> IMHO, long and difficult educational programs should be designed to guarantee a high chance of a reasonable stable and comfortable outcome. You've hit the na

> IMHO, long and difficult educational programs should be designed to guarantee a high chance of a reasonable stable and comfortable outcome. You've hit the nail on the head. Education is now regarded transactionally. A PhD simply isn't about that; if you ever thought so, you've been lied to. I'm a PhD student and I'm certainly not being 'taken advantage of' or anything of the sort. Please broaden your perspective and stop basing your entire view of a topic on a few sob stories from people who either couldn't hack it or made terrible, self-sabotaging decisions and now regret it. There's a huge crowd out there for whom this was not their experience, and hence have no reason to moan about it online.