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> That’s a huge benefit that can total $40k or more per year before candidacy. No one does a phd for the coursework :) > travel This is worth perhaps $2K-$4K

> That’s a huge benefit that can total $40k or more per year before candidacy. No one does a phd for the coursework :) > travel This is worth perhaps $2K-$4K. Your industry friends could easily travel the world, and they wouldn't be stuck in a conference hotel for half their trip. > FICA taxes No! This isn't a good thing!!! The employer pays half of these, and paying them entitles you to the US social safety net! Universities don't even give phd students the minimal benefits that every other employer in the entire country is required to subsidize 50%. Stated another way: Denying any other employee a 50% match on state-provided retirement/disability insurance/unemployment insurance/medicare/etc. would literally be criminal.

ModernMech 5y ago
> No one does a phd for the coursework :) Tuition also entitles you to access library resources, university software, campus gyms, sports facilities, child care, and university provided health services. I think your emoticon is implying your statement is tongue in cheek, but I mean.... they absolutely do though. If you don't consider taking courses a benefit to doing a Ph.D. then yeah, the value proposition of a Ph.D. program is quite lopsided. Tax-free tuition is an amazing benefit from my perspective. > Your industry friends could easily travel the world, and they wouldn't be stuck in a conference hotel for half their trip. You say stuck at a conference hotel, but I love conferences. They are so much fun and I always learn so much and meet amazing people. Moreover, what I said was "travel and present research". Not many employees who have been working for 1-2 years out of college get to present their work in front of an audience of peers and experts. It's great exposure and an amazing way to make connections and start building a career. My friends in industry were never given opportunities like that. > paying them entitles you to the US social safety net! I mean, you start paying into them soon enough -- I'm not really worried about my social security payout when I retire because I didn't pay into FICA when I was 24. The benefit of not paying FICA is that $30k goes further now when you need it. With Obamacare, healthcare isn't much of an issue anymore for grad students, and we got cheap/free healthcare at the university health services. Look, all I'm saying is that when you say "$30k with marginal benefits" it makes it sound like a grad student is being compensated as a fast food employee. It's more like: $30k, and there are all kinds of benefits which may or may not appeal to you as an individual. If you want to make a ton of money go into industry. If you want a different experience do a Ph.D. You will (should!) come out of it with an education and a lot of open doors, some of which are permanently locked or vastly harder to open without the Ph.D. degree.
- sackofmugs 5y ago
  What's frustrating about these academia threads, is that Ph.D. experiences are so diverse and different, depending on the discipline, subfield, university, advisor. Yet so many commenters oversimplify their one experience or what they think it's like from knowing a couple of grad students. I know Ph.D. students who made almost six figures by doing highly paid research internships. Some advisors only care about demos, while others care about startups, and yet others care about how the work is presented to funding agencies. I know Ph.D. students who did most of their Ph.D. in a completely different city than their degree-granting institution. I know Ph.D. students who were highly pressured to publish, and Ph.D. students who had no pressure to publish. I know Ph.D. students who basically had no advisor, and Ph.D. students with 3 world-expert advisors. Some Ph.D. students are funded by the university, others are funded by large collaborative grants, or by their own fellowships, and yet others are funded by small industry grants their advisor got. It's like if threads about being a software developer had comments like "at tech companies, you only get rewarded for closing tickets."

ModernMech 5y ago

> No one does a phd for the coursework :) Tuition also entitles you to access library resources, university software, campus gyms, sports facilities, child care, and university provided health services. I think your emoticon is implying your statement is tongue in cheek, but I mean.... they absolutely do though. If you don't consider taking courses a benefit to doing a Ph.D. then yeah, the value proposition of a Ph.D. program is quite lopsided. Tax-free tuition is an amazing benefit from my perspective. > Your industry friends could easily travel the world, and they wouldn't be stuck in a conference hotel for half their trip. You say stuck at a conference hotel, but I love conferences. They are so much fun and I always learn so much and meet amazing people. Moreover, what I said was "travel and present research". Not many employees who have been working for 1-2 years out of college get to present their work in front of an audience of peers and experts. It's great exposure and an amazing way to make connections and start building a career. My friends in industry were never given opportunities like that. > paying them entitles you to the US social safety net! I mean, you start paying into them soon enough -- I'm not really worried about my social security payout when I retire because I didn't pay into FICA when I was 24. The benefit of not paying FICA is that $30k goes further now when you need it. With Obamacare, healthcare isn't much of an issue anymore for grad students, and we got cheap/free healthcare at the university health services. Look, all I'm saying is that when you say "$30k with marginal benefits" it makes it sound like a grad student is being compensated as a fast food employee. It's more like: $30k, and there are all kinds of benefits which may or may not appeal to you as an individual. If you want to make a ton of money go into industry. If you want a different experience do a Ph.D. You will (should!) come out of it with an education and a lot of open doors, some of which are permanently locked or vastly harder to open without the Ph.D. degree.

sackofmugs 5y ago
What's frustrating about these academia threads, is that Ph.D. experiences are so diverse and different, depending on the discipline, subfield, university, advisor. Yet so many commenters oversimplify their one experience or what they think it's like from knowing a couple of grad students. I know Ph.D. students who made almost six figures by doing highly paid research internships. Some advisors only care about demos, while others care about startups, and yet others care about how the work is presented to funding agencies. I know Ph.D. students who did most of their Ph.D. in a completely different city than their degree-granting institution. I know Ph.D. students who were highly pressured to publish, and Ph.D. students who had no pressure to publish. I know Ph.D. students who basically had no advisor, and Ph.D. students with 3 world-expert advisors. Some Ph.D. students are funded by the university, others are funded by large collaborative grants, or by their own fellowships, and yet others are funded by small industry grants their advisor got. It's like if threads about being a software developer had comments like "at tech companies, you only get rewarded for closing tickets."