Mechanical Engineering PhD - Student Personality and the Stress Level

Scribbulus
Sat, 07 Mar 2015 03:51:12 +0000

I know this is a little long, I’m just trying to make sure i give good advice. I’m looking for some information regarding the stress level involved with completing a PhD program in mechanical engineering. Much of the available information I’ve found makes the statement that engineering PhD programs are extremely stressful but it’s not clear why. And it isn’t always clear if the statement is made from the viewpoint of someone who has been there and done that, or if it is an opinion based on second-hand knowledge.

I’ve got a son who will be graduating in May from an ABET accredited engineering physics program with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering. He is completing the program in 4 years, no summer courses for his degree, he did do one summer semester abroad and completed 7 hours, but they were not related to his degree. I assume his degree program was typical of undergraduate engineering programs; he had 97 hours of engineering and physics classes and 25 hours of the university core (fine art, writing, social science and the humanities). Because he has interests other than engineering and physics, every semester, in addition to his required courses, he has taken another course. While these were not physics/math/engineering courses, they weren’t what I’d call fluff courses either. An intro to artificial intelligence course, a digital design class (in addition to his fine art core, he wanted more design knowledge), several courses in the music science and technology area, including algorithmic music composition. He also has tutored math and physics for a charter school (high school and some middle school) since sophomore year.
He’ll probably wind up with a 3.2/3.3 GPA

He is the most laid back, even keeled person I know. He is friendly, gets along with everyone, and has a sense of humor. He could care less if he’s not among the top students in the class, but certainly doesn’t want to be in the bottom of the class either. I’d say he’s content being in the top 20% or so, as an average, some classes he is in the top; one or two classes he might only be in the upper 50%. He has never dropped a class, even when it might have been the wise thing to do, once he commits, he’s determined to see it through. He took a few of his engineering electives in the bio-mechanical engineering area, as they would work with his schedule, and he struggled with these, so he has a C or two
.
Looking back, I see there has been a couple of weeks every semester, when the work load would get to him, tests and projects all due at same time, that type stuff, and he would stress out, a few times really stress out and then it would be over and done.

He never really thought about graduate school, not that he wasn’t interested, but more to fact that he/I didn’t realize there were graduate engineering programs or that they would serve a purpose. Most of the info we looked when he was in high school, seemed to imply that engineers didn’t get advanced degrees unless they wanted to go into management, and he is not interested in that
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Last summer he did an internship, in the Research Directorate, up at the NASA Langley Research Center and the two mentors he worked with encouraged him to consider graduate school. He enjoyed the work quite a bit and after he got back on campus in the fall he started thinking about it. I told him he could certainly explore both graduate school and entering the work force; he didn’t have to decide right away, one or the other. He contacted his mentors, and they suggested a school and a faculty member, made the introductions, he did a phone interview, the guy was interested. As far as we could determine, there was no guarantee of admission, so I told him if he was really interested, he needed to apply to some other programs. As he didn’t take the GRE until January, he missed many deadlines, and only applied to a few Master’s programs. We figured he wouldn’t hear anything until possibly end of March and maybe not till April or May. Maybe the introduction and recommendation actually counted for more than he was thinking, he’s not heard back from the Master’s programs, in fact, one app isn’t done yet, but he was accepted into the PhD program, the day after the last recommendation letter was received. He will be visiting during his spring break. He doesn’t know whether to wait to hear from the other programs, withdraw his applications or what. The research areas do match up, but they do on the other programs he applied to as well.

He is asking for my opinion (others as well), so far I’ve only told him I that he needs to visit and meet the guy in person, there needs to be a match personality wise, and a phone conversation isn’t enough. I do figure that since the mentors worked with my son all summer and have worked this other guy as well, they must figure it would work out. I told my son we would sit down when he comes in for spring break, and talk it through, pros, cons, the whole bit and to not feel that he had to commit to anything right now. Here’s the thing I worry about; if the stress level of a PhD program is going to match the stress level of the few weeks had every semester, ALL through the whole program. Because if so, I think the cost to him (and I’m not talking financial cost) would exceed the benefit. And that’s if; he managed to complete the degree. Handling stress, on a daily basis, for years, isn’t something that everyone can do and survive with their self (or soul, or whatever you choose to call it) intact.