How much free time would I have to work if I self-fund my PHD studies?

[B1369]

Hi everyone,

I have the option to self-fund my Ph.D. studies. My question is if I don't request funding, will I have enough time to work during the course of my Ph.D.? I would rather work on my own than being an RA or a TA and I think it would be more beneficial to me overally. I am applying for Ph.D. programs in social psychology. If the answer to the aforementioned question is yes, should I mention that in my application or when contacting potential advisors? Will it have a positive or negative effect on my chances of being enrolled in the program?

[juilletmercredi]

I got my PhD in a joint program in social psychology and public health. Not only will you not have time to work full-time during your doctoral program (at least the first 2-3 years), some programs also forbid or heavily discourage you from doing so.

It's not just classes, although that is a major factor. At most social psychology PhD programs, you will be taking 2-3 classes a semester, and those classes are typically scheduled during normal business hours (between 8 am and 5 pm Monday through Friday), making it very difficult to work any full-time job with normal daytime hours. You will also likely be required to work as a teaching assistant even if you don't want to, and those classes are also M-F 8-5. (If you don't have funding from the department, you may not be required to TA, but some programs are considering this part of the education and not just a job for funding.)

But in addition to the classes, you will also be required to do "20 hours" a week of research assisting a professor in your department. "20 hours" is kind of a myth, as I know few PhD students in the field who actually did only 20 hours a week - the real figure is probably somewhere around 30-60, depending on the student, their program, and their PI/advisor. Since a PhD is a research degree and you're there to gain training as a researcher, an RAship isn't really negotiable - even if you technically are not required to RA because you have no funding, if you have an advisor, you will probably be required to provide research assistance to gain research training in practice. And you want to be, because that's the only way you'll learn what you're there to learn. The research is far more important than the classes. Some research requires you to physically be in the lab, and even if you don't need to be there many PIs expect you to put in face time anyway. Some of that time may be spent supervising undergraduate RAs and attending lab meetings.

Even once you complete your coursework, you don't have more time in your later years - you just have more unscheduled time. Depending on your program, years 3-4ish will be filled with completing your comprehensive/qualifying exams, for which you will need to study. Years 4-5ish will be filled with completing your dissertation, for which you need to conduct the research and actually write. And those are just the official requirements of the degree. That's not including the professionalization activities you need to complete, such as presenting at conferences and publishing papers, networking with faculty and researchers in your field, attending talks and brown bags and colloquia, etc.

I don't think you working on your own would be more beneficial to you overall. If you intend to be a researcher with your PhD (which I assume you do, given that it's a research degree), the best work you can do is research work. This is true even if you want to go into industry. The only way that working outside of the department would be better for you is if a) the job you have "on your own" is a full-time research job supervised by doctoral degree-holding researchers, and b) they are offering you enough flexibility to take your classes and do the work you need to do in the department. While it is technically possible to work full-time during these years, studies show that students who do have often completed fewer of the kinds of activities they need to be competitive for jobs.

My personal opinion is that you should not do an unfunded/self-funded PhD. Most good PhD programs in social psychology will offer to fully fund every student that they accept, and conversely will not accept an unfunded student who is paying their own way. There is thus no option to not "request" funding; mentioning that you are willing to attend without funding will not help you gain admission. But even if you found a middling PhD program that would allow you to do this, it is a bad idea, as it's unlikely to help you achieve your career goals.

[PsyDuck90]

As a 1st year clinical psych PsyD student and someone who is friends with several other people who have been in PhD programs, I want to say "no." Some people I know have supplemented their income by waitressing or something on the side on weekends, but the amount of work between classes, homework, and research responsibilities is a lot more time consuming than you may think. 

You know yourself best, but a doctoral program requires full time job hours in and of itself, so working enough to pay the bills may be difficult depending on your situation. You also sometimes have very little choice (if any) of what classes you take and at what time. This may also complicate your ability to work depending on the flexibility of your job. 

[B1369]

Thanks for replying. I have heard that if one is self-funded, after the first year when the classes are completed, the main focus will be on the thesis and you will have more free time to work.

Is that accurate?

[PsyDuck90]

I'm not familiar with any programs where you only take classes your first year, so I don't know how to answer this question.