I know i am frustrated....It's been 3 years and i don't know when i'll get done. Maybe another 2-3 Years.
I feel like quiting my PhD and find a job or do something else.

This Biology PhD is just killing me. Now i have realized i chosed the wrong path.

I google some of my friends who finished undergraduate with me and are making pretty good money with just Bachelors or Masters Degree. I am stuck here looking at insects all day in my lab.


Are you frsustrated as well ?

What else can i do?

In terms of financial payoff PHD is not the wisest choice, UNLESS you can invent something and market it. Faculty postions pay ok money and the workload is very light, but again the money is not there and tenured postions are very hard to come by.

The other bad thing is that with a PHD your job options shrink dramatically and your first job will probably be your only job.

Contrary to popular belief PhD's aren't more learned than non-PhD's. Non-PhDs are a lot more versed in emerging technologies and world affairs.

 Guy_tensed, I can understand your frustration. I suggest you to hang on there, your time will come. As you commented that your buddies are making good money after bachelors and masters, ask them once, how much they  were able to save till now. Your opinion on it  might change. And also we will have job after you get your Phd. You might not have gross income as much compared to people in IT field but you will have stable life. If you look at it in one way, most people won't be rich working under somebody. Anybody making $60,000 to $100,000 will not have much difference in take home money after taxes and deduction. More you make more you pay. Personally, I suggest people to have 40 hours a week job that requires less to none travelling, which will give opportunities to explore side businesses and think about other investment to add 2nd form of revenue, which is taxed less than your wages, which is essential to have secure feeling about your finances. And also to have Dr. in your ID gives you good feeling and respect...... 

America is diff then Nepal. Here to be successful u gotta be smart. Smart means u gotta know the flow and "flow with wind". See what the demand is. I finished my Master and started working. I am currently holding Assistant Manager position making 125K without bonus. Have almost everything, GC, new car for both my wife and me, newly build house etc. Most of my collegue are doing Post Doc ($40K/annum) and some still waiting for the job (so haven't finished study yet).
I saw some Nepalese in their 35/40s and still doing phd with kids going middle/high school. I really don't know what to tell them. When they finish study they will be 40/45 and for post docs 45/50s and even after that they don't know they will get job or not.
I know money is not everything but for sure it is something which we needs for our day to day activities.
If someone is doing phd in hot field then he should continue but if someone doing just for sake to keep Dr. then he/should think seriously before wasting time further.

Truly speaking in this job market Degree doesn't count that much. I don't know much about other field but in IT field, whether you have bachelor degree or master degree or PHD or post doc, it simply doesn't matter. It all depends on your talent, If you do good programming and have good communication skill you can easily target for high pay , if not nobody looks your resume or what is your degree. Actually recruiters simply don't care what education level you have or your GPA. They just look for experience and your coding skill. Thats all.

You should pursue PHD only if you really want do some research and you are really passionate about it. If you are doing PHD only thinking that you will get better pay then you can stop day dreaming. Reality is a bachelor degree+2 years of real experience can easily beat you in this competitive job market. There is only 3 Es that counts in today's job market that is "EXPERIENCE EXPERIENCE & EXPERIENCE". That's all.

Moro sathi kata bichhama yesto kura garya....swasni bihe gareko tin barsa ma I took a wrong path bhanna milchha?PHD is your wife...have fun with it. .......







Only meant in a comical way...

 if this helps you, i am in my 7th yr and still nowhere o graduation. but i still love it. 

so i have friends (computer graduate) work in big places and earn over 6 figures. if you have such friends go live with them for a week and you will appreciate your degree. trust me.

one thing i have learnt over the years is that phd is not a degree, its you own ability to make your self better with things. i have seen people who worked just to get a degree and trust me those phd graduate will be get stucked in post doc jobs. 

my suggestion is you realize that you have an opportunity to learn. once you get into postdoc job then there no more learning. you will loads of expectations and if you cannot fulfil the expectations then you are stucked. no papers no way out.

so think about how you can better with science and not worry about how long will it take. 

my story, i came here from nepal. went thru lot of shit as well as best things happened. so i am living with phd.

@ eternalsunshine

Please DO NOT take my comments in an offensive way. I am only trying to give you a contructive suggestion. I don't know how your PhD is going on but you seriously need to work on your english. There are way too many mistakes in your written english which cannot be expected from a Phd candidate at US University.

free h1b wrote
" I finished my Master and started working. I am currently holding Assistant Manager position making 125K without bonus. Have almost everything, GC, new car for both my wife and me, newly build house etc."

Sarai lov lagdo raicha mitra ko position. But, i would still not be happy with that if i were in your position. A vacation home in florida, europe trip for my parents, the list will go on....


BUT, i have seen very talented people happy with an academic position in Math and History, which are, may be the lowest paying departments. This math guy can easily make a 6 figure if he is ready to slightly divert his working field. Being a Physics, Math or even Biology or Chemistry Prof. is already something, something many people have high regards for. On top of that it pays you for a decent enough life.

To the originator of this thread, if you are able to get into at least a 2nd tier reseach or teaching university with a tenure track (of course that will be after your post-doc) you are on a 9 month contract for 60-70 K, which is not bad, especially if you like teaching. Plus, you have enough time for some research as you will be teaching a max of 6 credits per semester). And i have seen Full Professor in biology making 110-125 K in so-so type of university. Well, that will take at least 10-12 years. And, if you have another person to earn (husband or wife) you will have enough savings for your kids' college fund and for annual vacations etc. Stability of job and sense of permanency interms of location is another very good thing if you are family person.

After reading so many comments and suggestions, I decide to jot down some words. First of all, you cant compare yourself with others in any anything. If the comparison gives you an inspiration and motivation to do something, it's okay otherwise dont do that. When you look somebody else's life, you are looking superficially. It dosnot tell you whole a lot about the person and his way of life style. If you whole motive is to make money and if you think that will make you happy, then PhD may not be a good option.  It's your life and your the one who decide what to do next. Even if you dont want to finish up your PhD, your in a far better position. 

One last thing I would like to add is: you may not be making a lot of money in academia but dont forget you are getting paid for 8 months. Especially for immigrants like us, you can take a trip back home every other year if you want to. Also, if you planning to raise your kids, they will go to school for free which is a big savings for you. 

 What do you guys have to say about getting a PhD ( say in Biology) followed by an MBA? WIll that make the transition from academia to industry easier? What could be the pros and cons of doing that?

Sparrow

@Jacksparrow
Phd in Biology is the worst thing you can do in your life and i mean it ! It's a harsh comment but i have seen many people not happy with what they achieved. They have PhD in Biology but its worst.

I would just get Masters degree in some other discipline and get an MBA (dual major).

Like someone else said, in this country you don't have to be really smart: You've to go with the Flow !

One of my friend was doing PhD and after 2-3 years he went thru Masters route and got his Masters Degree and quit the program and now he has a really nice job (after some training-which we all do ) and he's really really happy with the job.
He said he couldn't have go the same job if he had received PHD.

1 out of 10 PhD in Biology maybe considered Extraordinary and become real scientists. Few work in academia after several years of doing postdoc which i don't think is worth it.

phd is phd
see you will be called dr throughout the life, and that cannot be only reason to do phd, u must hv clear vision wht u will be doing after that, if its a professor then it can be rewaarding as u will have 3 months off after few yrs

and to those who are making 125k , i have seen ppl making 13k a month and looking for very cheap store, try to live 5 dollars a day for whole family,their attitude is so so CHEAP, may be their 3rd not 2nd generation will try to live as true american

not to mentioned mitt romney wife also calculate 5 dollars a day for each person for family members, she has 30 plus member in the family and shops in costco, tries to save a lot dspite her husband being multi millionaire.

 I felt like writing comment again. I don't know where people got their idea from that person after PHD does not make good money. I know one dai who had his PHD in physics and was making 75k right after he finished his PHD. So it depends, where you get the job, what position, your luck and your people skill. And also I know one person in IT who make 18 an hour. You won't find a lot of nepalese people making 125k in this country until they are doctors or dentist. Our accounting professor who used to teach me while I was doing my MBA reveal his secret that he was making 120k (he used to drive 20 years old car, he knew how investment works). On top of it, like Kesar commented, you get 3 months off which will give plenty of time to explore other side businesses and investment and go different countries rather than being clock puncher all year round. 

Guy_Tensed, you have all your life to make money. Please complete it whatever you have started since if you have invested all that time already. 

 Thank you all for your comments !

Let me be honest. I am not a very smart guy who can be a well known scientist even if i finish my PhD. Honestly, i wasn't even thinking i would do PhD few years ago. But when i finished my undergraduate, i saw few of my friends going for PhD then i also felt that i'll have to follow them.

But now i realized that it was the wrong choice, especially with PhD in Life Science (Biology, Meat science, food science  or similar subjects). PhD in other fields such as Economics ,Finance is very good but not just Life science (in my opinion).

Most people here say i'll get respect and all that but that's not just what i want. My goal is to make money. I have seen some folks doing PhD and they work as researcher or something and make very less money compared to some other folks in IT or technical field. Money does matter after all.

Academia is not my interest. I do not want to be Professor. The more i indulge in this the more frustrated i become. Working as a post doc is just a joke, you get 45K salary after so many years of hard work. So, we're looking at about  12-15 years of study (5 years bachelor + 5 years phD + 2-3 years for Post Doc) and that's when you get frustrated when you don't have money or anything whereas your'e friends have a nice job, house etc and are able to take care of their family in Nepal.

I think i'll get my Masters Degree and quit the program or may go different route such as getting a degree in Bioinformatics etc.

Thanks.

 This is a sad thing that Most of us study science (Biology or Physics) back home and are inclined towards it even after we come to US. We just think it's so cool to study Science but infact it isn't unless you want to go study Medicine. Options after Bachelors in Life science is that either you work as a lab technician ($15/hr) or go to Medical School or last option is continue doing PhD (thinking one day you'll become scientist and your friends and family will be proud of you )...That aint right !

Sometimes your PhD in life science is not worth more than scooping an Animal Poop, washing test tubes or loading electrophoresis gel all day and you'll get about 50k for doing all that....This is the reality. Will you be happy with that ? Certainly not !

Those bagholders (PhD in biology or life science) will say anything now, they'll say oh how much i love science and all that BS..That's just a BS.

Unless you're extraordinary, your road will be rough with PhD in Biology. Keep in mind, we're only talking about PhD in Biology or life science degrees. There are some fields where PhD is a must and is well rewarded such as PhD in Statistics, Biostatistics...People in this field good money and job is not as hectic as PhD in Biology.

Decision is yours !

@Guy_tensed: I think you're better off terminating your program and going through different route! 
If you want a PhD for the money, or you can't thik of anything better to do, then yes, its a stupid life choice.

Hi, Y'all
I am a happy PhD dropout after a semester :) I think I saved 5-10 years of doing nothing or re-researching somebody's research, staying broke and kissing professor's a$$. But still trying to find a way out of this f**kin'  F1 status.

 Cheers..i am also in same boat, same compartment.

Okay guys,
I have decided to end my program and get Masters Degree and move on.

Thank you.

good luck with your future endeavors.