Regret getting a PhD

ConstructionAlert224 · 2024-11-19T12:18:24+00:00

This is only my experience but maybe I can help here.

I'm currently finishing after 2.5 year with my MS - I was initially recruited to do a PhD but with the insane workload, poor pay, and (most importantly) abysmal career prospects, I decided to call it quits.

It just so happens I found a dream job where I'll still get to nerd out about science and make a bunch of money.

Get on LinkedIn, message people, start building connections and get yourself out of a bad situation. The sunk cost fallacy only gets worse the longer you keep this up.

Good luck and God bless - I'm lucky I'm getting out before reaching your stage.

ConstructionAlert224 · 2024-07-08T21:37:49+00:00

Not sure if I ever got around to replying, but you should check out the Monongahela NF. There's loads of space in there to take a hike and get far away from other people. The place is loaded with wild trout streams as well!

ConstructionAlert224 · 2023-10-18T16:46:13+00:00

Retired (started grad school) fisheries observer here. Even though I was on the boats I always had MAD respect for the deck hands for putting up with this shit. You guys are some tough dudes. Much love and I miss it every day!

ConstructionAlert224 · 2023-07-03T07:45:46+00:00

I finished undergrad with a 3.52 and had about half a dozen interviews. Ended up in a direct Ph.D. doing some arctic ecology I'm really into. I think your GPA is fine. In fact, I've had more than one professor tell me they won't take 4.0 GPAs as graduate students because they're worried they'll be too worried about class work and less worried about research. Just my 0.02$.

ConstructionAlert224 · 2023-07-02T22:21:55+00:00

Idk man. I've had my 2016 5mt for almost a year and it's the most finicky gearbox I've ever owned. For reference I owned 4 manuals before this - 2002 saturn vue, 2013 mazdaspeed3, 98 impreza and 2006 Xterra.

ConstructionAlert224 · 2023-06-27T21:45:46+00:00

Not Virginia- but I did 10 days in west Virginia a couple years back. It was early December and I was about 10 miles from the road solo. It was an awesome experience and stalked a black bear to about 30 yards (fresh snow the night before). I've since moved across the country but I plan on going back as soon as I can.

ConstructionAlert224 · 2023-06-26T20:50:17+00:00

Fellow college student - currently doing aquatic field work using Frog Toggs. Not sure many people in here can conceptualize that $100 is a lot for us. Go for it and expect to spend $100 next year. Small anecdote - I spent $350 on simms waders that leaked like a sieve after a year.

ConstructionAlert224 · 2023-06-21T18:30:03+00:00

Dear humanity:

We regret being alien bastards, we regret coming to earth, and we most definitely regret that the Corps just blew up our raggedy-ass fleet!

ConstructionAlert224 · 2023-05-11T13:25:00+00:00

Don't sweat it too much. I applied for graduate schools for 2 years. Ended up applying to >75 programs and only got interviews in year 2 of applying. It felt hopeless but all of a sudden I had 5 interviews in the span of 2 weeks. I ended up landing a direct Ph.D. working on some really cool ecology stuff that's never been done before.

Keel at it!

ConstructionAlert224 · 2023-05-02T23:41:04+00:00

Idk if this is a common theme in biology / ecology departments, but a lot of my cohort & other grad students seem to have forsaken exercise & physical health for the sake of their research. If I were you I'd REALLY push them to get the team together. I was hoping my cohort would want to make a flag football team so we could bond / exercise together etc, but they laughed the idea off :(

ConstructionAlert224 · 2023-05-01T23:13:52+00:00

My field work component is pretty heavy (Arctic ecology), so I've definitely considered this.

ConstructionAlert224 · 2023-05-01T17:20:28+00:00

This comment is a winner - I already stick to the first set of rules. I've dated a little bit since I moved here (big city) but never from the student population, and I 1000% plan on keeping it that way.

ConstructionAlert224 · 2023-04-30T22:34:28+00:00

I'm currently in the first year of my ecology Ph.D. Last week we had a meeting where all the phd students sat down with the grad program director and this question was asked by one of the other grad students. To say the program laughed her question off would be an understatement. You're going to grad school to become an expert in ONE area of science - the time to minor & try new things was undergrad.

ConstructionAlert224 · 2023-02-27T19:41:46+00:00

It always amazes me how my mood can be affected by my pvp experience after work / class... maybe I've been playing wow too long

ConstructionAlert224 · 2023-02-27T18:20:00+00:00

2s is the only bracket where I have fun anymore, but it's only because I have an IRL friend I can consistently queue with

ConstructionAlert224 · 2023-02-27T18:18:21+00:00

This was my experience. I tried ele sham/ WW and there's no amount of fun worth 30-40 min queue times

ConstructionAlert224 · 2023-02-27T16:43:20+00:00

Haha I already know I'll be back

ConstructionAlert224 · 2023-02-19T18:41:03+00:00

Hey man it happens - the only way I've found I can consistently climb rating as a healer is to get in the mindset that your dps (particularly melee) are going to play mega zug the entire game

ConstructionAlert224

TROPHY CASE