Getting a PhD is not at all like getting an undergraduate (or Master's) degree, and it's not a job. In some research groups it feels like working for your family and in others it feels like being ruled by a cruel dictator - neither characterizes doctoral studies. People succeed and fail in warm climates, and also in cold climates.

Doctoral studies are close to an apprenticeship, but not quite. They are different for different people in different places. For some candidates, the process can be straightforward (a friend of mine finished in two years, and one of my graduate students finished in three), but you cannot rely on this.



Here are the things to keep in mind

You are in for a long haul (likely longer than you are planning for, unless you quit early), and may not finish your degree.

You can earn a lot more money elsewhere, especially with valuable skills.

Your pre-conceived notions for doing research (in general) are probably off by some amount, and insisting on them may lead to a disappointment.

You will need to develop many new skills, including speed-reading and literature search, effective presentation, data processing, programming, lab work, social skills, research intuition, tactics and strategy, and more. Work ethics and getting things done are critical.

Most importantly, completing a PhD can be easier than what you expect in some respects, and harder otherwise. You need to regularly "scan the horizon", but most PhD students don't do this.


To complete your dissertation, you will need to

(a) start by doing what you are told to do and establish basic competence,

(b) understand what has been done before in a particular field,

(c) understand what is desired,

(d) come up with something entirely new - something that no one ever thought about before! Some advisors require that these new ideas actually be better than anything developed before - this is much harder and a major difference between advisors.

If you succeed, your path will probably not be straight. You will need to learn from your mistakes, change course, actively look for opportunities, and even create opportunities (strong PhD dissertations are usually based on new opportunities).

The process of doing research consists of making guesses and following up on them. Many guesses will be wrong. Dealing with this strategically is a major part of being successful - play to your strengths and mask your weaknesses when possible, learn from your mistakes, save partial results, choose your battles wisely. Most importantly, be creative.

Your difficulties can be blamed on other people, justifiably so in many cases. But very rarely this is a useful thing to do. Avoiding problems is a much better strategy. Keep in mind that your advisor has the power to make you fail, but no motivation for that. Your advisor does not have the power to make you succeed (without you contributing a fair share).You need to do your homework even when all your classes are over (first, figure out what the homework is), Did I miss anything? - feel free to comment.


http://www.tellymoore.com/2017/03/things-you-should-know-before-getting.html?m=1

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