Questions for grad students

boneh3ad
Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:10:46 +0000

anthropo:

Do you think education is essential to living well?



No I do not. It certainly opens lots of doors, but it isn’t even close to being essential to living well. For example, neither of my grandparents have a college education, yet my grandfather started his own insurance adjusting business based on experience he got as a carpenter VERY well. That is just one example though.



anthropo:

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



I expect to be able to get a career that is a lot more interesting and cutting edge by doing research, something that is very limited when one only has a Bachelors. I will make a little more than otherwise, but that is just icing on the cake. The real reason is that I have a passion for research in my subject.



anthropo:

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



1,000,000% yes!



anthropo:

If you are not happy now, do expect your decision to bring you happiness at some later point?



N/A



anthropo:

What are the downsides of continuing your education?



The downside is that I am now making (through my stipend) roughly a third of what I would have been making had I accepted one of the jobs I was offered out of undergrad, and with that extra money, I probably would have been married by now.