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I am currently debating whether to leave my PhD program- any advice?

TL;DR : Young graduate student in his first year of a PhD program who has lost a passion for the academic world. Seriously considering quitting but don't know what to do. Science background.

My background I'm 21-25, with a Science background, B.Sc in Physics. Took a year off between Undergrad and Grad school and worked full time as a research scientist. Theoretical background (most of my work has consisted of modelling). Strong quantitative and computer skills. Excel in presentation/project focused environments.

General Information I am currently finishing the second semester of my first year in a PhD program at a top tier US school in an engineering program. I have a full scholarship that pays for all of my tuition and a living stipend (typical graduate student stipend ~$1800 a month after taxes, so quite enough to live off of). I'm not a US citizen (from Canada), so I'm here on a student VISA, so if I decide to stop I have 2 weeks to leave the country. I cannot hold any other employment in the US while here on my VISA. My PhD consists of ~1.5 years of combined coursework and research, followed by a qualifier at the end of that period (research based), then into your thesis (doesn't have to be related to what your qualifier research was on).

Current Academic Situation I came first semester ready to start a new life...(first time moving away from home- did my undergrad where I was born). I did very well first semester (3.9/4.0 GPA) and research was on track (mostly lit. review). By the end of first semester however, I noticed that I was losing interest very quickly in both my coursework and research - it started to become very hard to get myself through to work on a daily basis. Went home Christmas break for a few weeks and came back to start my second semester and immediately noticed a big change. I started to struggle in my classes and fall behind on research. It wasn't that the material was too difficult, I just had no motivation to do it. No excuses here - just didn't really want to do it so I didn't. I reached the end of the semester and realized just how far behind I was. I am likely going to hit ~C average this semester (A last) and am drastically behind on research. I had weekly-biweekly meetings with my supervisor all semester, but I sort of hid just how bad things were going. Had a long meeting last week where I basically came clean on everything (said I was struggling in classes, behind on research) and the supervisor was very supportive. The supervisor believed in my potential and suggested I speak to a school counsellor and emphasized that this kind of thing was common for doctoral students.

Personal situation/feelings I come from a family where both my parents have PhDs. Although my parents have always been supportive and open to my life, I feel as though they would be very disappointed if I quit and this pressure is very real to me. I have tried to have the conversation with them and their attitude is mostly: "just put your head down and work through it, it's just a phase". Quite frankly most people seem to think it's a "phase" when I tell them. Outside of school my life is great. I'm not unhappy or depressed, I have hobbies, friends, I work out - it's just school that makes me feel this way. I just don't like the academic world at all any more. I HATE classes (always have) and where in the past research has been the saving grace keeping me interested in school, it now is losing a lot of it's appeal.

Basically, I feel no passion or drive for what I am doing any more. This for me is a huge problem. I'm not the kind of person who lacks passion in life. Quite the opposite in fact. Right now I have no such drive for school. I have a long term long distance relationship with someone from home that is incredibly happy and stable. They visited here many times since I moved and we are doing great. I would be lying if I said it wasn't a factor in me wanting to quit. (Having my partner move here is a lot more complicated). The relationship has been incredibly supportive and is very aware of my current situation and has maintained a very neutral stance, trying to play devils advocate wherever possible and trying to make sure it doesn't influence the decision. I should state that I am pretty sure if I had to choose between school and the relationship, I would choose the relationship immediately with no regrets.

I have just reached a point where I find myself doing just about anything else but school work. I'll get groceries, clean the apartment, watch TV etc... before doing any work. I'm trying to stick around for a couple of months for the summer (to see if not having classes changes anything) but since talking to my supervisor I'm already having doubts about even that. At this point, I feel like moving home and getting any job would make me happier than what I am doing.

Financial situation I have a few thousand dollars in the bank (enough to get me home /move out etc...) and zero debt. If I move back home, I can likely live with my parents for the first month to get back, then I'd be looking for a job and moving in with my partner. I realize having no debt puts me ahead of a lot of people and I'm not particularly concerned about the situation financially - I'm very lucky to have what I have and am aware of this.

So what's the deal? I know I have this amazing opportunity. I'm at a top tier school on a full scholarship. I wake up every day and get to work with the top minds in my field doing important research. I'm doing something a very small % of the population ever gets a chance at and yet still I have no motivation to do it. I'm not sure if I'm doing it for me any more, or I'm doing it so I don't let down other people in my life. My parents, mentors, friends, all the people who keep telling me how amazing this opportunity is. The more I look back, the more I realize that Grad school was what I did because I basically just didn't have another plan.

What would I like to do I'd love to find a job. I don't need to make a lot of money to be happy - I live off of 22k a year right now and am perfectly comfortable. Money isn't a major motivator for me. Working in the financial sector, doing quantitative risk analysis, banking, DoD, just about anything sounds more appealing than school to me. I know I'm smart and I've got a strong quantitative background combined with very good personal skills. I'm great with people and one of the things I HATE about the academic world is how under-used that part of my skill set feels.

I have no idea what to do. I want to quit, but I haven't. Maybe I shouldn't? I've been looking into options, but quite frankly I'd much prefer to have some kind of plan before quitting - at the very least this pays my living right now. I'd love advice from anyone. Someone who's been in this situation, someone who hasn't It doesn't matter.

I know that what I am doing does not make me happy. But I don't know what will. Please help.

Update two years later

I chose to leave school, and came home. My relationship fell apart but I found a decent job working for a tech startup and did that for about 1.5 years - I saved some money and took some time off and now I'm doing full time analytics consulting work for a website - It's working out well so far and I enjoy the freedom of it (work from home) etc. Though I do often wonder about what would have happened if I stayed, I don't regret it.

• graduate-school

• You mentioned (multiple times) how you hated classes in general - is it the same with the research you're doing? Because if thats the case, and a change of the area of research wouldn't affect your decision, then its certainly clear than you didn't really want Grad school. But if its just the coursework, I'll suggest that you bear it out, as its finite and not very important in the long run... –  TCSGrad Commented May 5, 2013 at 4:29
• 1 Questions should be written so that the questions and the answers they generate are useful to a broader community. The situation you are asking about is important, but your personal details might cloud the answer. –  Ben Norris Commented May 5, 2013 at 10:47
• 2 While the details of this question are not entirely generalizable, I think the overall situation is one a number of people are in, and so far all the answers have addressed the general situation rather than the specifics. –  Anonymous Mathematician Commented May 5, 2013 at 17:09
• 1 I answered a similar question: How should I deal with discouragement as a graduate student? –  Theresa Liao Commented May 7, 2013 at 22:08

15 Answers 15

Here is my general advice for graduate students who are thinking about quitting graduate school (and I'll sprinkle in some specific advice):

At one point or another, almost every graduate student wants to quit, so you're not alone . The fact that you're not alone doesn't solve any problems, but it may give you some peace of mind. The advice from your supportive advisor to seek out counseling is a very, very good one.

The decision to get a graduate degree is personal and different for everyone, but regardless it is a long-term decision that will probably have a significant effect on your future. The five or six years of your life spent doing it could open up many doors; that is not to say that other opportunities aren't worth considering. You really do have to do what is best for yourself, in the end.

Getting a PhD really does require passion (and in your case this is weaning right now). You can push through a pretty good chunk of time without it, but if you don't find the passion, it's going to be a long haul. If you were passionate and lost that, try to figure out what it was that you were passionate about before, and see if you can get back in the groove. One of my favorite Richard Feynman stories is about how he rebounded from a slump because he watched a spinning plate in the dining hall .

If you hate classes, make it a priority to finish them up quickly so you can concentrate on the research! Classes, while important, are not why you are in graduate school. A friend's advisor told his students that he would be upset if they were getting A+'s, meaning that they weren't spending enough time on research.

You can take time off from graduate school and come back later. This is hard to do (particularly if you have to leave the country), and you can't necessarily expect the same financial support when you return. But, you can do it, and if you need time off, take it. My suggestion for you if you are still on the fence about staying in grad school is to look at an internship somewhere for the summer where you are away from school and can clear your head. Then come back next semester.

All of my advice is kind of ignoring what may be your most important statement:

I want to quit, but I haven't.

If you've thought through all the reasons why you want to quit, and this is the answer, then you should take time off -- 'quit' is a harsh word, and not really a necessary one (see point 5). Your point is well taken that you shouldn't try to stick it out for anyone but yourself -- we all go through worries about disappointing others, but most people want you to be happy, and they will understand. You will almost certainly find a big weight lifted from your shoulders, and not extra pressure from those around you. Yes, having a plan before moving on is always a good idea, but I've been in a number of places in my life where I decided to do something before having a definite plan, and it all worked out in the end. Good luck!

• 14 To the contrary, I find the Feynman example misleading. I know quite a lot of people who are very passionate about some scientific stuff, but the discouragement comes from misalignment of it and topics or approaches at their PhDs. –  Piotr Migdal Commented Jun 19, 2013 at 11:16
• 1 @PiotrMigdal what you say is 100% right. –  Nafaa Boutefer Commented Sep 29, 2013 at 22:25
• 1 Best advise I got: Get over the stressful moment (finals, ...), perhaps wait until some break is (almost) over before thinking it though, and consider your situation calmly. –  vonbrand Commented Feb 28, 2016 at 1:40
• Love the Feynman anecdote! –  Joshua Wolff Commented May 21, 2020 at 3:01

Whatever you decide to do, just keep in mind that leaving a Ph.D. program because it's just not right for you does not represent any kind of failure on your part. I know plenty of people who didn't leave graduate school because they thought quitting would mean admitting that they couldn't hack it; this simply isn't true , and if your only reason for staying in school is that you don't want to disappoint your peers, parents, or advisor, then you should think long and hard about taking some time off from school and reassessing what you want to do.

Finish what you started.

I dropped out of a prestigious program 6 years ago, with much of the same reasoning:

• "The degree is just a piece of paper anyway"
• "If I want to learn things I can just learn them on my own"
• "What's the point? To spend that many years just to get a qualification to impress other people. I don't care about money, and if I want a job I can get a job now." (I was making $80/hour on contract work at the time.)
• "I'm planning on starting my own business"

But here I am, 6 years later, applying for grad school to give it another go.

Here are my reasons for going back: (I welcome people to correct me if I'm wrong about any of these!)

• Most full time employment is mindblowingly dull. As a student you don't fully appreciate this.
• A PhD is not very different from a job in the sense that you have to show up and do some work, most of which you don't necessarily want to do. The difference is, with a PhD you get something at the end, but with a job there is just endless tedium. Also with a graduate degree you get to use your brain a bit more.
• Your job prospects will be severely diminished, and your salary will be lower. It is fairly difficult to get a good research job without a graduate degree, and most opportunities outside of grunt work will be closed to you.
• In academia, you're used to working with smart people and having intelligent discussions, etc. If you leave and enter typical workforce, that goes away. There will always be a significant gap in academic potential between you and your colleagues and this will bother you because it means you are not hitting your potential and are effectively being under-utilized and under-paid.
• Feeling underutilized and unchallenged is very very bad. You will hate your job and therefore hate your life, and it all goes downhill from there..
• Everybody wants money. Most people that want money really badly, have at some point in their lives said "Nah, I don't care about money, money doesn't make you happy." Being broke doesn't make you happy either.
• The fact that you quit will forever haunt you. No amount of "Bill gates dropped out too" or "I'm too independent to need this" will make you feel better when you see your former classmates graduate with PhDs while you have to live with the fact that you started but gave up.
• In the workforce it doesn't always matter how smart you are. Most places I've interviewed have trouble hiding how impressed they were, and several have told me directly that I'm the best candidate they've ever seen. I always breezed through the most difficult interview questions and I've gotten offers from Google, Facebook, Amazon, Goldman Sachs, etc. BUT at the end of the day all of the jobs they offered were boring menial tasks. You could argue that it's possible to start with a menial job and then work your way up, but as I mentioned before, a PhD is also a job, why not just finish that?

Also, regarding your note on quantitative finance, please be very aware that the world of quantitative finance is very competitive and most places won't consider you if you don't have a PhD. I know because I tried several times to get a job doing quant work, but every firm I spoke with only offered back-end jobs doing menial SQL work. Your mileage may vary, but be warned that most people don't care about how good you think your quantitative skills are. (One fairly famous hedge fund manager told me very directly "everyone thinks they're going to be great at a new skill, so why would anyone risk their money on an unknown, unproven entity?".)

• 1 I just noticed this was asked in May 2013 and not May 2014, oops! Ah well. –  CaptainCodeman Commented Jun 5, 2014 at 14:28
• 3 I concur, the possibility of being underutilized and unchallenged in typical workplace is one major reason for me to strive to stay in academia. Working at big names like "Google, Facebook, Amazon, Goldman Sachs, etc." also boils down to boring menial tasks? Can you please elaborate on this? I don't have any industrial experience. –  sinoTrinity Commented Jul 2, 2014 at 3:46
• 8 @sinoTrinity What I did not know when I left uni, was that there is a huge division in the real world between "developers that come up with ideas that improve the business", (aka "researchers") and "developers that should do as they're told" (aka "programmers", "SQL developers", "engineers", ...) Generally speaking, most software jobs fall into the second category. e.g. I got a job at Goldman Sachs, and I thought I would be working on financial models, but it turned out they wanted me to write programs to draw bar charts showing their profit. Same with Google, they just wanted a mobile dev. –  CaptainCodeman Commented Jul 2, 2014 at 7:13
• 1 ok, but don't you acknowledge that you could have found a different team in Google that does something more interesting, or at Goldman. For example, you could have been doing risk analysis at Sachs or Search optmization at Google with a Masters. –  codekitty Commented Aug 10, 2015 at 18:55
• One thing I do want to add, however, is that getting a PhD in Japan and Korea is restrictive for prospects whereas not having a degree is not. (Just a point to consider for potential readers from those countries) –  virmaior Commented Sep 12, 2015 at 8:14

I'm surprised that both the question and the existing answers talk little about what used to motivate you to do research. You wrote, "where in the past research has been the saving grace keeping me interested in school, it now is losing a lot of its appeal". So what was that appeal, and how did it get lost?

Here are some possible answers, from my own experience; I'm sure there may be others in your case.

Did you get disillusioned about your field of research? Perhaps in the beginning you thought that if problems in this field were solved it would make a difference in the world, and now it seems that the big problems can't be solved and solving the small problems won't make a big difference?

Did you get disillusioned about academia? Did you have experiences that changed your view of academia? Did you come in the pursuit of truth and found that a lot of it is about the pursuit of publications?

Did you get disillusioned about your own abilities? Perhaps you were used to often being the best at what you were doing, and now you're surrounded by more smart people and your abilities seem less exceptional (and thus less motivating) in comparison?

Or perhaps your motivation had always been to please your parents and now that's not enough anymore?

I think having a clear understanding of what used to motivate you and why it stopped motivating you is a necessary and sufficient basis for the decision you're trying to make. If you lost interest in this particular field, you might have to look for a new field. If you lost the motivation that comes from a strong belief in your exceptional abilities, you might have to learn to enjoy being among the best and not necessarily the best. If your view of academia changed, you might try to find a place where academia is more how you'd like it to be, or if there doesn't seem to be one, perhaps academia isn't the right place for you. If you were only doing it for your parents, perhaps you should just leave. And if you lost interest because it turned out to be harder than you expected, then perhaps you should indeed "just put your head down and work through it, it's just a phase".

I think the key to sorting this out for yourself is to keep an open mind about your own motivations. Some of them may have been very pure and just got lost along the way and perhaps you can tap into them again; some of them may not seem so desirable now that you take a new look at them, and you may be glad not to have them anymore; but whatever they are, what's important is that you're honest about them to yourself and figure out how and why they changed, and that might allow you to see where they're leading you and whether staying or leaving is more in line with what's important to you now.

• 2 I like this post a lot because it clearly states the things almost everyone gets disillusioned about during a PhD: academia, your research topic, and your own potential. Losing faith in only one would be enough to affect you emotionally, but it's rarely just one. Accepting that both reaching your limits and the emotional journey (especially the negative emotions) are part of the program helps to stay positive. –  FvD Commented Aug 2, 2018 at 7:19

You are not alone.

Most graduate students are in their 20’s. Many have boy/girl friends and are away from their partners while in school. Many graduate students are international. They go abroad to study. They are away from their home countries. They study in a different environment/culture. They may have language problems. Fortunately, your situation is not that bad. Many graduate students go to graduate school as a family tradition. Their parents/relatives are academics. They were raised to be academics.

Most (if not all) graduate students have trouble with their course/research works in school one time or another. Many graduate students lose their interests in the school. Some quit. Some stay.

Your long post seems to suggest to me that you mixed your personal life with the graduate school life. We are human. We have emotions. We let our personal life interfere with other aspects of our life sometimes. We know we should not let it happen. But, it happens.

You did well in the first semester. Everything changed in the second one. Something happened. No one knows what happened except you. In other words, you are the only one who knows the answer.

I would suggest you to take a break, long or short, to figure out what you really want to do. Then, make your own decision.

There are good answers and commentaries here. I will not repeat them. I would emphasize something very important, your future is yours.

• 3 We know we should not let it happen — Huh? Why not? –  JeffE Commented May 7, 2013 at 6:41
• 6 @JeffE Sometimes, personal life would jeopardize the professional life. That’s what I mean. I am actually a victim. I gave up my academic life for personal reasons. I always regret it. Too late to change that. I try not to mention it in the answer because it’s too personal. –  Nobody Commented May 7, 2013 at 6:53

PhDs are not for everyone. That's why most top-tier schools have about a 50% retention rate, some closer to 25-30%. You need to discover what makes you passionate, and it might not be what a PhD will get you.

I have a friend who is currently getting his Bachelor's degree. His father is a rocket scientist for NASA, so naturally he went into the Physics program. It took only a couple semesters of C's and D's for him to realize Physics isn't for him, so he switched to Computer Science. Then he realized he hates Math, so he wanted to switch majors again.

All this time, though, he has had a creative outlet. He makes things, sometimes out of leather, sometimes out of steel; the other day he came to class with a clay pot he'd just finished. Toward the end of this last semester he went through with changing his major one last time. He already has too many CS credits to give up on that major altogether, but he's dropping the Math minor that comes de facto and is picking up an Art minor instead.

I've never seen him happier than he is now. He found what he's passionate about, and it's not what his father did. You have to discover your passion. And it sounds like the job you had back home is just that.

If you don't feel any passion or motivation after the second semester, I'd say you have to really take a hard look at if graduate school is something for you as you'd still have a few years to go. If you should quit or not firstly depends on what you want. You need to try and find out why you lost your passion. Was it there first, and did something cause it to leave? Where you ambivalent about graduate school, and now you found out it was not for you?

Please do not stay just because you might disappoint others, live is just too short for that.

Given the glut of PhD's I would suggest that you get a real job. A PhD is worth only if you are really interested in doing research otherwise you'll waste 4-5 years (then another 3-4 years doing a postdoc). Faculty positions are few and far between and then you'll have to worry about getting funds/tenure. So unless you're highly motivated by research/academia you'll mostly be miserable. In the industry a PhD doesn't make much more then a Masters and significantly less than a MBA, so there is no financial justification. Also there is a very good chance that you'll be working on things which don't even require a PhD. Some are lucky to find a good research environment but not everyone.

On the flip side if you do quit now then at some point you'll regret not getting a PhD. So think about what you want to do in life (besides having and providing for your children). A (PhD) degree is just a means to an end. People sometimes get emotional about it but they should not. Talk to your parents and I am sure they'll understand.

• 3 "A PhD is worth only if you are really interested in doing research" -- citation needed . Google, for instance, hires many PhDs and most of their time is spent in non-research work . –  Chris Gregg Commented May 6, 2013 at 12:43
• 5 @ChrisGregg Yes, but Google would have hired many of those same people with only master's or even bachelor's degrees. –  JeffE Commented May 6, 2013 at 12:55
• 7 Google gets PhDs for pretty much the same money as those with MS. I dont know of any firm where entry level PhDs are being paid 1.5x or more than those with MS or even BS. –  user7021 Commented May 6, 2013 at 14:25
• 1 @user7021 Yes, there is one. It is called Renaissance technologies. –  user774025 Commented Nov 2, 2013 at 8:21

I know how you feel because even as an undergraduate, I once packed my bags. But a friend prevailed on me and I'm still thankful for not quitting. Consider the following:

If you start a count down to finish date and get really excited about seeing the day approach, you'll know time passes really quickly.

Our emotions/feeling/circumstances are temporary/passing but our achievements (good or bad) are permanent.

Creative/innovative people (like you) get tired of routine. If you take interest in something around you that requires you to learn something challenging (say music) or something alien to you, your PhD vital signs may be positively influence.

I am not an expert at these things but I know that when I get tired of routine... I stimulate my creativity somewhere else... Not for the gain but for the challenge.

Good luck man...

First and foremost, you have to look out for you, and only you. By this, I mean your well-being, your happiness and your own future.

As many have said, rather than quit at this stage, take some time out from the study. If I may suggest some things to do in your hiatus - volunteer work, teaching in a high school, perhaps try something completely different.

You are definitely not alone - I am a PhD student and have found myself in the exact some situation, took some time - concentrated on my job (teaching), travelled, lived overseas, even did some acting. I felt rejuvenated and ready to tackle the project. In my case, I returned to study. But, all situations are very different - you have to give yourself some time and space to work out what it is you want.

I read your post and from what I can see you don't sound like you enjoy your PhD or academic life in general. I personally did not find the reason why your situation became so hard. Perhaps you don't feel ok with the fact that your girlfriend is at home and you have to be somewhere else. Perhaps you you don't find the project entertaining. I'd say it might be the research itself that does not motivate you. One thing I am certain about is that you have to feel passion for doing research. You need to be determined and driven. Otherwise, it's easy to lose motivation.

You may need to ask yourself if you really need to stay where you are! PhD is for those who plan to be professional researchers. It's only counts if you plan to stay at any university. Not only will this have to be your everyday job, you will also have to be the person who proposes many new projects and be a leader for others. If don't see yourself in this roll, then it's probably better if you consider quitting. It's nothing wrong with quitting PhD. Besides, you can still begin a PhD somewhere else. You don't need to stick to the one you don't enjoy.

I can tell you that I met many people in my office. Everyone of them had their sort of crisis and this seems quite natural stage in the whole process. The research is also not a usual job and can be frustrating. Things always go wrong. Only determination, enjoyment, and passion make people stay and continue their PhDs.

As some of the others already said, It's nothing wrong when you quit PhD. Taking a longer break, coming home for couple of months, calming down may help you realise and understand a lot of things which are difficult to spot when you under pressure.

• "PhD is for those who plan to be professional researchers" <- Not necessarily; there are other valid reasons. But you do need a good reason to work on whatever research you're working on - or you're unlikely to persevere. Don't work on Ph.D. research out of some kind of "academic inertia", because of your good grades/positive experience as an undergrad. –  einpoklum Commented Nov 17, 2020 at 13:14

It seems to me like the fundamental question here is that of whether or not your current feelings are part of a typical grad student "phase" or indicative of misaligned life goals, priorities, etc. on a much deeper level. Ultimately, a question you'll have to answer on your own and most likely by trusting your gut and intuition.

There are many, many reasons why you might be feeling the way you do now. From your description it's clear that you started the PhD process knowing you were accepting less than ideal conditions in some areas of your life with the understanding that these would be offset by other benefits. You might be more or less ambivalent about some of those benefits now that you're in the process, and the tradeoffs and benefits would certainly change if you were to switch sides and leave the program.

I would suggest assuming, for the time being, that one-year-ago you made a well educated calculation of the costs-benefits of the PhD program, in particular with a time horizon greater than 5 years.

Staying in the program then means trusting in the vision of one-year-ago you in that the long-term benefits to your life outweigh the immediate suffering (including the less than ideal use of your skills and the momentary loss of passion). On the other hand, your valuation of the tradeoffs and benefits of the PhD may have changed more than you expected, in particular with respect to your relationship or your connection to the research area.

The way to know this, in short, is to trust yourself. If your current path is just wrong for you -- if you feel you're compromising some fundamental part of yourself -- then trust that feeling. Otherwise, trust your prior vision: accept that your feelings are part of the PhD journey and trust that you'll find your passion again soon (when you stop putting pressure on yourself to find it).

One last thought that might really be the crux of the issue is that getting a PhD is a highly individualistic and very lonely experience. Richard Butterworth has a talk that really drove this home in which he says:

A PhD, by its very nature, is a very individualistic venture. ... The next big surprise for people who are starting PhDs after an undergraduate degree is just how excrutiatingly lonely a PhD is.

Your issues are real and I do not want to discount them in anyway.

In my view, you are in a privileged position and if you can make the most of it, then it would be not be a loss (as you tend to describe your experience now).

Here is a simple test: think of where you want to be in (say) five years from now? If you want to be in a place which requires a PhD, then start working on it now, other wise get out.

I know this is simplistic but it works when the issues are complicated and there are no easy solutions. At least in this way, you will make an informed decision and will not have the guilt later on!

Just suck it in and get it!

After you pass all the formal requirements, you will have a mini-tenure for 3/4/5 years (depending on the Dept you are in). I was thinking to quit first two years but now (in the mini-tenure period) I'm enjoying my life and research (from 9 to 5 only).

Try it, if you don't like it, you can always quit.

See if you can get a Master's in your second year, so that your graduate studies are not completely wasted. This is but too common in doctoral programs that they let students who are admitted to doctoral programs without being the "doctorate material" to finish the required number of courses, take the qualifier as the bottom line as far as qualification goes, and let you off with a Master's degree. They don't like that, but that's likely flight overbooking: you know that some people are not going to make it. Discuss this with your adviser.

For what I see on the earnings curves, there's a notable jump at 4 years of college/getting a Bachelor's degree, where the average earnings jump up by may be 15% from "Some college" to "BA degree" category. After that, the incomes are pretty flat, with a very modest 2 or so % return per year of education. So you ain't losing much in income, but an unfinished degree puts a big "L" across your forehead. I mean, if you drop out and found a Google or a Facebook, that's fine, but the probability of that happening is about 1e-6. (You don't know how funny that 20k figure is going to look like when your new wife asks you: "As I am expecting a baby, we need a bigger house... and also please open the college saving account for our baby", so your bold statements about income are totally out of line with real life. Or at least the life you will have in 10 years time.) The engineers that I taught seem to be starting off at $40-50Kpa, and I see no reason why a guy with a decent quant background should be making less than that.

• 11 who are admitted to doctoral programs without being the "doctorate material" — ...or decide for some other reason not to complete the PhD program. Your framing strongly suggests that everyone who drops out of their PhD program just aren't good enough; in my experience, this isn't even true as a first approximation. –  JeffE Commented May 6, 2013 at 22:39
• 11 an unfinished degree puts a big "L" across your forehead — Oh, come on. Seriously? –  JeffE Commented May 6, 2013 at 22:40
• 13 "an unfinished degree puts a big "L" across your forehead" "I have to say I don't know very many people who dropped out of a Ph.D. program." You probably do, they just choose not to be friends with you –  Amy Commented May 7, 2013 at 4:29
• 4 I also don't understand why an unfinished degree looks like a big "L". I was accepted into a program at a top tier school, which obviously means I was qualified to be there (full scholarship as well). I am doing well in my program despite my sentiments. Why would an employer frown upon me saying something like "Well, I went to do my PhD and I did very well, but I very quickly realized I didn't have passion for my research anymore and the doctorate did not feel like a good fit. Now I am searching for employment opportunities such as this one where I feel my skills and passion will be utilized" –  user7007 Commented May 7, 2013 at 6:13
• 14 @StasK I think your views on the matter are a little harsh (and in a way contribute to the fear people have of leaving a Ph.D program). A Ph.D is not the culmination of your academic career. It's a career choice , and like any choice is right for some and not for others. People are tempted to go for a Ph.D because it looks like "more school", but it takes time to realize that it's a choice of career and that it might not even be the right one. –  Suresh Commented May 7, 2013 at 16:17

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The PhD student experience – What is it really like for PhDs?

Are you curious about what it’s really like to be a PhD student, navigating the world of academia and research?

In this article, we’ll dive deep into the lesser-known aspects of the PhD journey, from the profound impact of your supervisor to the competitive environment you’ll face.

Discover the truth about the importance of publishing papers and the realities of funding and job security in academia.

We’ll also give you a glimpse into the daily life of a PhD student, and explore the highs and lows of this challenging yet rewarding experience.

So, buckle up and join us as we uncover the secrets of the PhD student experience that no one else will tell you!

The little known-facts that you need to know about the PhD experience,

This is what no one else will tell you!

What does the daily life of a PhD student look like?

Embarking on a PhD journey can be a thrilling yet demanding experience, as a doctoral student is constantly immersed in:

• academic responsibilities,
• and professional development.

From the early morning, the life of a PhD student begins with checking emails, planning the day, and setting priorities.

A typical day usually involves conducting experiments or research in the laboratory, analyzing data, and reading scientific literature to stay up-to-date with their field.

PhD students often participate in regular meetings with their supervisors, who provide guidance and advice on their research projects.

These meetings are crucial for maintaining momentum and ensuring a productive working relationship.

A typical daily schedule for a PhD student might look like this:

7:00 AM – Wake up, morning routine, breakfast

7:45 AM – Check emails, plan the day, and set priorities

8:30 AM – Arrive at the laboratory, set up experiments or research tasks

9:30 AM – Attend a class or seminar (if applicable)

11:00 AM – Conduct experiments or research in the laboratory

12:30 PM – Lunch break, socialize with fellow graduate students

1:30 PM – Analyze data and read scientific literature relevant to the research project

3:00 PM – Meeting with supervisor to discuss research progress and receive guidance

4:30 PM – Continue working on experiments, data analysis, or literature review

6:00 PM – Dinner break

8:00 PM – Draft or edit thesis, work on conference presentations or publications

10:00 PM – Wind down and engage in a hobby or leisure activity for mental health and work-life balance

11:00 PM – Bedtime routine, sleep

In addition to their primary research, many PhD students assist and mentor undergraduate students, contributing to a diverse and dynamic academic community.

Balancing the demands of coursework, research projects, and administrative responsibilities can make for long working hours, which is why it’s important for doctoral students to maintain their mental health and work-life balance.

Attending conferences, participating in social events, and engaging in professional development opportunities are important aspects of the PhD experience.

Given the commitment and dedication required, full-time PhD students often rely on funded positions to support their education and living expenses.

Despite the inherent difficulties, the experience equips students with a range of new skills and expertise, setting them on a path to contribute significantly to academia and the world beyond.

How stressful is being a PhD student?

Being a PhD student can be quite stressful due to the unique challenges and demands of the program.

It varies from person to person and the supervisor will have a huge impact on how stressful a PhD will be for a student.

Here is a case study of the highs and lows of a PhD from a PhDs student’s perspective:

This PhD student experienced frustration with experiments not working or yielding results, leading to feelings of imposter syndrome and demotivation. A lack of progress was a significant source of stress during this time, as well as comparing oneself to peers who seemed to be achieving more success.

However, there were also numerous highlights throughout the PhD experience. Attending conferences and presenting research offered opportunities to gain feedback, collaborate with others, and even travel. Engaging in scientific discussions and exploring the significance of one’s work provided a sense of purpose and satisfaction.

Furthermore, working with cutting-edge equipment, such as advanced microscopes, allowed the student to appreciate the unique and privileged nature of their research.

The pressure to produce significant contributions to one’s field and the uncertainty of achieving results within a limited time frame can induce anxiety.

For instance, many students find themselves constantly juggling various responsibilities, such as conducting experiments, analysing data, attending meetings with their supervisor, and writing their thesis or papers.

Aside from academic pressure, managing work-life balance can be difficult as well. It’s not uncommon for PhD students to work long hours, often sacrificing personal time and relationships.

The lack of a structured schedule and the need for self-motivation can add to the stress and the competitive environment in academia and the constant pursuit of funding can further exacerbate stress levels.

PhD student workloads and holidays

The life of a PhD student is often characterized by heavy workloads and limited opportunities for holidays.

In a typical PhD program, students juggle numerous responsibilities, including research projects, coursework, and professional development activities, such as attending conferences and training.

This is particularly true for funded PhD students, who are expected to adhere to strict timelines set by their supervisors and the university’s academic calendar.

In the science field, the workload can be even more demanding due to the nature of research, which often involves conducting experiments that can take months or years to complete.

This commitment means that even during holidays, PhD students may feel the need to work in order to meet deadlines, leading to burnout and stress.

Later Stage PhD ( Doctorate Candidates )

When PhD students reach the later stages of their doctorate program, they become PhDs preparing to complete their research project and thesis.

This stage comes with an intense academic workload, with high demand for researcher-level skills and scientific knowledge.

A typical day for a PhD at this stage involves conducting research, analysing data, and editing their findings to complete their thesis.

In my experience it is WRITING, WRITING and more WRITING…with a touch of editing.

There are deadlines to meet, and students may face pressure, but the reward of completing a doctorate degree is worth it.

At this point, a PhD is expected to demonstrate their ability to conduct independent research and contribute to their field of study.

The latter stages of the doctorate program offer a rigorous and rewarding challenge for students who want to pursue a career in science, education, and research.

Wrapping up – PhD and Doctoral Student experience

The PhD student experience is a complex and multifaceted journey that offers a unique blend of challenges and triumphs.

As we have explored in this blog, the road to obtaining a PhD is filled with personal growth, professional development, and numerous hurdles to overcome.

But, for those who persevere, the rewards can be immense, leading to a sense of accomplishment, increased expertise, and the potential to make a significant impact in their chosen field.

In navigating this adventure, it is essential for PhD students to maintain a healthy work-life balance and develop strong support networks to help them manage stress and maintain motivation.

The journey may be demanding, but with the right mindset and guidance, the experience can be truly transformative.

Dr Andrew Stapleton has a Masters and PhD in Chemistry from the UK and Australia. He has many years of research experience and has worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Associate at a number of Universities. Although having secured funding for his own research, he left academia to help others with his YouTube channel all about the inner workings of academia and how to make it work for you.

Thank you for visiting Academia Insider.

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Most Popular

New program drives more latina students to colleges what problems do they face daily, the perks of being a phd student: reddit reacts.

Image: timeshighereducation.com

The decision to pursue a PhD often comes with mixed feedback. While many emphasize the challenges like financial strain and long hours, there are also unsung benefits to consider. This article offers an in-depth look, presenting both the pros and cons, to provide a comprehensive understanding for those contemplating this academic path.

Key Takeaways:

• PhD programs offer unparalleled schedule flexibility, allowing a work-life balance.
• Post-PhD career opportunities can be financially rewarding, especially in specific fields.
• Hands-on volunteering enriches your academic journey, offering practical experience before formal PhD work begins.

Many people online, especially on Reddit, talk about the tough parts of being a PhD student. But there’s a positive side too. This article will talk about the good things: getting paid to learn, working with smart folks, and sharing your ideas with the world. Let’s look at the brighter side of the PhD journey.

The perks of being a PhD student by u/like_a_tensor in PhD

Benefits of Being a PhD

When many people hear the term “PhD”, they might immediately think of endless research, long hours, and a challenging journey. But, if we dive into personal experiences, a fuller, more nuanced picture emerges. Several PhD students and graduates took to Reddit to share the advantages they found in their academic pursuits, revealing a side to the journey that’s often overshadowed by its challenges.

One of the standout benefits is the considerable flexibility that a PhD program offers. Unlike rigid 9-5 jobs, many students have the liberty to tailor their schedules. One Reddit user contributes, 

“This might not apply to all – but I really took for granted how flexible I could make my work schedule.” 

They further elaborated on how they had control over their time. If a friend wanted to hang out on a Friday or if they wanted to plan a holiday, they often could without much restriction. Another user chimed in, noting the unmatched flexibility of their hours in a computational field. When life events such as pregnancy came up, the flexibility in their schedule made it easier to manage. They could sleep in when they felt ill or attend necessary medical appointments without facing repercussions.

Contrasting the PhD lifestyle with demanding industry roles, a seasoned PhD on Reddit shared their insights, 

“I was in a computational field and I had complete ownership over my hours. I know a lot of people say that a PhD has a huge workload, but I didn’t see anyone in my cohort pulling such long days despite it being a top program.” 

Before their PhD, they worked as an investment banker, often running on just four hours of sleep, leaving the office sometimes at 6 am only to be back by 8:30 am. 

Besides flexibility, the nature of work and learning opportunities that come with pursuing a PhD also seem to resonate positively with many. As one individual put it, 

“I’m in a field where there’s a strong market for PhDs in industry. It’s the best of both worlds.” 

They highlighted that the kind of work they now engage in after their PhD is more interesting than what they had been doing before.

Another Reddit user was passionate about their niche research area, stating, 

“I’m doing philosophical analysis of psychedelics and I get to research basically whatever I please.” 

They found great value in the support of open-minded supervisors and a rich network of fellow researchers, making their PhD journey feel meaningful. They also mentioned their success in publishing an article, showcasing that academic accomplishments can bring a great sense of pride and achievement.

Furthermore, many PhD students find unique opportunities to leverage student benefits, even when they’re deep into their program. As one individual humorously pointed out, 

“Abusing student privileges (i.e. access to certain spaces, groups, discounts) that are probably meant mostly for undergrads but hey why shouldn’t I show up for the therapy dogs during finals week at the library?” 

These perks, though seemingly minor, can enhance the overall student experience.

The financial side of things was also touched upon. A prevailing myth suggests that all PhD students struggle financially. While it’s true that many aren’t rolling in money, the picture isn’t universally bleak. One individual shared, 

“I can’t complain with a comfortable six-figure income,” after finishing their PhD, implying that certain fields do offer lucrative opportunities post-graduation. Another user from Finland mentioned they had secured 1.5 years of funding for their research, underscoring that, while not wealthy, they were “doing financially OK.”

In the US, people with a PhD usually earn more and face lower unemployment than those without one. But this isn’t a rule for everyone. If you’re mainly looking to make money, starting a job right after university can often be the better move. During the years spent on a PhD, you could already be building job experience and moving up in your career. So, while a PhD might pay off for some, it’s essential to think about other job options and their earnings too.

The overarching sentiment from these insights is that while there are undeniable challenges in pursuing a PhD, there’s also a wealth of benefits that often go unnoticed. From flexibility to learning opportunities, from financial stability in certain fields to the joy of academic achievements, the journey can be incredibly rewarding. As one Reddit user aptly summarized, 

“Honestly, the lifestyle (save for the low pay) is extremely good in many fields. Overall, not too shabby. I don’t regret it.”

How to Prepare for a PhD Program

Preparing for a PhD program might seem daunting, but with the right steps, you can be well-prepared for this significant chapter in your academic journey. Here are three straightforward tips to help you get ready for a PhD program, based on insights and experiences shared by those who have walked this path.

1. Understand What’s Expected in a PhD Program

Before you dive into a PhD, it’s essential to know what you’re getting into. This means understanding the requirements of the program. Most PhD programs will want you to have a master’s degree in a related field. Some might even ask for added coursework or some research experience. So, before you start filling out that application form, check out the program’s admission requirements. Make sure you tick all the boxes.

But it’s not just about meeting the entry criteria. It’s also about understanding what the program involves. What kind of academic work will you need to do? What sort of research projects might you take on? By getting a clear picture of these things, you’ll be better prepared to tackle the program head-on.

2. Choose the Right Program for You

Picking the right PhD program can make a world of difference. It’s all about finding a program that matches your research interests and goals. To do this, take a close look at the faculty in the program. What are they researching? If you can find professors or mentors whose interests align with yours, you’re on the right track.

Also, think about the resources the program offers. Are there good facilities, labs, and tools available? What about funding? Some programs might offer scholarships, grants, or fellowships. Remember, a PhD can be pricey, so any financial support can be a big help.

3. Get Practical Experience

While university courses often teach you a lot of theory, getting hands-on, practical experience can give you an edge. One great way to do this is by volunteering in a research lab. As one student shared, volunteering gave them a chance to see research in action and feel like they were making a real contribution, even before starting their PhD.

Volunteering also lets you try out different research areas. You might find a topic you’re passionate about or figure out that something you thought you’d love isn’t really for you. And the good news? These volunteer stints usually aren’t long-term commitments. So, you can try a few different things without feeling stuck.

Another bonus of volunteering is the skills you pick up. Maybe you’ll learn how to use a specific piece of research equipment or get to know a particular kind of data analysis. These skills can come in handy when you start your PhD. And, if you’re looking to boost your resume, this experience can be a gold star when applying for paid positions or graduate programs.

If you’re wondering where to find these opportunities, start with online platforms like Facebook groups or job sites. Some universities post opportunities on notice boards. But one of the best ways? Reach out to faculty members or staff at your university. They often know about opportunities that aren’t widely advertised and can point you in the right direction.

Pursuing a PhD comes with challenges, but it’s also packed with rewards. Understanding the full spectrum can guide informed decisions for aspiring academics.

Follow us on Reddit for more insights and updates.

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• The Daily Life of a PhD Student

Written by Hannah Slack

The daily life of a PhD student can be quite a departure from what you’ve experienced as an undergraduate or Masters student. You’ll have much more independence and little to no ‘taught’ elements. Your average week will likely involve a similar amount of PhD study hours to a full-time job. This will include some teaching and administrative responsibilities.

This page will give you an idea of what to expect from your routine as a PhD student. We’ll also explain how your daily life will look as you progress through a doctoral degree.

On this page

What does the daily life of a phd student look like.

It might seem like a cliché, but the reality is that isn’t really a typical day for a PhD student. Your daily routine will depend on several different factors, from your research area and the stage of your PhD to what you’ve agreed with your supervisor and your own learning style. We’ve covered the main aspects that will affect how you spend your PhD below.

Subject area

If you’re doing a PhD in the Arts and Humanities , you probably won’t be surprised to learn that you’ll spend a fair chunk of your time reading texts or in the library. This is where you’ll do the bulk of your research. However, depending on the nature of your topic you may visit special collections and archives to view rare books and papers elsewhere.

In the Social Sciences , you’re also likely to spend plenty of time reading. However, you might also find yourself conducting research via surveys or interviews, as well as handling large amounts of data.

STEM PhDs usually involve lots of time in the laboratory, performing experiments and testing out hypotheses. You’ll probably also help supervise undergraduate and Masters students while they conduct work in the laboratory, making sure they’re using the right techniques.

Learning style

Your learning style will also have an effect on your daily routine as a PhD student. The independence afforded by a PhD means that you’ll have plenty of freedom to choose your own ‘working’ hours – as well as where they take place.

Some people value the regularity of a 9-5 schedule, while others may find that they’re more productive early in the morning or later in the evening (or a mixture of all three!). Similarly, you may have the freedom to choose where you want to study. This could be at home, in the library, a local café or a shared workspace with other PhD students.

The stage of your PhD

How far you are into your PhD is another big factor in your daily routine. Your first year will largely involve you getting to grips with your research area. You’ll familiarise yourself with the literature and beginning to lay the groundwork for what will become your PhD thesis .

Second year will see you taking on extra responsibilities, such as teaching or laboratory supervision, as well as undertaking the bulk of your research.

Your third and fourth years will usually be dedicating to writing up your research and producing your thesis, culminating in your PhD viva . This is typically the busiest – and most important! – period of a PhD.

Supervisor meetings

Meetings with your PhD supervisor will take place on a regular basis and are an excellent opportunity to provide updates, ask for advice and get their opinion on drafts. The frequency of these meeting will largely be up to you and your supervisor to agree on, but you can expect them to form an important part of your routine as and when they happen.

How many hours of study is a PhD?

As a general rule, you should expect a full-time PhD to account for 35 hours of work a week – the equivalent of a full-time, 9-5 job. It’s likely that during especially busy periods – such as when you’re writing up – you may work considerably longer hours.

If you’re studying a part-time PhD , your workload will be halved, at around 17 and a half hours per week. Depending on your schedule, this might be across a full week or a few days.

Universities rarely impose a number or pattern of work hours on PhD students, so it’ll be up to you to manage your time effectively. Most of the time, attendance is to do with regular meetings, set departmental deadlines and timely submission of written work.

Whatever your mode of study, it’s important to strike a healthy work-life balance. Peer pressure, demanding supervisors and extreme expectations may make you feel like you have to put in lots of hours. But you should remember that over-exerting yourself won’t necessarily lead to gains in productivity.

This is why some universities prescribe a maximum number of academic-related work, as low as six hours a week (you’ll often see 12-16 hours max) and why off-campus work sometimes require special permission (fairly rare but it happens).

PhD student workloads and holidays

The coursework requirement is likely to be higher at the beginning of your PhD and, while not really measured in hours, this will dictate how often you are on campus. In the UK, you will have some requirements in terms of transferrable skills training (in teaching, professional development and academic skills, for example) and your university may have a minimum number of hours of such courses you must take.

As you progress in your PhD, your workload will become progressively heavier, culminating in the period where you write up your research.

PhD annual leave

Funded PhD students at UK universities are usually entitled to annual leave during their studies, as stipulated in the conditions for their studentship.

The exact amount differs from institution to institution (and according to how you’re funded), but generally speaking you can expect between 25 and 30 days of annual leave if you’re a full-time PhD student, in addition to public holidays.

Part-time funded students will receive half of this allocation. If you’re a self-funded PhD student, you won’t have annual leave per se. But you also won’t be beholden to the same conditions attached to a studentship.

You’ll need to give an appropriate amount of notice to your supervisor and / or colleagues, as well as using the university’s booking system for annual leave.

Do PhD students get summers off?

No, you’ll be expected to continue working on your research throughout the summer – there’s no dedicated summer holiday period in addition to the annual leave you’re entitled to as a PhD student.

PhD responsibilities

The ultimate responsibility for good academic conduct and for successful completion of the PhD lies with you.

However, it’s a slightly different situation if you’re studying a PhD in a country where students are usually treated as a member of research staff (common in the Netherlands , France , Sweden and Norway , to give a few examples).

In these cases, you’ll have an employment contract and will be subject to the same regulations as a member of staff. Similarly, if you are doing an ‘industrial’ PhD, or if your funder has specific rules, you should make sure that you find out whether there is a strict pattern of work you should adhere to.

Think a PhD is for you?

Find the perfect PhD opportunity for you with our regularly updated course listings .

Our postgrad newsletter shares courses, funding news, stories and advice

Hannah slack.

Hannah worked at FindAPhD as a Content Writer from 2020 to 2023. She started with us part-time whilst studying for her PhD, giving her personal experience with balancing work responsibilities with academia. Hannah has a Bachelor’s degree in History from the University of East Anglia, and both a Masters in Early Modern History and a PhD on Early Modern English seafarers from the University of Sheffield.

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The PhD thesis is the most important part of a doctoral degree. This page will introduce you to what you need to know about the PhD dissertation.

PhD fees can vary based on subject, university and location. Use our guide to find out the PhD fees in the UK and other destinations, as well as doctoral living costs.

Our guide tells you everything about the application process for studying a PhD in the USA.

Postgraduate students in the UK are not eligible for the same funding as undergraduates or the free-hours entitlement for workers. So, what childcare support are postgraduate students eligible for?

The UK education system is divided into levels. This guide is your one-stop overview into what these levels are and what they mean for postgraduate students.

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Being a graduate student at MIT is … well, it depends whom you ask. With more than 6,000 grad students enrolled in one of 32 doctoral or 27 master’s programs on campus, the variety of experiences (and opinions about those experiences) ranges wildly.

The Office of the Dean for Graduate Education (ODGE) has launched a new blog written entirely by current graduate students that tries to capture some of this variety. It is an eclectic mix of stories that offers readers a glimpse inside the MIT graduate community.

From inspiring overviews (“MIT is more than Killian Court, chalkboards, and groundbreaking discoveries. It’s the people, the intellectual curiosity, and the relentless passion for all things.”) to in-the-weeds pointers about campus life (“If there is an event, and if I’m on the fence about attending, it will come down to the food. … it can be a bonus on top of a talk by a Nobel laureate.”) to deeply personal revelations (“Honestly, I was scared to ask for help.”) — the blogs are written by students from all five schools at MIT and reflect a deeply varied range of origins, perspectives, and interests.

Modeled on the very popular (and irreverent) MIT undergraduate admissions blog , which features the musings of undergraduate students, the graduate student blog arose out of a partnership between ODGE, the School of Engineering, and the SoE Communications Lab. More than 100 students applied to participate in a one-week Independent Activities Period workshop on blog writing, which featured talks from dean of engineering Professor Ian Waitz, undergraduate admissions guru Chris Peterson, and Knight Science Journalism at MIT Director Deborah Blum. The 40 students the workshop worked in small groups with communications staff from all over MIT, and 30 of them completed the entries that just went live. Like the undergraduate blog, the new one publishes its submissions under a first-name-last-initial byline to inspire candid expression in its contributors.

One blogger, Dishita T., a graduate student in architecture, says she welcomed the opportunity to share a personal story that might resonate with others. Her piece, “To MIT With Love,” tells of falling in love: the first date in India, the cultural obstacles, and the ways in which a shared passion for MIT created a haven for the couple in Cambridge.

In her entry, Dishita asks: “Was it the moment of falling in love with MIT that brought the guy in my life, or falling in love with him that brought me to MIT?” Not only does MIT change the world at large, it also changes the people here in deep and personal ways, she says. And those tales are worth telling. “Whenever I hear those stories, I’m inspired.”

Because this is MIT, the graduate student blog is also a home for the offbeat. As Daniel G., a graduate student in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, says: “I wanted to give a voice to the light-hearted nerd-culture vibe that infects most aspects of my life here at MIT, and which I quite enjoy.” In his blog post, Daniel describes explaining his chosen field to those outside of it. When he tells people he’s a theoretical computer scientist, he writes, they sometimes ask: “What does that even mean?”

Daniel describes three flavors of computer scientists: cryptographers, algorithmists, and complexity theorists. “There is a drawback to being a cryptographer,” he writes. “I imagine it’s the same sort of drawback the Hulk would experience in an anger management class. Much like the Hulk can't control his impulse for aggression, the cryptographer can't help but deal in secrets.”

After similar treatments of algorithmists (“in their pursuit for algorithmic nirvana, they have inadvertently forgotten the English language”) and the complexity theorists (“they are like your drunk uncle telling you that your life will never amount to anything”), Daniel wraps up with: “Shhh. You are now part of a secret academic cabal. Welcome to the great conspiracy.”

In the end, the graduate student blog is about opening minds and drawing readers into a research community that is special in ways impossible to quantify. “A PhD can be wild,” says blogger and computer scientist Irene C. Her piece, “My Road to Yelp Elite,” catalogues her comic quest to dine at 180 restaurants, review them for the online ratings website, and, at a good clip, gain Yelp Elite status. (“Whereas I should be asking: interpretable natural language models talk vs. a mentorship lunch for women in computer science? I find myself asking instead: Do I want free Brazilian BBQ or free Indian curry?” she writes.)

Irene tells readers she chased the Yelp Elite moniker as “an escape from the all-consuming life of a PhD student: If I couldn’t figure out how to model the error of a Bayesian network relating medical diseases and symptoms, at least another Yelper had just complimented me on my review of The Friendly Toast.”

About the Graduate Student Blog, Irene says she is excited to contribute to the range of narratives at MIT. “Part of staying sane is finding what makes you come alive and following that — through research and beyond.”

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A Day in the Life of a Successful PhD Student (You Need To Know)

If you are thinking about starting a PhD, you may be wondering what a PhD student do es all day . This isn’t really a career move that many people talk about. Most people when they finish undergraduate move on to a career in their field and many programs at colleges and universities are geared towards preparing students for that life step. Often grad school is talked about in an “abstract” way and students are given the sense that they are more or less continuing on as a student and guided through the process by the university. This is partially true for a Masters degree, but far less true for a PhD. PhD programs, as has been discussed elsewhere in this blog, are much more free form after the coursework and comps phase and the direction depend s greatly on the scope and direction of your research project. This means the daily routine of a PhD student can vary widely depending on their project and also on what stage they are in during their PhD. Do you want to take a quiz to find out if a PhD is for you? (It was crowd-sourced from our community of PhDs.

This post is going to explore the more or less typical da ily (or recurring) activities in the life of PhD students in the beginning of the PhD post comps and in the later stage s of a PhD edging towards thesis submission . There is no set daily routine for most PhD students and their days often vary, but their days usually focus around the same set of activities. The dai ly routine of a PhD student changes over the course of their PhD , as the demands and expectations change . Daily routines are also different depending on if a PhD student is full or part time. The daily life discussed here is more applicable to a full time PhD student. The topics and activities discussed below may not occur everyday, but they are the typical activities of PhD students. To understand the daily life of a PhD it is best to view it as almost an apprenticeship in academia. Much of the daily work and expectations of a PhD student is similar to th ose of a professor, but often on a smaller scale.

Professors generally split their time between research (40%-100%) , teaching (20%-80%) , and administrative duties (20%-80%) . PhD students do the same only with a different split, much more of their time is allocated to research, but they often have teaching and administrative duties as well. The focus of their daily routine can also change depending on the needs of the given day and program. For example, PhD students will spend more time on teaching related tasks, if they are a Teaching Assistant, during midterms and finals, but in the summer, they may spend most of their time on research.

Are you a current PhD student, professor, or knowledgeable potential PhD student? We can really use your help! Can you add your institution to this crowd-sourced PhD Program index? It will greatly help future PhD students.

Based on the polls on the R3ciprocity YouTube channel, the modal breakdown of a PhD’s day is the following:

• 3-4 hours writing.
• 0-2 hours reading.
• 0-2 hours analyzing data.

I used to think that PhD Programs were inexpensive, until I learnt about the true costs of PhD Programs. Check out this post on the average PhD Program cost.

Full-disclosure: This post was written by an anonymous PhD student so they can speak freely, but based on this video:

https://youtu.be/bHfahwjtsOE Video can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: What Does A PhD Student Do All Day (In Business Admin)? (https://youtu.be/bHfahwjtsOE)

Beginning Stages of a PhD Post Comps

So, you passed your coursework and comps with flying colors, and you are ready to finally dig into your project. On a typical day getting into this project is now your focus , so what does that entail?

If you want to learn more about comprehensive exams, here is a good video:

https://youtu.be/phC1puj52eA Video can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: 5 Simple Tips For Doing Well On Your Grad School Comprehensive Exams ( What To Expect During Comps ) (https://youtu.be/phC1puj52eA)

Reading – S o Much R eading

It is important to understand the current state of your field before getting heavily into your own research . Y our overall goal as a PhD student is to make a unique contribution to your field through your research . In order to do that you need to know where everything stands in your field. The typical early stage PhD student spends a lot of time reading academic articles and  books. They are synthesizing the current state of their field and determining what the gaps are and how their own research can fill them. During the early days of my PhD, I spent entire days reading, highlighting, and taking notes in order to gain a full picture of the current research field . Much of my first year post comps was allocated to making sure I was up on all the latest research and not duplicating anyone else’s project.

Here is a great blog post about what PhD classes are like and the size of the classes.

Also, you might find this blog post on how PhD students are evaluated very useful.

Data Collection

The typical early stage PhD spends time collecting data. Depending on the field your data collection c an vary widely. Data collection might mean conducting interviews, experimenting in a lab, mining large open source datasets, or digging into an archive for documents. Whatever your data is, this is the time it is usually collected, and you start examining it for preliminary results, patterns, unexpected outcomes, etc. Data makes up the base of your project whatever it is, so the early stages is when data is collected and organized .

You absolutely have to check out this blog post of all of the best software that you need as a PhD. The answers were crowd-sourced from 100s of PhDs – you will love it!

During the early stages of a PhD writing takes a back seat to reading and data collection. It is still an important component of a PhD’s day, and it is useful to develop regular writing habits early, but more of the day will be dedicated to other activities. Writing at this stage in the PhD usually consists of very focused assignments, plans, and synthesizing your reading and research. For instance my first piece of written work after comps was a formal project proposal in which I stated my preliminary thesis, wrote a historiography of my proposed subject, displayed some of the gaps in the current research my project could fill, and of course an extensive bibliography of works I would utilize in my coming research. Other types of writing in this stage are research plans, formulating hypothesis, literature reviews, and the occasional conference paper. At this stage writing is more about focusing your reading and setting the direction of your research rather than producing “write-ups” with your findings. At this stage, you will really need some feedback on your writing (this is when a community-based writing software like R3ciprocity comes in handy).

Teaching Assistant or Research Assistant Duties

Many PhD students take on Teaching Assistantships (TA) or Research Assistantships (RA) at their universities. TA s assist a professor at their university teaching a specific course. They may guest lecture occasionally, but they often do not teach the classes themselves. TA duties can include facilitating student seminars, gu e st lecturing, holding office hours to help students with the class, and grading exams and essays. Grading is usually the main duty of a TA so PhD students with TA duties will find themselves busiest with these tasks around midterms and finals.

R As assist a professor with their often already established and ongoing research project. RA duties are directed by the professor for whom you are working and can include helping with many stages of the research project such as collecting data, transcribing information, and proofreading written works. RAships can vary in length and intensity depending on the needs of the professor and the project.

Read this blog post to learn the real length of time to get a PhD.

Here is some more detailed information about RAs in this video:

https://youtu.be/3FVq9PsBpbY Video can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: Research Assistants: Duties And Responsibilities At A Top University – Just FUNDING Your Studies? (https://youtu.be/3FVq9PsBpbY)

University Service or University Involvement

University S ervice is often a requirement for professors, but more of an option for PhD students . H owever, many PhD students choose to get involved in the university in some way as the university is their workplace and their community. There are a variety of ways that PhD students can get involved at their university such as becoming a board member of thei r graduate student association or participating in peer help groups on campus. PhD students often either volunteer or are nominated by their department to represent graduate students and their needs to larger department or university committees. For example, I was briefly the graduate student representative at department meetings. I was responsible for bringing the concerns or issues of graduate students to the department. University S ervice for PhD students is often geared towards advocating for the needs of graduate students and providing a sense of community for them at the university. This is again not a mandatory requirement, but if you are interested in a career in academia it is a good idea to become acquainted with the needs of University Service.

What is the average PhD Program acceptance rate? It is soo difficult to find out information on this, but check out our results from this poll. The results are so curious!

Special Events

Many PhDs also attend special events periodically such as on campus speakers series . These types of events are sometimes required by universities or departments . Other special events include conferences and workshops . At this early stage PhD students may have something to present at conferences, but there are also a variety of conferences that PhD attend for networking reasons. Most fields have large yearly international conferences and early stage PhD students will sometimes attend those to get a sense of the field, the quality of research, and to network with others. There are also many skill building workshops that PhDs can attend both at conferences and independently as their own events. For example, there are several skill building workshops in the field of Digital Humanities every summer that PhDs can often get scholarships to attend and learn new skills such as programming or digital story telling. These types of events enhance a PhD student’s skill set and allow them to further their research.

Later Stage PhD ( Doctorate Candidates ) 

At some point during the PhD, the balance shifts from learning and synthesis to writing and creating your own research.  You become the captain of your ship. When this happens the typical daily routine of a PhD student also shifts and the priorities and the demands on their time change.

At this point, you will feel like your are floundering, which is why I am trying to build the online writing accountability software. You need to check out this post to learn how you can join!

Writing is probably one of the biggest changes from early to late stage PhD. Now you have read enough and gathered all your data and have started to write your dissertation. Writing is now a much bigger chunk of your day and depending on the nearness of your deadline, it could be your whole day. When writing your dissertation your writing objective s shift . Y ou are no longer concerned with synthesizing information that has come before you, but rather you are now focused on analysis and articulating the results of your own research (with reference to other research still of course). Much of your time is centered on producing your research to disseminate to your field. This also means that in addition to writing your dissertation, you may also be writing articles and conferences papers to share your brilliant ideas and original research . You might like this blog post about how to prevent depression when writing your dissertation – it provides great details into the writing process.

I did a poll on the R3ciprocity YouTube community in August, 2021 on how much time researchers spend writing N=109). I was not surprised with these results. The modal time spent writing was 3-4 hours a day. 

Despite the shift to much more writing focused than reading focused days, there is still always some reading to do. New research comes out all the time, and it is best to stay on top of that to keep your own research competitive. Furthermore, your dissertation may take a turn you did not originally expect and so you need to read up on a topic in order to understand your results. For instance, my own research on late medieval Europe took a turn and I had to spend a few days reading up on what constituted treason in late medieval Europe in order to understand the ramifications of a political murder. So, there is always going to be reading to do, but this will become a much smaller part of your everyday.

Want to know the questions you should never ask during your PhD? Check out this pretty helpful blog post.

Later in the PhD process, data collection also becomes a much smaller portion of your time. Most of the heavy data collection is done in the early stages and while you will often revisit your data, likely large collections of it are not going to be repeated at this stage. However, you may have to collect some smaller sets of data, particularly again if your research has taken an unexpected turn. For instance, I had to revisit the archives to find a separate set of historical documents when my research took an unexpected turn. Unexpected turns happen in research projects so if you are in the late stages of your PhD and something does come up that you need to gather a little bit of data on that is not unusual.

Want to learn how to analyze data from a survey? Check out this comprehensive post.

I did a poll on the R3ciprocity YouTube community in August, 2021 on how much time researchers spend analyzing data. Here are the results. Out of 89 PhDs, the modal number of hours that PhDs spend time analyzing data is 0-2 hours per day. Surprisingly, some PhDs spend more than 9 hours a day analyzing data. This variance is likely due to the stage at which their research project is in.

TA/RA/Adjunct duties

Many PhD students continue to have TA and RA duties throughout their PhDs. However, later stage PhD students sometimes also take on Adjunct Professor roles at their own or nearby universities. This means they will teach a class or two by themselves. They will do everything that needs to be done for that class from syllabus preparation to lecture writing to marking the assignments. This additional responsibility can prove challenging because teaching takes up a lot of time particularly when teaching a class you have not taught before. Designing and implementing a class is a lot of work and it continues to be a lot of work as the semester progresses. I have had particularly difficult lectures take all day to write. A lot of PhD students underestimate how much time preparing and teaching a class takes since their TA duties did not consume a huge amount of time. If you go the adjunct route be prepared for it to put a huge time demand on your day.

If you are looking for great gifts to give PhD students, you have to read this post!

The R3ciprocity Project started out as a side-project, where David Maslach created an App to help others get feedback on their work (r3ciprocity.com – it is seriously inexpensive and easy to use. You have to try it!) , but it is beginning to grow into a real movement. Check out the YouTube channel , or some of these posts if you want to understand more:

Professional Service

In addition to University Service, some PhD students in their later stage also begin to take on what is known as Professional Service. Like University Service, Professional Service is an activity that in some way serves the greater academic community, usually in some way related to your field. This again can be a variety of things. For instance, many PhD students become involved in their professional organizations as graduate representatives. PhD students also can become involved in the editorial committees of academic journals. They may serve on committees for the advancement of their field or organize conferences. Again, like University Service, these positions are often not huge parts of their everyday routine, but they are again some of the expectations they must meet.

In the later stages of a PhD, it is more common for PhD students to present at conferences. They now have results and a thesis to advance so they apply to and present to their wider community at conferences. Conferences are also great places to stay up on current research and to network. PhD students may also find themselves presenting their research at their university showcases or in public lectures. Late stage PhD students still attend public lectures and workshops, but the emphasis begins to shift to presenting their own research instead of listening to someone else’s research .

These are the activities that make up the typical day of your average PhD student. The responsibilities do ebb and flow with the needs of the day. If you decide to start a PhD be prepared to spend a lot of time reading, writing, thinking, and working with your larger university community. You will need to get good at time management and scheduling in order to get it all done, but it is possible and a very rewarding experience.

This is all part of the r3ciprocity project, where the goal is simple: We are real people helping other people in academia. Academia is hard. We need to share our stories. Be real. Be nice. Help others. Science benefits.

The r3ciprocity project started out as a side-project, where David Maslach created an App to help others get feedback on their work, but it is beginning to grow into a real movement. Check out the YouTube Channel , or some of these posts if you want to understand more:

• Read more about PhD problems and solutions.
• How to deal with self-doubts as a PhD.
• The best tips on the internet on meeting with your (potential) graduate advisor.
• Did you benefit from this post? Do you know of anyone at all that could use feedback on their writing or editing of their documents? I would be so grateful if you read this post on how to get feedback on your writing using R3ciprocity.com or let others know about the R3ciprocity Project. THANK YOU in advance! You are the bees knees.

R3ciprocity_Team

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• CAREER FEATURE
• 13 November 2019

PhDs: the tortuous truth

• Chris Woolston 0

Chris Woolston is a freelance writer in Billings, Montana.

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Getting a PhD is never easy, but it’s fair to say that Marina Kovačević had it especially hard. A third-year chemistry student at the University of Novi Sad in Serbia, she started her PhD programme with no funding, which forced her to get side jobs bartending and waitressing. When a funded position came up in another laboratory two years later, she made an abrupt switch from medicinal chemistry to computational chemistry. With the additional side jobs, long hours in the lab, and the total overhaul of her research and area of focus, Kovačević epitomizes the overworked, overextended PhD student with an uncertain future.

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Sverdlik, A., Hall, N. C., McAlpine, L. & Hubbard, K. Int. J. Dr Stud. 13 , 361–388 (2018).

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Land your dream job, graduate school life | what to expect before you enroll.

Angel Eduardo

There are many ways in which graduate school life varies from the undergraduate experience. Even if you’re jumping into continuing education right after college, the lifestyle changes in particular can be very pronounced—affecting everything from time management and employment opportunities to day-to-day schedules and financial considerations.

Here’s a breakdown of what to expect in graduate school, and the changes (outside of the classroom) you should anticipate once you’re enrolled.

Grad school will take up a lot of your time

Whether you’re pursuing your master’s degree full time or part time , graduate school life will put your scheduling skills to the test. Although you may have fewer classes per semester than you did as an undergraduate, your course load will be significantly more demanding. From reading and writing assignments to potential research and field work, the bulk of your activity will take place outside the classroom—leaving you with far less free time than you might be used to. 

If you have children, are in a relationship, or have other personal commitments, you should expect grad school to affect your usual routines and responsibilities in that realm as well.

When preparing to enroll, be sure to do the following:

• Check items off your to-do list (before school begins). If you have any big extracurricular projects or plans that are still in progress, do your best to finish them before school starts. It will be much more difficult after you’ve started your studies, and getting these items out of the way will allow you to focus more closely on your work.
• Create a workable schedule for ongoing tasks. Even after clearing your plate, you may still have plenty of responsibilities to juggle. Make a list of all of your recurring commitments and put together a timetable that works for you (and that allows for plenty of study time!). Listing and prioritizing agenda items will help you eliminate things you can’t handle during school, and keep you on top of the things you can.
• Ask friends, family, and co-workers for support. Whether you’re navigating childcare, making time for your significant other, or other personal considerations, developing a healthy support system is critical to managing your responsibilities and stress levels during school. Reach out to people you trust early, and see how they may be able to help you balance the demands of grad school with your other commitments.

Balancing graduate school life and work will take effort

Pursuing a master’s degree can feel like a full-time job, but depending on your situation, you may also need to actually work while studying . This introduces challenges to managing not just your time, but also your energy.

The need to simultaneously perform at work and at school can create competing tensions (especially if you have a demanding job)—adjusting to these tensions is key to a successful graduate school life. Here are a few tips if you’re planning on working while studying:

• Discuss your grad school plans with your employer. Tell them what you hope to achieve, what your schedule is going to look like, and how your goals relate to your position at the organization. This will allow you to work together to set reasonable expectations and, depending on what you’re studying, discuss what sort of support your employer might be willing to provide .
• Budget more time for yourself than you think you need. It can be difficult to know just how intense the work-school balancing act will be until you’re in the middle of it. As you transition into graduate school life, work with your employer to set generous deadlines and ease into accepting new projects so you can avoid burnout and work anxiety .
• Remember the benefits of working while studying. Pursuing a master’s degree while working is definitely a challenge, but it yields myriad benefits, from networking opportunities after graduation to potential advancement in your current organization. It’s also a chance to apply your current skills and experience to your coursework , which will help you thrive in class and make you an asset to your graduate program.

Graduate school will affect your finances

Whether or not you’re working during school, continuing education will have an impact on your financial situation—and you’ll likely need to make changes to your spending habits while enrolled. Here are a few things you should do as you prepare for these adjustments:

• Consider your financial readiness before applying . Keep in mind not just the costs of tuition, but also of things like housing, books, supplies, and administrative fees. Also make note of any long-term financial plans you may have (such as buying a house), as graduate school will likely take priority over some of those goals.
• Conduct thorough research into financial aid . Beyond the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) , there’s plenty of potential assistance out there for aspiring graduate students—including scholarships , student loans , and grants specific to your area of study. Be aware of all your options, and submit applications for aid early.
• Save up before school starts, and cut costs wherever possible. Particularly if you aren’t planning on working during grad school, it’s a smart move to give yourself a financial cushion before you begin studying. This could mean doing odd jobs, putting in more hours at work, or cutting down on unnecessary spending.

Pro Tip: Keep in mind the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program after you graduate. PSLF helps student loan borrowers who work in social impact become debt-free faster, which we hope takes some of the pressure off of your decision to attend grad school.

In many ways, graduate school life will be different than what you’re used to—and while there are certainly going to be some challenges, it’s important to also keep the positives in mind, too.

Continuing education will deepen your knowledge and expertise in your chosen field, give you the chance to connect and network with new people, and open you up to advancement opportunities in your career. It requires a lot of planning and sacrifice, but if you take care to prepare, graduate school can change your life for the better.

Looking for help wrapping up your application? Be sure to check out our post, Grad School Application | Tips for Finishing Strong .

Angel uses his skills as a storyteller to support and inspire job seekers and aspiring social-impact professionals.

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What is the life of a phd student really like, published by steve tippins on june 9, 2020 june 9, 2020.

Last Updated on: 2nd February 2024, 05:11 am

Life of a PhD student? Hell. That about sums it up.

Okay, that’s not a very satisfying answer. Nor is it completely true. Life as a PhD student doesn’t always feel like hell. It does sometimes, but it’s also an exhilarating and rewarding time to explore your area of interest and grow into a true scholar. So what does the life of a PhD student really look like?

The life of a PhD student is somewhat varied depending on the field you’re going into. Generally speaking, no matter what program you’re in, it has two phases: coursework and dissertation.

Coursework Phase

Doctoral-level are courses that are a lot harder than undergraduate or even Master’s courses , but they are similar in structure: there’s a syllabus, due dates, other students in the class, etc. There are definitive semesters, quarters, or terms. In between terms, there’s really not much work to do. 

Of course, there are different expectations for PhD students than for undergrads. They are held to a far more rigorous standard in the work that they do. Class sizes are much smaller, and students are expected to participate in nuanced discussions. There is no sliding by unnoticed in a PhD program.

All that said, the coursework phase of the life of a PhD student is not altogether different than their previous educational experience, besides being more rigorous. It’s like school on steroids. 

Depending on the school, there may be a transition from classwork: comprehensive exams. This is basically, “study everything you’ve learned so that you can be ready for any question.” 

Dissertation Phase

The dissertation phase is a world in which there’s no syllabus, no classmates, and no real structure. You have your Chairperson and Committee to keep happy, but they’re not pushing you forward or expecting you to turn things in by a certain date. They’re just waiting for you to do what you have to do. 

Once you get to the dissertation stage, the concept of semesters and quarters goes away, and you’re working on your topic all the time.

Over 50% of doctoral candidates don’t finish their dissertations.

Many students find that not having due dates can make it difficult to work efficiently and make real progress on their dissertation . I speak more about how to effectively navigate this later on in this article.

I f you go into a program that has a large number of doctoral students, you’ll still be alone when you get to the dissertation stage, but you’ll have other people a similar stage. If you’re in a smaller program (for example, I was the only person in my PhD program), you may be all alone during the dissertation phase.

You’ll have to be able to move from the structured format of classes to the dissertation stage, where there’s very little structure and it can be lonely.

How Many Hours do PhD Students Work?

How many hours do PhD students work? Many PhD students have about 40 hours a week of reading and classwork, plus around 20 hours a week of assistantship or lab time. And that’s minimum. You may also be teaching while you’re doing your dissertation. I had two classes a semester, which ended up being 6 hours a week of class time, plus preparation and grading.   It’s easy to have a 60-80 hour week. In the life of a PhD student, the concept of “weekends” does not exist.

When you get to your dissertation, it’s easy to say “Oh, thank god I don’t have to do that anymore” and just stop. But don’t. You’ll need to put in the same hours on your dissertation if you want to finish within a reasonable timeframe (unless you’re deliberately making a choice to finish over a longer period of time).

Life of a PhD Student

Here, I’ll describe some of the common themes of the life of a PhD student, regardless of discipline. If you’re not yet enrolled in a PhD program, I highly recommend reading this to get an idea of the realities of what doctoral-level work looks like. If you’re already living the life of a PhD student, you will find some indispensable hints and advice for getting through with your mental health intact.

Being a Doctoral Student Is Not Like Being an Undergrad

Life as a PhD student is not the same as life as an undergrad. You’re there for the academic experience, not for anything else. Don’t expect to be able to join clubs and have time to socialize or go to football games. You may even find yourself feeling jealous of undergrads. 

But you’re there for a completely different purpose. You are the reason that the library is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. You are training to join the ranks of the world’s elite minds. 

You Can’t “Just Get By”

On the same note, the academic standards to which you’ll have to hold yourself change. As an undergraduate, you can get by easily with “what do I need to know,” and as a PhD student you ask, “what more can I learn?”

If you have the mentality of asking “what do I need to get by?” you shouldn’t be in a doctoral program. Because if you’re in a doctoral program, you’re going to end up as an expert. If your specific topic comes up in important policy decisions, you may be asked to be on an advisory panel. At some point, you will probably be asked to be an expert somewhere, and the advice you give will influence people’s lives. Society depends on you doing a good job in order to function well.

Doctoral programs are rigorous for a reason: only those who have a true passion and care for their subject area are afforded the power that a doctorate gives.

Writing a Dissertation Takes Over Your Life

Writing a dissertation is an immersive experience. It’s so much a part of the life of a PhD student that it’s hard to differentiate between when you’re working and not working. 

You also have to do things besides actually writing, and these things sometimes take a frustratingly long time. For example, making calls to institutions you are gathering data from, figuring out how to access or use software programs, or transcribing interviews. 

It doesn’t feel like you’re making progress on your dissertation because you haven’t written anything, so it can be easy to get discouraged. It’s important to account for the time spent doing this kind of thing so that you don’t feel like you’re failing when you have to spend entire days on it rather than writing.

I had a friend who spent an entire weekend trying to de-bug a program, and the problem ended up being a zero that had been replaced by an O. That kind of stuff happens all the time, and it’s often when students quit. Account for this ahead of time so that it’s just part of the deal.

It is hard to communicate to friends and family members about what you’re going through in this process. They may expect you to be the same person you were before you entered the program and have the same flexibility. This can put a lot of pressure on friendships and relationships.  

You see all these other people who seem like they’re doing amazing things. Going on vacation, having children, advancing their careers. It may feel like you’re missing out. The life of a PhD student is also extremely isolating. Your family may not understand what you’re going through. It’s important to take care of your mental and emotional health so that this doesn’t lead you to drop out.

No Time for Anything

Those people who go into a doctoral program and continue a job and have families have to understand that they’re going to have very little time for anything other than those three things during the program. There is often not even enough time for all three of those. Understand that your faculty will have expectations of you and rarely considers outside commitments or desires when evaluating whether you’ve met those expectations.

Much of the life of a PhD student is actually deferring life–or at least all of the facets of life outside of academia. It means following everybody else’s requirements until you graduate. 

Revisions, Revisions, Revisions

Being a PhD student means constant revising. That’s one of the reasons that people quit, because they don’t realize how much revising will be necessary. When students get a draft of their proposal back for revisions a fifth time, many consider that a failure, but that’s simply the nature of writing a dissertation.

People get angry because they think they’re failing or they think that professors are being hard on them. But having to do multiple revisions is the norm. You’re learning a new language (academic writing), and you’re conducting an extremely rigorous project.

In classes, professors may let things slide. But any professor worth their salt won’t let things slide in your dissertation. It’s a good place for a perfectionist.

Here are some common reasons why students struggle with the type of academic writing required in a dissertation:

• You feel like you’re repeating yourself a lot
• You have to make your argument very clear and slow
• You can’t assume any knowledge
• You have to be extraordinarily specific
• You have to be extremely consistent

A Warning for Doctoral Students

There are stories of faculty members who take advantage of doctoral students to pick up laundry, babysit children, or worse. However power can be abused, some people in positions of power will try to do it. While hopefully there has been enough conversation about this that it is declining, it is something to be aware of. Listen to other people and be careful. 

The academic system is set up for an uneven balance of power–even before you account for our societal power dynamics of gender and race.

While there is a worthy tradition of “paying your dues” in academia, this means paying your dues to the profession–through teaching, learning, and research–not paying dues to members of the profession.

All this said, there are times when it isn’t inappropriate for faculty members may ask you to do things outside of the realm of academia (you can feel free to accept or decline as you wish). When I was in my graduate program a faculty member asked if I could help him move one weekend. I helped him for an hour and a half, and he gave me $100. 

He was trying to be nice to me, and he certainly didn’t take advantage of the power dynamic. However, I was working as an assistant on a research project and getting paid $12/hr, and I jokingly chided him for paying me more for my brawn than my brains.

Final Thoughts

The life of a PhD student is not easy, but it is rewarding. Time and time again, I’ve seen the difference between students who complete their doctoral programs and those who don’t is whether they’re able to get enough support.

That’s why I started offering Dissertation Coaching Services . I help PhD students get through the dissertation phase of their doctoral programs, successfully defend them, and graduate with their degrees.

If you are interested in receiving support from a Dissertation Chair through weekly coaching sessions, feedback on your work, and accountability tools, book a free 30-minute consultation . As of this writing, I am nearing capacity, so please do so soon if you would like to participate.

Steve Tippins

Steve Tippins, PhD, has thrived in academia for over thirty years. He continues to love teaching in addition to coaching recent PhD graduates as well as students writing their dissertations. Learn more about his dissertation coaching and career coaching services. Book a Free Consultation with Steve Tippins

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•       Resources       15 Tips on Surviving Your PhD Program

15 Tips on Surviving Your PhD Program

15 tips and advice on making it through a phd.

It can be extremely challenging to complete a PhD program while maintaining physical and emotional health. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that 50 percent of all doctoral students drop out of graduate school without completing their degree. Some schools report a 90 percent attrition rate. Common reasons for dropping out include academic shortcomings, students who change their career path, or those who lose interest in their pursuit. Some students have the ability to complete their degree but opt not to. One cause is the discovery of a poor job market for professors or private organizations in their fields. The Chronicle reports that math and science students leave in their third year. Some 25 percent of dropouts in Arts and Humanities occur after three years, potentially leaving candidates with high student debt and despair. This guide offers examples of concrete, accessible, and practical actions that can alleviate many problems that overwhelm doctoral students.

15 Tips on Surviving Your PhD

There is a legion of experts that offer advice on making it through the years of your PhD program. Many agree on the necessities of maintaining a balance of academic pursuits against routine personal outside activities that foster physical and emotional health. Here are 15 suggestions:

1. Establish a routine you can follow.

It’s crucial to stay on track. Your best option to do so and keep peace of mind is to create a schedule that you can follow – and commit to following it. Get up and do your work on schedule, just as you’d report for a job. Devote segments of your routine for research and reading pertinent literature in your field. Add time in your schedule to include sound sleep, good nutrition, exercise, socializing and recreation. Remember you’ll have other obligations such as attending lectures, symposia, commuting, parking, cleaning your living space, shopping for supplies, meeting with study groups and peer collaborators. At the same time, build a realistic schedule so you won’t work yourself into fear frenzy.

2. Start writing from day one.

Your writing practice and research methodology can put you ahead of schedule on your dissertation. That’s because learning to write comfortably in a scholarly fashion should become a second nature. To eliminate last-minute furies, organize your research times, round up and cite sources properly, and create a number of drafts. Writing at least 30 minutes daily can allow you to consolidate your notes and findings, and note discovery of areas that require additional research. Plus, much of what you write goes directly toward your understanding of your subject matter. Because of your other commitments to teaching, collaboration, and outside activities, keep a writing routine and stick to it. At the same time, read smarter, understanding how the literature fits to your purposes. In reading and writing, look for key points, not bulk.

3. Create a positive community.

Decide from the begging that you can’t afford to collaborate or socialize with friends or peers that exude negativity. Braggards or chronic complainers can sap your energy or even cause you to adopt negative thinking or comparisons with the progress of other PhD candidates. Lead your own research, but seek advisement from people that you can trust, who have your best interests at heart. Join groups involved in your major field of study with which you can share academic as well as social issues. A positive community can bring you out of isolation, and isolation can foster fear or despair.

4. Build effective networks.

Along with creating a positive community, get on with networking from the very beginning of your program. You’re going to spend four or five years at the university, giving you ample time to forge and grow partnerships with working professionals, educators, junior faculty, and peers that contribute to your evolving knowledge base. They can offer suggestions to explorer literature, research trends, and potential opportunities for publications, conferences, and workshops. Remember to investigate online tools and communities as part of your networking as a way to make yourself known as a colleague. Create your professional/research profile at places like LinkedIn or join a LinkedIn Discussion Group. Speak with presenters at seminars. Connect with authors you discover in your literature research and participate in career groups outside your usual sphere at the university. Finally, consider taking informational interviews as a means of understanding the workplace, getting your name out there, and connecting with potential employers.

5. Put money woes to rest.

Having ample money to get you through your program can be difficult, even excruciating. But just knowing solid funding resources can give you some comfort and save precious time. Have a financial plan and do the legwork vital to your economic survival. Don’t let finances overwhelm your primary purpose of discovering your interests, focusing on your expertise, and making progress. Financial aid options for doctoral students are available at the U.S. Department of Education . You may need to combine several opportunities to cover your total expenses, including grants, scholarships, loans, fellowships, housing costs, and securing teaching and research assistantships. Some grad students make money tutoring but you’ll have to consider the time against your routine and academic schedule. GoGrad provides detailed PhD cost estimates broken down by professional field, along with scholarship/grant/fellowship search tools.

6. Make sound nutrition your ally.

Rutgers University advises students to find other ways to palliate stress than by overeating – even healthy foods. Eat lots of fruit and vegetables and all your meals at the right portion sizes. Cut out junk food and sugary treats that create the craving to keep eating them. That goes for alcohol, too, which can contribute to a decline in your health and create another source of worry. Student and faculty events often include drinking, so proceed wisely, even if peers call you a wimp. Vary your meals and include a free day for eating what you want without guilt. WebMd suggests that students include berries, oats, milk or yogurt, salmon, dark green veggies, walnuts, beans, and dark chocolate. Coffee is okay in small doses (8 oz) and without lots of sugar. Latte and mocha drinks are satisfying but often contain large amounts of sugar. Green tea can wake you up, if you don’t want to overdo coffee, but eschew energy drinks or other stimulants that make you jittery.

7. Add exercise to your routine.

Exercise, even moderate, can do wonders for both your physical and emotional wellbeing. Among its benefits, regular exercise fights stress, improves memory retention, and boosts your mood (particularly in winter). Researchers at Colorado Tech report that exercise increases “the number of brain cells in the hippocampus, which controls the formation, retention and recall of memories – all essential for student success. In most adults, the hippocampus starts to shrink in the late twenties, leading to memory loss over time.” Exercise can also add to your social bandwidth if you have regular workout partners or participate in intramural team activities. Remember to stretch. Consider taking a yoga class or Pilates workout. Do some running, weight lifting, swimming, or join a rowing group. Hike with friends or colleagues. Get out the mountain bike. For best results, get in a 30-minute workout at least three times a week. Time Magazine reports that cardiovascular exercise can positively affect depression, anxiety and mood disorders. And you’ll sleep better, too.

8. Learn how to deal with rejection.

Rejection in an PhD program is a routine, unwanted emotional downer. But how you react to it is crucial. Unsolicited advice can feel abusive. Competition for internships, fellowships and publications can stress you out to the point of collapse. Coping tools include not taking rejection or undue criticism personally and chalking it up to experience. It can soften the blows as they come. Comparing yourself to other candidates can be toxic. As with athletics, there will always be someone better than you. But you’re not pursuing your colleagues’ goals, dissertations, or even the identical degree – you’re pursuing personalized knowledge and skills for your life after the doctorate. Barbara Robson, an Associate Editor for two academic journals, writes in Quora that most papers (80 percent or more) are rejected and that there’s an element of luck in getting published. If your paper is rejected by a journal, find another suitable place to submit it. If you’re passed over for a conference, don’t sent a hate letter or academic rebuttal. Move on.

9. Choose a qualified graduate advisor and mentor.

Finding the right mentor and dissertation advisor is pivotal to your academic success and survival. The Gradhacker Blog at Inside Higher Ed suggests that you choose an advisor that shares your research interests and career path. Ask about their success rate in graduating students that they mentor. Check out whether they walk the walk by viewing their list of publications, conference presentations, and other research accomplishments. Find out if they’re available for ongoing advising. Explore their aptitude as a mentor and the personal chemistry toward working together. Are they hard to communicate with, abusive or condescending? Are they unable to otherwise maintain a productive and respectful relationship during the time you’ll be in the program? Not all accomplished professors make for good advisors. Some may be too wrapped up in publishing or attending conferences to meet with you. You should leave advising sessions feeling more focused, energetic about your research and dissertation, and armed with strategies for accomplishment.

10. Build in time for family and friends.

There’s an old joke where a friend asks if you can hang out and you say, “I’m in a PhD program so ask me again in five years.” It’s vital to maintain relationships with family and friends. They can sustain you and keep you from deadly isolation. At the same time, they can be distracting. It’s useful to maintain balance by scheduling time with family and friends while sticking to the need to bear down on research and writing. The PhDStudent Forum says when possible to combine family or friend events around studying. For example, take study time for yourself during a longer visit to family to keep your academic momentum. Visit a coffeehouse where you can study along with family and friends that also like reading in public. Be sure to communicate clearly about your schedule and find ways to book in indispensable phone calls and visits. Join friends for exercise or recreation.

11. Set aside time to pursue non-academic interests.

Yeah right, when is that supposed to happen? It happens when you make it happen. To maintain a sane equilibrium, devote some time to routinely indulge in things you like doing. For example, work in the garden, take a massage class, learn photography, play live music, go kayaking, join a cooking class, volunteer in civic or advocacy activities or learn a foreign language. Build something with your hands. Play scrabble. Paint to indulge your playful or creative side. Take a dance class. Learn meditation or improve your ping pong game. Because it can be near impossible to turn off your PhD brain, relegate it to background noise. That way you might have breakthroughs or discoveries that emerge when you return to work.

12. Arrange and maintain a peaceful learning environment.

Living alone may create a peaceful learning atmosphere, but not if you have noisy neighbors above, next door, or below you. Yet you can develop a horrible sense of cabin fever if you isolate at home. Wherever you reside should be comfortable and workable. Clutter can be a source of stress. According to Inside Higher Ed , living with roommates can save on expenses, but comes along with its own set of challenges. Roommates can have other routines and schedules that introduce unwanted noise, emotional drama, unwanted guests, or social habits that can send you off the edge. Research potential housemates carefully, allowing a back-up plan for dealing with inevitable problems. Developing a friendly but direct communication strategy can help. Or, you can create a work zone in your bedroom that lends for privacy. If necessary, you can find a quiet study environment in a library carrel or small café. The same suggestions apply if you’re living with family.

13. Address your emotional health.

According to Inside Higher Ed , there is a mental health crisis in graduate education. Grad students are six times more susceptible to anxiety and depression than in the general population. The study found that “transgender and gender-nonconforming graduate students, along with women, were significantly more likely to experience anxiety and depression” than their straight or male counterparts. A poor work-life balance can be a powerful contributor to burnout and depression. The worst thing you can do when you experience mental health issues is to keep them to yourself or feel like a failure for having them. Seek out the campus counseling center (student health center) or a trusted outside mental health organization for personal counselling. Join their emotional support groups. The National Grad Crisis Line (877 472-3457) provides free intervention services, confidential telephone counseling, suicide prevention assistance, and referral services. Look into NAMI on Campus Clubs which are student-run mental health support organizations.

14. Deal with expectations

Who you are, ultimately, is not a PhD student. Your grad program is what you’re currently pursuing. The Indiana University guide to thriving in graduate school suggests that you shrink overwhelming expectations into bite-size challenges. It’s normal for doctoral students to think that they’re an imposter among experts. Johns Hopkins University found that striving to meet your expectations can cause low self-esteem, procrastination, guilt and depression. You may find yourself unable to meet your expectations for perfectionism, so modify your plans to hit deadlines with your best effort. The guide further advises to straighten out the expectations that others may have for you. This can be especially true with families and people who provide financial or emotional support.

15. Make conferences a part of life.

Opportunities to attend conferences and presentations are richly rewarding. First, you become part of the greater community in your research niche and you can build a lifetime network of colleagues. You can also gain a greater understanding of the professional options available to you. Even attending conferences out of your niche area can stimulate ideas and send you home refreshed. Participating in panels is a great way to network and demonstrate your expertise. Attending job fairs is another way to network while exploring the professional environment. By networking at conferences, you can set up additional meetings with experts by phone, virtually, or before the next conference. It doesn’t hurt to cite conferences and your own presentations on your CV.

From the Expert

What are PhD students afraid to talk about?

The number one thing that PhD students are afraid to talk about is the lack of progress that they are making on their PhD dissertation. This was certainly true in my case and also in the case of many of my classmates whom I spoke with. The dissertation is such a big project with different stages in it and requires such self-discipline over a sustained period of time. When I got past my embarrassment about it and started speaking to others about it helped a lot and I found a way forward.

Another thing that PhD students are afraid to discuss is their ambivalence about being in a doctoral program and whether they've done the right thing and whether they should continue. These are all important questions that such students need to be aware of and speak to others (counsellor, friends, etc.) about.

What was your greatest challenge and how did you succeed?

As mentioned, my greatest challenge in relation to completing my PhD was getting through the dissertation process. Two things really helped me get over the line (and came from speaking to friends and classmates). (1) Since my dissertation was quantitative, I hired a statistics advisor that I met with on a regular (weekly or fortnightly) basis and this helped me make good progress in that it served to provide much needed structure (and assistance with statistical analysis). (2) I fired my dissertation chair and found a new one that I had a much better working relationship with. My new chair was more knowledgeable about my dissertation subject area and also he was much more supportive. I made significant progress with him and thereafter completed my dissertation in a relatively short time frame.

What are good ways to alleviate stress and anxiety?

There are a number of ways that I think will help with stress while working on one's phd. The usual suspects are approaches such as regular exercise, good diet, fun activities (e.g. movies), counselling and/or talking to friends and/or family.

However, I think the best approach that one can take is to get steadily work through each aspect one-by-one of the PhD program towards completing it. A useful way to think about it (with both the dissertation and the PhD program itself), is to not get overwhelmed by the size of this enormous project but instead cut it up into separate pieces and focus on each piece at a time, complete it, and then move on to the next piece.

How did you handle the challenges of extreme competition?

My tip for students who are experiencing high levels of competition is to try put it all into perspective: Do your best to get the finest resources (internships, grades, etc) that you can but know that once you're out in the profession, some of those things might really matter that much in the bigger picture. So, one can be just a 'pass' in your doctoral program but then get out into their profession and make a big splash.

What can you recommend to keep interest or inertia up so you’ll finish the PhD/Dissertation?

‘Cut up the sausage' and focus on/work on it a piece at a time; Locate assistance or supportive individuals and meet with them regularly and ongoing throughout; Create 'deadlines' and milestones for yourself to work towards and have these other (helpful) individuals assist in keeping you accountable.

Find ways that work for you that help to bring structure into this enormous unstructured (or scantily structured) project called a PhD -- and especially its dissertation. At the end of the day, it's really about just getting through it and into the next (and bigger) stage of your profession. Just do your best while you're in it and don't get too caught up in the moment.

Additional Resources & Help for PhD Students

You should realize that you can’t do everything on your own. To do so is a recipe for financial despair, insurmountable academic challenges and poor overall wellbeing. At the same time, you may need to sift through the wealth of outside resources to find the one that addresses your concerns. The following links will connect you with financial options, bulletin boards in your field, and academic resources. Find tips for time management, exam preparation, and help with emotional issues that can and will arise:

• GoGrad Guide to Paying for Your PhD : Students are currently paying upwards of $80,00 in tuition to complete their PhD. Use our guide to research your financial aid options.
• PhinisheD : This free, comprehensive bulletin board is devoted to PhD students struggling with completing their degree. Find links for reference guides, financial aid, health and well-being tips, and writing guides.
• National Grad Crisis Line : It’s for when the going gets rough. The National Grad Crisis Line at (877) 472-3457 was founded in 1988 to provide free mentoring, confidential counseling, and referral services.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention : The CDC offers a pithy, wide-ranging college resource for maintaining wellness through sound nutrition and exercise. It offers diet plans, activity guidelines, and stress-prevention tips.
• U.S. Department of Education : Learn about financial aid for graduate or professional students including grants, loans and scholarships. The page links to government sites for applications and additional financial resources.
• ThoughtCo : This site is packed with articles on graduate school written by experts. Topics include prepping for comprehensive exams, time-management skills, and dealing with procrastination.
• Meetup : Student Meetups provide free, online listings for students to connect PhD candidates seeking peer support. Join an existing group or start one at your university.
• GoGrad : Discover tips for PhD students who want to complete their degrees online. Featured affordable online doctoral fields include business, computer science, criminal justice, education, nursing and psychology.
• The Grad Café : As host of graduate-school forums, the Grad Café operates a peer-run group that discusses the advantages and negative aspects of living alone or sharing housing.
• PhDJobs : Register for free and post your VC. Search among 1,600 current listings for PhDs and sign up for job alerts or information about post-doc programs.

101 Health and Wellness Tips for College Students Rutgers University

12 Tips for Surviving and Thriving in Grad School PsychCentral

CAPS Grad School Survival Guide Indiana University

Mental Health Crisis for Grad Students Inside Higher Ed

Modest Advice for New Graduate Students Medium.com

Surviving PhD and Postdoctoral Programs: Tips to Guarantee Success! Enago Academy

The Crucial Issue of Doctoral Non-completion The Chronical of Higher Education

Top 10 Smart Foods for College Students WebMD

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Best 5 PHD Reddit Posts Everyone Should Read

Getting a PHD is a big decision. This article lists the top Reddit posts regarding getting a PHD.

Sep 10, 2021

As a current or prospective PhD student, Reddit can be an excellent place to share your experience and learn from the experience of others. It's also a good way to get advice if you're not sure whether a PhD program is right for you. 

The good news is that there are already plenty of PhD Reddit posts that provide a wealth of information about the process and what to consider before you pull the trigger on a doctorate program.

Here are five of those posts and how they can help you make the best decision about your education.

1. There's no guarantee that a PhD will improve your career path

Many people pursue a PhD program in order to increase their chances of getting a good job or earn more money. According to data gathered by  Michigan State University , the expected lifetime earnings for someone with a PhD is $3.3 million, compared to $2.7 million for Master's degree holders and $2.3 million for graduates with a bachelor's degree.

But just because the averages work in favor of getting a PhD — some career paths offer more potential than others — that doesn't mean it's going to work for you.

In one  post , user AltAcAcct shared their regret of going through a PhD program. Despite attending a prestigious "public ivy" school and having many other impressive experiences, AltAcAcct was in their second year of trying to find a job with no luck.

They implored readers to reconsider why they want to obtain a PhD and think about the potential downsides. While they had more pointed advice leaning toward not pursuing a PhD at all, it's important to decide for yourself if it's worth it to you.

The important thing is that you take the time to research your options — including ways to excel in your field without a PhD — and determine whether the potential risk of not getting a return on your investment of time and money is worth it to you.

2. Have a plan B

Going along with the idea that a PhD program doesn't guarantee future success, user acapncuster shared a tip in response to a  PhD Reddit post  asking for advice: "Have a plan B."

Some other commenters agreed, with one going so far as to say: "Have a plan B, then make that your plan A." Another user recommended having a plan C as well, just to be safe.

The idea that you should expect your first plan to fall through — and possibly even your second — may be enough to turn some off to a PhD program completely. 

But that's not to say you should ditch the idea. After all, many PhD graduates find success in their field, so it can pay off. The worst thing that can happen, though, is if you go through the program and spend the time and money earning your PhD, only to not have a backup plan when you don't accomplish your original goal.

Take some time to consider alternate plans before you commit to a PhD program. Think about asking others who have pursued your particular field of study and learn some potential options that you can pursue in the event that your plan A doesn't work out.

3. Understand the importance of time management

A PhD program can be time-consuming, with one Redditor saying they spend roughly 50 to 60 hours a week keeping up with coursework and doing additional research. But user SnowblindAlbino, who is now a professor, mentions in their  comment  that a lot of that time is unstructured.

In other words, time management is crucial to a successful PhD experience, not only in how much time you spend but how you separate that time into different activities.

Another commenter on that post, user cosmospring, wrote that their time spent on their program varied wildly depending on whether or not they had a deadline:

"Not really average days/weeks. More like 'average days when staring down the barrel of a deadline' and 'average days when not staring down a deadline.' The former: 10-12h at the keyboard. The latter: 6-8h at the keyboard and 2-4h doing something else academic (teaching, reading, navigating bureaucracy...). Once or twice/week cut those by 50-75% (the days off) and do laundry/something fun, unless there's a looming deadline."

Every program is different, so it's important that you approach your time management based on what works best for you and your program.

4. Seek balance

A PhD program can be grueling, so it's crucial that you find balance, according to user Theblackswapper1. On one  post  where another Redditor asked for advice, Theblackswapper1 commented that students owe it to themselves to have a workout routine and to take breaks when needed — though not as an avoidance activity.

More importantly, don't neglect your mental health and get help if you need it, they wrote: "Most colleges and universities have free counseling services for students. Now everyone's path is unique, and everyone's story is different, but I know that I regret not reaching out for help earlier."

5. Consider the opportunity cost

While there's no guarantee that a PhD program will improve your career path, you can still use average figures to try to find out what the return on investment of a doctoral degree can be. 

As part of that formula, user buspsych comments on one  post , recommending that you consider the opportunity cost of pursuing a PhD. Even if you get free tuition, you're missing out on income you could be earning with a full-time job. Depending on how much the degree increases your salary, divide that by the opportunity cost to find out how long it'll take to make the degree worth it.

You'll also want to consider how pursuing a PhD program may delay your retirement savings and other important financial goals.

Ultimately, there's no right or wrong answer to whether a PhD program is worth pursuing, so it's crucial that you run the numbers for your situation to decide if it's right for you.

Join Juno today to find out more about your options for affordable private student loans to help fund your degree. 

Ben Luthi is a personal finance and travel writer based in Salt Lake City, UT. He loves helping people better understand their finances. When he's not traveling, Ben enjoys spending time with his kids, hiking, and watching films. His work has been featured in U.S. News & World Report, The New York Times, MarketWatch, Fox Business, and many other publications.

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