Schools Should I Pursue Grad School If I Hate Research?

[Geometrick]

It's tough to give someone reasons to go to grad school. The hours are so long, it'll take anywhere from 5 - 7 years to finish a degree that has extremely competitive job prospects, especially in physics. I've heard that physicists usually do 2 postdocs before they land a tenure track position, if they are fortunate to even land such a position. The grad stipend is enough to live, but not enough to save any significant sum for investment.

I don't think anyone can tell you that going to grad for math or physics is a great career move, unless you really want to be a mathematician or a physicist. I feel like it's such a tough experience and it only makes it exponentially harder when you aren't completely dedicated to the subject. The amount of focus and discipline required is amazing. But being a mathematician or a physicists really involves research.

I think research really is more than half your time being confused and frustrated. The other part are those rare moments when you finally understand your problem, see a new method that might work, something finally clicks (until you realize it's still wrong and you need to try again! AHH!).

Do you have any other things you'd want to pursue? I would say just to land a finance internship, but that'll be really tough in this economy. Maybe grad school is just the lesser of all evils for you and not the best choice, just the least worst?

Let's be honest here, not everyone that goes to grad school is in love with that field or subject. Some people go just to go. My advice (I said it earlier in the thread, but I think it's the best advice) is to take a year off. Don't go into grad school with any doubt. Take a year off, work, SAVE SOME MONEY, and study for the PGRE while keeping in touch with 3 or 4 potential professors who can write you a letter. Actually it can't hurt to ask them to write a letter for you now and just have them save it. Anyway, take a year off and see how you like it.

 

[SonyAlmeida]

If you're still in undergrad how do you know what research really is? From my experience, most undergraduate research experience is limited to a senior thesis project or perhaps a summer position in a lab where most of the real interesting elements of research are rather limited.

But if you don't know that you like research, how can you just sign yourself over to five or six years of it? That's what bothers me.

 

[symbolipoint]

But if you don't know that you like research, how can you just sign yourself over to five or six years of it? That's what bothers me.

That is why many undergraduate programs have a research componant built into them, and why other research opportunities are made available for undergraduate level students.

 

[D H]

Graduate school doesn't necessarily mean getting a PhD. You could go for a masters and get out. Some schools even offer non-thesis tracks. The advantage of a masters versus a bachelors is that in many fields a bachelors degree just doesn't cut it anymore. Another advantage is that nobody is hiring fresh outs right now. Two years from now things may be different.

The advantage of getting a masters degree versus a PhD is that a masters requires a lot less time and effort than does a PhD and gives you more working years during which you can accumulate wealth. One disadvantage is that you won't learn to do research. Another disadvantage of not going the whole nine yards is that a PhD opens a lot of doors and keeps them open for long after you leave school.

There is a general presumption that someone with a PhD is capable of performing a complex (and interesting) task or leading a team; they have to prove themselves incapable of doing so. The presumption is the other way around for someone with only a bachelors or masters degree.

Of course, you have to have the wherewithal to go the whole nine yards. If you only make eight yards you will end up with a nice piece of paper that says Masters of Something.

 

[cosmogirl]

Even if the economy was thriving right now, I'm not sure that OP should have searched for a real job. That would just be disappointing to him. If he doesn't even like undergrad research, there's no way he will like the industry. It's a lot more boring. Of course, you get a lot of money, but that is not always a great comfort.

And of course in won't be an easy task to find a decent job right after your undergrad.