The 3 Best PhD Tips I Didn’t Think Of
For the past three years, I’ve had my sights on pursuing a PhD program in Operations Management (OM) and/or Information Systems and the main reason I decided on this was because my professor in business school, Russ Robins, made me fall in love with statistics. From there, I developed a keen fascination with OM and econometrics, which altogether fueled my passion for data science. Overall, I find academic environments suit me way more than corporate ones and as it’s in my family tradition to become a professor, pursuing a career in academia is still my goal, despite being two years out of school.
The thing is, as many of you already know, getting into a PhD program, though difficult, is the least of the hurdles that such a career path will entail. Aside from all the many requirements necessary to gain acceptance, there are several tips I’ve collected from my professors and family that ring true, but might not be obvious to someone who hasn’t yet been through it. I’ll share the top 3 with you in this blog:
Size Matters
This first tip is something that would have never occurred to me if I hadn’t run my top choice program by Russ. He said, upon checking out this program’s faculty page, that the size of the department is very large, having more than 40 professors. I never even thought to think about how the size of a program could affect my PhD experience and he said that if I do end up going to this program, I need to be prepared in advance not to get lost because “learning to do good, relevant research is really a one-on-one experience.”
In addition to perusing through the faculty, Russ suggested that I reach out to recent graduates of the program to specifically ask about how the program’s size weighs on the overall experience. How were they able to find the right professor and master the lay of the land?
Think Like Luke
Where would Luke Skywalker have gotten without Obi-wan to guide him? Probably nowhere and/or burned to ash like his aunt and uncle. In college and even grad school, you expect to have some great relationships with professors and others that don’t make an impact or are even unsavory. It’s very possible to have a few bad classes throughout your program and still love the experience as a whole. In PhD, that is not the case. If you do not click with your mentor who is to guide you through your dissertation, all hope is lost.
My mom and I, being musicians, equate the PhD student-advisor relationship to that between a musician and her teacher. I’ve known many people to turn down acceptances from the highest ranked conservatories to work with a music teacher they gel with at another lesser-name school. It’s this relationship, not the school, that shapes your whole PhD experience so make sure in advance that your dream school’s faculty roster has your Obi-wan.
The View From Outside
Lastly, one of the first tips I got about PhD was from a department head at Tulane while I was pursuing my MBA. She told me that universities do not hire from within their own programs to prevent against “groupthink.” This information was new to me at the time and made me think differently about the whole process. Basically, you can’t just find your dream university, nest and get comfortable. The school you end up teaching at after your program will not be the one you attend, and that often means a lot of moving around.
For me, I already lead a double life commuting between New York and New Orleans. But I wouldn’t necessarily wish this duplicity on everyone. Be prepared to adjust to the lifestyle this career path demands.
Still think PhD is for you? Well so do I. These are just a few of the tips I’ve received over the years of considering this path. I will definitely continue to post advice at your request as you see fit. Please feel free to email any questions to dikayo@dikayodata.com and I will do my best to pool my network and answer them.