I have a PhD in ag econ. I came to my program with good but not exceptional math abilities. It was five incredibly grueling years of my life. I worked all the time and constantly felt stupid and inadequate in ways I have never felt before or after. I was frequently worried about failing out of my program. But then I got the PhD and it opened a lot of doors. I have what I consider a high-impact career in animal welfare doing what I love. I’m really glad I did it now that it’s over with but it was no fun at the time.
This is definitely not the experience of everyone—I have friends who had a great experience in grad school. I also have friends who dropped or failed out.
I think it’s very hard to predict what your experience will be like, but I think it’s important to be aware of the range of common experiences.
Sorry for the stress. Grad school was very tough for me too in some similar ways.
It doesn’t have to be this way. E.g., sitting in a lecture theatre being confused, because you are missing some key reasoning steps/tools is not a great use of time. Nor is it productive for these programs to instill a sense of shame or inadequacy.
The ‘credential involves jumping through hoops unlocks doors’ thing is also something that I hope we can improve upon.
I have a PhD in ag econ. I came to my program with good but not exceptional math abilities. It was five incredibly grueling years of my life. I worked all the time and constantly felt stupid and inadequate in ways I have never felt before or after. I was frequently worried about failing out of my program. But then I got the PhD and it opened a lot of doors. I have what I consider a high-impact career in animal welfare doing what I love. I’m really glad I did it now that it’s over with but it was no fun at the time.
This is definitely not the experience of everyone—I have friends who had a great experience in grad school. I also have friends who dropped or failed out.
I think it’s very hard to predict what your experience will be like, but I think it’s important to be aware of the range of common experiences.
Sorry for the stress. Grad school was very tough for me too in some similar ways.
It doesn’t have to be this way. E.g., sitting in a lecture theatre being confused, because you are missing some key reasoning steps/tools is not a great use of time. Nor is it productive for these programs to instill a sense of shame or inadequacy.
The ‘credential involves jumping through hoops unlocks doors’ thing is also something that I hope we can improve upon.