Considering going back to School

[Shemeska]

So I got out of grad school (MS Biology) last December, and since then I've been working as a cell biologist with a major biotech company here where I live in NC. However while it's generous, the work is on contract rather than me being directly hired by the company, and here in a month my contract will be up (and the project is getting cut, so I'll be looking for another job).

So this has me thinking now that if I can only get another contract offer rather than fulltime, I may go back to school next fall and go for my PhD. I figure the longer I work, the less likely I am to want to go back into voluntary poverty. As it is, the job pays well, and it'll be painful to give it up and go back to being a student again, but with the exception of a single loan (which is virtually paid off) I don't have any other large financial commitments that require me to work to handle them.

So I'm looking for some advice. I suppose that if I get an offer fulltime, and the pay is good, I might still apply to two of the programs I'm thinking of (PhD in Immunology, or PhD in Cell Biology), but then defer admittance to the program for a year and just build up the work experience and a bit of cash. But if I can only get more contract work before that point, I might as well just go back and get those letters behind my name.

Any thoughts from anyone who might have gone through a similar situation? And while I know I could live on the stipends that came along when I was in grad school for the MS, I'm not sure how or if it's different when going for a PhD.

 

[dragonhead]

Higher Education is always good. i was just thinking the other day to go and get my PhD in Education to work in a college. Better classes and better pay is pulling me towards going back to school myself.

 

[Zander]

Any thoughts from anyone who might have gone through a similar situation? And while I know I could live on the stipends that came along when I was in grad school for the MS, I'm not sure how or if it's different when going for a PhD.

I haven't been through exactly that experience but here's a word from the wise: Education is as worthwhile now as it has ever been. For your own sake, you can't be too educated. However, we in the west live in an increasingly dumb world that overvalues vocational training and ignores the benefits of any other form of education. If you succeed in taking a PhD, you will undoubtedly benefit as a person but depending on your field it may not advance your career or increase your earnings.

Zander, MSc, PhD

 

[bento]

It all depends on your profession and where you want to be.

How much opportunity does someone with an MS have in your field? If the market is good, then I'd say just find another position and work for a few more years before you make the PhD committment. On the other hand, if jobs are always strained for MSs and everyone tells you that a PhD is really preferred, then you'll just have to bite the bullet.

Also, if you have no large committments for your time for the next several years, now might be the best time to go back to school. I'm glad I got my MLS when it was just me and my wife. Now that we have kids there's no way I'd go back to school.

 

[Infiniti2000]

Higher Education is always good. i was just thinking the other day to go and get my PhD in Education to work in a collage.

What kind of pay do you get for being part of a piece of art?

As for whether you should get a PhD, a lot of time it depends on the field and your location. I would not suggest it for a programmer or electrical engineer, for example, unless you're planning on becoming a professor or have a job lined up at a research facility somewhere. A PhD is just not suitable for application work. It's also quite possible to have a company pay for your PhD, if you can find a place willing to hire PhD's.

I2K, MSCS

 

[Fenris]

Hi Shemeska,
I am just finishing up my PhD in Genetics so I suppose I have some small measure of experiance with which to comment on your choices.

Now bear in mind that as a PhD student at the end of the line, I am old, bitter, disillusioned, angry, sleep-deprived, filled with buring bile at academia, exhausted from writing, now sensitized to formamide, have a dosimeter badge that would light to the night sky, phenol burns on my arms, and a general sense of grumpiness with the world. Since I am nearly done people try to cheer me up and say "Well, at least you can see the light at the end of the tunnel". To which I reply, "yes, but it's the oncoming train".

So I MIGHT be a bit biased in my answer.

Honestly, feel free to email me with any specific questions you have and I'll give you the honest (good and bad) answers.

First of all you have to ask what you want to do and where you want to be. If you want to stay in NC, are the companies hiring PhDs (Research Triangle I would assume) Secondly what do you want do do, stay in Corporate research? Check out the hiring ads and see what skills they want and pick a program that will get you those skills. You may still need to do a post-doc, even for industry, so you are talking a good 8 year investment here. (My PhD progam was 'short' I got out in 6.5 years!).

But over all I'd say Immunnology would be a better choice for staying in Industry.

Now, most PhD programs will pay your fees and give a decent stipend, but over-all you're missing out on many many years of money. So trying to increase your earning potential with a PhD is actually counter productive. But it may land you a position you are happier with.

But if you like what you're doing now and get a full-time offer, seriously consier it. Grad school is awesome, and you learn a lot. But it is a long, grueling, grind that nothing I say can possibly prepare you for. I won't say I haven't had fun, because I have. But I have an awesome PI which helps a lot.

For me, would I do it again. No. I would not. That doesn't mean it isn't right for you. But I am married and have two kids (both born while I was in grad school). That has let me have tremendous flexibility to be with my kids, but keeps me away a lot as well.

I have rambled. But feel free to reply tot he post or email me with nore questions.

 

[Pbartender]

First of all you have to ask what you want to do and where you want to be. If you want to stay in NC, are the companies hiring PhDs (Research Triangle I would assume) Secondly what do you want do do, stay in Corporate research? Check out the hiring ads and see what skills they want and pick a program that will get you those skills. You may still need to do a post-doc, even for industry, so you are talking a good 8 year investment here. (My PhD progam was 'short' I got out in 6.5 years!).

Time for the Devil's Advocate's Wet Blanket...

And remember that the job market will change during those six and half years of graduate work... what you start studying now may no longer be in demand in 2012.

I considered going back to school recently, and determined that I was far better off getting a second more technical A.A.S or B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering part-time in my spare time, than aiming for an M.S. or Ph.D related to my Physics B.A.

And don't underestimate the potenial downsides of being over-specialized and over-qualified in today's job market. As one of my old physics professors used to say, "As you progress in your education, you learn more and more about less and less, until eventually... you know everything about nothing."

 

[Fenris]

And remember that the job market will change during those six and half years of graduate work... what you start studying now may no longer be in demand in 2012.

QFT

But in science, in a PhD program, you are usually using and generating the technologies that will be used for years to come. And the basics stay the same, just the machine that does it changes

And while over-specilizarion can be a factor, you can ensure that you get a broad array of training and skills to keep yourself viable. And no one can keep up with it all, but the assumption is that you know the basics and can learn the specifics very quickly when a new technique comes out.

 

[dragonhead]

What kind of pay do you get for being part of a piece of art?

Fixed, thanks :\ I hate typos.

 

[ssampier]

I don't have much advice to give, considering I just have an undergraduate degree.

Best of luck to you. Let us know when we should start calling you DR.