Hi everyone,
I have followed here for a while, and while I feel like I have a grasp of the minutia of the application process, I still think I lack basis of knowledge about what life as a Ph.D. student is like.
I expect to research long hours and work very hard....very independently.
However, I have other questions:
1) Do you get summers "off?" I am quite certain you will be working, writing, etc....but is there time to breathe more in the summer time? Can you take your work home if you don't need to be in a hard science lab? I am looking at school about 90 minutes from my hometown, and I'd love to see my family on weekends whenever possible, see friends here whenever possible and maybe even sustain a new relationship.
2) Can you go home on breaks?
3) If the first 2 years of a 5 year Ph.D. is considered Master's work do things change? I expect the first 2 years will be research involvement, but mostly class work. The last 3 heavy writing.
Forgive me if these questions are naive. The schools I am looking at are a great fit, but I'd have the added benefit of only being 90 minutes from the people and places that have brought me a tremendous amount of joy and personal fulfillment- and that, in larger part, have helped to focus me academically.
Forgive me if these questions are naive.
