I didn't see anything other than anecdotes to back up the claim in the title. Did I miss something? Also, anyone thinking about a PhD owes it to themselves to

I didn't see anything other than anecdotes to back up the claim in the title. Did I miss something? Also, anyone thinking about a PhD owes it to themselves to understand firsthand what that means before getting started. There is an excellent, low-cost way to do this by joining a research group in your field of interest at your undergrad university. In every case, the students I saw who had the roughest time during their PhD were those who had not even bothered to try doing research during their bachelors. A PhD degree is about conceiving and completing original research. If you've never done it, it's easy to overlook these points: 1. Your research project will isolate you. Almost nobody will really understand your project and few will care. 2. It will be thankless, praiseless work for the most part. Don't look to your advisor for high-fives. 3. Your project may fail after years of effort. 4. Your research group will have a lot to do with your success. You won't even know what to look for until you've seen a research group in action firsthand. If any of these points bother you now, seek answers to your questions pronto - and don't even think of enrolling in a PhD program until you're ok with 1-4.