3 ms·
A phd is a one time expense, you can choose to discard it or use it as needed. Unlike a surgeon, who must spend their career actually doing surgery or face fin
by lumost 4y ago
A phd is a one time expense, you can choose to discard it or use it as needed. Unlike a surgeon, who must spend their career actually doing surgery or face financial ruin.
Anecdotally, I have seen phds create expectation vs reality mismatches for some. The degree can easily become an anchor which holds someone to problems that they no longer care about, or provides false belief in one’s credentials.
- bumby 4y ago>Unlike a surgeon, who must spend their career actually doing surgery or face financial ruin. I literally know somebody who went through surgery residency and decided to walk away from the field. They are not in financial ruin. Medical school is also a "one time expense", so I'm not convinced of the distinction. The opportunity cost of a PhD, especially in a field of engineering or CS is probably on similar par. The difference between a TA salary and someone in industry, over the course of 6-7 years to complete a PhD, can easily approach or exceed $500k. While the debt load between the two may be different, the actual opportunity cost is similar. >The degree can easily become an anchor which holds someone to problems that they no longer care about, or provides false belief in one’s credentials. Completely agree.