7 things wrong with getting a PhD in academia

7. No reward for being successful. Success is punished with more responsibility. 6. No one outside of your laboratory cares about the knowledge and skills you learn. 5. No career prospects with the knowledge you've learned. Industry generally won't care, so the only way to use your knowledge is to stay in academia. But even top PhD students can no longer expect to land a professorship. 4. Lousy pay barely keeps you above the poverty line. Uber drivers make more. 3. University collects lots of money to "teach" you. In actuality, the University uses you as an employee. But because the professor usually has to pay for your "education" with their grant money, the professors expect a lot out of you in return. 2. Lack of freedom to study important problems. Professors still studying pointless stuff become overly protective of their work and expect their students to feel the same way. 1. You're trapped. Many professors won't hand out a PhD until after you've completed an insane amount of work. Can't expect a good recommendation letter if you drop out early. I am bitter about my experiences as a graduate student, but I am not a failure---I'm a first author in a Nature paper.