What should I do next? Finishing a PhD in engineering

[Sho'Nuff]

In my opinion if you get an MD or a JD, you wasted your time with a Ph'D. Go apply your knowledge so it's A or B or E.

Depends on your definition of success (and waste). Ph.D engineers can do very, very well as patent attorneys. Or at least they could until the market tanked.

 

[IAteYourMother]

I don't see why people get phd's in engineering unless you plan on being a teacher. I know so few phd's actually in industry its ridiculous.

you probably see fewer PhDs because there are fewer people with PhDs than BS's... not to mention that it really depends on the field and company/industry

 

[Zebo]

It's pretty astonishing to me you could get that far in education and still wonder what you're going to do with your life but if it were me I'd become a principle researcher someplace. Public private wouldn't matter as long as as I was doing research I was interested in. Would never want to be a doctor, nasty people all day, plus you wasted 6 years. Hate lawyers in general they are unproductive bottom feeders.

 

[JTsyo]

A for 5-10 years. Learn the industry and make contacts. Then if it seems feasible E.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

It's pretty astonishing to me you could get that far in education and still wonder what you're going to do with your life but if it were me I'd become a principle researcher someplace. Public private wouldn't matter as long as as I was doing research I was interested in. Would never want to be a doctor, nasty people all day, plus you wasted 6 years. Hate lawyers in general they are unproductive bottom feeders.

This.

OP, I don't mean to be rude or crude, but there is a saying out there that goes "It is time to shit or get off the pot." I think that statement applies to your current predicament. I don't know why on earth anyone would waste time with a PhD in engineering if they didn't intend on doing research or teaching and after that investment (and, I assume, significant debt), it is time to get a real job. At one time, I had considered doing a PhD in engineering but when I was working in the Master's program, I realized that research was not something I enjoyed.

At any rate, don't be a career student -- they're a joke. One of my wife's friends dated this guy for a short time and he is in his mid 30s and has never had a real job to my knowledge. He keeps wasting time going back to school for various reasons and I'm not entirely sure if he has ever completed anything beyond his initial Bachelor's degree. She acts like he is really smart, but come on -- the guy was in his mid-30s and working menial jobs. He is a directionless buffoon and at some point, you just need to set course and never look back.

 

[ichy]

I don't see why people get phd's in engineering unless you plan on being a teacher. I know so few phd's actually in industry its ridiculous.

Eh, depends on where you want to work. Big R&D focused companies seem to want people with PhDs. I have a friend who's a research engineer for Intel and the division that he's working for only hires people with doctorates.

 

[ichy]

In my opinion if you get an MD or a JD, you wasted your time with a Ph'D. Go apply your knowledge so it's A or B or E.

Agreed. I never understood people who futz around for years or get a graduate degree of dubious value before going to medical school.

If you want to become a doctor just go to med school right out of undergrad. Don't waste your time on a master's or joining the Peace Corps or any mickey mouse shit like that.

 

[Juddog]

Best route is A. Use your talent for the good of mankind.

 

[jagec]

Agreed. I never understood people who futz around for years or get a graduate degree of dubious value before going to medical school.

If you want to become a doctor just go to med school right out of undergrad. Don't waste your time on a master's or joining the Peace Corps or any mickey mouse shit like that.

There is a place for MD-PhDs (they pull down piles of research money because they can do translational research), but if you're going to do it, you DON'T want to do the PhD first.

Combined programs PAY for your med school, and I believe you get a stipend as well.

PhD, then MD is a very expensive way to go about things just to reach the same end result.

 

[GWestphal]

I don't think the PhD is wasted, because I always wanted to get a PhD. I learned a shit ton of things durning that time. It gives me extra street credit if I want to start a business. It also opens the option of teaching if I want and enables me to advance in many corporate settings that REQUIRE a PhD. I had a full tuition waiver and stipend during that time, so the debt I have is from undergrad.

I'm leaning towards maybe doing (B) for 2 years, then (A) part time for 3 years during (D). That way I can do some clinical research and sate my urges for (C) while paying off my undergrad loans, then get some ins with industry and offset the cost of (D). That will be able to act as a seed fund if/when I start (E).

 

[LordMorpheus]

I don't see why people get phd's in engineering unless you plan on being a teacher. I know so few phd's actually in industry its ridiculous.

In what industry? There are some fields in which a BS won't give you the necessary background (robotics, advanced controls, estimation & tracking, &c.).

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Someone who gets a PHD in Biomedical Engineering without knowing what they're going to do with it when they get out of school will only ever be successful in an academic setting.

 

[Printer Bandit]

can't believe no one suggested option F

 

[Zebo]

OP I suggest making lists. Daily, monthly, yearly it's amazing focus it brings and how much you get done once you learn that habit.

 

[Dr. Zaus]

Someone who gets a PHD in Biomedical Engineering without knowing what they're going to do with it when they get out of school will only ever be successful in an academic setting.

Fact.

 

[Drako]

LOL, how do you go for a PHD and not have a solid plan as to what you are going to do with it?

 

[Zebo]

LOL, how do you go for a PHD and not have a solid plan as to what you are going to do with it?

Simple better than working. Path of least resistance and all that. School was fun as hell for me and I would have stayed in as long as possible but I had obligations. Work is truly overrated. Usually sux, that's why they have to pay you for it.


I understand staying in but not the aimlessness.

 

[ichy]

LOL, how do you go for a PHD and not have a solid plan as to what you are going to do with it?

Meh, the friend I know who works at Intel started off like that. Didn't know what to do after undergrad so he applied to a bunch of graduate programs. Ended up working out well for him but he did get a very marketable PhD.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I don't see why people get phd's in engineering unless you plan on being a teacher. I know so few phd's actually in industry its ridiculous.

I was about to say, most phds are the road to become a teacher.

 

[Rudee]

I work for a major oil & gas company in Alberta. Engineers out of University are routinely earning 6-figure salaries here very quickly, many in their first year. If you simply want to earn a boatload of coin, you certainly don't need a PhD to do it.

 

[LookBehindYou]

phd at 25? that's awesome.

That aint shit. Samual L. Jackson got one at 18 in Sphere, his second at 25. Just finished watching it this morning, so I knows my shit.

 

[RavenSEAL]

Travel the world first, then make your decision.

 

[epidemis]

Is the reason you are considering MD/Patent layer because of the bucks? Engineers can earn great money, I wonder why you haven't reached out to private companies before finishing your PhD

 

[ViviTheMage]

A, get a job!

 

[LordMorpheus]

I was about to say, most phds are the road to become a teacher.

In engineering, a minority of people go on to be professors, which is a very different thing than teacher. I suspect very few people go on to have teaching careers. Most people go work in industry.