Decision for grad school

[capella]

I attended Virginia Tech majored in chemical engineering and graduated with GPA 3.86. I was thinking of studying more after graduation so I applied mostly top tier schools without any strong motivation after my junior year. I had been involved one of the research labs in my department and doing decent job in there. At that point, I didn't realize the importance of GRE and statement of purpose. I just thought that good GPA and research experiment would put me at least one of well-known schools. That was my stupid thought. As you imagine, I have only been admitted from Virginia Tech as a PhD student. The situation is a bit regretful. I could've put more effort more seriously. 

So, I have thought about preparing one more year for grad school and while I prepare I could participate research and rule out some lists that I would not like to do during PhD. Much people (including professors) around me were saying that "you can definitely go high-ranked schools and you are a very strong student". But, I doubted that I could do well since I was still struggling with what I really would like to do for my research. Honestly, I stepped down some applications while I was applying because I felt like I would be not a right person for that professor since I was not motivated in that field ( I think its a downside of applying for direct Ph.D. program).

I actually accepted an offer and I have convinced myself that the computational research at Virginia tech would greatly helpful to prepare for upcoming 4th-industrial generation. My ultimate goal is to be in business management (becoming CEO not CTO). At the same time, I also would like to gain some skill sets as I am doing PhD to be an independent researcher (how greedy I am).  I am not sure how the research experience for the next 4 years would help to be CEO. 

My question is that If I would like to be in industry, do you think I should go a high-ranked school and prepare one more year for that? or even should not go to grad school. 

Thanks

[cowgirlsdontcry]

I can only tell you the story of my friends, as I am in the humanities. One received an undergrad degree in civil engineering, then got an MBA as his graduate degree. He works as a high level manager for a major engineering firm. Another person I know, received a chemical engineering degree and also went on to get an MBA. He is now a Sr. V.P. at a large oil and gas company. This is just my opinion based on what I have seen others do, but from having had a previous career, it seems that you are more interested in the management side of the business rather than day-to-day engineering. Therefore, you need the benefit of the MBA or some similar degree to enhance your engineering degree. Being a student is great because you learn so much, but just remember it takes time to work your way up the corporate ladder.

[DiscoTech]

9 hours ago, capella said:

I attended Virginia Tech majored in chemical engineering and graduated with GPA 3.86. I was thinking of studying more after graduation so I applied mostly top tier schools without any strong motivation after my junior year. I had been involved one of the research labs in my department and doing decent job in there. At that point, I didn't realize the importance of GRE and statement of purpose. I just thought that good GPA and research experiment would put me at least one of well-known schools. That was my stupid thought. As you imagine, I have only been admitted from Virginia Tech as a PhD student. The situation is a bit regretful. I could've put more effort more seriously. 

So, I have thought about preparing one more year for grad school and while I prepare I could participate research and rule out some lists that I would not like to do during PhD. Much people (including professors) around me were saying that "you can definitely go high-ranked schools and you are a very strong student". But, I doubted that I could do well since I was still struggling with what I really would like to do for my research. Honestly, I stepped down some applications while I was applying because I felt like I would be not a right person for that professor since I was not motivated in that field ( I think its a downside of applying for direct Ph.D. program).

I actually accepted an offer and I have convinced myself that the computational research at Virginia tech would greatly helpful to prepare for upcoming 4th-industrial generation. My ultimate goal is to be in business management (becoming CEO not CTO). At the same time, I also would like to gain some skill sets as I am doing PhD to be an independent researcher (how greedy I am).  I am not sure how the research experience for the next 4 years would help to be CEO. 

My question is that If I would like to be in industry, do you think I should go a high-ranked school and prepare one more year for that? or even should not go to grad school. 

Thanks

I think answering the following questions would give people an idea of how best to advise you:

1) Why did you not seek an industry job right after undergrad? You seem to have no real interest in graduate school aside from what you think it can do for your business aspirations. If you want to ascend to a management role, going to industry right away is your best bet.

2) Do you have any technical interests? It sounds like you applied to graduate school without a clear motivation in mind (aside from becoming a CEO). If you don't really have any technical interests, you might be interest in analyst positions at consulting firms. 

Based on what limited information you've presented, it seems like you shouldn't go to graduate school. Excelling in graduate school is hard enough without coming into it with no motivation. Get a job. You'll get good experience and learn a lot about yourself in the process. It also pays more. After a couple of years you might have a good sense for where you passion lies and can then choose between the Ph.D, MBA, starting your own business, etc .... The fact that you're so set on a management role without any real industry or management experience suggests to me that school is probably not what you need right now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[capella]

On 5/28/2017 at 1:36 AM, DiscoTech said:

1) Why did you not seek an industry job right after undergrad? You seem to have no real interest in graduate school aside from what you think it can do for your business aspirations. If you want to ascend to a management role, going to industry right away is your best bet.

2) Do you have any technical interests? It sounds like you applied to graduate school without a clear motivation in mind (aside from becoming a CEO). If you don't really have any technical interests, you might be interest in analyst positions at consulting firms. 

First, thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, there are set of constraints. Since I have a Korea citizenship, I need to finish a military service there, so that I am allowed to either get a job ( in Korea) or to stay here longer in States. This is part of reason that I chose to study more in grad school since it will extend the day of joining army. Furthermore I will have an opportunity to work at engineering or defense company instead of going army if I have a Ph.D. degree. 

Secondly, I would like to learn more computational skills as I stay in academia longer. At this point, I don't have much computer background or really know about any computer language. One professor that I talked to does computational research which requires mostly python or C languages, so as I am doing this work I guess it would be pretty beneficial to have a flexibility in my career in the future. 

It typically takes 4 years to get a Ph.D since I will be doing computational research and I have an offered full funding for 5 years. In overall, I thought it was a good option for me. 

Any thoughts on your mind? Please tell me.

 

Thanks!

 

Edited May 28, 2017 by capella

[DiscoTech]

17 hours ago, capella said:

First, thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, there are set of constraints. Since I have a Korea citizenship, I need to finish a military service there, so that I am allowed to either get a job ( in Korea) or to stay here longer in States. This is part of reason that I chose to study more in grad school since it will extend the day of joining army. Furthermore I will have an opportunity to work at engineering or defense company instead of going army if I have a Ph.D. degree. 

Secondly, I would like to learn more computational skills as I stay in academia longer. At this point, I don't have much computer background or really know about any computer language. One professor that I talked to does computational research which requires mostly python or C languages, so as I am doing this work I guess it would be pretty beneficial to have a flexibility in my career in the future. 

It typically takes 4 years to get a Ph.D since I will be doing computational research and I have an offered full funding for 5 years. In overall, I thought it was a good option for me. 

Any thoughts on your mind? Please tell me.

 

Thanks!

 

I can't really offer much meaningful advice. I know little about the military service requirement, its terms, and its benefits/drawbacks. Someone with military service and an engineering degree in the US is generally looked at very favorably for leadership roles and management training.

Learning C and Python seem like poor reasons to get a PhD, but maybe it beats military service in Korea?

[cowgirlsdontcry]

18 hours ago, capella said:

It typically takes 4 years to get a Ph.D since I will be doing computational research and I have an offered full funding for 5 years. In overall, I thought it was a good option for me. 

 

Why do you believe you can obtain a Ph.D. in 4 years without a master's in place? I looked back at your initial post and you only indicate an undergrad degree. Virginia Tech's Engineering Ph.D. requires 90 hours, including dissertation. That would mean it will take 5-7 years to complete a Ph.D. in engineering. It seems you are all over the place with what you want to do. You have to go home at some point and do the required military stuff. With a degree in engineering you should have a choice of positions, although I don't have a clue about the requirements in your country. It's somewhat late to be trying to figure this out as it literally is the precipice for the fall semester. Do you really want to do computational research or is that an idea? Is it the same offer you have in engineering at VA Tech? Are you just trying to buy time to stay out of the military? These are all questions you need to really think about and answer for yourself. No one can do it for you.

[DiscoTech]

48 minutes ago, cowgirlsdontcry said:

Why do you believe you can obtain a Ph.D. in 4 years without a master's in place? I looked back at your initial post and you only indicate an undergrad degree. Virginia Tech's Engineering Ph.D. requires 90 hours, including dissertation. That would mean it will take 5-7 years to complete a Ph.D. in engineering. It seems you are all over the place with what you want to do. You have to go home at some point and do the required military stuff. With a degree in engineering you should have a choice of positions, although I don't have a clue about the requirements in your country. It's somewhat late to be trying to figure this out as it literally is the precipice for the fall semester. Do you really want to do computational research or is that an idea? Is it the same offer you have in engineering at VA Tech? Are you just trying to buy time to stay out of the military? These are all questions you need to really think about and answer for yourself. No one can do it for you.

 

19 hours ago, capella said:

It typically takes 4 years to get a Ph.D since I will be doing computational research and I have an offered full funding for 5 years. In overall, I thought it was a good option for me. 

Any thoughts on your mind? Please tell me.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Completing a PhD in 4 years (w/o an M.S.) is not unusual for someone with a theory-based or computationally intensive research project. OP indicated as much. 

 

[cowgirlsdontcry]

It's a math degree isn't it? Although it is pertinent to engineering, it's not engineering. And you feel you would rather get into this area because? Why change now and not get an advanced engineering degree unless you don't like it? You could spend your life going to school, gathering bits and pieces through fascinating degrees to yourself. If you want to be a perpetual student, then you should admit it and have fun doing it. If you want a career as an engineer, then go for the engineering Ph.D. If you want a career in management, then turn your eyes toward degrees that will create a manager out of the engineer you are. No one can make this decision but you.

[DiscoTech]

31 minutes ago, cowgirlsdontcry said:

It's a math degree isn't it? Although it is pertinent to engineering, it's not engineering. And you feel you would rather get into this area because? Why change now and not get an advanced engineering degree unless you don't like it? You could spend your life going to school, gathering bits and pieces through fascinating degrees to yourself. If you want to be a perpetual student, then you should admit it and have fun doing it. If you want a career as an engineer, then go for the engineering Ph.D. If you want a career in management, then turn your eyes toward degrees that will create a manager out of the engineer you are. No one can make this decision but you.

Was this reply meant for this thread?

 

[capella]

3 hours ago, cowgirlsdontcry said:

It's a math degree isn't it? Although it is pertinent to engineering, it's not engineering. And you feel you would rather get into this area because? Why change now and not get an advanced engineering degree unless you don't like it? You could spend your life going to school, gathering bits and pieces through fascinating degrees to yourself. If you want to be a perpetual student, then you should admit it and have fun doing it. If you want a career as an engineer, then go for the engineering Ph.D. If you want a career in management, then turn your eyes toward degrees that will create a manager out of the engineer you are. No one can make this decision but you.

I got admitted from chemical engnineering so I will be pursuing engineering degree but thanks for the comments! 

[thelionking]

Plenty of people switch fields or areas of specialization from undergrad to grad school (especially in the humanities), so I see nothing wrong with going from engineering to a different program. I have no science background whatsoever so I'm not even going to attempt to explain the connections between computational research and engineering but I'm sure they are there otherwise OP would not have received a highly competitive offer to his program.

Capella, you have quite a decision to make. From the sounds of it, if you get a PhD you can avoid military service when you return home afterwards. Is that correct? If you return home this year, then you will need to complete military service for a certain period of time. How many years of service would you have to do and would you be working in an engineering related area in the military?

If you really don't want to join the military, the PhD might be a good option for you. You will need to weigh the benefits of taking this program (how interested you are in it, how closely it matches your career goals, etc) versus how much you want to avoid joining the military (what kind of job would you get in the military - general infantry training or engineering opportunities? - and how long are you required to be enlisted?)

Another option might be to get an MBA after the PhD, if you aren't tired of school by then, (which is a very real possibility) and if it would be necessary to get an MBA for you to achieve your goals.