Questions for grad students

viennariver
Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:22:20 +0000

Do you think education is essential to living well?



Nope. Not at all.



What benefits are you expecting to get out of your continued education? E.g. job security? Higher pay? Emotional rewards? Etc…



I’m expecting to be able to get the job that I want. I suppose the job security might be a superlative of it, but its definitely not for the higher pay, I think I’ll most likely be making less. I went to grad school to pursue a career in research and I’m probably not going to be able to do what I want without a PhD.



Are you happy with your decision to go to grad school?



Most definitely. I mean, sometimes it’s frustrating to see some of my college buddies pulling in more money than they know what to do with, but such is life. I actually love what I do in school.



What are the downsides of continuing your education?



The time commitment is pretty huge. ~5 years for a PhD is no small undertaking and it really alters the way you go about your young adult life. Buying a house or raising a family just isn’t in the cards right now financially.