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I spent my 20s trying to get rich enough to become a professional student. My 30s too. Its looking like this is also how I'll spend my 50s, which are approachin
by rfrey 6y ago
I spent my 20s trying to get rich enough to become a professional student. My 30s too. Its looking like this is also how I'll spend my 50s, which are approaching like a steam train. Bring on the MIT Golden Years Home for the Intellectually Dissatisfied.
- discordance 6y agoDid you end up becoming a professional student? - If so, how's that going?
- rfrey 6y agoNope, still working - just incorporated my latest startup. 7th time the charm?
- dorchadas 6y agoI wish you the best of luck. This is, quite honestly, the main reason why I wish to attain financial independence. I really would love to be a professional student, and my interests are all over the place, so I could keep it up for sure.
- garmaine 6y agoTry a different country where higher education is nearly free (by comparison)?
- cortesoft 6y agoMost countries don't let random foreign students come study for free. You either have to be really good or pay your way.
- garmaine 6y agoThere are some that do, like Slovakia.
- fiblye 6y agoAt which point you need to decide whether you're going to devote years of your life learning Slovak from what's likely 0 to a professional level and then hope you get accepted into a university, or pay $ to study elsewhere. Even if peers speak to you and some courses are offered in your preferred non-Slovak language, much of the world is inaccessible with a language barrier. You either go all in or look elsewhere.
- garmaine 6y agoThe coursework is in English.
- bonoboTP 6y agoNot true, there are plenty of foreign students everywhere in Europe with small languages and if the program is English they do just fine. It really depends on the person. Some really cannot stand not understanding everything around them on the street, in the supermarket etc, others find it thrilling and a positive challenge to work through, they often take language courses in parallel to uni studies, but some never learn the local language and stick to international circles or English speaking locals. There are many ways and tons of people do it to their satisfaction.
- zhdc1 6y agoMost universities don't let random students (foreign or domestic) come study for free. You either have to be really good or pay your way. In all seriousness though, I can only think of one or two occasions personally where citizenship had an effect on a PhD admit decision, and in those cases the source of funding and external politics were the deciding factors.
- curiousgal 6y agoEven if you're above average and your grades are good enough (not talking 4.0 here) paying 2000 euros for a year is still nothing.
- jhanschoo 6y agoWhen people talk about cheap or free, good-quality, higher education, the reason why it is so is because it is subsidized by the state. You usually have to meet several conditions to qualify.
- garmaine 6y agoThere are many places that do open their education to foreigners, so long as you qualify for a student visa. But generally I mean that the unsubsidized cost of a foreign education can be 1/10th what a US person pays.
- rfrey 6y agoThat helps... my dream involves personal financial independence though. I'd want to study what I wanted without regard for what was publishable, whether I was tainting myself with the Cross-Disciplinary Death Scent, whether the people I worked with were cited enough, etc. In other words, a hobby PhD. It's a ridiculous and selfish goal, somewhat like wanting to own a tropical island or talking about spending ten years sailing around the world.
- garmaine 6y agoI have more or less the same goal, and I’m close to achieving it. I will probably relocate to Europe to study.
- rajlego 6y agoWhy do it through university when you have the internet and can more effectively learn things by yourself?
- TeaDrunk 6y agoExposure to peers.
- mikekchar 6y agoNot the OP, and it's definitely not my style, but some people really like taking classes. They love the environment and energy that a university life gives them. I've known one or two people who have spent decades just taking classes (and accumulating degrees).
- rajlego 6y agoThis is really weird to me but to each their own. I think it's partially because of ADHD but I really hate doing HW/writing essays that I feel are useless, which tends to be pretty common in uni.
- tasogare 6y agoThat’s tech biaised perspective. For a lot of topics there isn’t much resources available online, or not of good quality enough to get started and for this university classes are really helpful. Moreover, university and using the internet are not mutually exclusive: a lot of universities offers remote degrees. Depending on the languages you speak it can be very cheap (French univ are around 400€/year + one travel for final exam).
- anonymousDan 6y agoThat's interesting, can you point me to any good resources on remote degrees (especially MSc) from French universities? My brother really wants to do one part time but can't afford it.
- 6y ago
- jonathanstrange 6y agoI did it the other way round, became a professional student, then PhD student, then postdoc. Now that it's no longer very likely that I'll get tenure - for various reasons that mostly have nothing to do with my scientific performance - I'll have to spend time trying to get rich enough so I don't have to be a professional student any longer. I'll have to fund a company for the first time, while getting close to my 50s, and better earn some money with it. I don't regret anything, the bottom-line of the story is just that it's hard to know in advance which strategy is better, and even afterwards you can never be sure. That's the problem with the counterfactual reasoning that is the basis of these kind of life decisions.
- rfrey 6y agoSorry for the roadblocks it sounds like your career has hit. I think I chose correctly - I'd only really enjoy a PhD if I were doing it as a member of the Leisured Aristocracy. I only regret not having entered that club, despite having worked through three software booms where everyone else with a compiler and powerpoint deck apparently got stinkin' rich.
- AndrewKemendo 6y agoI guess I don't see why it wouldnt always be optimal to try and gain financial independence first. That allows maximum flexibility and a time buffer to switch careers/industry if needed.
- pletsch 6y agoWhat's your PhD in?
- jonathanstrange 6y agoPhilosophy - the mother of all sciences (just kidding...)
- SamuelAdams 6y agoYou know, just about every major university needs good IT people to run the place. Many offer free tuition as a perk of working there. For example, MIT is currently looking for a software developer: https://careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/client_mit/external/jobDetails/jobDetail.html?jobPostId=17314&localeCode=en-us https://careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/client_mit/externa... And they offer tuition reimburstment: https://hr.mit.edu/benefits/tuition-plan https://hr.mit.edu/benefits/tuition-plan ALso here's some california universities for West Coast people. https://jobs.universityofcalifornia.edu/site/advancedsearch?keywords=&job_type=Full+Time&Category%5Bcategory_id%5D=31&Campus%5Bcampus_id%5D=&multiple_locations=0&search=Search https://jobs.universityofcalifornia.edu/site/advancedsearch?...
- at_a_remove 6y agoMany do offer free tuition as a perk of working at them, but look very very closely, there's often a catch. I spent entirely too many years trying to find my way out of the maze created. They did a great job at leading me around by my nose for a long time, more fool I.