What age will you be when you finish your PhD?

[med latte]

All PhD students take different amounts of time to finish. What is your best guess as to the age you will be the year you finish your PhD?

 

 

[beyondaboundary]

Im a late starter but intend to be an early finisher... I'll be 46 if I start next fall so...51 is my goal

[med latte]

I've read that applying at 40+ can hurt your chances for admission.....but I've also read that schools like that the older applicant brings experience and demonstrated commitment to the field. I would love to get inside the heads of admissions committees on this issue.  

[gellert]

Honestly, though, I wouldn't want to spend my 20s any other way.

Edited December 28, 2013 by gellert

[callista]

I've read that applying at 40+ can hurt your chances for admission.....but I've also read that schools like that the older applicant brings experience and demonstrated commitment to the field. I would love to get inside the heads of admissions committees on this issue.  

 

I got in at 40!    I visited the program and spoke with faculty before applying, and they told me that I would be a good fit, so I went for it.

[juilletmercredi]

I started at 22, and I should be finished this summer, shortly before I turn 28.  I definitely would've spent my 20s another way, lol.

[King_Maro]

I started at 22, and I should be finished this summer, shortly before I turn 28.  I definitely would've spent my 20s another way, lol.

you mean you wish you have a chosen a different path? other than the PhD? Btw what you gonna do once you're done with?

[DerpTastic]

Chances are I'll be borderline between 29 and 30.

[Queen of Kale]

Over 30.  But I really, really, really enjoyed my 20's too.  Maybe too much.  

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

I'll be 29 when I get my master's. Might be able to finish a PhD at 32-33. Not sure if I'm gonna go the PhD route. Very glad I didn't start undergrad until 23. Joined the military at 17. Wandered the country for over 2 years when I got out. Glad I didn't spend my 20s in grad school.

[juilletmercredi]

you mean you wish you have a chosen a different path? other than the PhD? Btw what you gonna do once you're done with?

 

Regret is too strong a word, but at the same time my PhD hasn't been a very happy road.  On the one hand, I sometimes wish I had at least taken about 3-5 years before I started the program to travel, work, enjoy life a little bit.  I had a bit of an existential identity crisis in my middle years of grad school that made life unpleasant.  Sometimes I wish I just hadn't pursued the PhD at all - I think I could've been quite happy with other careers that only require a master's degree.

 

But then I start to think about what things I would really like to do, and browse some job ads - and most of those things require a PhD, or a PhD (especially from my institution) greatly enhances your chances at getting them.  And if I didn't start until 5 years after undergrad, that would've meant I just started this year, and would be in grad school into my mid-30s.  Blech.  I'm glad for the opportunity to settle down with my husband and perhaps start our family in our early to mid 30s (I did not want to have children in graduate school, although I think that's a valid choice.  It was just my personal preference not to).

 

I think it just boils down to "Graduate school sucked and I was poor."

 

I'm doing a postdoc and then, who knows?  Part of me wants to make a go at the academic lifestyle at an R2 or SLAC, but what (I think) I'd really love to do is do research for a government agency or think tank.  I've also been exploring marketing research and consulting work.