spectastic

I'm in the exact same boat as you, ready to start something new. honestly, I don't think investors would give two shits whether you have a PhD or a GED, but that's just my opinion. I have no startup experience other than watching full seasons worth of shark tank, so take my advice with a grain of salt. However, I know this is what successful entrepreneurs would probably tell you. Think about what you can do in those 2-3 years as a graduate student slave, and compare that to what you can do in 2-3 years trying to immerse yourself in the world of business. there is no comparison. Investors care about one thing. Return on investment. The skill set you need to succeed as an entrepreneur involves selling, closing, wearing different hats, yet know when it's time to delegate. These are skills that extend far beyond what a PhD can offer, imo. Ditch the degree, come out to the light baby.

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A former member of my group informed me that our advisor (Dr. A) is known to provide bad references. I've been very productive in the last several months, and I'd like to think that I'm on good rapport with him, but you never know. He's like a bitchy cat, kind of hard to please, has certain pet peeves, etc... on the other hand, there's another almost retired professor (Dr. B ) who's not really in our group, but provides advice in our group meetings. he's the one who's been editing my manuscripts. he's also very accomplished, like has his own wikipedia page and a picture of him shaking hands with the president of the United States type of accomplished. however, he's also very old (mid 80s), and will likely ask me to write my own reference to be sent to him. in this sense, my official advisor is more of a figurehead, very hands off, knows relatively little about our field, mostly hangs out on gmail more than literature. now that I'm looking for a job, people are going to want referrals. I will touch base with Dr. A to get a gauge of his opinion of me. However, I'm more inclined to just put Dr. B as my primary reference for graduate school. I have a couple of other good references that I can put down from previous experience. OTOH, I'm worried that not putting down Dr. A as my main reference might raise a red flag. thoughts?

i need a vacation

grading at 4 am is so much fun! ?????????????????????

Killed day 1 of the career fair today. Probable phone screening interview from awesome company in town.. My stock portfolio looking mighty green. Man oh man oh man ?

if it comes up, play it in a way that shows you've learned something, in the most positive way possible. (so what'd you do?)

life crises are no joke, and it sounds like you might be going through one of those right now. if you're not confident about being able to perform well in your classes, I recommend seriously considering dropping them, and asking about taking a semester off (or something to that effect) to do some soul searching. going traveling is one of the best things you can do at your age. too many people stumble from one stage of life to the next, not knowing exactly what they want out of their life and career. It's hard to take the time to figure out why you're on this earth. I wish I took more time to figure that out earlier on. it would've saved me a lot of headache, but not all life lessons come easy. you're definitely not alone. I don't know what they would tell you at student health services, so I can't really recommend it. But it can't hurt to make an initial appointment.

great thread! JRP's probably my favorite. He's a great interviewer. I thought howard stern was able to get people to get people talking, but Rogan is WAY better. I'm also subscribed to a few other ones that only really curb to my interests, like star talk, bigger pockets, jocko willink (that dude's intense..) or something like that. friend told me about jordan peterson's podcast. if I ever listen to him, I'd have to not be doing something else, because it takes me some more processing to really absorb what he's talking about. but damn he speaks some good truths.

thanks for your input. I have indulged in my hobbies, and tried to have a life outside of academics. however, my advisor sees this as a threat. he doesn't think i'm motivated enough to be in his group, if I prioritize my life over research. but jesus, I'm 27. this is the time to have a life, if I'm ever to have one. priorities generally change when you're 30s and onward. anyway, I think I have what it takes to complete a PhD. I just need to find a different group by the end of the semester, and my options are limited.. I completely agree with you about working in parallel, compared to collaborating.. One big unknown I have is how will this rhythm change after getting your PhD? I imagine you won't be expected to pull more than 40 hrs/week, and the work environment WILL be more collaborative. But if you basically worked your ass off to get to the dream job, wouldn't you be expected to continue to sacrifice for it? The idea I get is that PhD is like boot camp. After boot camp, it's just the beginning..

Thanks for your response. I've highlighted the things on the list that are valuable to me. I think bonding with peers is something that's more dependent on personality types than anything else. Sometimes, people get along, other times, not so much. I'm not sure where the quirkiness comes from. I can be quirky with my friends. I only crack safe for work jokes when I'm at work, that's not really a problem for me or my peers. as far as earning trust before getting more responsibility is concerned, I was working in the oil and gas / chemical production area. there was not a position i could transition into that would involve anything other than keeping the plant running. they kept the r&d stuff largely secret from everyone else, but having talked to some of their engineers, it seemed like they were just doing process control stuff. It's just not really my cup of tea. If I could get a job doing research with my Master's, and getting to learn and collaborate with likeminded people, and have room to move up, I think I would be happy with that. My main concern is that I'll be competing with PhD's for some of those jobs, and I might hit a ceiling quickly with a Master's, especially at a bigger company.

Lately, I'm realizing that I might not be the type to get a PhD after all. I have few friends in my department. The good friends I have are outside of my graduate program. I find that a lot of people who are doing PhD's may be lacking in the social department, or maybe that's just the particularity of my group.. And even those that do socialize, I don't really find myself a good fit with them. I would like to have a life outside of school, go out maybe a couple of times a week, have time for hobbies, and just have the time to develop other aspects of myself than my career. I don't want my career to define who I am, but I feel like this is where the PhD is taking me.. my father is a PhD (different field, not what inspired me), and his career consumes him.. I don't want to be that. On the other hand, I have worked in industry as an engineer, and the level of intellectual engagement I had as an entry level was quite poor. I was basically a paper pusher. I realize that most entry level assignments are like this, and I was hungry to actually use my engineering brain to solve engineering problems. That's why I went back to school for a PhD, so that I can work on interesting projects, with higher levels of autonomy and higher quality people. I had this vision of working in industry, collaborating with others, sharing ideas, and working in a team to solve complex engineering problems. That said, I have not found a whole lot of collaboration in my PhD group. I believe a large portion of this is because we have a relatively small group, and we're all working on pretty different projects, which I get is the case most of the time. I think another component of this is not everyone in the group seems to be getting along. I always try to keep things lighthearted and always make things a learning experience. I can't say the same for everyone else, as much as I'd like to. Bottomline, I don't think I'm a good fit in this group. My path forward is to master out and get a job, or try to find a different group, which will likely have to be in a different department, because my research is in a specific area, and I came back to school to get trained in this area, as well as get my phd. Based on what I've written, what are y'all's take?

only in gen chem lab is it possible for it to be this hard for people to articulate the differences between accuracy and precision of measuring the density of water using different glassware. jesus fing christ.

5 am and a little more than half way through grading gen chem lab reports. FUCK

this new undergrad my adviser assigned to help me run experiments (due to my broken hand) is turning out to be a bit of a moron, who needs as much babysitting as giving simple instructions. not thrilled.