What are the biggest mistakes made by PhD students? Well, there are too many to try to list in a single article, but there are some general themes. And in fact, they align well with the mistakes described in many…

One common question among new and prospective graduate students: “Is identifying a research topic harder than doing the research and then writing papers / your dissertation PhD dissertation?” The answer to this question very often depends on your source of…

One question I hear frequently from folks who are considering grad school: “How do I get research experience for a PhD?” “Well,” I reply, “it depends on what you mean by “research experience”.” Do you mean “How do I get…

For some folks, the biggest concern regarding grad school is money. And it’s a very valid concern: PhDs do cost some money. However, I can confidently say that the AMOUNT of money it takes varies widely depending on the school…

I returned to grad school after working in industry after working in industry a few years, and I ended up defending my dissertation when I was 32 – much older than most of my fellow graduates. If you’re thinking about…