Ph.D.'s

Leslie85

Not me! When I finished up my Master's, I decided that my marriage and family life couldn't handle going back for a Ph.D.!
So more power to all of you who can successfully complete a doctorate!

Same here! Finished my Master's in December....and I'm DONE with school! haha!

drkuhl2017

I'm not there yet, but I'm working toward it. Just need to finish up my Bachelor's and then going back for my Masters and Doctorate in Psychology.

ooBombshellBeautyoo

Finishing my Master's in Logisitics and Supply Chain in 6 weeks. Looking into getting a PhD in Business in a couple of years. With the last name Love, who wouldn't want to be called Dr. Love!

Stargirlsmiles88

I start doctorate school in fall of 2013... Au.D though.

solarpower4

Environmental Science and Public Policy joint degree PhD plus an MBA... I LOVED school for quite a while (and still love learning), but then wanted to get out and make some real money! I still love tutoring...

Sweet13_Princess

I just started my Literature and Criticism PhD at Indiana University of Pennsylvania this summer. I'm currently a high school English teacher with an English BA and a MA in Curriculum and Instruction. I want my doctorate because education has always been important to me and it's something I want to achieve for myself. If it leads to future job opportunities, that's just an additional bonus!

Shannon

Sabine_Stroehm

I just started my Literature and Criticism PhD at Indiana University of Pennsylvania this summer. I'm currently a high school English teacher with an English BA and a MA in Curriculum and Instruction. I want my doctorate because education has always been important to me and it's something I want to achieve for myself. If it leads to future job opportunities, that's just an additional bonus!

Shannon

What a great Ph.D!

DrMAvDPhD

Entering my fourth of hopefully five years for a PhD in Chemistry.

RobynC79

I have a BSc in Marine Biology (3 years + 1 year of honours) and a PhD in EEB (Ecology, Evolution, Behaviour) in another 3 years. If you count my 3 yr postdoc (Neuroscience), that's 9 looong years of education...

It turns out there are a lot of us here. Awesome.

foxbat2828

PhD in information systems.
Bachelors, Masters, PhD ... have spent almost all of my adult life at some academic institution.

I'm in the same boat, although I've also done a stint in industry too.

Carfoodel

I am 45 and just completed my BSc in Psychology and about to go into a Research Masters and my Professor is helping me with getting my dissertation published so very exciting - there may be the potential for it to lead onto a PHd - but I am just focusing on one step at a time ( like the weight loss, I guess lol)

nal816

I'm working towards a Ph.D. in English, concentration in Composition & Rhetoric. I just finished my first year of coursework and I'm absolutely loving it! I have a BA in English literature that I finished when I was 28 and I finished my MA in English when I was 30. I began my Ph.D. last year. Took me a while to get going, but once I buckled down to finish my BA, I decided to just keep going as far as I could go. Don't stop til you get enough

stronglikebull

i will FINALLY have my BA in 12 days. it's taken me 7 years since i graduated high school and i'm heading straight back for my MA in the fall. contemplating whether a PhD is going to be worth it/i will have what it takes. i think 9 years in college will be enough for me but one never knows what lies around the bend!

bellesouth18

Congratulations to everyone pursing their PhD's. I just finished my MSN in Nursing education and really want to pursue my PhD in Nursing. I am a 42 year old male, so I am not sure if I am too old to begin the journey or not. Any suggestions?

Do it! Don't wait too long and definitely don't let your age stop you. I didn't get my B.S. until I was 54. It was a challenge, especially dealing with an aging parent (my mother, now 85).

r1ghtpath

if you want to teach nursing at an accredited school it's pretty much requirement. you can start teaching but, you'll only get so many years to not only finish your PhD but also publish....... so, if you know that's what you want to do ( not just clinical instruction but actual classroom teaching) you might as well :-) you might find a school that will hire you and help you pay for it at the same time........

Congratulations to everyone pursing their PhD's. I just finished my MSN in Nursing education and really want to pursue my PhD in Nursing. I am a 42 year old male, so I am not sure if I am too old to begin the journey or not. Any suggestions?

KeriW626

Im jealous of you all. I got as far as my dual B.S high honors. in sociology and psycology. My family asked that I stop school and spend time with them. I also worked full time, got my bs in 3.5 yrs. I would love to return to school and get my phd. in Native American history. No I am not native american, just a very intresting subject. I continue to do research on what ever the wind blows my way.

r1ghtpath

JD here (Juris Doctorate). I'm considering going back for a Masters in Accounting, which would put me at 9 years of college.

Someone earlier said JD is the equivalent of a PhD in law, but that's not quite right; it is a doctoral degree, but it isn't the advanced degree for law. The advanced degree is LLM or "Master of Laws," and requires a specialization. E.g. LLM Tax, LLM Litigation, LLM Intellectual Property, etc.

Clearly, I also mastered in unsolicited assvice. :bigsmile:

Thanks for the clarification! I just assumed that the J.D. students at Starbucks at 3am at the table next to us were in it for the same long haul. LOL

It's still 3 years of torture, then another 12 weeks to X years (however long it takes to pass the bar) of endless emotional and psychological pain. It doesn't go on years and years like a PhD, but it's a lot crammed into a very short period of time.

Not to say that either one is harder than the other, they're just different. Both incredibly mentally and physically challenging, may change who you are as a person, and will change your life when complete.

my ex got his bachelors, then masters, then PhD. boom boom boom, one right after another. he was done before he was 30. it changed him in HUGE ways!!! i fell in love with him during his bachelors, and at the end of his masters beginning of the PhD the changes had begun ( but weren't huge yet). by the time he was done and had defended, he was a totally different person and we were married, moved many states away from our families, and had 1.5 kids.........

his whole family has advanced degrees. 3 PhDs, one masters, and one masters and J.D. i have my bachelors and i never had the desire to go back for more. in my field if you want advanced degrees it's because you want to teach or be administration, i never wanted either of those things. so, they would make fun of me. saying things like " well, you dropped out of school." it wasn't fun.

Rae6503

Bachelor, Master in Geology and PhD in Geophysics. I know, I must be nuts!

I'm getting my master's in geophysics currently.

Ocarina

You guys are all awesome!!
I'm completing my B in Accounting then going on to either a MBA or CPA/Masters in Accounting.

Elizabeth_C34

So much educational awesomeness in this thread!

sophie_wr

PhD in Molecular genetics (done in my homeland, France) and postdoc for 3 years in the best city (San diego CA).
Actually looking for a new one because my lab is running soon of monney (((

PhD in biology is not the best idea for getting a nice stable job (I'm even not talking about salaries !)

ans always looking for MFP friends !

Good luck to you hon! Biology is a tight field now. NSF budget cuts have eliminated a lot of jobs in biology and science in the last 4 years. Keep looking for positions. Have you looked internationally (Europe, Canada, Asia?

Well, united states is international for me, I'm from France.
And I got to say, 3 years after leaving everything (friends, family and hometown) to come here (which I never regret, and I love California (not the famous gloome june)) .... I would like to stay a bit more in San diego.
Ofcourse without a job, I have to leave the US.

But this is crazy, I thought that was no-limit monney for research in the US when I was in Europe...
I'm working in a very big research institute with mostyl NIH unding, and all the labs are like that, firing and getting very low with monney....

But thanks for the support !

My sister-in-law has her PhD in Biology (she's a U.S. citizen and her degree is from a U.S. university) and she has only worked abroad (first in France and now in Canada). She said the work is more interesting outside the U.S. and the money is better.

My PhD is in Economics, and although I frequently travel abroad for work, my employers have always been U.S. based (Wall Street firms -- money is never an issue for them).

Good luck!

Thank you for support !!
it's funny (well kinda) because in France they really encourage us to go abroad (there's very few job home anyway...). but that's true that there are very few americans in the institutes that I know, dont know why.
What do you work on with PhD in economics ?

obum88

Working on that Master's in Nursing Education and getting much needed real world experience in nursing. Hope to get done with my MSN in May 2013.......................then on to a nurse practitioner program(another MSN or maybe an NP/PhD program)................After that try to start a DNP program. There are talks that PhD will be a requirement for advance practice nurses starting 2015 and i am hoping to be done by then and poosibly get grandfathered in.

Cold_Steel

I had two parents who refused to help me in any way with my education. I moved over 20 times before I graduated high school. I tried to go to school but my parents made too much money (they were divorced when I was 4) so I could only apply to scholarships and what not and after moving 20 plus times my grades suffered went through a major bout of depression in high school. I did not get into any schools. I went to community college but also was kicked out of the house, literally the next day after graduating high school. Worked two jobs, tried to go to community college, no car - had to walk 3 miles to school at 5 in the morning. Got enough money to get a car, then that car died. Then I ended up moving down to San Diego then with my now wife, who went to UCSD got a Bachelors in Psychology and is now in nursing school.

I am married to someone who went to college, does that count ?

alli_baba

PhD in Molecular genetics (done in my homeland, France) and postdoc for 3 years in the best city (San diego CA).
Actually looking for a new one because my lab is running soon of monney (((

PhD in biology is not the best idea for getting a nice stable job (I'm even not talking about salaries !)

ans always looking for MFP friends !

Good luck to you hon! Biology is a tight field now. NSF budget cuts have eliminated a lot of jobs in biology and science in the last 4 years. Keep looking for positions. Have you looked internationally (Europe, Canada, Asia?

Well, united states is international for me, I'm from France.
And I got to say, 3 years after leaving everything (friends, family and hometown) to come here (which I never regret, and I love California (not the famous gloome june)) .... I would like to stay a bit more in San diego.
Ofcourse without a job, I have to leave the US.

But this is crazy, I thought that was no-limit monney for research in the US when I was in Europe...
I'm working in a very big research institute with mostyl NIH unding, and all the labs are like that, firing and getting very low with monney....

But thanks for the support !

My sister-in-law has her PhD in Biology (she's a U.S. citizen and her degree is from a U.S. university) and she has only worked abroad (first in France and now in Canada). She said the work is more interesting outside the U.S. and the money is better.

My PhD is in Economics, and although I frequently travel abroad for work, my employers have always been U.S. based (Wall Street firms -- money is never an issue for them).

Good luck!

Thank you for support !!
it's funny (well kinda) because in France they really encourage us to go abroad (there's very few job home anyway...). but that's true that there are very few americans in the institutes that I know, dont know why.
What do you work on with PhD in economics ?

Hmmm. Now that you mention it, I don't recall meeting very many French nationals at my sister-in-law's lab in France. Although, the world of science PhD's is a complete mystery to me (grants, funding, etc., are not something I think about). I provide analysis on specific commodity and currency markets to Wall Street firms and hedge funds.

Anyway, best wishes to you! I hope you get to stay in San Diego (one of my favorite cities!)

cohophysh

first year PhD...and 4 years into the program...this is going to take a loooonnnggg time

KaleidoscopeEyes1056

I kind of want to get a Ph.D in political science. For two reasons: 1. So I can be called "doctor" and 2. So I can make more money and have a better chance at teaching a college level class.

For the university I go to, I have to get my Masters in order to get my teaching license, so I kinda feel like I should just go all the way and do the Ph.D. I'm just not sure how I'll fund it...

Elizabeth_C34

I kind of want to get a Ph.D in political science. For two reasons: 1. So I can be called "doctor" and 2. So I can make more money and have a better chance at teaching a college level class.

For the university I go to, I have to get my Masters in order to get my teaching license, so I kinda feel like I should just go all the way and do the Ph.D. I'm just not sure how I'll fund it...

Funding in the US is VERY tight right now so you may have to do a lot to find funding or do several partial funding sources. Just keep looking and get everything you can get even if it's small. Small fellowships or scholarship programs don't get a lot of applicants like large full-ride fellowships so your odds are better at getting them.

KaleidoscopeEyes1056

I kind of want to get a Ph.D in political science. For two reasons: 1. So I can be called "doctor" and 2. So I can make more money and have a better chance at teaching a college level class.

For the university I go to, I have to get my Masters in order to get my teaching license, so I kinda feel like I should just go all the way and do the Ph.D. I'm just not sure how I'll fund it...

Funding in the US is VERY tight right now so you may have to do a lot to find funding or do several partial funding sources. Just keep looking and get everything you can get even if it's small. Small fellowships or scholarship programs don't get a lot of applicants like large full-ride fellowships so your odds are better at getting them.

Yeah, and I paid my own tuition this entire year, so I guess if I did it once, I could do it again.

KaleidoscopeEyes1056

Environmental Science and Public Policy joint degree PhD plus an MBA... I LOVED school for quite a while (and still love learning), but then wanted to get out and make some real money! I still love tutoring...

I tutored in high school because I needed community service hours for National Honors Society. There were some moments when I really loved it, and others that I wanted to punch the person I was tutoring. I guess I should get used to it if I want to be a teacher, though.

AthenaErr

I got mine - law - in 2002.