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Only a minority of CS PhDs pursue a tenure-track position. I have found academia to be more laid back than big tech companies, but you are still expected to pro
by azhenley 6y ago
Only a minority of CS PhDs pursue a tenure-track position. I have found academia to be more laid back than big tech companies, but you are still expected to produce (e.g., a paper or two a year). The top programs probably have a more competitive culture than state schools. If you don’t want to produce research, then I don’t see the point in enrolling.
I [luckily] haven’t experienced the scary stuff that people talk about, but a major barrier for students is that PhDs are largely unstructured and require you to take the initiative. Not everyone does well in that environment.
- freetime2 6y agoHow about teaching undergraduates? I seem to recall from my undergrad days that a lot of my TAs were pursuing PhDs. Is that something that PhD students are expected to do?
- azhenley 6y agoSome work as TAs. It is done part-time for funding (tuition waiver, monthly stipend, and insurance). It is not usually a requirement in US schools, although I recommend my students do it for at least a semester to get the experience. Otherwise they are funded as RAs. A PhD is about doing research.