Pursuing PhD @ 50+

[Anonymous]

Anyone care to share their experience of pursuing a PHD at 50+ Yrs old at one of the DC area universities?

[Anonymous]

If you are wealthy and doing this as a hobby degree and would be fine to drop out if it's not what you thought, then great. I would not go into debt. A large percentage of Ph.D.s take longer than expected if the person gets it at all.Jobs are scarce in academia and benefits are not what they used to be. Not a lot protecting grad students from being overworked and underpaid. I would not take out loans in middle age to do this unless you want to still be paying off debt in your golden years.

[Anonymous]

This.

Do it instead of playing pickleball, but not as a career move.

[Anonymous]

Student loan payments on federal loans are income based, so you needn’t worry so much about the debt. Obviously consider your overall financial burden and whether you’ve got kids to support and for how long. But if it fits your situation, then why not?

This is your one life. There are plenty of worse ways to spend your time and money than pursuing intellectual growth. I’m 52 and I’d go back to school for a PhD in a heartbeat if I could afford to. I lament that I pursued a JD instead of a PhD way back when.

I’m guessing your question might be more about what the dynamic is DC area PhD programs for older students? I haven’t experienced it myself, but I would venture a guess that especially in the DC area there are plenty of midlife folks taking graduate level courses at the various universities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This.

Do it instead of playing pickleball, but not as a career move.

This is excessively harsh.

A person could get a PhD in their 50s and make meaningful contributions to their field in their 60s, no question. That’s not the same as playing pickle ball.

That said, PhDs rarely make much money and often don’t even have a stable job with benefits. But if you’re ok with that, totally go for it. Life is short.

There are opportunities galore for adjunct teaching and independent / consultant type research and writing.

[Anonymous]

It sounds exhausting but if you’ve got the time and energy, go for it!

[Anonymous]

I started my PhD at 22 and would never, ever recommend it to someone. It's brutal. Academia is full of back-stabing, judgemental people that will take any chance to rip you apart. It's not some kind of supportive, fun process.

[Anonymous]

No one enjoys getting their PhD. No one. You will be very much the odd person out trying to do it in your 50s. My DH had a postdoc once where one of his cohort was a late-in-life PhDer. Started after a finance career and a marriage implosion. Nice guy, never got an academic job or published anything. Hard to see the point of so much academic drudgery if it doesn't lead to anything.

[Anonymous]

I was in classes with people who were doing this though they had very specific career goals. Just for enlightenment? No way. A doctorate is job training.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one enjoys getting their PhD. No one. You will be very much the odd person out trying to do it in your 50s. My DH had a postdoc once where one of his cohort was a late-in-life PhDer. Started after a finance career and a marriage implosion. Nice guy, never got an academic job or published anything. Hard to see the point of so much academic drudgery if it doesn't lead to anything.

My kid who is a current PhD candidate has a very difference story to tell. He is exceedingly happy and fulfilled, loves his lab and work.

While it isn't for everyone, one person's experience does not describe all.

[Anonymous]

I think a pHD in some fields like education might be different. You’re not going to get the academia backstabbing in what is essentially a professional degree. Seems like some teachers will do it as a late career move to increase pay before retirement or to move to admin. I have a sibling that got the masters in his 50s for this reason and thought seriously about the PhD but then was promoted to HS principal without it and was too busy to go back.

[Anonymous]

My question is why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I started my PhD at 22 and would never, ever recommend it to someone. It's brutal. Academia is full of back-stabing, judgemental people that will take any chance to rip you apart. It's not some kind of supportive, fun process.

This! I am a Ph.D drop out and never looked back. The person who found the pickleball statement harsh is out to lunch. Nobody is going to give you a chance to make some valuable contribution in middle age. They will gladly make you do the work, claim your ideas as their own and then hang you out to dry. I think people have a very romantic idea of Ph.D. programs. If you are rich and have money to burn then maybe get a few Master's degrees or something, but good luck with the Ph.D.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think a pHD in some fields like education might be different. You’re not going to get the academia backstabbing in what is essentially a professional degree. Seems like some teachers will do it as a late career move to increase pay before retirement or to move to admin. I have a sibling that got the masters in his 50s for this reason and thought seriously about the PhD but then was promoted to HS principal without it and was too busy to go back.

That's an Ed.D not a Ph.D

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one enjoys getting their PhD. No one. You will be very much the odd person out trying to do it in your 50s. My DH had a postdoc once where one of his cohort was a late-in-life PhDer. Started after a finance career and a marriage implosion. Nice guy, never got an academic job or published anything. Hard to see the point of so much academic drudgery if it doesn't lead to anything.

My kid who is a current PhD candidate has a very difference story to tell. He is exceedingly happy and fulfilled, loves his lab and work.

While it isn't for everyone, one person's experience does not describe all.

He is fortunate. Give it time. Things could change in his program. Wait until he gets his first academic job. He may just luck out throughout, but I would be careful advising a middle age person to this route until your son has gotten his Ph.D and been in the field for a while.