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> Rushing a BS makes complete sense to me. A Ph.D? Not so much. Hmm, opposite feelings. I needed time in the bachelor to figure out what I wanted. For many sci
by dr_dshiv 5y ago
> Rushing a BS makes complete sense to me. A Ph.D? Not so much.
Hmm, opposite feelings. I needed time in the bachelor to figure out what I wanted. For many scientific professionals, they might be publishing papers and could potentially even write a thesis on the side. This would enable them to get the degree and teach, should they want to.
- mattkrause 5y agoAre there many scientific professionals without PhDs though? My impression is that most people writing scientific papers are already somewhere in/through that pipeline.
- dr_dshiv 5y agoYes, there are. I know several.
- blagie 5y agoFiguring out what one wants makes a lot of sense, but I haven't seen an undergrad college education as a good context to do that. Most kids I know who did that came out with a squishy education, without real depth or substance. At the same time, an undergrad class looks nothing like real life. Working in different contexts -- jobs, internships, volunteering, etc. -- has tended to work a lot better for that -- especially when the job is structured as a learning experience and not a profit-maximizing one. For me, travel was magical for figuring out who I wanted to be, but I wasn't doing tourism. You have a lot more freedom to explore as a Ph.D than an undergrad too: - No timeline - You're not paying $40k per year, but getting a stipend - Few fixed requirements