of education (research masters or PhD) twitch a mostly utilitarian fields and do industrial R&D work in a domain I’ve become interested in and my biggest worry is being “old” by the time I complete any graduate education (even though old in my case, would likely be mid-30s by the end if I start in the coming years).…

How is completing a super advanced degree in a very specific field 'the bare minimum'? I feel like taking high school physics would be the bare minimum. Or maybe even getting a bachelor's. But a PhD? That's not the pinnacle of a career, by any means, but it's 100% the pinnacle of an educational experience. >my biggest worry is being “old” by the time I complete any graduate education There are 'old' students everywhe…

Wrong. Most foreign PHDs are in their early to mid twenties when they start

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#252

Post by et2o » Tue, Nov 02, 2021, 1:58 PM UTC

This is such a cool story. What a man. I wonder what his patients remember of him.

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#253

Post by f6v » Tue, Nov 02, 2021, 1:59 PM UTC

Loughla wrote: post #245

the_only_law wrote: post #242

I don’t even have a bachelors. I’ve been thinking about going back to school and pursing higher levels of education (research masters or PhD) twitch a mostly utilitarian fields and do industrial R&D work in a domain I’ve become interested in and my biggest worry is being “old” by the time I complete any graduate education (even though old in my case, would likely be mid-30s by the end if I start in the coming years).…

How is completing a super advanced degree in a very specific field 'the bare minimum'? I feel like taking high school physics would be the bare minimum. Or maybe even getting a bachelor's. But a PhD? That's not the pinnacle of a career, by any means, but it's 100% the pinnacle of an educational experience. >my biggest worry is being “old” by the time I complete any graduate education There are 'old' students everywhe…

In my field, doing a PhD at decent university means doing real-world scientific research. Despite widespread forced publication of mediocre results, I still see a PhD as a recognition of having “done science”.

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#254

Post by Zababa » Tue, Nov 02, 2021, 2:01 PM UTC

ghaff wrote: post #39

genocidicbunny wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are not familiar with Brown University, the first part of the headline is easily parsed differently. In English, adjectives tend to come in a certain order, with color generally being precedent to origin or qualifier. Therefore it would read as 'Brown' being an adjective describing Manfred Steiner, because the color 'Brown' generally comes before the qualifier 'Physics Student'. I am not suggesting that Brown…

Pretty much any university in the country would have written the headline in exactly the same manner substituting their institution's name. And, yes, anyone who interprets it differently is doing so in bad faith or just is pretty unaware of US university names generally.

> And, yes, anyone who interprets it differently is doing so in bad faith or just is pretty unaware of US university names generally.

I think most people outside of the US are unaware of US university names. I could name 5 to 10, and that's because I spend a lot of time reading american media and american-centric websites like HN.

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#255

Post by ryan93 » Tue, Nov 02, 2021, 2:02 PM UTC

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…

In research 99+% of people did full time PHDs. It would be wrong to give someone advice assuming they are truly unique.

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#256

Post by bumby » Tue, Nov 02, 2021, 2:03 PM UTC

anon946 wrote: post #211

tombert wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You definitely aren’t too old By "old" I didn't mean actual biological age exactly. I guess the more appropriate word would be something more like "settled". As it stands, I have a mortgage and whatnot to take care of, it's not really realistic for me to quit my job and focus full-time on a PhD for the next 5-6 years. > but I would never take on a PhD student that wants to continue working elsewhere That seems to b…

The biggest issue is the remote part, not the part-time part. I'm a professor, and myself and others in the dept. have remote, part-time PhD students. However, they have finished their coursework, which must be done in person for the most part. The coursework could be done part-time, though.

>which must be done in person for the most part.

I think COVID may have changed some of this paradigm for many schools

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#257

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Nov 02, 2021, 2:09 PM UTC

evanb wrote: post #111

melvinmt wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, part-time PhD's are pretty common in Europe. They also commonly take 3-4 years instead of 6...

… if you already have a master’s degree, which takes 2 years. In the US many 5-6 year PhD programs do not require—and in fact include—a master’s degree.

[deleted]

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#258

Post by snake42 » Tue, Nov 02, 2021, 2:12 PM UTC

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…

Where I work allows full-time employees to get their PHD and also gives some paid time to write your thesis. You can also propose research projects that align with your thesis topic.

Edit: Also tuition is free.

https://careers.gtri.gatech.edu/en-us/listing/

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#259

Post by jrumbut » Tue, Nov 02, 2021, 2:13 PM UTC

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…

I'm (counts on fingers) 33 now and am a few years into doing exactly what you're thinking of. I'm working full time and am probably going to finish within the next year and a half.

My advice is to look at advisors who have a record of doing what you want to do or placing people where you want to go at schools that are a little bit down the rankings from the best possible place you could get into.

My email is in my bio if you want to talk about it.

Re: Physics Student Earns PhD at Age 89

#260

Post by Loughla » Tue, Nov 02, 2021, 2:17 PM UTC

ryan93 wrote: post #251

Loughla wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is completing a super advanced degree in a very specific field 'the bare minimum'? I feel like taking high school physics would be the bare minimum. Or maybe even getting a bachelor's. But a PhD? That's not the pinnacle of a career, by any means, but it's 100% the pinnacle of an educational experience. >my biggest worry is being “old” by the time I complete any graduate education There are 'old' students everywhe…

Wrong. Most foreign PHDs are in their early to mid twenties when they start

Wrong.

The average age of international PhD students at entry to a program in the US is 31.7. [iie.org Graduate Learning Overseas Data].