[DanielCox]

I'm not an expert as I'm only a second year MPhys but all the guys I know doing one say finding the right research team and supervisor is important.

 

[odigg]

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1) Was there anything special you did or recommend doing to just get in to graduate school (over and above marks)? Eg. volunteering, groups, undergraduate research

It depends a lot on your field, but schools seem to value job experience. Job and life experience is basically what separates undergraduates (who only know theory) from graduate students. Sometimes graduate and undergraduate classes use a similar syllabus/curriculum but the graduate classes are much more lively and with a lot more critical thinking because students can actually translate theory into real life.

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2) What's needed to go from a masters program into a doctoral program?

Unless you have a very specific reason for getting a masters degree, I'd say forget a masters if you plan to get a PhD at some point. Go straight for a PhD. I say this because it's much easier to get funding (TA/RA/GA/AI) and work as a PhD student. Some schools see masters degrees as cash cows. They get a lot of students who pay out of their own pocket for expenses and the schools quite literally gives them nothing (financially) back.

If you do go for the Masters->PhD route (I did) do it at the same school. I was able to transfer all my masters credits into my PhD program. If I had gone to a different school for my PhD I would have had to retake a lot of classes. It's also a lot easier to get into the same school since the teachers writing your recommendations are the ones reviewing your PhD application

If you have weaker undergraduate grades then schools may say you should enroll in the masters program first.

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3) Was it worth it? Would you have gone through all the blood, sweat, and tears again?

My graduate focus was very different from my undergraduate (computer Science, IT) focus. I loved programming and computers as a kid but I grew bored of the work and totally disillusioned with where I would end up. I completely changed tracks and ended up starting a masters degree that was nothing like CS/IT.

Oddly enough, I found my initial masters focus to be a bad fit as well. However, when I was doing my masters one of my instructors noted that perhaps my mind and way of thinking would be better suited for something else and she pointed me to a teacher in another department.

Well, let's just say I found a home in this new department. It was a convoluted path, but I found a place.

At the end of it, yeah, it's worth it since I found a good fit for myself and work I can make a future out of. It's nice to not constantly think "Is this what I'm going to be doing forever? What purpose do I serve in this job?"

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4) Any general advice to someone thinking about pursuing that goal?

It's good to network and get to know professors. But be very careful. Some professors are two faced, mean, and some even have severe mental problems. Some professors are near sociopaths with the way they'll burn up people. Unfortunately some of them are the "shining stars" of their fields.

You'll have an incredible urge to get one of these people on your advisory and/or dissertation committee. You'll want to work with these people.

But there's nothing that will cut your heart like going to your dissertation defense or proposal and having this person tear you to pieces and reject your work. They'll even do it at the last minute in front of other people who are there to evaluate you.

Or, imagine working really hard on a research project and the head leaves out your name because they want only their name on the paper.

Some people are highly unethical.

And yes, it's really important to pick the right dissertation committee members. Some people will never agree with your ideas because they are "objective" and you are not. A lot of times they are just biased and think the world should rotate the way they want. You don't want these people, even if it's Einstein, on your committee.

Finally, pick a research topic that is doable in a sensible amount of time. You have the rest of your life to do research projects. For your dissertation pick something you go do, do it as quickly as possible, and get out of school!

Finally, Think seriously about why you want a PhD. People enroll in graduate schools for a lot of reasons. A PhD is 5 to 7 years you'll never get back and you might have a miserable time of it. The last thing you want is to look back on all those years and wonder why you bothered.

There have been times when I thought of just leaving grad school and getting a decent paying job. But, unless you've got some a really good SOLID reason (e.g. Google offers you a job, you want to become a monk) for leaving a graduate program, just stick with it and finish it!

 

[odigg]

I've got more advice for you...sorry about that.

Remember to look beyond a school's rankings on some charts (many of which are based on very poor methodologies). I say this for two reasons.

1). The interests of professors in that school may not mesh with your own research interests. This can make life very painful for you as you try to find support for your ideas and work.

2). Some departments have a lot of problems. There are departments where professors don't speak much to each other because they fear their ideas will be stolen. There are departments where professors are constantly fighting with each other in quest for power, recognition, ego, and promotion.

Do you want to spend 5-7 years in a department which seems like a warzone? Why spend so much time in such a caustic environment just because it ranks highly?

 

[kiwirugby]

One consideration is the "value" of a Ph.D. to your career, either prospective or the one you are actually in. For me, I could not go any further in the hierarchy of, in my case, UNESCO. To do that a Ph.D. was necessary and I had to stop work, go to graduate school and then hope to goodness I could get back into employment. In my case, the Ph.D. really got me more interviews, opened more doors and has significantly impacted the salary I could ask for.

Now, do i think a Ph.D. necessarily makes you smarter? No, not necessarily. I know some pretty stupid and ignorant people that hold Ph.Ds. Furthermore, I know a large number of people who are really good at their jobs, are smart and have a lot of real experience. However, with the latter, I have also seen individuals who have just hit a ceiling because of the lack of a Ph.D..

If a prospective career with those in higher positions holding Ph.Ds then the value of one is higher.

 

[nealric]

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Harvard Law admits a class of ~500 students a year, and they are ranked #2. My PhD program had 18 students, of which 8 successfully graduated with a PhD (pretty typical). It was a top 10 program. So, let's say that 10 other schools each accept 20 students a year (it is actually less than that).

I don't think that's entirely a fair comparison because the total number of prospective law students greatly exceeds the total number of people looking into a specific type of Phd program.

TO the OPs- two things come to mind:

1. In my mind, Phd's should be a fully-funded or bust type of proposition. No sense in taking on debt when you shouldn't have to.

2. Especially with more niche type grad programs, it is often vitally important that you contact professors you would be working with before and during the application process. Ideally, you would already have an ongoing dialogue with them by the time your application comes through. In the end, you are going to be an apprentice to them. They are usually the final decider in admissions.

 

[diogenes]

You might find the following book to be of use:

Powell's Books - Getting What You Came for: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning an M.A. or a PH.D. by Robert L Peters