that sounds like pretty clear expectations to me, much better than the nebulous "do something novel for a few years, impress some old people, and then maybe you

that sounds like pretty clear expectations to me, much better than the nebulous "do something novel for a few years, impress some old people, and then maybe you'll get a PhD, just maybe." yes, the game is imperfect and always stacked against newbies (as any game is), but at least you know where the goalposts are. the experience of my peers in grad school mirrored this "three papers -> PhD" heuristic: http://www.pgbovine.net/PhD-overview.htm http://www.pgbovine.net/PhD-overview.htm