8 ms·

Anyone else surprised the site wasn't just a blank white page with the word "No" in 200px font?

emplynx 12y ago
I was hoping to provide something more nuanced with the website. For that, you could see my corresponding Twitter account: https://twitter.com/shouldyougetphd https://twitter.com/shouldyougetphd
tych0 12y ago
Yeah, I am. It's sort of like stuff at stores where the price isn't listed: if you have to ask, a Ph. D. isn't for you.
- rdc12 12y ago
  Nothing wrong with trying to make an informed decision
  - emplynx 12y ago
    Exactly. That's why I put this together.
- zzleeper 12y ago
  The thing is, what you see while in school and in academia before deciding to do the PhD are the survivors. The ones who like the power play, the grant-writing, and possibly those more prone to Stockholm Effect from their PhD years. When deciding, you don't see the ones who flunked, who killed themselves, who lost years of their life for the PhD and went to the private sector. Even then, most people won't tell you "yes I did the PhD and it sucked".. you can't say that even after years because you will appear weak or unskilled. Instead, people oft say "it was a great learning experience, etc etc".
  - Chronic29 12y ago
    The same thing can be said about industry. All you hear about are the people who work at successful startups and top tech firms. You don't hear about the ones working at low paying fortune 500 companies as developers or IT.
AndrewKemendo 12y ago
That is exactly what I was expecting, but I was glad with what resulted because there is value there and for a small subset of people it is worth it.
pbnjay 12y ago
As someone with a PhD... yes. It was good for me and my career plans... but I actively tell people NOT to pursue one in this job/funding climate. I know quite a few people who basically have no aspirations past the PhD, and hence no real drive or quality of work. It's sad really, because I know so many PhDs who are doing great stuff, but at this level it's also just so hard to separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of quality.
- sebastianavina 12y ago
  I'm starting my PhD on 2016, I've already filled most of the paper work. Side note is that I graduated on 2007 with a master on industrial automation. I was planning to study a PhD immediately but instead I decided to take a sabatic year... after several months I started working and funded two companies. Today I must say I'm a successful business man, working on my thesis on probability and about tying things down for taking a year off of my own company in order to attend a year of classes of a top research center for a PhD on automatic control. I'm so happy.
ascotan 12y ago
Lol. Yes the answer is no. I realized too late that salaries in the computer industry follow the "reverse hockey stick". Even badly trained programmers do pretty well and if you spend those early years before you get married with kids collecting a good salary you'll be in a better position then the guy that spent 7 years racking up student loan debt to get a phd. Now if you love research - go for it. Otherwise get a job early and make money. Frankly there are a lot of fun things to do in CS without the need fora phd. Honestly spending time fishing for money to do research is probably a lot less fun then spending your time at a start up or just working.
- jamesaguilar 12y ago
  You paid to get your PhD? I thought that was pretty uncommon?
  - akiselev 12y ago
    You usually get paid a stipend in the STEM fields, but it's probably well below minimum wage (we're talking the equivalent of $3-5/hour) with such a huge time commitment that earning money on the side is practically impossible. If you live in a city with a higher than average cost of living or you're just starting a family or have health problems (that university insurance can be pretty crappy as you transition from your parents' plan) you can very easily be forced to get student loans... Which you often can't discharge through bankruptcy even if not strictly used for tuition AFAIK. I'm not sure about the humanities but with the disproportionate amount of funding focused on STEM (relative to number of graduate students) I wouldnt be surprised if some people did have to pay to get their PhD.
    - t__r 12y ago
      In Europe you get a salary for a PhD. It's not a lot but in most countries (especially western Europe) it's actually quite OK.
      - reuven 12y ago

I was hoping to provide something more nuanced with the website. For that, you could see my corresponding Twitter account: https://twitter.com/shouldyougetphd https://twitter.com/shouldyougetphd

tych0 12y ago

Yeah, I am. It's sort of like stuff at stores where the price isn't listed: if you have to ask, a Ph. D. isn't for you.

rdc12 12y ago
Nothing wrong with trying to make an informed decision
- emplynx 12y ago
  Exactly. That's why I put this together.
zzleeper 12y ago
The thing is, what you see while in school and in academia before deciding to do the PhD are the survivors. The ones who like the power play, the grant-writing, and possibly those more prone to Stockholm Effect from their PhD years. When deciding, you don't see the ones who flunked, who killed themselves, who lost years of their life for the PhD and went to the private sector. Even then, most people won't tell you "yes I did the PhD and it sucked".. you can't say that even after years because you will appear weak or unskilled. Instead, people oft say "it was a great learning experience, etc etc".
- Chronic29 12y ago
  The same thing can be said about industry. All you hear about are the people who work at successful startups and top tech firms. You don't hear about the ones working at low paying fortune 500 companies as developers or IT.

AndrewKemendo 12y ago

That is exactly what I was expecting, but I was glad with what resulted because there is value there and for a small subset of people it is worth it.

pbnjay 12y ago

As someone with a PhD... yes. It was good for me and my career plans... but I actively tell people NOT to pursue one in this job/funding climate. I know quite a few people who basically have no aspirations past the PhD, and hence no real drive or quality of work. It's sad really, because I know so many PhDs who are doing great stuff, but at this level it's also just so hard to separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of quality.

sebastianavina 12y ago
I'm starting my PhD on 2016, I've already filled most of the paper work. Side note is that I graduated on 2007 with a master on industrial automation. I was planning to study a PhD immediately but instead I decided to take a sabatic year... after several months I started working and funded two companies. Today I must say I'm a successful business man, working on my thesis on probability and about tying things down for taking a year off of my own company in order to attend a year of classes of a top research center for a PhD on automatic control. I'm so happy.

ascotan 12y ago

Lol. Yes the answer is no. I realized too late that salaries in the computer industry follow the "reverse hockey stick". Even badly trained programmers do pretty well and if you spend those early years before you get married with kids collecting a good salary you'll be in a better position then the guy that spent 7 years racking up student loan debt to get a phd. Now if you love research - go for it. Otherwise get a job early and make money. Frankly there are a lot of fun things to do in CS without the need fora phd. Honestly spending time fishing for money to do research is probably a lot less fun then spending your time at a start up or just working.

jamesaguilar 12y ago
You paid to get your PhD? I thought that was pretty uncommon?
- akiselev 12y ago
  You usually get paid a stipend in the STEM fields, but it's probably well below minimum wage (we're talking the equivalent of $3-5/hour) with such a huge time commitment that earning money on the side is practically impossible. If you live in a city with a higher than average cost of living or you're just starting a family or have health problems (that university insurance can be pretty crappy as you transition from your parents' plan) you can very easily be forced to get student loans... Which you often can't discharge through bankruptcy even if not strictly used for tuition AFAIK. I'm not sure about the humanities but with the disproportionate amount of funding focused on STEM (relative to number of graduate students) I wouldnt be surprised if some people did have to pay to get their PhD.
  - t__r 12y ago
    In Europe you get a salary for a PhD. It's not a lot but in most countries (especially western Europe) it's actually quite OK.
    - reuven 12y ago