3 ms·

Is it really as miserable as PhD Comics makes it seem?

by sz 16y ago

greenlblue 16y ago
It depends a lot on department culture. Some departments are really fragmented, the professors hate each other, etc. So if you're in a department like that then not only will you be stressed out from all the work you are doing but you will also be miserable. That's why it's really important to get a feel for the place by visiting it first but even then it will be hard to get a read on the culture. Doing research 5 days a week really wears you down if the people around you doing similar work are assholes.
- pgbovine 16y ago
  Doing research 5 days a week really wears you down if the people around you doing similar work are assholes. whoa whoa where do you do research only 5 days a week??? most PhD students i know average 6 to 6.5
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
imurray 16y ago
There can certainly be some dark times. Sometimes when reading PhD comics I didn't know whether to laugh or cry! Do I regret doing a PhD? Not for a moment: on balance my PhD and postdoc years were fantastic. Although part of my happyness is because I was lucky enough to be in good places and do moderately well. As with going into anything, people should get a balance of views and then decide what's best for them.
mechanical_fish 16y ago
Not necessarily for any particular person. So much depends on your personality and that of your adviser, coworkers, and other prominent folks in the field. But all the bad things happen to someone, often one of your friends. For a Ph.D. holder reading PhD Comics is an exercise in nodding with recognition. And I haven't read all that much PhD Comics so I don't know if it plumbs the real depths. Do characters in the comic become suicidally depressed? Do professors drive talented eighth-year students to drop out by making crazy demands on their time? Do students find themselves drafted as poorly paid, no-equity employees at their adviser's startup company? I saw all of that happen to one friend or another in the real world.
- yummyfajitas 16y ago
  Do professors drive talented eighth-year students to drop out by making crazy demands on their time? This is a pretty rare occurrence. The talented eighth year student, I mean, not the professor making crazy demands on time. Another very common occurrence, mostly absent from PhD Comics, is a professor failing to kick out an untalented/unmotivated student in their second or third year. The result is that the student wastes 5 more years in the fruitless pursuit of a PhD, eventually dropping out due to neglect by their adviser. Getting to a tenured professorship is a tournament. Many apply, but only a select few will win. The problem is that very often, no one tells you when you were eliminated. They just let you carry on as if you still have a chance.
  - mechanical_fish 16y ago
    I absolutely agree: The hardest thing in academia is to get honest feedback. Partly because telling academics that they are not going to succeed is like kicking puppies, but more because of the conflicts of interest: To succeed as a prof you need to attract good students, and a prof with a reputation for judging students harshly might have trouble recruiting. Academic adviser is one hell of a job: You must advocate passionately for your students, and you must also correct them, and you must motivate them, but you should give them honest advice...
cdavid 16y ago
It can be, and the end is certainly very stressful. But the amount of things you can learn during a PhD, and the pleasure of working/meeting very smart people is rewarding. Your mileage may vary, obviously. Also, in my case, even though I left academia afterwards, the PhD's freedom enabled me to become involved in several open source communities which have opened a lot of opportunities. If you like freedom, and you like research, I think PhD are a good experience, even if you don't end up in academia - after all, most PhD graduates do no become tenured professors.
_corbett 16y ago
no! it's a lot of fun.
mmc 16y ago
As others have said, it can be. He certainly isn't making any of the situations up in those comics. But of course, the good parts of grad school aren't as funny - so they don't show up as much in the comics, but should help balance out all the despair.
rikthevik 16y ago
In Canada, at least, there is no checks or accountability on the the supervising professor. A bad supervisor can _really_ make a person's life difficult and there's not much the student can do about it.

Is it really as miserable as PhD Comics makes it seem?

by sz 16y ago

Is it really as miserable as PhD Comics makes it seem?

It depends a lot on department culture. Some departments are really fragmented, the professors hate each other, etc. So if you're in a department like that then not only will you be stressed out from all the work you are doing but you will also be miserable. That's why it's really important to get a feel for the place by visiting it first but even then it will be hard to get a read on the culture. Doing research 5 days a week really wears you down if the people around you doing similar work are assholes.

pgbovine 16y ago
Doing research 5 days a week really wears you down if the people around you doing similar work are assholes. whoa whoa where do you do research only 5 days a week??? most PhD students i know average 6 to 6.5
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]

imurray 16y ago

There can certainly be some dark times. Sometimes when reading PhD comics I didn't know whether to laugh or cry! Do I regret doing a PhD? Not for a moment: on balance my PhD and postdoc years were fantastic. Although part of my happyness is because I was lucky enough to be in good places and do moderately well. As with going into anything, people should get a balance of views and then decide what's best for them.

mechanical_fish 16y ago

Not necessarily for any particular person. So much depends on your personality and that of your adviser, coworkers, and other prominent folks in the field. But all the bad things happen to someone, often one of your friends. For a Ph.D. holder reading PhD Comics is an exercise in nodding with recognition. And I haven't read all that much PhD Comics so I don't know if it plumbs the real depths. Do characters in the comic become suicidally depressed? Do professors drive talented eighth-year students to drop out by making crazy demands on their time? Do students find themselves drafted as poorly paid, no-equity employees at their adviser's startup company? I saw all of that happen to one friend or another in the real world.

yummyfajitas 16y ago
Do professors drive talented eighth-year students to drop out by making crazy demands on their time? This is a pretty rare occurrence. The talented eighth year student, I mean, not the professor making crazy demands on time. Another very common occurrence, mostly absent from PhD Comics, is a professor failing to kick out an untalented/unmotivated student in their second or third year. The result is that the student wastes 5 more years in the fruitless pursuit of a PhD, eventually dropping out due to neglect by their adviser. Getting to a tenured professorship is a tournament. Many apply, but only a select few will win. The problem is that very often, no one tells you when you were eliminated. They just let you carry on as if you still have a chance.
- mechanical_fish 16y ago
  I absolutely agree: The hardest thing in academia is to get honest feedback. Partly because telling academics that they are not going to succeed is like kicking puppies, but more because of the conflicts of interest: To succeed as a prof you need to attract good students, and a prof with a reputation for judging students harshly might have trouble recruiting. Academic adviser is one hell of a job: You must advocate passionately for your students, and you must also correct them, and you must motivate them, but you should give them honest advice...

cdavid 16y ago

It can be, and the end is certainly very stressful. But the amount of things you can learn during a PhD, and the pleasure of working/meeting very smart people is rewarding. Your mileage may vary, obviously. Also, in my case, even though I left academia afterwards, the PhD's freedom enabled me to become involved in several open source communities which have opened a lot of opportunities. If you like freedom, and you like research, I think PhD are a good experience, even if you don't end up in academia - after all, most PhD graduates do no become tenured professors.

_corbett 16y ago

no! it's a lot of fun.

mmc 16y ago

As others have said, it can be. He certainly isn't making any of the situations up in those comics. But of course, the good parts of grad school aren't as funny - so they don't show up as much in the comics, but should help balance out all the despair.

rikthevik 16y ago

In Canada, at least, there is no checks or accountability on the the supervising professor. A bad supervisor can _really_ make a person's life difficult and there's not much the student can do about it.