quarter-life crisis: to PhD or not to PhD?

[Portia]

http://theboard.byu.edu/questions/87381/

Offering a perspective from someone probably close to your age (28) and mulling over a similar situation (10 years of relationships that didn't work out, the choice between a grad program and employment near family and friends).

I would take the job.

Not saying you should, but here's my line of reasoning:

Unless your Ph.D. program is in, like, biomechanical engineering, it's almost certainly a huge opportunity cost. By the time you're, say, 31, that may mean that your peers have used those three years to make (maybe even save) money, grow their careers, and probably have awesome adventures you won't be able to afford.

But making money is a huge personal value of mine, and you may value the doctorate and doing independent research more. A good friend of mine in Wisconsin is taking a huge opportunity cost to do his Ph.D. (in engineering, it's like he's just leaving piles of money on the table) because he LOVES it and can't not.

If I get a Ph.D. in, like, English will I really have good employment prospects after? That's pretty darn debatable. It's just a masters that I got into, but the funding situation is, eh. Got a pamphlet in the mail showing how much health insurance would be and I just knew I couldn't do it. So you probably know on a gut level, is paying a ton for Welsh (?) health insurance and visas and everything worth it? To you?

I'm so far removed from LDS culture that I didn't understand the word "branch" (I was like, of a genealogical tree? Shouldn't she date outside the branch?).

But another huge part of my decision is dating. And I'm like, so over pretending I don't care. One doesn't have to be desperate or lay all one's cards on the table, but where I'm at is actually really good for finding the sort of life partner I want. I actively don't want kids, so even though I really want to get married in my early 30s, I have time.

If you want kids, limiting your pool to like three Mormon Welsh dudes might not be in your best self-interest!

I found it helpful to decide what I wanted, and work backwards. I definitely passed up on good opportunities along the way -- and you have a masters so you know much more than me what academia is truly like.

I think that either way by the time we're 31 it will be better. :D

Regardless of what you choose you don't have to take a week of PTO to baby-sit. That's totally up to you.

[Zedability]

A branch is a congregation that's too small to be a ward.

[Portia]

A branch is a congregation that's too small to be a ward.

Yes, a second reading made the meaning clear. :-) I still like my misinterpretation. The last of the Lannisters must go back to Kings Landing! LOL

[Craig Jessop]

I'd take the job too. Unless you 1) Are set on academia and have full funding, or 2) are getting a PhD in a hefty STEM topic, I've heard they're not worth it. My cousin recently considered a PhD or EdD and was universally told by everybody around him not to go for it.

It might not be as fun, but sooner or later everybody has to succumb to the workforce. The asker may as well do it now, especially since they have a great job offer.

[Amity]

Oh man, those opportunity costs. I was very, very lucky in that my PhD was fully funded and I had no student loans and I was even able to sock away a little bit of my meager stipend into my savings account, but it also means that I'm 31 and just starting to save for a down payment on a house and build my retirement savings. Financially and career-stability wise, I'm 7-8 years behind a lot of my peers.

Other considerations: would a PhD actually make Torn overqualified, and thus less hire-able (something a lot of non-STEM fields are dealing with)? Would a foreign PhD garner less respect from American employers? And does Torn actually have it in them to write a thesis/dissertation? Those things are no mean feat, and even the most dedicated and enthusiastic PhD students encounter major struggles with them.

[Marduk]

Wait, there are PhD programs that aren't funded? Seriously? ....That's quite possibly the worst decision I've ever heard of.

[Amity]

Yes, and they are a very, very, very, very bad idea.

[Marduk]

I've never heard of an unfunded PhD in any of my disciplines. The only thing that comes close is the education people, but those are usually funded by a primary ed school that is sending one of their employees.