Some questions for you PhD's

[TecHNooB]

Is it more or less stressful than undergrad?
Do you worry more about maintaining a good grad school gpa or your research?
Are grad school GPAs less important than simply obtaining the degree?
Was your undergrad stellar? (3.7+)
Do you feel you're better at research than exams?
Is there a correlation between good exam scores and being a good researcher?
Do you feel its worth your early 20s to go for a PhD?
What do you hope to achieve in the end?

 

[CycloWizard]

1. Different stresses, not necessarily more or less.
2. Research.
3. Grad GPA isn't that important (unless your undergrad GPA was crappy like me ).
4. Nope, 2.94 or so for BS, 3.8 MS, 3.9 PhD.
5. Yes.
6. Doesn't seem to be.
7. If you want to do research and/or teach at a university, then yes. Otherwise, absolutely not. Always lose money on a PhD, will be depressed at some point during grad school, etc.
8. Do some research that will hopefully benefit people. I research an alternative treatment to a medical condition which affects everyone over the age of 40, so if I don't screw around, someone should eventually benefit.

 

[CP5670]

I'm still a grad student (in applied math), but can answer most of these questions.

1: Less in my case, but this will vary a lot with the program and field you are in. I've heard others say the opposite.
2: The latter. Actually, nobody cares about courses or grades around here. You're supposed to learn the basic, qualifying exam material on your own, and the courses are all ungraded and the professors just talk about their current research.
3: That's what I have heard. At least in the academic world, they will only care about your research and your advisor's stature and recommendation.
4: I guess so, 3.95.
5: Yes
6: At least in math, not at all.
7: If you want to do any sort of research, you basically need to. Otherwise, it's probably a waste of time.
8: I enjoy this stuff and want to keep working in it for a career, although probably outside academia.

 

[toslat]

Looking at a post BS = combined MS + PhD program
1. Depends on you, the school and the field. MS is often like harder undergrad with possibly a little bit of research. Programs in top schools could be more stressful, as they are often more competitive
2. Some schools require you maintain a minimum GPA to progress
3. Minimum requirement is sufficient, as I doubt most will be applying to any other school in the future.
4. will say just good
5. Nope. Exams were easier. Looking for answers you are not sure exist could be frustrating at times.
6. Depends. Some types of research require advance knowledge is certain areas that could be evidenced by performance in exams.
7. You should only do a PhD if you are clear on why you are doing it. Grad programs require a level of maturity, and it might be better you get more exposure before embarking on it.
8. Benefit society, work in academia, and of course, make money.

 

[Rumpltzer]

1. By far grad school was less stressful than undergrad; both in EE and at UIUC.

2. Grad school is all about the research and the classes were only taken to pass/prep for the qualifying exam. This is why I found grad school to be much less stressful and more enjoyable.

3. I've had 2 jobs since getting my PhD. No one has ever asked about my GPA. It's on my resume, but no one has ever asked. It's my PhD and the fact that my research and collaborations were well known in my field before I left school.

4. If 3.7+ was a stellar undergrad GPA, then yes, I had a stellar GPA.

5. I'm much, much, much better at research than exams. Much better.

6. My experience says the correlation is not strong. I have lots of experience with Indian and Chinese grads who had to be the best of the best of the best to come to America and to get into top universities... they could regurgitate equations, derive theories and solve paper problems; it was mind-boggling. It meant little in the way of common-sense and the ability to solve real problems. Many were dangerous in the lab; dangerous.

That's just my experience... and I'm generalizing... and it's not just the Chinese and Indians; I'm using them as a convenient example.

7. Yes. No regrets. It's not like I had no life. I also spent some of that time traveling and seeing the world; which I wouldn't have been able to do if I had had a real job during that time.

It's important to make your life what you want it to be.

8. Short term: Do what I want as a career; do interesting work; contribute to science.

Long term: Make a lasting difference in science/engineering. Change the world!

Really.

 

[KIAman]

Originally posted by: toslat
Looking at a post BS = combined MS + PhD program
1. Depends on you, the school and the field. MS is often like harder undergrad with possibly a little bit of research. Programs in top schools could be more stressful, as they are often more competitive
2. Some schools require you maintain a minimum GPA to progress
3. Minimum requirement is sufficient, as I doubt most will be applying to any other school in the future.
4. will say just good
5. Nope. Exams were easier. Looking for answers you are not sure exist could be frustrating at times.
6. Depends. Some types of research require advance knowledge is certain areas that could be evidenced by performance in exams.
7. You should only do a PhD if you are clear on why you are doing it. Grad programs require a level of maturity, and it might be better you get more exposure before embarking on it.
8. Benefit society, work in academia, and of course, make money.

Unless you are getting a PhD in some sort of applied field you are not going to make money unless you work for yourself or tenure at a university.

Not to de-motivate the OP but most PhD buddies of mine regret spending so much time getting theirs only to find that the real world has little space (tolerance, in some cases) for the likes of them.

I have a further question if I may.

9. Did you know you were going all the way to PhD from the beginning or was it convenient due to economic factors?

 

[CP5670]

Unless you are getting a PhD in some sort of applied field you are not going to make money unless you work for yourself or tenure at a university.

You can make good money in some lines of work, like quantitative finance. I know some math students here who went into that. Although at the same time, a PhD probably isn't necessary to get a job there.

As for the question 9, I had more or less decided on it halfway through my undergrad years.

 

[TecHNooB]

Blah, need to keep focused. Too bad senioritis isn't a legit excuse. Good work all around, you crazy PhD holders.

 

[jagec]

I'm pretty much just echoing everyone else, but...

1)I'd say more, but in different ways. Undergrad you're always getting graded and having to work on something that's due NOW NOW NOW, whereas PhD work is much more long-term. So, on a day-to-day basis, PhDs probably don't get quite as worked up about what's over the horizon. However, you're competing with the best of the best, and it can be very frustrating to be reminded of this after you've had an experiment fail time and again, only to have someone else publish perfect results and invalidate all of your work up until that point.

2)Anyone who doesn't say research is lying or crazy.

3)I guess technically I probably have a GPA, but I have no idea what it is. Your PhD is basically pass-fail, and what matters down the line is (a)connections/recommendations and (b)papers.

4)3.47. Pissed me off that I missed the 3.5 (I was lazy), but I do great on standardized tests, and so that got me into a good program.

5)To be honest? Exams. I'm really good at memorization. But it becomes a useless talent once I'm finished with grad school. I do pretty well at research, which is more important.

6)Very very weak. I'd say that if you break it into big enough chunks, it might be predictive--in other words, someone with a 1.5 GPA might be a worse researcher than someone with a 3.2, but you can't say anything about two people with a 2.9 and 3.8 respectively.

7)You'd better be doing it for the right reasons, and carry no delusions about making lots of money, winning a Nobel, or being hailed as a genius by greater society. Once you have realistic goals in mind and have forgone materialism (or gotten a rich godfather), it's worth it. Many things in life are impossible to achieve without a PhD.

8)Leave a legacy. I may be a tiny cog in a giant machine, but I want to be one that is fulfilling a vital role. One way or another, I want to permanently improve the scope of human knowledge, inspire others to achieve, alleviate suffering, and improve myself while I'm at it.
Can you tell I'm a first-year?