I’m thinking about getting back to uni to get my Masters and later a PhD. The thing is, I’m out of academia for more than 20 years, and completely at loss. I don’t quite know where to begin. Any tips?
I’m thinking about getting back to uni to get my Masters and later a PhD. The thing is, I’m out of academia for more than 20 years, and completely at loss. I don’t quite know where to begin. Any tips?
Where are you based? US? If so, which state? Which field? Are you willing to travel far?
There are huge differences in costs (from free to insanely expensive) and quality (not necessarily correlated with costs). But if you want to do a PhD, it could be a good idea to search out a research environment right away and to use the Master’s as an opportunity to familiarize yourself with their work.
Edit: Oh, and be ready to change plans. Maybe it’s not so fun after all, and you redecide on the whole PhD thing. Or maybe you change your topic. That’s fine. Don’t force yourself to write a PhD you’re not interested in.
100% on the not forcing yourself on anything in a PhD. I was ABD and my heart wasn’t in it anymore. The whole thing was a disaster, committee was unreachable, department was no help, and by the time I was done, I hated myself for ever doing it. It was an exercise in completion. Absolutely be open to saying “this isn’t fun anymore.” There is zero problem with just getting a masters — in fact, I think you get the most value out of one because it’s a concentrated experience on what you want to do. There’s a stigma on “mastering out” but that’s crap. Know your limits and stop while you still love what you’re doing. I wish you the best in returning to school!