Have you thought about Grad School?

 


  • "The ABD Club": There's a large group of PhD students known as "All But Dissertation" - they've finished all their coursework and exams but never completed their dissertation. Some universities have ABD rates as high as 50%!
  • The World's Shortest PhD Dissertation: In 1974, a math student at MIT wrote a dissertation that was only 2 pages long - and passed! (Though this is extremely rare)
  • The "Five-Year Rule": Many grad students jokingly refer to this - whatever time frame you think your PhD will take, add at least one year. The average PhD actually takes about 5.8 years in the US.
  • "Master's Madness": In some engineering and computer science programs, students can earn more right after their master's degree than PhD graduates, because they enter industry sooner.
  • The "Real World Gap": A fascinating phenomenon where grad students often create their own micro-society within universities, leading to what's called "grad school bubble" - some students go years rarely interacting with non-academics!
  • "Grad School Gray Hair": Studies have shown that grad students report higher stress levels than the general population, with some studies finding stress levels comparable to military training.

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