Why I left grad school March 2, 2007
Posted by Niels in : Graduate school , trackback
I know you left school and getting a PhD, and I’m curious about that. Was studying to get that PhD too strenuous for you or did you decided that electrical engineering isn’t right for you? Why was being social really difficult…was it because you were more of a introvert and/or was it because of all the college work you needed to get done? Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I think it’s great that you made that big step of doing what makes you happy, and I totally dig your new dating coach job!
-Meredith
Thanks Meredith! I talked a lot about my decision to leave grad school in my posts To Be or Not To Be (a Grad Student) and I’m a Grad School Dropout. Grad school was a huge challenge for me, and completing it would have been one of my greatest accomplishments. But it just wasn’t right for me, and as my advisor told me, life’s too short to do a Ph.D. just for the sake of having a Ph.D.
As for my difficulties being social, it’s because I’m an introvert. But that’s a topic for a future post…
Comments»
I left graduate school in Physics before my Ph.D. It was the best move I ever made (personal and career)! If your heart’s not in it, it’s time to do something else.
Good luck!
ur cute
Have you always been an introvert since you were a child? Or did you transform into one as life progressed? Just wondering.
Niels- another question of mine answered! Awesome- thanks, dude!
Do what makes you happy and it seems like you’re really happy with what you’re doing so I know you made the right decision. Is it possible to do the dating coach thing and part time school to finish your ph.d? Seems sort of like a waste when you’re already put so much effort into it. Either way you’ll always be a smart & intelligent guy (who has an awesome smile!).
Meredith, Jenny:
The kind of work required for earning a PhD (at least in engineering) is pretty much antithetical to having a decent social life. Not completely, but for people that aren’t naturally 1. really effen smart AND 2. already extroverted, it’s pretty damn hard.
Part of the reason for this is that highly analytical work requires “getting into your head” in a really big way. And it takes time to get out of your head. Like hours, even if you are social as Niels. Then, it takes time to switch back in. If you are under deadline, doing things like going to movies can be incredibly stressful because you lose all the context of your thoughts.
However, there is an ineffable beauty and elegance to the abstract precision required for engineering analysis. It’s actually quite addictive. Niels got out just in time…
Ta -
- Super Tuesday
Your whole conversation is interesting because it seems to be a common thread in all graduate programs, not just at Berkeley. I just finished my first year in the Neuroscience graduate program at Michigan and I’m pretty sure that I hated more of my year than I enjoyed. The funny thing, is my entire class (9 in total) felt the same way and most of us have already decided that academia is not for us. So what now? Most of us are going to stay in the program to finish, but I’m not sure we really know why. I guess all I’m trying to say is that I admire you for the courage it must have taken to decide that being in graduate school wasn’t right (at least right now).