STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

pinky · BCBG

PhD support anyone?

Aurora · Marc Jacobs

Congrats! I have always been nervous about the start of school but then once it starts and I see what will be required of me I usually settle into a routine and it's over before I know it. I've never tried for a PhD but I'm sure you'll do great. Good Luck!!

greendiamond · Marc Jacobs

CONGRATS on having the courage to start your PhD. I have considered it, but don't know if I *really* want to. Best of luck with the program! Keep us posted.

pinky · BCBG

Thanks for the encouraging words. I really appreciate it. I've wanted to get a PhD for a while and recently received a scholarship to begin the program. The scholarship funds are basically use it or lose it, so I had no choice to begin my program now. I probably needed that push to get started anyway, so I'm not complaining.

stardust · Kenneth Cole

Hi- I am in the final stretch of my Ph.D- congrats on starting yours. It is tough and support and asking for help and guidance are crucial. I feel there's a lot I wish I'd known early on and I definitely would have asked for more guidance and also I know there are some great books out there- I am unsure of teh title of the one most Ph.D students I know are reading - something like "how to get your Ph.D" I have to amdit I felts too busy and overwhelmed at first to take the time to read it but I now wish I had. People I've talked to say they learned a lot from books like that- on how to make sure you get the best supervision and how to structure your time etc.

Anyway best of luck and studying education sounds really interesting. Expect to get nowhere at times and be frustrated but it's a long process and that and feelngs of fear are normal- just always keep communicating and making sure you get the direction you need!

Hermes

greendiamond wrote:

CONGRATS on having the courage to start your PhD. I have considered it, but don't know if I *really* want to. Best of luck with the program! Keep us posted.

ditto on all of that. it's a big undertaking. do you have a specific career path in mind when you complete this?

ico · Dooney & Bourke

First, congratulations on your choice.
I got my PhD in 2003, and am still very happy to have done it. It was hard and frustrating and tiring and exhilarating and annoying and everything in between. If I had to go back, I'd change a couple of things (keep in mind I was in the science field, so I had lots of experimental work to do):

I'd meet with my advisor more often, to have at all points a well defined understanding of where my work was going
I'd give up earlier things that were not going to work, instead of insisting on having them work, and wasting lots of time in the process, before giving up anyway
I'd program my days better: I realized late tha I needed at least a whole day off from experimental work per week, to ponder results, read literature, go talk to other profs asking for advice/suggestions.
I'd start writing my thesis earlier! Since I had to write it in english, which is not my first language, it was a real struggle.

I am sure not all of this applies to your case, but it may be of help.
Good luck!

pinky · BCBG

Stardust, thanks for the info. I'll definitely look for the book you mentioned.
Ico, thanks for the tips. I really need to organize my weekly schedule so that I'm doing coursework at specific times each week. I really need the consistency,

D, I'm employed as an assistant professor of nursing. The Phd will allow me to move up to an associate professor position with more pay and increased job security.

relrel · Marc Jacobs

Quick question, Pinky: Why would you get your Ph.D. in education and not in nursing? What is your degree now? I guess I'm just confused as to how the Ph.D. in education would help you move up to be an Associate Professor in Nursing.

pollyjean23 · Marc Jacobs

Is earning a Ph.D. more appropriate for those who want to focus more on research and less on the front-lines of teaching nursing?

My impression is, by the time someone earns their MSN, he or she is probably well-versed in the science of nursing and could benefit from deeper teaching-related education if that is their professional goal.