4 ms·

Why not go for Option 2, but do your post-grad part time while working? It might take 10 years instead of 6, but by then you'd have 10 years work experience, c

Why not go for Option 2, but do your post-grad part time while working? It might take 10 years instead of 6, but by then you'd have 10 years work experience, capital, etc.

adrianN 9y ago
It's hard to find part time jobs that still pay reasonably well and help you advance your career.
smallnamespace 9y ago
If you're single and planning to stay that way, taking an extra 4 years is ok. If you plan or want to have a family, not so much. Doubly so if you're a woman -- pregnancy risks start ramping past the early-mid 30s.
wickberg 9y ago
Part time PhD's are rare - most professors need their grad students to be working on their grant-related research projects as RAs. That work is then used as the basis for your dissertation. As a part time PhD student you'd need to either have your own research planned out (and separate from the professor's grant-related work) which also implies you're likely to be paying out of pocket for tuition. Or find a professor who was willing to accept a slower pace of work on something that's presumably backed by a grant, which is pretty unlikely as the funding agency is usually holding them to strict deadlines. Part-time Masters degrees are more common (and what I did myself), but come with similar trade-offs and usually need to be paid for by yourself or by your employer. And as you're not committing to being a part of a professor's research group for the next 5+ years, it's harder to find a good match for an advisor and a good thesis. Co-terminal degrees (B.S. + M.S. all at once, with an extra year after undergrad to do your thesis) mitigate this, but you're going to be out of pocket for that extra year of tuition on top of the bachelor's.
- hocuspocus 9y ago
  I live in Switzerland where privately funded PhDs are possible (though also rare) and things work a bit differently since tuition is about $500 a semester. Yet, it's typically not a good deal (for you, that is, for the school it's an incredible deal). You're typically hired at a 50-60% rate by your employer, and while that's comparable to a university salary, overall it's a lot more work, you have to deal with your boss plus your supervisor, the school and the company fight over ownership of your work, and you still have some obligations as a student in terms of credit and TA hours. The worst of both worlds :)
privacypoller 9y ago
Most programs also have a time limit for completion, around 4 years for a Masters and 7 for a PhD. I did my Master's part-time while working and it was brutal to work full-time then head to class for 3+ hours several times a week, or have to make special arrangements so I could leave work early to make a specific class. I also remember desperately preparing for a defense scheduled days before the birth of my second child (I finished up 2 days before he was born!). I found that FT grad students and some profs treat you poorly because you're "a PT industry" student, and your co-workers, boss, etc. treat you like you're taking a continuing ed course from the learning annex. It's the worst of both worlds.
grigjd3 9y ago
This is basically not feasible. At part time, you'd barely have time enough to read the literature to keep current, let alone get actual research done, apply for grants, write papers, give talks and presentations, go to conferences, and teach classes.

Why not go for Option 2, but do your post-grad part time while working? It might take 10 years instead of 6, but by then you'd have 10 years work experience, capital, etc.

adrianN 9y ago

It's hard to find part time jobs that still pay reasonably well and help you advance your career.

smallnamespace 9y ago

If you're single and planning to stay that way, taking an extra 4 years is ok. If you plan or want to have a family, not so much. Doubly so if you're a woman -- pregnancy risks start ramping past the early-mid 30s.

wickberg 9y ago

Part time PhD's are rare - most professors need their grad students to be working on their grant-related research projects as RAs. That work is then used as the basis for your dissertation. As a part time PhD student you'd need to either have your own research planned out (and separate from the professor's grant-related work) which also implies you're likely to be paying out of pocket for tuition. Or find a professor who was willing to accept a slower pace of work on something that's presumably backed by a grant, which is pretty unlikely as the funding agency is usually holding them to strict deadlines. Part-time Masters degrees are more common (and what I did myself), but come with similar trade-offs and usually need to be paid for by yourself or by your employer. And as you're not committing to being a part of a professor's research group for the next 5+ years, it's harder to find a good match for an advisor and a good thesis. Co-terminal degrees (B.S. + M.S. all at once, with an extra year after undergrad to do your thesis) mitigate this, but you're going to be out of pocket for that extra year of tuition on top of the bachelor's.

hocuspocus 9y ago
I live in Switzerland where privately funded PhDs are possible (though also rare) and things work a bit differently since tuition is about $500 a semester. Yet, it's typically not a good deal (for you, that is, for the school it's an incredible deal). You're typically hired at a 50-60% rate by your employer, and while that's comparable to a university salary, overall it's a lot more work, you have to deal with your boss plus your supervisor, the school and the company fight over ownership of your work, and you still have some obligations as a student in terms of credit and TA hours. The worst of both worlds :)

privacypoller 9y ago

Most programs also have a time limit for completion, around 4 years for a Masters and 7 for a PhD. I did my Master's part-time while working and it was brutal to work full-time then head to class for 3+ hours several times a week, or have to make special arrangements so I could leave work early to make a specific class. I also remember desperately preparing for a defense scheduled days before the birth of my second child (I finished up 2 days before he was born!). I found that FT grad students and some profs treat you poorly because you're "a PT industry" student, and your co-workers, boss, etc. treat you like you're taking a continuing ed course from the learning annex. It's the worst of both worlds.

grigjd3 9y ago

This is basically not feasible. At part time, you'd barely have time enough to read the literature to keep current, let alone get actual research done, apply for grants, write papers, give talks and presentations, go to conferences, and teach classes.