

Ask HN: Career Advice. Grad School vs. Industry? - chuie

I am a developer (1 year experience) at a startup that may be coming to the end of its runway at the end of April. I knew this had the potential to happen, so I thought I would send out applications to PhD programs in the domain I work in (Computational Biology) as a way to manage risk (and a bit to prove to myself that I had what it takes to get in). I&#x27;ve been accepted to a top 10 program and I have to now decide if grad school is really a good idea for me. The other developers I work with are really brilliant and successful guys, half of whom have no formal education beyond a sprinkling of undergraduate classes, who think you can scratch that curiosity itch without going to school. As an engineer, their philosophy of just putting rubber to the road instead of worrying about degrees is something I really admire. If my career goals are to work in bioinformatics&#x2F;computational biology startups as a software developer, and possibly start my own if inspiration takes me, would going to grad school be a worthwhile investment?<p>I have been struggling with this decision a lot, so any insight&#x2F;advice at all would be greatly appreciated.
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Blackthorn
I have a PhD in computer engineering. I regret it.

Unless you're really into research on a particularly narrow topic for 3+ years
(and not a topic of your choice, one of your _advisor 's_ choice), you don't
want to do a PhD and should stay away. Take the four extra years of income
instead.

On a slightly different note, every PhD I know, self included, has a story
about how they almost failed out of or otherwise left graduate school if not
for some serendipitous event. I have yet to meet someone who _doesn 't_ have
such a story.

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seanmcdirmid
> On a slightly different note, every PhD I know, self included, has a story
> about how they almost failed out of or otherwise left graduate school if not
> for some serendipitous event. I have yet to meet someone who doesn't have
> such a story.

Ya, neither have I.

The PhD for me was a personal journey that I'm better off personally for
taking. It hasn't made me much richer, however (no one should go to grad
school for the money!). Also, getting a PhD should NEVER be your plan B.

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go1979
I regret the PhD. To be precise, grad school won't just not make you richer,
it will make you poorer.

Forgetting about the money bit (ha!), lets talk pure knowledge. I learned a
lot more on the job than I did in school. In my specific case, I wouldn't have
gotten those jobs without the PhD. However, I firmly believe there are high
learning jobs that can be had without a PhD.

In CS, a PhD gets paid mid 6 figures. That is also what the average mid career
developer gets paid. Go figure.

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dekhn
I went straight to grad school (biophysics, top 10 program) after undergrad.
Although it meant 7 years of being poorly paid, and giving up on many great
opportunities (like working for Yahoo pre-IPO) I think it really did pay off
in the long term. Although I'm a software engineer, my research background has
opened up a ton of extra opportunities (like being an advisor for a Venture
Capital group, carrying out independent research, and generally having a
larger range of job opportunities than otherwise).

The downside is, you won't make a lot of money, and as a grad student, you
will have to keep your PhD advisor happy, and it takes a _ton_ of work to get
things published so that you can graduate. I know a lot of great people who
burned out in the process.

I don't think you can learn advanced bio research by just poking around
curiously. You have to be deeply embedded amongst people doing state of the
art research for years to develop the knowledge and skills to contribute.

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slopnv
Based from your experience as an advisor for a VC group, how will a graduate
degree be helpful in founding a biotech or nanotech firm? Do you think an
undergraduate degree is enough to found say a company like Hewlett-Packard? My
opinion is that, with an undergraduate degree, it seems more possible to start
a software/internet company than in any other high-tech industyr. Thanks!

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dekhn
I think the graduate degree helps because it contains many signals, such as
5-7 years of work on a project, an advisor, and papers. That said I'm more
than happy to fund smart undergraduates, but it's really hard to see signals
that make any one undergraduate stick out from the crowd (doing graduate-level
research and publishing papers as an undergraduate is a good signal).

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hbhakhra
In general I would say skip graduate school for CS. However, for your specific
field, I would say do it. I did undergrad in CS + premed. I started doing some
research in bioinformatics. I ended up getting a normal CS job. What I
realized while looking for a bioinformatics job was that a masters at least
was a requirement.

The thing with this field is that there is so much requisite domain knowledge,
unlike traditional CS which is more skill. I would say if you are committed to
Computational Biology then go get your PhD and it will greatly increase your
chances of success. Again, if you want a normal CS career, skip the PhD, if
you want a career in Computational Biology, get it.

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mathgeek
Do whichever feels right: going for more education will open you up to
different jobs, but going into industry will get you 5+ more years of income
(which includes retirement savings, doing fun things that cost money, etc.).

Don't forget that you also are going to usually wait longer to have a family
if you go to grad school, although not always. That might be a bigger deal
breaker than you might realize right now, so think about it.

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QuercusMax
For undergrads I would highly recommend getting into a combined BS/MS program
if you can. Depending on how many credits you have when you start you may be
able to do it in 4 years (maybe plus a summer).

It was a great experience for me. I got a publication on my resume, a chance
to see what academia is all about, and decided it wasn't for me - then I
graduated with a Master's and went to work in industry.

