<p>What hours do you guys spend as PhD students? Is it like a low paying job with bad hours or do you literally dedicate your entire life to it (including weekends?)
Is a PhD program something a married person should be viewing as an option? (Assume <= 1 kid, Assume spouse makes ~30-40k, and the husband is the one in the PhD program.)</p>
<p>Edit: Specifically in regards to engineering/biomedical engineering/biotech/computer science/bioinformatics etc...</p>
<p>A phd student will typically spend 8-9 hours in lab per day and maybe a few hours on the weekend. It can vary wildly depending on the prof you work for though. I know plenty of married couples with a kid where someone is in a phd program. A phd program will pay $25-30k so it probably would be enough total income, but that doesn't speak to what the kid does while the parents are at work.</p>
<p>Basically it breaks down to this:</p>
<p>Next Five Years of your Life = In a Lab</p>
<p>Depends what field really. I know most of the Ph.D. students in my Mech. Eng. lab come in at around 9-10 and leave around 5-6, so it's really no different than any other job. You're always thinking about your research sure, but you don't necessarily have to be in lab all the time. Of course, if you really want to focus and get a lot of research papers out, you can come in more, but with simulations and reactions there is a lot of built in downtime anyway.</p>
<p>It is definitely dependent on field of study... organic chemists are expected to put in a minimum of 12 hours per day, six days per week. Sundays are for reading the journals, grocery shopping, and laundry.</p>
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I know most of the Ph.D. students in my Mech. Eng. lab come in at around 9-10 and leave around 5-6
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<p>I know this is in general true for the lab I work in too. The problem is, they all do other work at home, especially if you want to be legit. Reading papers, problem sets for classes, and writing take up some time outside of regular lab work.</p>
<p>That's true, but I don't think that part's especially stressful, if you're actually into the field.</p>
<p>Anyone who tells me "Yeah, I LOVE spending 12 hours a day, 6 days a week in the lab doing Organic Chemistry!" is lying, pure and simple. I know I will probably get answers along the line of "Ohm well, your so engrossed in your reasearch that you really DO want to be there thta much!" but I just don't see hta being possible.</p>
<p>There is nothing on earth that you should be spending 72 hours a week doing. Besides sleeping, maybe.</p>
<p>It's not 12 hours of straight grunt work. There's plenty of downtime. You don't do a Ph.D. unless you're really into the subject. At least you shouldn't. It doesn't help your salary in most industrial areas, and unless you're dedicated to your work you won't get a professor position anywhere either. </p>
<p>72 hours sleeping? That's more than a third of your day gone to waste, and more than 3 hours per day more sleep than you need to stay healthy. Why the hell would anyone want to be doing that in their 20s?</p>
<p>Okay, I agree...72 hours a week of sleep is a bit extreme.</p>
<p>I did, however, just read an article that claimed that teens and young adults may need closer to 10 or 11 hours of sleep a night to be truly rested. The traditional 8 hours is for adults.</p>
<p>It isn't always a matter of WANTING to put in those hours... but being told by your boss that your RAship will disappear if you don't put in those hours. And of course, time and productivity are two different things.</p>
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Is a PhD program something a married person should be viewing as an option?
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<p>Stats say married phd students have a higher graduation rate due to the emotional (and physical, :) and the little but sometimes big things like housework, cooking ) support from a companion.</p>
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It doesn't help your salary in most industrial areas
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Come on, man.</p>
<p>Well, it's true... Especially engineering, thought not so much computer science. However, this is not the case for newer branches of engineering like BioE and NanoE where a Ph.D. is almost required for industry. Or so I've been told anyway, which is why I'm shooting after the latter.</p>
<p>I also think it varies from program to program and even from one person to another. (Some people really are mentally quicker and more efficient than others. There's a difference between someone with an IQ of 110 who's trying to get a PhD and someone who has an IQ of 140... Not that IQ's everything, I'm just trying to get the point across.)</p>
<p>I'm doing a M.S., not a PhD, though I hope to go on for the doctorate afterwards, if possible. I've met several grad students who are married who are working on doctorates, and they seem to be doing fine. One, actually, has two young kids (a kindergartener and a baby). Another one is pregnant.<br>
There are many others as well.
I'm a single person trying to live off 10k. I think a couple with a kid could potentially live off 40k.</p>
<p>I'm not a married person yet, but I hope I'm qualified to comment -- I'll be married in September.</p>
<p>My theory is that it's easier for married grad students, not only because of the support reasons Los mentioned above, but also because you don't have to deal with the stress of the dating game and all of its attending crap. :D</p>
<p>I don't know that we'll do the kid-while-in-grad-school thing, but I also know people who have done it and survived. The good thing about a grad student schedule is that it's usually phenomenally flexible -- if you'd rather work 12-9 so you can get your kid on the school bus, that's totally fine with most PIs as long as you're cranking out results.</p>
<p>I can't believe you said phd's dont' help salary in engineering.
Here are the cold hard stats:
Typical/ Avg engineering salaries:
BS - ~52k
MS - ~73k
Phd - 100k+</p>
<p>But Los,</p>
<p>How many jobs are actually open for PhD's? Just because you get one, does it mean you will find a job that pays that type of salary, or will you perhaps have to settle for a lower salary since you are "too qualified"?</p>
<p>Uh, what fields are you talking about. Yes, in very specific branches of engineering, say some EE or CS or a couple ME specializations, you may get 100k starting for Ph.D., but you spent 5-6 years for that. </p>
<p>My roommate just graduated EE Bachelors with a not too hot GPA of 3.0, and he already makes 80K + benefits. No one's saying that Ph.D.s don't start out with more, but the cost/time invested is not worth it for most industrial positions in engineering. Plus, there's the fact that you may be overqualified for some positions and hiring managers will choose someone with an MS simply because they don't want to pay the bonus $$ for the Ph.D. graduate. </p>
<p>Masters on the other hand is very worth it for industry, as even your own data shows. 20k bonus for 1 more year of school. Veary Niccce.</p>
<p>The key Ive seen if youre looking for industry is to start looking before you graduate. A lot of the people in my lab "were too busy" and just finished and then looked around to little success. On the other hand, the ones who were clear on what they wanted starting advertising 6mnths-year before they finished, and lined up interviews for the week after (1 guy did the day after) their thesis defense.</p>
<p>Also, in engineering labs, I think it varies for time depending on how good your time management is (this is probably obvious). There are the guys who are in the lab all day long, and always look busy and stressed; and there are the guys who come in for 4-5 hours, take care of all their stuff, and are out the door.</p>
<p>Then again, I aint no expert none...</p>