I don't know why the original post is getting many negative votes. I think it's a legitimate question, and a good one at that. I realize that someone who asks such a question about vacation days risk sounding lazy and not as serious about grad school. I totally agree that this is a question for students, not the professors. However, that being said, wanting 3-4 weeks off, especially for international students is not unreasonable, especially taking into consideration how much work is being done the rest of the year. Some professors are fine with longer vacations as long as you produce results the rest of the time. Others balk. It varies from prof to prof, and where you are in your degree at the time. It is also something to be negotiated with the professor.
Also, American grad students tend to have this self-flagellatory approach towards grad school, taking almost a grim sense of satisfaction in clocking hours working weekends, and comparing how few days of vacation taken. It does seem to be the norm, but that doesn't mean it's healthy! If you can work out something that suits you and is acceptable to your prof, go for it!
Hi everyone, as I am making my decision I realized that the numbers of days off in PhD really matter to me. I am an international student, in addition I cannot go on for a year without backpacking somewhere. So basically I need at least three to four weeks of holidays (incl. bank holidays) per year.
I know that PTon officially only gives out 19 days (incl. bank holidays) per year (One of the Engin departments), and I really cannot deal with this fact. So I will really appreciate any answers on the numbers of holidays you get as a PhD student, for the following schools:
Princeton, Berkeley, CMU, Cornell, GaTech, Columbia, UC Davis
I will especially appreciate answers from Engin people, since that's what I am going into.
