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

What You Need to Know Before Considering a PhD

fast.ai

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 195 posts

Re: What You Need to Know Before Considering a PhD

#91

Post by copperx »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #48
david-gpu wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work at NVidia as a GPU architect doing ML applied research. I'm not a hiring manager, but I have interviewed a bunch of people. 1) Having a PhD will make it easier to get an interview, but it is not necessary. Relevant experience counts just as much. I only have an MSc. 2) That will vary a ton from one team to another and from one position to another. The interviewers are not going to change their questions depend…

The best machine learning researcher I know has a MsC in EE. This is at a research lab that begins with an M.

MIT Media Lab, obviously.

Re: What You Need to Know Before Considering a PhD

#92

Post by jcelerier »

Scea91 wrote: post #88

It is even worse in Europe where you are often required to have Master's degree before you can even start a PhD. People in my country usually start PhD. at 25 and take at least 6 years to finish, because the universities use them as cheap workforce and aren't incentivised to allow students graduate quickly.

> People in my country usually start PhD. at 25 and take at least 6 years to finish,

uh ? which country are you in ? In france like you said you have to do a master before BUT a phd is only 3 years. I'm 26 and I finished my phd - had my defense earlier this year when I was still 25.

Re: What You Need to Know Before Considering a PhD

#93

Post by Scea91 »

jcelerier wrote: post #92
Scea91 wrote: post #88

It is even worse in Europe where you are often required to have Master's degree before you can even start a PhD. People in my country usually start PhD. at 25 and take at least 6 years to finish, because the universities use them as cheap workforce and aren't incentivised to allow students graduate quickly.

> People in my country usually start PhD. at 25 and take at least 6 years to finish, uh ? which country are you in ? In france like you said you have to do a master before BUT a phd is only 3 years. I'm 26 and I finished my phd - had my defense earlier this year when I was still 25.

To be fair, my university also advertises PhD. as a 3 year program. Yet the median time at my department is over 6 years.

It was wrong from me to generalise to whole Europe. I didn't want to be too specific in my comment.

On the other hand, the upside is that we do not have to pay a single dollar for education here as opposed to US.

Re: What You Need to Know Before Considering a PhD

#94

Post by AlunAlun »

sytelus wrote: post #71

This is quite an unfortunate article. Author goes on to list several folks who don’t have PhD but have “made it” and asserts that many people can do fascinating and cutting-edge work without PhDs. There are always outliers in stuff like this but ask yourself: How many people you know who don’t have PhD and have freedom to explore at work full time what truely interests them? Author has rather twisted view of the sele…

Your second paragraph sums everything up perfectly. I am a tenure-track lecturer, and love my job for all the reasons you mention, despite the relatively poor pay. I essentially have the freedom to work on whatever the hell I want; and that to me is priceless.

I would also mention teaching: some academic staff hate it because it takes time away from research. This is true but my experience is that if you put time into being a good teacher then you get to take your pick of the brightest students to help you with your research, which can lead to interesting Masters projects which lead on to PhDs.

Re: What You Need to Know Before Considering a PhD

#95

Post by MandieD »

Scea91 wrote: post #88

It is even worse in Europe where you are often required to have Master's degree before you can even start a PhD. People in my country usually start PhD. at 25 and take at least 6 years to finish, because the universities use them as cheap workforce and aren't incentivised to allow students graduate quickly.

My husband is a German who did a Mech E PhD, and indeed was 31 when he finished, despite going through the pipeline completely on schedule. Back then, German students finished high school (Gymnasium) at 19, then did a Diplom (think combination bachelors/masters) which took 5 years.

In his particular institute, the better you were, the LONGER it often took because the professors found stuff they wanted you to help with unless you were really good at boundaries. My husband took 7 years; a very kind, very bright friend of his needed 8.5.

Re: What You Need to Know Before Considering a PhD

#96

Post by icelancer »

sytelus wrote: post #71

This is quite an unfortunate article. Author goes on to list several folks who don’t have PhD but have “made it” and asserts that many people can do fascinating and cutting-edge work without PhDs. There are always outliers in stuff like this but ask yourself: How many people you know who don’t have PhD and have freedom to explore at work full time what truely interests them? Author has rather twisted view of the sele…

> How many people you know who don’t have PhD and have freedom to explore at work full time what truely interests them? Author has rather twisted view of the selection bias.

I don't have a degree and I have that. Also I know a lot of people with a PhD who do not have anything remotely resembling freedom.

The author might be biased but it's good to hear it from that side once in awhile, rather than be deluged with "you can't do science without a PhD" and similar sentiments (I work parallel to academia and get plenty of shit from their ivory towerism, hence my comment).

Re: What You Need to Know Before Considering a PhD

#97

Post by AlunAlun »

Scea91 wrote: post #88

It is even worse in Europe where you are often required to have Master's degree before you can even start a PhD. People in my country usually start PhD. at 25 and take at least 6 years to finish, because the universities use them as cheap workforce and aren't incentivised to allow students graduate quickly.

This used to be the situation in Europe but it got out of hand, as a result all new PhDs in Europe must be advertised as three year programs, and completed in four at a maximum.

Re: What You Need to Know Before Considering a PhD

#98

Post by icelancer »

sktrdie wrote: post #33
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to do something purely for its interesting properties, you don't need a PhD to do it.

If you’re well off (from family or something like that) then sure you can of course do it in your own. However I’d rather have a system that would still allow me to get some sort of basic income (to afford a living) while doing, say, archeology studies in Ancient Rome. Such system is academia right now.

> If you’re well off (from family or something like that) then sure you can of course do it in your own.

I grew up in a below-average income family in a below-average city in America, and I carved this out for myself despite zero undergraduate degree. This meme that you have to be well off or that everyone who does it had benefactors is kinda silly.

I realize I am a sample size of one, but I really don't care for being wholly discounted in these arguments as if such a path is impossible. Was it exceptionally hard? Yes. Would it have been easier if I just finished my BS and an accepted-to MS? Also yes.

But I didn't for various reasons, and it still worked out because most of the factors that make a successful entrepreneur, scientist, and employee are exogenous to formal education anyway.

I advise people regularly to continue on with formal education; it is not like I think this is a very good track to take. But it is one that is available to those who self-study their ass off and don't mind working menial jobs to put food on the table for themselves and their families with great sacrifices.

Re: What You Need to Know Before Considering a PhD

#99

Post by icelancer »

earenndil wrote: post #77
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to do something purely for its interesting properties, you don't need a PhD to do it.

I want to be a university professor purely because I find it interesting. Pray tell, in what land do I not need a Ph.D for this?

I've turned down a handful of offers to teach classes at university and I'm about 34 semester credits short of a Bachelor's Degree.

So I guess the land you need to be in is the United States of America, at least in my case anyway. Might be true elsewhere but I haven't tested my luck.

Re: What You Need to Know Before Considering a PhD

#100

Post by alkonaut »

Scea91 wrote: post #88

It is even worse in Europe where you are often required to have Master's degree before you can even start a PhD. People in my country usually start PhD. at 25 and take at least 6 years to finish, because the universities use them as cheap workforce and aren't incentivised to allow students graduate quickly.

Depending on how cheap that may not be such a bad thing. You are effectively having a "real job" from 25 (if a slightly worse paid one than in industry), and most importantly you get the PhD without accumulating any more debt. This is an important factor in equality and recruitment meaning not only those that can afford grad school will do it.
Post reply on HN