I will confirm this and also say that if your PhD does not provide funding, you should not go. This also applies to PhDs that don’t provide enough funding to live (though this may eliminate a few good schools—I’m not sure either Isabel’s alma mater (UCLA) or mine (UCSD) provide stipends that make sense relative to housing costs.)
Re. military service AND a PhD: we had a handful of active-duty people go through my PhD. They had three years to write their PhD—which is very short, and meant they did not write an academic-quality dissertation. (They all stayed in the military and went on to their next post; I do not think they regret not being academics.). That might be fine for you! But it’s worth bearing in mind that if you are interested in an academic job, using military service for funding probably won’t get you one.
I was Active Duty Army and completed my PhD through a fully funded program (at the University of Tennessee) that was part of becoming faculty at the US Military Academy (aka West Point). My PhD program was 3 years, the same as everyone else in my program, and my academic credentials were on par with those in my field. After 3 years as an academic at the US Military Academy I returned to a non-academic position in the operational Army. Many of my colleagues (Active Duty Army officers with PhDs) remained at the US Military Academy for several years and pursed academic careers, as well as a range of other policy related endeavors. It is a fairly narrow route to join the US Army as an officer and pursue an academic faculty position at the US Military Academy, but it can be done. Anyone interested in more information on this route, please let me know.
while I’d agree with the advice of “don’t go if they don’t provide any funding”, not providing quite enough funding to actually cover expenses seems more ambiguous?
if you’re able to apply directly into PhD program, that might be worthwhile as they usually provide funding
I will confirm this and also say that if your PhD does not provide funding, you should not go. This also applies to PhDs that don’t provide enough funding to live (though this may eliminate a few good schools—I’m not sure either Isabel’s alma mater (UCLA) or mine (UCSD) provide stipends that make sense relative to housing costs.)
Re. military service AND a PhD: we had a handful of active-duty people go through my PhD. They had three years to write their PhD—which is very short, and meant they did not write an academic-quality dissertation. (They all stayed in the military and went on to their next post; I do not think they regret not being academics.). That might be fine for you! But it’s worth bearing in mind that if you are interested in an academic job, using military service for funding probably won’t get you one.
I was Active Duty Army and completed my PhD through a fully funded program (at the University of Tennessee) that was part of becoming faculty at the US Military Academy (aka West Point). My PhD program was 3 years, the same as everyone else in my program, and my academic credentials were on par with those in my field. After 3 years as an academic at the US Military Academy I returned to a non-academic position in the operational Army. Many of my colleagues (Active Duty Army officers with PhDs) remained at the US Military Academy for several years and pursed academic careers, as well as a range of other policy related endeavors. It is a fairly narrow route to join the US Army as an officer and pursue an academic faculty position at the US Military Academy, but it can be done. Anyone interested in more information on this route, please let me know.
while I’d agree with the advice of “don’t go if they don’t provide any funding”, not providing quite enough funding to actually cover expenses seems more ambiguous?