[yanokwa]

I have a Ph.D. in CS from the University of Washington. I'm glad I did it, but it's not for most people.

Academic research is like a marathon and the Ph.D. is like a marathon training program. If you don't want to run a marathon, you probably don't need a marathon training program. Yes, a marathon training program is an interesting and rewarding way to improve your running, but it's very likely you can find equally interesting and rewarding ways to improve your running that don't have the grind of a marathon training program.

I'd strongly recommend you read The Ph.D Grind at http://pgbovine.net/PhD-memoir.htm before you consider starting a Ph.D program. It's a good summary of what a Ph.D. experience at a top CS university in the US is like.

[blacksoil]

4 years ago I cold emailed and phoned you to ask for advice regarding PhD program. I followed your advice and ended up not pursuing a PhD. And yeah, I think you're totally right :) so yeah, thanks again for answering my cold-email and willing to have a phone call with me 4 years ago!

[yanokwa]

And I'm still answering cold emails to this day! Glad I could help and hope you get a chance to pay it forward.

[jroesch]

I almost have a PhD from UW and concur. One failure mode I’ve observed in people getting a PhD is not fully understanding what it entails before starting. Later they undergo a painful period of rectifying reality and their idealized version of what it means to be a PhD student. Often realizing it wasn’t for them, and they would be happier elsewhere. I think for many people it’s important to overcome the sunk cost fallacy and leave.

Like many things in life a PhD is what you make of it, and I know many people who have had a miserable time, and those who’ve had an awesome time and everything in between. My PhD has been exceptionally tough, and not for the reasons Philip talks about, I have an awesome advisor, great lab, focus, lots of papers and it’s still just a challenging process. To me the PhD is much like ultra-marathon training, I’ve had the opportunity to do amazing things that I would have never got to do at a company for 5 or 6 years and wrote cool papers and built high impact systems. Though I’ve had to do all those things while making almost no money, and working with exceptionally limited resources.

[adrien-treuille]

I have a PhD in CS from the University of Washington too.. and all I can say is that yanokwa is an awesome person. :)

[yanokwa]

Kind of you to say. You aren't so bad yourself!

[not_the_nsa]

For context, this dude went on to create software that is used for electronic data capture all over the world, and build one of the most inclusive, diverse, and friendly communities around it I've had the pleasure of participating in. The drive behind his PhD, and what came out of it, made my life and that of many researchers and volunteers in our neck of the woods easier.

This webcast sheds some light on his motivation and perspective: https://www.geekwire.com/2013/geekwire-podcast-windows-8-ash...

[huangyz0918]

I am very interested in what you replied to the email 4 years ago.