heres the situation

[boo]

Option 1- Don't go back to school and be happy with just my Bachelors(BS). Stay at my current job making good money, good benfits, more time off than anyone could imagine, and best of all its in my field and I love it.

Option 2- Get my phd in a totally funded program with a nice stipend and once I finish I'll make more than double than I would with just a BS. It would take 6-8 years to get but I would be funded every year.

I have taken 5 years off. Not sure why I applied but I did. Now I am tring to decide if a phd is something I would want. Any insight or advice would be welcomed.

[oldlady]

Not sure why I applied but I did.

Figure this out first.

[so47]

I'm with oldlady. I don't think a PhD is something you can get through if you're ambivalent. It's a lot of work, and you really have to have a passion for it. It sounds like you are very happy in your job, so why did you even apply? If your only reason for obtaining a PhD is a pay-scale raise, then I just wonder if that would REALLY be enough to get you through 6-8 years.

Do some soul-searching, and figure out where you want to be in 15 years. Does your goal require a PhD? Or would you be happy moving up as a BS level?

[modernity]

Thirding the advice that's already been said here. If you don't know why you applied, or did it just to see if you could/the thought of more money seemed like a good idea... it's probably not enough to get you through the PhD process.

[johndiligent]

Fourthing what's been said.

[boo]

Let me clear something up. It wasn't out of nowhere since I studied 3 months for the gre and did pay the app fee. I am just a little worried about the time investment and the fact that my field has a 50% drop out rate after 2 years.

[strokeofmidnight]

Let me clear something up. It wasn't out of nowhere since I studied 3 months for the gre and did pay the app fee. I am just a little worried about the time investment and the fact that my field has a 50% drop out rate after 2 years.

I'm not sure that this is enough to counter what everyone else has said already. This sort of thing may vary from field to field, but frankly, in my field, studying for the GRE's and paying the application fees DOESN'T constitute thinking long and hard about what you want--and whether or not the PhD program can help you achieve (not to mention...at what cost, in what field/subfield, under which programs, etc, etc). This sounds like adequate preparation for choosing a college, but nowhere near sufficient for choosing a PhD program.

At the risk of being blunt, I would suspect (though again, I'm not in your field) that part of the reason that your field indeed has a 50% drop-out is because too many (admittedly intelligent) people enter without fully comprehending why they are there, or what they want to get out of it. Think through those questions first--especially if you may be giving up a great job in order to pursue this option.