"Dear brilliant students: Please consider not doing a PhD."

Engineer913
Wed, 23 Jan 2013 14:11:31 +0000

Whew! I was worried there for a little bit, but luckily I’m just an average intellect but very hard working. I feel bad for all you brilliant students.

On a more serious note this seems like a very narrow cynical view by someone who most likely didn’t get the life they wanted. It’s true you shouldn’t let people push you and do your research first, but we all have different goals and experiences leading up to graduate school, that will shape us and prepare us in various ways.

It’s true in the middle of a Ph.D. many students are at the breaking point where they see friends or family off in careers in industry, with a nice house, good job, and plenty of time to spend with friends and family. However, everyone I know as a friend who has finished a Ph.D., every faculty member, or adviser I have had has always said it is by far the most rewarding thing they did in there life and they don’t regret it. Maybe all my colleagues and faculty I know are idealistic and fools… or maybe they didn’t let the world twist them into cynics.

If you want a bit of a taste though and are unsure of the 5+ year commitment, enroll in a difficult thesis Masters program in your field, with a demanding adviser. I did that and it made me crave the insanity of graduate school that much more. I’m actually about 100x less depressed or in need of “therapy” as the writer claims, than when I was working in industry. If you really want to know what will drive you insane, try working in a cubicle making someone else rich off your ideas.