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Hi all, Could very much use some advice, particularly from anyone who's already been through this process. For several years, I've been planning to apply for PhD programs this fall. I've been out of school for about 5 years, and the plan was always to work and then go back to school with the ultimate goal of teaching at the university level. I've now done all the legwork to apply this year: GREs, research on programs, talking to undergrad professors about LORs, drafting a personal statement, etc. But when it comes down to it, I'm having a lot of trouble deciding if this is actually the right choice for me. Too many people have told me "don't do a PhD if you can picture yourself doing anything else and being happy." The truth is, while being a professor is still my "first choice" for the next 30some years, my job now is fine, and I can picture myself doing a lot of different things and being perfectly happy. Does anyone have any advice about how to make the decision about whether or not to take the plunge? Obviously applying is a lot of time and money, and completing a PhD programs is even more time/money, and I'm terrified I'm going to choose the wrong option here. Thanks.

Thank you very much! I really appreciate your advice. n

Good morning, I am hoping to apply for Fall 2011 after several years out of school. I took the GREs once 3 years ago, and my scores are good but not great (700V, 750Q, 6.0A). I actually haven't made up my mind whether I want to pursue qualitative or quantitative programs...I have a very strong qual background (including a relevant master's degree from a well-known university) but, after working in my field for several years, I think I might prefer to go the quant route (though I don't have much of a math/statistical background at all). I know that no one can tell me my odds based on my GRE scores, but broadly my question is this: for applicants like me that do not have a strong quantitative background, is the GRE quantitative score particularly crucial? I'm trying to decide if I should take the GREs again...in my case, I know that I tend to be a good test-taker (guesser!) and am looking at a very very busy fall at work without a huge amount of time for studying, so I'm honestly not sure that I have a real shot at improving on those scores. Thanks so much for your advice, and I do apologize if this issue is already addressed elsewhere! n