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I wanted to go all the way to a PhD. So did my classmates. We were going to change the whole world. But after an internship at a FAANG during my 2nd year under
by LASR 3y ago
I wanted to go all the way to a PhD. So did my classmates. We were going to change the whole world.
But after an internship at a FAANG during my 2nd year undergrad, the money was too good. Got some return offers and basically slacked off the rest of my undergrad, just waiting to graduate.
I was not born into wealth. I am a 1/2-generation immigrant. My parents struggled to keep me afloat during my undergrad years. Even my internship pay was more than my parents' income at the time. So really I had no choice but to sell out early.
Now 10 years after undergrad and a couple of FAANGs later, the baby crying in the other room at 3AM, parents retired and vacationing around, I think I made the only choice for me. But I cannot help wonder how life might have been different, and if I really did have a chance to change to world.
- rewmie 3y ago> But I cannot help wonder how life might have been different, and if I really did have a chance to change to world. You made the right choice. Life as a PhD student is ultimately a life of poverty and uncertain future. You might get lucky and be able to explore a meaningful research topic, but more often than not you would end up in a miserable path with no future, and with the best option at securing your material needs to be in an ungrateful and very hard to reach academic role.
- mebassett 3y agoor after a few years of postdocs and job security that comes in 12-24 month bouts, you might have moved into industry anyway and just starting making 60% of what you're making now.