Hi everyone. I’m a third-year Ph.D. student doing ML-related research and have no publications so far. I do have a couple of ongoing projects that will lead to first-author papers in the next few months. I’m also at a point where I think mastering out and getting a job might be a better option. But I also worry that I might regret not getting a Ph.D. I love research but I feel the academic environment is not a good fit for me. I just want to hear from people who were in a similar position as me. Did you stick through your PhD or did you master out? How has the life been after that?

I started my PhD straight out of my undergrad so I didn’t get any industry experience. So I’ve been thinking that getting a job with my master’s and spending some time in the industry could be a good option. Then I can return back to grad school if I still have that urge. Or I can simply brave through my current situation and just get a PhD and then work in the industry. Any opinions are welcome!

  • elkinsvented@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I left mine 3 years in, was getting my PhD in CS (ML/statistics focus) at a (the?) top school for it. Lots of factors including depression, RSIs, and dissatisfaction with inevitable job prospects. I loved research and being surrounded by brilliant people, but felt disheartened that my passions outside of school were getting severely deprioritized. I know it’s not strictly true across the board, but from my POV, the successful people in that field eat, sleep and breath their research, and it’s essentially their life’s purpose. I never felt that way, and I didn’t really feel the need to compete with people who obviously were so obsessively passionate about their research.

    The thing that finally allowed me to leave is that I started a company during my PhD that was completely unrelated to CS that became profitable very quickly. It was too much to balance the PhD and the company, so I left to do the company full time. I recognize that’s a hard situation to manufacture, but for what it’s worth, I am so insanely happy with my life and would never even consider going back. I have zero regrets – the only thing I miss is being surrounded by a high concentration of super smart people.