<p>juillet… I enjoy reading your many long posts. I agree with everything you say on the benefits of PhD students versus Masters students. I too am a post-doc…I agree life is noticeably better as a post-doc. Don’t get me wrong, but I find your posts deeply idealistic. They are at times frustrating to read…at other times helpful. Maybe it is difference between your biology research (HIV research in different populations…I think) versus engineering research.</p>
<p>The thing is realistically, engineering profs plan their entire hiring strategies around avoiding students walking away after their masters degree. Some of the profs just will not hire Americans without a Masters degree…qualified or not. I would hate to have to do this. There has got to be away to understand if a student is more dedicated to get a PhD than the next. I would not hire a student if I get the impression that they think they should hold all or most of the cards. I think a student should be able to challenge their advisor…that’s great. Also, a student’s work should be meaningful and contribute to their degree. However, if I thought a student wanted me to bend over backwards for them, I would never hire them, or I would fire them. For me to listen to a fully funded student’s struggle to stay in the PhD program would seem like bending over backwards. It would be a different story if I listened to this from a Masters student I wanted to convince to pursue a PhD who I wasn’t paying tuition for.</p>
<p>Any thoughts? Maybe I’m being to harsh.</p>