Last few years of math phd

[bscott21]

I have some questions about the last few years of a math phd. During the first two years there are required classes and exams, so it sounds a lot like the college schedule I am familiar with.

Once the those two years are over and you get caught up in research, how often do you need to be on campus? Is it possible to set up your TA schedule and advisor meetings to only be on campus for say Mon-Tues-Wed, and then work from home the other days?

[Sparky]

It would depend on whether you're a TA or RA, what classes you're TAing, whether you're auditing any classes to make up deficiencies or for the heck of it (I don't know how common this is in math), and your department. Also meetings with professors pop up randomly. Just given the way scheduling generally works in colleges, it's probably more likely you'd be TAing one or more MWF or TR classes, so you might not be able to count on the dream "Wednesday is my Friday!" schedule.

Certainly there are days when you likely won't *have* to be on campus. Heck, I'm still in coursework and there are days I manage to avoid it. But it's best not to *plan* on it being a regular thing.

Edited September 2, 2011 by Sparky

[juilletmercredi]

Ditto above, and depending on the type of career you are gunning for, your schedule actually might become more hectic and not less in your last few years. My first two years, I just took courses and met with my advisor. Most of my research could be done from home, and my university doesn't offer many classes on Fridays, so I usually had a 4-day week and would leave on Thursday afternoons for long weekends with family and my SO.

Now, I'm TAing a class that I essentially have to do things for M, W, R, and F - the lecture is MW and I teach two lab sections, R and F. I've also taken a special live-in GA position, but that's not common for PhD students. Even without that, though, I have to shuttle between two campuses - the class is an undergrad class on the main campus but my research space and advisor are on the medical center campus. There's no way I could do a 3-day week or even a 4-day week, but I suppose I'm kind of over wanting or expecting that at this point. Instead, I have a little built-in downtime on each day; my Mondays and Fridays are actually relatively light, and I plan to make Saturdays a relaxation day. I'm aiming for an academic career (a relatively recent change!) and so I actually enjoy the satisfied feeling of exhaustion from getting things done at the end of the day plus the experience I feel like I'm getting in my TAship.

But long story short - it depends on you. If you don't have any TA responsibilities you could easily have a 3-day week. If I didn't have my TAship or my GA position, I could definitely just come on campus 9-5 Monday through Wednesday and chill out at home most Thursdays and Fridays.