# Is 40 too old to go for a Ph.D.? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 23, 2011, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-40-too-old-to-go-for-a-ph-d/579435 "2011-04-23T03:51:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-40-too-old-to-go-for-a-ph-d/579435/41 "2011-04-26T19:25:42Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I got my degree early in life, so take what I say with a grain of salt. It was a damn hard thing to do in my 20s, at the “prime” of my life, when I had the energy to pull all nighters, slogging through paper after paper, trying to make sense of the jargon while convincing myself that I wasn’t studying stupid stuff no one cares about. I think that all depends. I was working on my Ph.D. when I was in my mid to late 30s, defending my dissertation at the age of 39. It worked for me because I was sufficiently mature, disciplined, and motivated at that age; that wouldn’t have been true for me in my 20s. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-40-too-old-to-go-for-a-ph-d/579435/42 "2011-04-26T19:44:55Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > I’m not looking at any particular programs yet, just investigating the concept at this point. Oh, cool. I would make this part of your selection criteria should you pursue the idea further. You are in a great place to investigate options! ---
**Author:** ![Tarwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@Tarwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarwater)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-40-too-old-to-go-for-a-ph-d/579435/43 "2011-04-26T20:56:25Z")
A friend of mine is close to finishing up a PhD in Humanities. At one point she cracked under the pressure and tedium. So great was the nervous breakdown that followed that she was shitting blood for awhile. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-40-too-old-to-go-for-a-ph-d/579435/44 "2011-04-26T22:06:58Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I’m thinking about going and getting a PhD myself, and I’m 38. > > I keep reading about how graduate school is so horrible, etc… but I went to graduate school in the business school, and got 2 master’s degrees- a MBA and a MS (IT & Mgmt). I didn’t think it was that bad really. > > I’m thinking about going back for the PhD in either MIS/IT or possibly organizational behavior, both of which are business school disciplines. Just so you know there is a bid difference between a MS and a PhD. The grueling part isn’t the classwork it’s the research. As I said in a previous thread on this, in order to get a PhD you really need to have a passion for the subject such that you can eat, breath and dream about your subject for months on end without getting burned out. If you have this passion than a PhD is a great way to satisfy it if you don’t then you may regret your decision. To the OP, it sounds like you are pretty early in the process. It won’t hurt too much to take those post-baccalaureate courses to see how it suits you. In the meantime consider what it is about a career as a clinical psychologist that appeals to you. You may find that you could bail with a masters degree and still get a position that suits your desires. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-40-too-old-to-go-for-a-ph-d/579435/45 "2011-04-26T22:36:37Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > You may find that you could bail with a masters degree and still get a position that suits your desires. This is looking more and more likely to me. ---
**Author:** ![Beltane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@Beltane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beltane)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-40-too-old-to-go-for-a-ph-d/579435/46 "2011-04-27T23:46:05Z")
I’m a 39 year old undergraduate psychology student- I’m only a junior. I’m debating the MS vs doctorate thing. One concern is that there are not really a lot of schools here in Atlanta that DO masters in psych. Most of them are PhD programs, or beyond commuting range. I’d love to get a Phd, but not sure that the time commitment is realistic. There is always Argosy, but it is SO expensive ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-40-too-old-to-go-for-a-ph-d/579435/47 "2011-04-28T01:52:39Z")
That’s not good to hear, because Atlanta is where I’d be doing this… We’re only in the Boston area until Dan finishes his residency. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-40-too-old-to-go-for-a-ph-d/579435/48 "2011-04-28T02:14:06Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > That’s not good to hear, because Atlanta is where I’d be doing this… We’re only in the Boston area until Dan finishes his residency. Clark-Atlanta as a School of Social Work. That’s where you get a MSW, not from a Psychology Department. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-40-too-old-to-go-for-a-ph-d/579435/49 "2011-04-28T03:22:48Z")
Ah, good news! ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-40-too-old-to-go-for-a-ph-d/579435/50 "2011-04-28T06:43:39Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Here’s [a nice talk](http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf) about PhD programs in computer science. There is a fair amount of CS stuff in there, but a lot of what it says is true about any research degree. Thank you for posting that, that made me feel SO much better that I’m doing the right thing right now, that my handful of Bs don’t matter, and that starting undergraduate research early (and doing an undergraduate honors thesis) is the “right” thing to do if I want to go to a PhD program. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-40-too-old-to-go-for-a-ph-d/579435/51 "2011-04-28T18:23:37Z")
Here’s another question- how important are you undergrad grades, if you’ve been done with undergrad for 15 years, and with your master’s degrees for 7? I had pretty good graduate grades, but my undergrad ones were mediocre. I’d hate to not get accepted because I was an idiot for a couple of semesters when I was 18-23 years old. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-40-too-old-to-go-for-a-ph-d/579435.md?page=2)