PhD Pros and Cons: Go for it or not – the skinny on earning one?

The answer to your question is simple……I don’t know. I have a Doctor of Science (Sc.D) in engineering. Let me tell you, with a doctorate of any kind, you are over qualified to work. It usually does not increase your pay, but actually hurts it. An MS in most fields (except maybe pysc) gets you higher paying jobs. The reason for studying a doctorate is simply the love of the field. The reason is that you will be doing the doctorate for well over 4 years and when you finish, you are so specialized, the best jobs you will find are going to be the same thing you did your dissertation on.

Is it worth it? I fell so. There are some positions that require a phD outside of academics. Many R&D positions and govnmt jobs have such requirements. Plus, if you feel like you are overqualifed, take the phD off your resume. Its not like your making somthing up to make you look better on a resume, its the opposite, so its ethical and legal.

Realistic earnings depends on your field, but its not probably much more than an MS if at all. The simple way to decide to “go for it or not”, is to ask yourself if you can do this for the next 6 years (think of your Masters and Bachelors). Can you do that again for 6 years? More importantly, do you WANT to do that?

Also, the longer you wait, the harder it is to do. But then again, some newer programs have “professional or part-time” doctorates (phD, psyD, DPT, Sc.D, etc). You can work and do the program at the same time. But your comment about “the slightest of pulls”, doctorate is nothing like a MS or BS. Its all independent and your alone for 90% of it. In fact, your qualifying essay exams usually let you roam free and have full internet and electronic access during the 14 hour exam, since nobody can help you!

Good luck!

I am getting my PhD next month and I think the hardest part is the dissertation. It is really time consuming and you have to have a real passion for what you plan to study. I have had to make a lot of sacrifices but I think it was all worth it.

I think it is worth it to pursue the PhD because you will have more opportunities and you will be more valuable in your field.

Only 3% of the population has PhDs…..you will be at the top.

Email me if you have any other questions.

Without knowing your field, it is frankly impossible to answer your question.

But this I can say with certainty: If you have an unquenchable passion to do research in your particular subfield of interest for the entirety of your working life, then consider a PhD. If you do not have this overwhelming burning desire to do research in a very specialized area, there is no reason to pursue the PhD.

This is too general to answer – I can’t answer without knowing the exact subject matter, since everything varies around that.

apparently no one likes to answer our PhD questions.