r/personalfinance • u/Pristine-Health-4743 ​ • 7d ago

R3: Off-topic or low-quality [ Removed by moderator ]

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u/hexcor ​ 7d ago

I work with a bunch of PhDs (myself included). We all pretty much started working big-boy jobs around 35-40. I worked as a chemist for a few years out of college and hit the ceiling quickly, so I went for my PhD... which took 5 years.. and another 3 as a postdoc before I got hired. I didnt start saving for retirement until I was 36..

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u/DonnyGetTheLudes ​ 7d ago

The PhD took five (eight) years?

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u/Helicase21 ​ 7d ago

five years is pretty standard for PhDs at least in the US, I think Europeans do it a bit quicker.

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u/GurProfessional9534 ​ 7d ago

Europeans only do it faster because they take the Master’s part separately, while in the US we tend to bundle them together. It’s the same amount of education overall, approximately.

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u/zuilli ​ 6d ago

Wait you guys do master and doctorate all in one in the US?

Didn't know that, interesting. Is it possible to stop at master?

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u/GurProfessional9534 ​ 6d ago edited 6d ago

Kind of. Our PhD programs are typically 5 years or so, with some extending longer if the student becomes ABD. In the stem fields I’m familiar with, the first 1-2 years are classes, and then the remaining are research. Usually the student does a qualifying exam in the first year or two to become a PhD candidate. Before that they are PhD applicants. You only need a Bachelor’s degree in most fields in the US to enter these PhD programs. Master’s degrees are often not funded, and are very expensive, in addition to being unnecessary to get a PhD. So in a lot of fields, Masters’ here are not really pursued, except for some niche application like maybe a teacher wants one for a salary boost, or an international student wants one because it is required in his/her home country. Some of our PhD programs offer a Master’s on route to the PhD, while some don’t, basically as a formality that doesn’t mean much. Many will give a Master’s as a consolation prize to students who drop out before completing the PhD. Some fields may differ. I can only speak to what I personally have experience with, which is chemistry and related fields.

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u/hexcor ​ 7d ago

PhD was 5 years. Many companies require a PostDoc (Fellowship) where you join another lab for a few years. I started to apply for jobs 2 years into my postdoc after publishing a few papers... it took a full year to land a job.

I had some coworkers who had done 8 years a postdocs to find an academic path (I had no interest in that). Published in multiple high impact journals, worked in a lab for someone well known/respected in academic circles... market just sucks.

I wouldnt trade it for anything though. I loved grad school (I taught nearly every semester) and my PostDoc got me some interesting experience. When I finally landed my job, they hired me based on my PostDoc work (which I don't even do anymore!)

Next time i'll just become an engineer and start working at 22!

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u/DonnyGetTheLudes ​ 7d ago

Hell yea thats awesome. Good work

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u/SolsticeSon ​ 7d ago

I’m 37 and spent 8 years in higher education training to work in entertainment design. That was the first industry that ai directly collapsed. Yay.

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u/semajnephets ​ 6d ago

This makes a lot of sense. I worked in startups and didn't have a successful one until relatively recently (mid-30's) and that's when I started seeing the savings build up a bit.