<p>Hello ! </p>
<p>I am enrolled in a Ph.D. program that will begin this fall, and am looking for good advice, nuggets of wisdom, dos/dont's, etc. </p>
<p>For those of you already in or finished with a doctorate program, what do you wish you had known going in? </p>
<p>Possible things I'm concerned about :</p>
<p>Anticipating/managing work load
Advisor relationships</p>
<p>And ....How hard is it, really? Is there a way you could describe exactly how hard it is to complete an average Ph.D. program? People keep telling me it's harder than I could ever imagine...but if you could compare it to something or just give a good description...it would be great ! </p>
<p>Thanks !</p>
<p>I’m finishing up an MS at the moment, heading to a PhD in the fall myself.</p>
<p>I think the “It’s so hard!” bit comes from how different grad school is from undergrad. In undergrad, it’s about going to class, doing well on exams, etc. Undergrad research, even when an independent project, involves lots of oversight and supervision. In grad school, you’re the researcher. You have to come up with the ideas, plan out the project, interpret the data, and transform it into results. That’s VERY different from being book smart and doing cookbook undergrad research; it requires extensive creativity, motivation, and problem-solving. It takes a while for people to transition, and in the mean time, they can feel overwhelmed, frustrated, lost, and confused.</p>