PhD programs must be easy for some people, right?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I just got back from having lunch with a guy who was a couple of years ahead of me in the PhD program. Although we were in the same department, his area was completely different from mine. Actually, my department houses three different disciplines under one umbrella term, which causes a bit of friction at times among faculty, but I digress.

This guy, I believe was the uber-PhD student. Always calm and collected. When the rest of us were rushing to the elevator because we lost track of time and we had a class to teach right then, he was always fifteen minutes early for his classes. When the rest of us would wear business casual, it was all suit and tie with him, even on non-teaching days. When the rest of us would come and go at odd hours, he was always there at 8 a.m., and left at 5 on the dot. He also worked out every day at 6:30 a.m., had a wife, taught Sunday school, and chaperoned youth trips. He had several publications as a doctoral student as well. He now works at a nice university overseas; not a major powerhouse, but nice.

I asked this guy today, half-seriously, “How did you keep your sanity when you did your dissertation?” He looked puzzled for a moment, then said, “Well, I never worked past midnight. And I exercised.”

I exercise too, and it causes me to feel many things, but relief from stress is not one of them.

So, despite what everyone says about how PhD programs are stressful for everyone, and that everyone feels hopeless, confused, depressed, and overwhelmed, there are people out there who just breeze through it, right? There have to be. Maybe they’re not too common, but there are people out there who simply cannot understand how soul-crushing this process really is, right?

I got into this program for two reasons: 1). I like to learn new things and 2). I like to teach. A friend of mine (who now has a job) said that the reason he got into this is to have the same flexibility with time that his dad, who was also a professor, had. My friend does not want to be a top researcher, or work 90+ hours a week to get the right number of A+ papers to get tenure. He’s also in a field in business that is in high demand now, apparently. I suppose my third reason for being in this program is the same as his.

Does anyone who didn’t breeze through this have any advice about how to keep it together? I already have a therapist and a psychiatrist, but I see the former only once a week. I just feel so much stress now that I’m in the dissertation phase (which means it’s time to start job hunting) that I can barely move at times.

(I’ve already been told by several people here that I’m thin skinned and just need to stop letting anything bother me. I’ve had several threads where that was the general advice from some. If that’s really the best advice you have, there’s no need to waste your time to tell me again.)

2

Sounds like this friend has a schedule and he sticks too it. That probably helps alot with the stress.

If you are not getting stress relief from a work out, then you are either not working out hard enough or doing something that isn’t challenging enough for you. A Good to Excellent work out should be able to take you out of your brain for 30-45 minutes and allow you to just focus on the work out, leaving you pleasantly fatigued and de-stressed, your brain floating in endorphins. If you are just hopping on a stationary bike and putzing or something, you need to up the sweat output.

/not a PhD.

3

I knew a guy who got his Ph.D. in three years. He parlayed his undergraduate project into a Ph.D. project.

On the other hand, I had a tough time with my advisor, ended up getting a Master’s for my work 9which was an approved Ph.D. thesis project), pulled up stakes, and went elsewhere. That, my friend, is stress. You muddle through. I worked late nights and weekends, but took time out for movies and reading. In the winter I skied, and al year around I cycled. I got my degree in a mere 10 years, from start to finish.

I have a friend who started in the school the same time I did 9her birthday is one day before mine). She’s been working at her Ph.D. now for — I kid you not – 32 years. I expect her to finally get it, soon.

She’s reasonably sane. Especially all things considered.

4

I do not hold a PhD and I am in fact an undergrad, but I honestly think the advice you got from Über PhD Guy is probably the best academic advice that can be given. A lot of the reason that stress can incapacitate people is because people have no break from stress. Something like exercising - or Über PhD Guy’s church involvement - is a good break from stress, because unlike using the computer or reading a book, it requires you to completely focus on what you are currently doing, and doesn’t allow your thoughts to drift toward whatever is stressing you. Maybe exercise or teaching Sunday school aren’t your favorite things. They aren’t mine. I am woefully out of shape and I don’t even go to a church. But you should try to find something that is active and requires concentration, whether it’s LARPing or sailing or designing lighting for volunteer theatre productions. As for the sleeping before midnight, that keeps your mind healthy and well-sharpened - in the best condition for tackling complex projects like writing a dissertation.

Of course, he probably also has on his side the qualities of being creative, disciplined, easy-going, and being a people-person. Not everyone can tap into vast reserves of any of these qualities, but treating ourselves well will at least keep us in prime condition and amplify whatever amounts of those qualities we do have.

However, if anyone else says, “Hey, I was Über PhD Guy because I did X, Y, and Z,” I will certainly listen to them. I plan to get a PhD myself as I want to go into academic research as a field. Also I really hope I don’t sound like I’m talking down to you in this post, because as someone who hopes to get into a Masters and then PhD program someday I in fact look up to you.

5

My experience at Oxford mirrored yours. I think of my friends Alec, Helen, and Tim, who were all studying about the same subject as I was. Tim was like me–we never thought we were going to finish our dissertations, let alone make a career out of it. Helen was doing a lot better, but was constantly unsure of herself and our supervisor was constantly trying to rebuild her confidence (which, believe me, she never tried to do with me or Tim).

Alec, on the other hand…well, I had to check your story again to make sure it wasn’t actually about him. The guy was money and everybody knew it. While Tim showed up in a T-shirt, I showed up in a sweater and collared shirt, and Helen showed up in one of several nearly identical floor-length old dresses, Alec showed up in tailored suits like something out of a magazine. When he talked everyone went silent because they wanted to listen to him. Alec wrote lecture papers that read like my best articles, and his articles read like they were journal-ready. He was never flustered, and like your colleague he never worked late and had a steady home life (I was the only other one married, and my marriage was dead before it hit the floor).

It was never a surprise to anyone that Alec was hired by a top university before he even finished his D.Phil program. Tim and I went out to pasture, and I believe Helen is only now getting back into academia.

THAT SAID. I knew several other people who were as flustered as you seem and are making a darn good go of it in academia. For example…my ex-wife. Who would wake up in the middle of the night worrying that she hadn’t checked a source (and more often than not would go check it). Who couldn’t sit still while she ate because she was thinking about translation issues. Who couldn’t bear to talk to fellow students because “they might know something I don’t.” Who constantly seemed on the verge of a nervous breakdown or two…and had done so before she’d met me.

And yet she has a full-time teaching/research position at Oxford now. I really, really don’t know how she does it…sadly so, because after she and her new husband had two young children, he died unexpectedly. Yes, she is working full-time in academia as a single mom of two. I have no idea how.

6

Find a major professor who is an empire-builder. This professor should be willing to write incredibly manipulative proposals and application letters to get you what you want–mostly fellowships, breaks in classes, and conference participation.

Preferably this professor, and several of his buddies, will be old and lazy and not overly critical of the work you do for them. After all, your professor is an empire builder. He’s there to make himself look good by making you look good.

Don’t take any more coursework than you have to. Take as many guided reading options as you can; I think I was allowed something like 30 hours of the total 90 I needed for my PhD. Guided reading options don’t waste as much of your time in classes, plus you can do something you’re interested in which makes the work faster and easier.

Did I say you need a fellowship? You need a fellowship. You need to not be spending time working a job or teaching (very many) classes.

Okay. Having said that:

  1. I did these things and ended up with a worthless PhD in a stupid field. The megalomaniacal professor got me a good job (temporarily… till the startup folds…), but there is no way any large university would hire me. I could get a professorship at a nice community college if I wanted to, I’m sure.

  2. The professors who will do this for you expect your soul in return, after graduation, and for the rest of your life. When/if you refuse to give it to them, things will get ugly and they will do what they can to ruin you professionally.

  3. Did I make it clear that I don’t actually know much about my field? Somehow I took the classes I was required to take, including lots of classes not under my professor’s sway, and came out knowing precious little. I’m also not interested in the field any more. Kinda sucks. The pay at my current job is nice, though.

  4. I finished my master’s in 1 year with classes carried over from undergraduate work, and my PhD in two more years with lots of hours carried over from my master’s year. I never lost sleep. I never felt stressed out. It was a doddle, basically. Having said that…

  5. I am a naturally efficient person. I’m good at planning and executing things quickly. Paper-writing was always a one-draft thing for me. I learned to read very, very fast… approaching skimming. I spent time figuring out the best way to double-dip classes at all levels of my education, so I could finish requirements in the minimum credit hours (I ended up with two separate bachelors’ degrees with only, I think, twenty hours more than are required to get one). I never spent time on clubs or work-experience stuff. I just kept my head down and plowed through it.

I can’t say I recommend doing it my way, but you were asking if it was easy for me. It was.

7

Except for one or 2 minor issues, my PhD was a cakewalk. Easy peasy.

Not that I didn’t work hard - I did. But i loved my project, so it didn’t feel like work.

I have worked in the real world. I worked graveyard with every other sunday off throughout college. 2AM-9AM, then classes from about 10:30 to 5 every day. Graduate school was a respite compared to that.

I was also politically savvy - that helped.

8

statsman, can I assume that you’re in statistics, based on your handle? The stresses of PhD programs can be quite different, depending on one’s field.

9

Well, at the end of my workouts, I am tired and drenched in sweat. My heartrate monitor has me going at 130-140 for most of the workout. I’m always uncomfortable, and sometimes I’m in pain. I thought I was doing it right.

10

Sattua, one of my problems is reading all the articles. I have found out that I can be an incredibly slow reader. And even after I’ve read something, I often cannot put it down and remember what I just read. When I was a kid, I never had any reading problems and in fact, language arts was always stronger for me than mathematics.

And my professor recently told me, “I don’t care where you go, as long as you get a job somewhere.” I guess that takes some of the pressure off, given that he’s kind of a big deal in the stats world.

11

Yes, I can see how reading statistics articles would require a lot more attention than reading anthropological linguistics articles (which are like stories! about people! charming and primitive ones!)

12

statsman - I stopped after my undergraduate degree, so I can’t give you any advice on PhD programs. But this part of your OP really stood out for me. If you’re feeling this much stress, and concerned that you’re seeing your therapist only once a week, you need to talk to him (or her) about your stress levels, and work on some techniques that you can use during the week to moderate them. There are plenty of ways that you can reduce stress levels – cognitive therapy techniques, meditation, etc., and you should be benefitting from them even when you’re not in a therapy session.

13

I have a PhD in statistics. I had a 12 year gap between undergrad and grad, so my mindset was entirely different from the students who went straight from undergrad to grad. I found the grad program easier than undergrad. Some may be due to my age. A lot may be due to the difference between a top 10 or 15 school as undergrad and large state school in the south as grad.

I spent 4.5 years in my grad program. If I worked harder it might have been as little as 3.5 years. I basically fell ass-backwards into a great topic. I had a guided reading course that had a paper due at the end. My paper for that class was essentially the rough outline of my entire dissertation. I just had to fill in the details and jump through a few hoops after that. Quite lucky on my part.

My adviser for my dissertation is somewhat legendary at his school for finishing his entire graduate program in 2.5 years. Entered with an undergrad degree, left 2.5 years later with a PhD. Last I heard, he is the department head at the school he did his graduate work at.

I’ve heard numerous stories from others who had PhDs or had tried for them. They seemed to fall into a range of difficult topic, bad adviser, or just not cut out for it. Sometimes more than one of those. A lot of people who have PhDs have them because of pure determination.

14

Part of the issue too is that my degree isn’t “just” stats. I’m a little reluctant to give a lot of details because it is quite specialized (I’m the only one doing it right now in my department), and it would be easy to figure out who I am. But suffice it to say that I haven’t gotten here the normal way (i.e., the way most stats graduate students have). I feel as if I’ve kind of fallen through the cracks, and arrived at a place that I don’t deserve to be in. I know that there is the impostor syndrome, but given my case, I often think that it really is true that I shouldn’t be where I am. In fact, at a recent conference, more than one statistician told me, “Wow. I’m surprised you made it this far.”

15

I had a difficult time getting my Ph.D. At least twice my projects led me into dead ends. It could have been three times – I don’t remember any more, it’s all a blur now.

I finally did get the degree, but it took me years longer than most.

16

I actually had a discussion very much along this line earlier today. I am an M.A. working on my thesis whilst simultaneously pondering a PhD (or law school), while employed by the university as a TA mentor (basically, I’m a veteran TA who runs workshops for my department, the School for arts and culture, on everything from grading essays, to running good tutorials, to dealing with difficult students).

As part of my training for the latter, I’ve gotten to talk to a lot of current PhDs in every conceivable field – Humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, computers, electronics, engineering – you name it. What I can say anecdotally is that based on my observation, people who are “good” PhDs are not necessarily those who are the most brilliant (something even my thesis supervisor has opined to me in confidence), but those who a) really really love staying at university, and b) have a near stoic control of their lives with regards to balancing work and leisure.

I know very clever people that have taken 6-8 years to finish a PhD, and less impressive ones that have finished in three. One of the engineering PhDs I talked to today (not to say he’s not brilliant), was one of the most laid back, relaxed people I’ve ever seen. He’s going to finish his PhD this year, in the third year of the program. He attributed this to not having TV or internet at his home; he occasionally watches DVDs with his wife, but if he wants something off the net, he has to physically goto university. As a result thereof, he claims that he books off 4-5 hours a day of pure, undisturbed dissertationese, boasting that he recently wrote 25 pages in a SINGLE DAY.

I can’t even begin to fathom that level of work ethic or drive. Hell, I’m “doing thesis work” now, and what am I doing? I’m posting on the Straight Dope. NFL preseason football is on in the background. I will not get 2.5 pages done today, much less 25.

Now, self deprecation aside, I’ve already done 55 pages, out of an expected 100-125 pages finished project. Most of my colleagues from my cohort haven’t written page one, and are still in the “reading and chapter outline” phase. I worked like a beast over the summer to get to where I am. I sincerely believe what makes one PhD not like the other is the drive. I’m a mediocre example of that.

Please don’t interpret this as me saying the OP is lazy. Far from it. I too have dealt with serious anxiety disorders from the workload, and I don’t think that everyone can handle it. But the people who seem very calm and non-chalant about the whole experience seem to me to be people who are brilliant time managers, with a meticulous work ethic and an ability to plow through really stressful deadline dates. Maybe that’s what the “uber-PhD candidate” is all about!

17

Regarding the Uber student, two thoughts come to mind. First, he is likely very good at managing his time. You probably don’t find him gossiping or wasting his experimental downtime surfing the web. From 9-5, he’s working in some way.

Second, I would wager that he doesn’t put as much value in the degree as others might. It’s not that he doesn’t care, but it isn’t his identity or his whole life. He has family and church. Having demands (not desires, but demands) outside of research can help you put it in perspective because it forces you to leave the ivory tower - both physically and mentally.

My schedule is ridiculous, but it is about evenly split between research/school and my own endeavors. I never forget that the PhD is only a part, frankly a very small part, of who I am. Also, I try to remember that right now is my life. Academia can make you feel like you are forever waiting for your “real life” to start. Don’t fall for that.

Finally, I agree with SpoilerVirgin. You sound beyond simply stressed. Yes, grad school is hard, but grad school alone shouldn’t require weekly+ therapy sessions.

18

As a veteran of two PhD programs, the only time I was stressed was when actually writing my compiler and my dissertation at the same time, and that was only because my wife quit her job so that we could go to a conference in Austria, I got a job, and I wanted to finish quickly.

I had a tougher time with my first advisor then Cal did - he died on me. After a bit of fully funded futzing around I moved to a place where I could work on what I wanted to work on, with an advisor with lots of money. Except for writing, I worked normal hours also (this was pre-Internet) and never lost any sleep. Before doing mine I worked with another student on a third student’s work, which we published to great acclaim. But seeing my dream language get defined and implemented was lots of fun.

19

A friend of mine got a PhD from Princeton in 2 years. Three was expected, but his thesis was essentially based on his undergraduate thesis. I took 3 1/2 years, but it would have gone faster without all that bridge and go. It really helped that I learned everything in lectures and never had to review my rather sketchy notes. I certainly never felt any stress.

20

When I wrote my dissertation… I spent the last semester of classwork cogitating over how best to go about it.

Then, I sat down every day for two weeks, and wrote ten pages. Two weeks later I had 140 pages and was done. That’s a perfectly respectable length, for the area I was working in. Bingo!