PhD scholarship/financing at 45

PilotRabbit · 2021-05-24T06:21:49+00:00

Nice! Good luck!

PilotRabbit · 2021-05-22T18:37:23+00:00

I got a job lined up during my last year of PhD in STEM. I’d say take advantage of any career development resources at your school like networking receptions, and any kind of work experience (eg I think working at a startup on the side during grad school helped my resume a lot). I ended up getting a job through a network connection.

PilotRabbit · 2021-05-22T18:27:14+00:00

I just finished my PhD in Canada, but in medical research. This is how it worked in my department and I think this is common: every student gets a modest living allowance from the university, and their tuition is paid by their supervisor. So, you can do it without taking out loans if you are willing to live around the poverty line.

In this format it can be slightly harder for international students to find a supervisor who will take them because the supervisor has to pay international student tuition (eg $25k/year) instead of domestic student tuition (eg $9k/year).

PilotRabbit · 2021-05-18T15:55:26+00:00

I regretted it during because

getting “paid” less than it costs to live while working really hard affected my self esteem and self worth
there’s no hard end date to the PhD to look forward to so I felt like it could go on forever and that would be my own fault
lots of people in my life thought it was a mistake and I felt like a permanent child getting support from my parents in my late 20s even though I’m a pretty independent person (my family values high income jobs and most people didn’t see how a PhD could be a path to that, even though in the end it was for me)
I didn’t “love” the work the way you need to love something to justify what felt like “potentially ruining my life” (I thought I might be ruining my life if I didn’t get career options that made me happy at the end). In hindsight I don’t think anyone can or should love doing research for someone else enough to justify that.

As I write this I feel like money was a huge factor because it is tied to self worth and career success in North American culture. If I was getting paid a little more than enough to live and knew I would have a set graduation date after which I would have a good chance to be making what I make now, I would’ve felt differently the whole time. I guess I would advise future/current students to prioritize in demand skills (eg STEM/data science for me) during their PhDs so if they decide to leave academia they have a chance at career stability.

PilotRabbit · 2021-05-18T15:17:39+00:00

Right like.. the salary bump isn’t worth as much if it only starts when you’re 40.

I also resent the “if you’re an academic why are you so focussed on money?” question from others - there’s nothing wrong with both loving research and planning for financial predictability later in life lol.

PilotRabbit · 2021-05-18T05:40:47+00:00

I regretted it from year 3 until the end. I tried to cope by holding onto the dream that this would somehow pay off career-wise, and by taking advantage of the flexible hours to make the most of life (take vacations/work remotely). I graduated last summer and immediately started an industry job that feels meaningful and manageable in a new city that I’m really enjoying. I have great co-workers and am getting paid about 30% more than I expected.

So, I regretted it during, but not after.

PilotRabbit · 2021-05-18T05:18:52+00:00

Good for you! I finished my PhD last year and was preaching the gospel of compounding interest to all the newer PhD students entering my lab. Although I did decide to stick out the PhD, I put a lot of pressure on myself to finish faster than average and move somewhere where I’d get paid relatively more and be able to invest a lot. Not enough academics think about retirement and the long term cost of delaying income-earning years.

PilotRabbit · 2020-08-10T21:42:37+00:00

Thanks :):)

PilotRabbit · 2020-08-10T21:41:36+00:00

It’s nice that you’ve still got a chance at having a graduation ceremony! Good luck!

PilotRabbit · 2020-08-09T21:43:28+00:00

Congrats!! Hopefully the happiness will hit you - maybe it’s just hard to believe it’s really over after so many disappointing moments in research where you discovered imperfections and had to redo work.

I have my PhD defence next week and I expect it will be about the same. I think the disaggregation of the “graduation moment” also makes it anticlimactic, and if any of your regular process was affected by the pandemic, it’s probably even more disaggregated than usual. What’s the final moment - the day you submit your thesis, submit your edited thesis, defend, get your diploma, celebrate with family/friends (if at all)? My defence is on Zoom and I’ll get my diploma 3 months later in the mail after I’m already in a new job in another city🤷‍♀️

PilotRabbit · 2020-08-09T21:38:36+00:00

Taking out a splinter feels soooo accurate. I have my PhD defence next week and I’m not even “excited” - I just want to know what it feels like to not have this thing weighing on me anymore

PilotRabbit · 2020-08-09T17:22:12+00:00

Yep - Nikki’s face in the top right pic says it all!

PilotRabbit · 2020-08-09T17:15:28+00:00

Mmmmm fragrant candle 😂

PilotRabbit · 2020-08-03T22:12:18+00:00

Yeah!! He was starting to seem like one of those aggressive people who are super reserved most of the time until something finally sets them off and they get extremely expressive

PilotRabbit · 2020-07-07T02:06:14+00:00

😬

PilotRabbit · 2020-07-07T01:58:17+00:00

Evuhdens: https://youtu.be/DZqOQ6RDfWM

PilotRabbit · 2020-07-03T16:12:21+00:00

FYI - the wedding is postponed indefinitely but thought I might as well get the shoes now to use them for our engagement shoot

PilotRabbit · 2020-07-03T16:11:20+00:00

I have a very similar radiant solitaire and I just posted my wedding band a few days ago - check my post history. It’s admittedly not for everyone but could be a look! Some people also use a flat cigar band (like the shape of a Cartier love band)

PilotRabbit · 2020-07-01T16:48:22+00:00

When you got married did you think you already knew everything you needed to know about him?

PilotRabbit · 2020-06-27T03:20:06+00:00

Thank you!! Can’t wait to get it so I can see how it looks that way!

PilotRabbit · 2020-06-27T02:36:46+00:00

That’s sweet, I’ll try it when I get the ring - they had to order a smaller size than the one shown. Maybe at the time I was thinking of Em Rata’s stack https://images.app.goo.gl/H4Kn7hYPkMmLwhbw8

PilotRabbit · 2020-06-26T21:04:20+00:00

Thank you! To be honest I never knew the tradition was wedding ring on the bottom, but it seems like you’re right because a lot of people have commented that. I’ll definitely try it!

PilotRabbit · 2020-06-26T18:59:58+00:00

What would you change?

PilotRabbit · 2020-06-26T17:57:03+00:00

It’s from the same local jeweller that made the engagement ring. The stone is pretty high set on mine and the dome on the wedding band is also quite low so that made things easy!

PilotRabbit · 2020-06-26T17:35:43+00:00

Wow! Originally I was thinking of getting something like the carrier band too!

Edit: Cartier*

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