Was it worth it?

I was asked recently by a law student I met at my firm's reception if my Ph.D. was worth it. Although it has been some time since my awful experience commonly euphemistically named "graduate school," I would still say I'm not sure it was worth it.

I repeatedly received much unsolicited counsel from colleagues - and even friends - advising me that my life would be a disaster should I choose to leave the program without a Ph.D. But they didn't know what staying in my thesis laboratory was doing to me. If I'd had had to deal with yet one more manipulation from people who were supposed to help nurture my professional development, I would have left whether or not I had any degree to show for it. And I have full confidence in myself that I would have found another path in life.

I acknowledge that my Ph.D., now that I've gotten it, has opened doors. However, the experience euphemistically known as "graduate school" considerably damaged my sense of self.

Also, there are many other things that I could have done with that near decade of my life that would have opened doors. I've no doubt that some of those other doors lead to something better than what I have now. A decade of work experience would have also opened many doors. A J.D. degree straight out of college plus years of work experience would have actually netted me further along the path of working in a law firm than I am now, which is at the bottom of the totem pole somewhere close to paralegals and occasionally lower than the assistants. Several years living and working in a foreign country learning a new culture and a foreign language would have opened MANY doors that my Ph.D. from MIT won't.

I'm not saying, of course, that I'd necessarily choose any of the paths that I've written down as examples, or that those paths don't have their own drawbacks. But I do note that plenty of people who do not have Ph.D.s from MIT lead fulfilling lives, whether professionally, personally, or both. And some of those people have started Ph.D. programs and have left. Many paths in life are possible.

So considering how low my graduate school experiences brought me, I would again say I'm not sure it was worth it. And I still think that all those people who tried to counsel me into thinking that my life was going to end unless I got a Ph.D. from MIT fundamentally do not understand that there are many things in life much more important than a piece of paper.