Are you stubborn, emotionally mature, and have a certain degree of self-hate? Only if you answer yes to all three questions should you consider doing a PhD. Le

Are you stubborn, emotionally mature, and have a certain degree of self-hate? Only if you answer yes to all three questions should you consider doing a PhD. Let me explain: you'll be broke, you'll have the worst emotional roller-coaster ride of your life, you will be neglected by your supervisor/advisor, you will be part of the biggest whining demographic in the world, and you will hate it and hate your life. Yes it will not be all bad, but it will get really bad at many points and no one tells you about it in advance. On the other hand, the emotional highs can be really high. The sense of achievement is amazing. When you discover something new (which is what you're supposed to be doing as a researcher), it's amazing to know that for a split second, you're the only one in the world that knows what you just discovered - it's yours and only yours. The end of the day, it's a balance: are the emotional highs enough to offset the lows? For me, it was just enough and I finished my PhD on time. I ended up leaving academia because the experience overall was not one I would like to live with the rest of my life. Finally, I want to note that doing a PhD is not an objective decision most of the time. Some careers essentially demand a PhD (IP law, academia, etc) but most PhDs do not work in academia and a large proportion do not work in their field of study. Don't think it will open wonderful doors that were closed beforehand. Good luck. Pierre