What are the pros and cons of doing a PhD?

Pros: In most fields, it is the only way towards an Academic career You learn how to do research and finish a problem from start to finish You learn how to write - a valuable skill no matter what you do later on You get to dive deeper in a specific field You get to study deeper a variety of topics (same as an M.S.) In some countries (say, Germany), the title of Dr. actually is rather prestigious Even if you don't pursue an academic career, if you like research, a Ph.D. may help land a researcher job, which I consider the most fun jobs to have (but I am biased of course) Cons: It takes a lot of time to finish; by the time you finish, your colleagues may advance faster You don't have a life for 3+ years Not many jobs require/need a Ph.D., so you may be considered overqualified, especially later in your career

I'm a big fan of figuring out what you really want to do with your life, and then doing it. If you're asking this question, you probably aren't sure you know what you want to do, and you're probably better off minimizing your cost (in time and money) until you know for sure what you want to do. Spend as little time and money as possible on investments you're unsure about (college is probably fine, but consider a school flexible enough to adjust with you), and then figure out what you want to do next, hopefully while doing interesting work or taking advantage of the flexibility you have from spending less money on education. While you might end up going back to school, you'll probably do better knowing it's what you really want. I worked for 9 years before returning for a PhD, which sometimes feels like a huge waste, and I sometimes wish I had pursued this path 9 years ago. Except I had no idea I wanted to do this at that time. Over those years I had valuable experiences, met amazing people, learned a lot, paid off my student loans, and figured out what I wanted to do with my life, and now I'm doing it.

Before I answer the question, i would like to say a few words about people joining PhD programmes. From what I have seen, there are primarily two types of people who opt for a PhD. Those who think that a Bachelor's degree in their field, is not enough to get a good job, and go for a PhD immediately after graduation... and those who get a job after finishing Bachelor's, work there for a few years, realize that they hate it, and then think that a Bachelor's degree in their field is not enough to get a good job, and go for a PhD. I belong to the latter. As always, exceptions do occur. I have a 50 year old classmate, who has joined the program just for the love of it. Now, the above observation of mine, begs the question - Why PhD? Why not Master's? After all, that seems the logical progression. My answer to that, will be "YES". If i had a chance, i would have opted for a Masters in a better university, before committing to PhD. But, its quite hard to get an assistantship while doing Master's, so there's is your trade-off. Therefore, before answering your question, i will give you the following piece of unsolicited advice - If you have resources (Money, mostly), go for a Master's. That will buy you some time, and generally speaking, get you into a better university, than what you would have got, had you opted for a PhD with assistantship. Now the actual answer - PROS - If there is an organization, that thinks PhD candidates are overqualified for their job, working there is not worth it. With those excluded from the scene, every company that hires Master's students, also hires PhD students, but not vice-versa. There are jobs which will need you to have a PhD. Examples of such, include, but are not limited to, Awesome Research Labs and Academics. If you love your subject, PhD is actually where you learn something. Honestly, the B.Tech course i took, was outdated. So that's another good reason for joining PhD. But the best thing about PhD, has to be the fact that you will have time.. time to do what you always wanted to. And time is important to some. Its good to have a life where you can start your car at 2 o'clock at night on a Wednesday, and go to iHop for a cup of coffee and an omelette (and bacon), because you don’t have to go to office the next day, wearing a poker-face. You can do research as you see fit, when you see fit (i mean any time of the day). CONS - Its highly probable that your classmates, who started working straightaway after finishing bachelor's, are very rich, and you are a poor, toiling student. And you might never catch up with them, in terms of money. If you have worked before opting for a PhD, the above fact wont affect you. You would have known better by now. Also, its possible that would wont get married! On a serious note, PhD can be frustrating at times. But if you persevere, you will be rewarded. Light at the end of a tunnel, and that kind of stuff. So, to sum up my uselessly long answer, PhD, for me is a way to buy some time. Normally, you get used to your job, then you are married, and have kids, you are royally screwed. i consider it to be the beginning of the end, really. Going for PhD is a way to set-back, for a few years at least, the inevitable truth. Wow!.. that was deep!