You can always start, and if upi don't like it after a year, leave. Most people I know, who did PhDs, knew at that point. Some chose to stay anyway for the sunk

You can always start, and if upi don't like it after a year, leave. Most people I know, who did PhDs, knew at that point. Some chose to stay anyway for the sunk cost fallacy, or because they had a visa, but they probably shouldn't have. Personally I loved every day of doing a PhD (admittedly I did it in Europe, not the US) and I feel like it's allowed me to work on much more interesting stuff afterwards as well.