Customer Reviews

Is a PhD for Me? Life in the Ivory Tower: A Cautionary Guide for Aspiring Doctoral Students

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I was interested in going back to school to pursue a PhD in a business administration specialty such as accounting or finance due to the fact that after 5 years I felt my career was becoming monotonous and I had the grades and GMAT scores to get into a decent PhD program. Before reading this book, I thought it was something I was definitely going to do, in fact I would say I was 90%-95% certain. After reading this book, I'd say I was close to 98% certain I did not want to go back and pursue a PhD. This book explains what exactly a Phd program entails, as well as what can be expected in the world of academic research/teaching post-Phd. As I would be leaving the corporate/private world and was primarily interested in getting a PhD to enter the world of academia the nature of the academic world post PhD was of primary interest to me, as its often little discussed. Based on the information contained in the book, I realized that the academic world would probably be no more fulfilling to me and offer no better lifestyle to me than the private corporate world, and as such it wouldn't be worth the time or effort of obtaining a PhD.

The only shortfall I saw in the book is the author speaks of his experience earning a PhD at the Wharton School, which is one of the top programs in the nation. I was curious to know if the experience of obtaining a PhD is similar at a smaller less prestigious university less focused on research and more on teaching. Similarly, I was also curious to know what the experience of academia is like at a small liberal arts college or non-prestigious teaching university.