Educated Being

I write this to explain in my capacity some of the myths which most of the prospective Ph.D. aspirants, 1st year Ph.D. candidates, and their friends and families hold. My intention is not to encourage/discourage anyone to do Ph.D. but to clear some myths and give a clear picture.

• “It is the ultimate goal of life”: In early years of a Ph.D. program, to most of the students it seems like a goal in itself. But it’s not. It is a beginning. It is a preparation for your research/academic career. It is a stepping stone towards your long-term goal (if you have any).

• “I’ll be chained to a narrow topic for a lifetime”: Change is the spice of life. You can (will) not work only on your Ph.D. topic for the rest of your life. In fact, many researchers work on a number of different research projects that may not be directly related to their Ph.D. topic.

• “After Ph.D., I’ll have better job prospects”: The motivation behind doing a Ph.D. should not be just to get a better and higher income job. In fact, very few companies spend on R&D. And it’s not always possible to recover later the loss of income you incur in 3-5 years of Ph.D.

• “It is a good way to impress others”: Definitely a wrong reason to pursue a Ph.D. You cannot withstand the unrealistic demands of research just to impress others. It feels good only for a while to tell every one that you are doing a Ph.D. and look at their admiring eyes. But sooner or later, you would be hiding from them for not being able to cope up.

• “It is just another project, no big deal”: If you think it is just another project which takes a little longer than M.S. thesis then you are in for huge disappointment here. The demands of this ‘project’ are difficult and sometimes unrealistic from the projects that you might have been doing till now.

• “It is a test of my intelligence”: It is not a test of intelligence only but more of persistence and patience. Success comes after a number of failures. A doctoral degree just shows that you are capable of doing research with limited resources.

Now my friends and family would know exactly what I am into.

Please feel free to comment and add more to the list.

Few links:

• Big jobs that pay badly
• School is hell but it beats working (humor)

Filed in: Ph.D.

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Somewhat Related Posts:

• Who should do Ph.D. and Why?
• Learn to Say No Even When You Want to Say Yes
• How to avoid frustration due to expectations in graduate school
• Every Man for Himself
• Stop Overthinking, Just Do It

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