5 ms·

I did really well when I finished my undergraduate program, and my professors kept trying to get me to pursue a Doctorate or PhD. in my field. They were really

by RIMR 11y ago

I did really well when I finished my undergraduate program, and my professors kept trying to get me to pursue a Doctorate or PhD. in my field. They were really enthusiastic about it telling me that with my talents I deserve more than a B.A. None of them could give me a convincing answer as to how I would benefit long-term for continuing my education. None of them could give me an example of a job that I would be unable to get with my current level of education. All of them admitted that it would require 4-6 more years of my life, and that even with the best financial aid / scholarships, I would still be paying $60-100k out-of-pocket for the experience. So basically, it would have required me to put off getting a full time job to instead drive myself deep into debt all while sacrificing all of my free-time until I was 30. Instead, I moved to Seattle, found a job in I.T. and I have been climbing the corporate ladder ever since, making more than enough money to live comfortably and save money. I was lucky enough to earn my B.A. without any student debt. My degree isn't even in an I.T. field. I have a B.A. in Journalism! The thing that has done more to further my resume has been my full-time employment and my technical certifications. I get to expense my certifications to my company... Furthering my education would have ruined my future. Ending my education has accelerated it. Sadly, I worry that this is going to become true of Undergrad programs in the next decade, and that's not a good thing...

beambot 11y ago
In STEM, if you don't get a financial offer along with your PhD program acceptance letter, then you've probably just been politely rejected. The financial offer will usually cover your living costs (a few $k per month), so it won't cover any lost opportunity costs... but you shouldn't need to take on debt to do your PhD in STEM. I'm guessing journalism is a different story! For STEM, it's also true that certain job opportunities (eg. elite R&D facilities) more-or-less require a PhD or equivalent levels of mastery. It's possible to obtain those jobs after a long period of field work (without PhD), but it's a lot more difficult. Plus, you will always be butting up against credentialing norms during those jobs' recruiting processes. (Whether that's equitable or not is another story.) Just my $0.02.
- archgoon 11y ago
  > In STEM, if you don't get a financial offer along with your acceptance letter, then you've actually been politely rejected. This is important. I thought at the time that I accepted that it was due to the massive budget cuts happening in California, and the UC's were undergoing furloughs. Oops.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - selimthegrim 11y ago
    Which UC was this, if I may ask? I heard isolated rumors of this happening at Santa Barbara, for one...
  - Joof 11y ago
    They don't make this clear. The culture is very insular.
  - daodedickinson 11y ago
    A prof I know at Berkeley won't let anyone in the Ph.D. program unless he can secure funding for them. He's in a humanities major, though. Maybe in STEM profs think they can land a job to pay it off.
  - thaumasiotes 11y ago
    Wait, so what happened? What do they do if you take them up on their acceptance?
dagw 11y ago
All of them admitted that it would require 4-6 more years of my life, and that even with the best financial aid / scholarships, I would still be paying $60-100k out-of-pocket for the experience. That sounds pretty fucked up. Working on your PhD is a job and you should be getting a salary from the University, not paying them.
Zigurd 11y ago
> My degree isn't even in an I.T. field. I have a B.A. in Journalism! You are probably a bit of an outlier in that any credentials in journalism, never mind a postgraduate degree in journalism, are only recently a way of increasing your chances of gaining employment in that field. If non-commercial journalism grows that might change. But for now I'd venture to guess Ph.Ds in journalism are rare among those working in the field.

by RIMR 11y ago

beambot 11y ago

In STEM, if you don't get a financial offer along with your PhD program acceptance letter, then you've probably just been politely rejected. The financial offer will usually cover your living costs (a few $k per month), so it won't cover any lost opportunity costs... but you shouldn't need to take on debt to do your PhD in STEM. I'm guessing journalism is a different story! For STEM, it's also true that certain job opportunities (eg. elite R&D facilities) more-or-less require a PhD or equivalent levels of mastery. It's possible to obtain those jobs after a long period of field work (without PhD), but it's a lot more difficult. Plus, you will always be butting up against credentialing norms during those jobs' recruiting processes. (Whether that's equitable or not is another story.) Just my $0.02.

archgoon 11y ago
> In STEM, if you don't get a financial offer along with your acceptance letter, then you've actually been politely rejected. This is important. I thought at the time that I accepted that it was due to the massive budget cuts happening in California, and the UC's were undergoing furloughs. Oops.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- selimthegrim 11y ago
  Which UC was this, if I may ask? I heard isolated rumors of this happening at Santa Barbara, for one...
- Joof 11y ago
  They don't make this clear. The culture is very insular.
- daodedickinson 11y ago
  A prof I know at Berkeley won't let anyone in the Ph.D. program unless he can secure funding for them. He's in a humanities major, though. Maybe in STEM profs think they can land a job to pay it off.
- thaumasiotes 11y ago
  Wait, so what happened? What do they do if you take them up on their acceptance?

dagw 11y ago

All of them admitted that it would require 4-6 more years of my life, and that even with the best financial aid / scholarships, I would still be paying $60-100k out-of-pocket for the experience. That sounds pretty fucked up. Working on your PhD is a job and you should be getting a salary from the University, not paying them.

Zigurd 11y ago

> My degree isn't even in an I.T. field. I have a B.A. in Journalism! You are probably a bit of an outlier in that any credentials in journalism, never mind a postgraduate degree in journalism, are only recently a way of increasing your chances of gaining employment in that field. If non-commercial journalism grows that might change. But for now I'd venture to guess Ph.Ds in journalism are rare among those working in the field.