Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of DS’s friends are either in good jobs in manhattan or DC, make plenty to live off, or they are a year in or about to start med law or grad. Gap years for those that took them were prestigious research/paid positions. They got jobs from on campus recruiting or offers after junior internship. One was alumni network in april after nih position fell through.

Not joking or exaggerating every single grad med and law is an ivy or Stanford or uchicago or Northwestern. Every single one. All but one are doing something different than parents and over half were on need based aid.

That’s what an elite undergrad does, but it is also because these kids are seriously talented.
None were recruited athletes. Coed friend group. All sorts of majors. Met through a casual music band/club/group for fun.

They sound boring and self-centered and unlikely to contribute anything towards making the world a better place.

Anonymous wrote:All of DS’s friends are either in good jobs in manhattan or DC, make plenty to live off, or they are a year in or about to start med law or grad. Gap years for those that took them were prestigious research/paid positions. They got jobs from on campus recruiting or offers after junior internship. One was alumni network in april after nih position fell through.

Not joking or exaggerating every single grad med and law is an ivy or Stanford or uchicago or Northwestern. Every single one. All but one are doing something different than parents and over half were on need based aid.

That’s what an elite undergrad does, but it is also because these kids are seriously talented.
None were recruited athletes. Coed friend group. All sorts of majors. Met through a casual music band/club/group for fun.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of DS’s friends are either in good jobs in manhattan or DC, make plenty to live off, or they are a year in or about to start med law or grad. Gap years for those that took them were prestigious research/paid positions. They got jobs from on campus recruiting or offers after junior internship. One was alumni network in april after nih position fell through.

Not joking or exaggerating every single grad med and law is an ivy or Stanford or uchicago or Northwestern. Every single one. All but one are doing something different than parents and over half were on need based aid.

That’s what an elite undergrad does, but it is also because these kids are seriously talented.
None were recruited athletes. Coed friend group. All sorts of majors. Met through a casual music band/club/group for fun.

Ours graduated from an elite school (some would say the most recognizable elite school) and this is not the case. Some have elite PhD placements but the stipends/qol isn’t exactly enviable. One has a job at a major non profit from dad, another is in Investment Banking (you can guess what dad does), one os working in VC, and my son and two of his CS friends are underemployed living together.

Those who want elite phd are not worried about the stipend, which by the way is 55k at elite phD schools, has very little taxes taken out, and the school covers insurance and tuition and fees. Elite schools often have extra funds for travel/first summer and almost always have affordable efficiency apartments near campus for grad students. If you cannot live off of 55k with free health insurance and minimal tax, you suck at budgeting.
Grads of these elite phD are the most likely group to get tenure at top places, which of course pay more--220-320k range--or launch into industry for similar high dollars. Just because you do not consider these good outcomes does not make it so. People would give a limb to get into that career track, and your kid's big name undergrad likely helped a lot.

55K to live in Boston, Palo Alto, New York, Princeton….thats not good pay. Harvard grad students are on strike right now for poor pay and there’s students making $29k-30k. Also “minimal tax” doesn’t mean much when your take home pay is so small. Most students going into elite phds could find a job making $80-160k out of college. That’s a poor ROI and lifestyle decision for a tenure track position that is nowhere near guaranteed. This may be the worse take I’ve seen on DCUM

+1, DS makes $110k in Boston and 30k would send him in a spiral. Even 50k is pretty awful. One bedroom apartment is around $3,000-3500/month on average. That is your take home pay after tax…

-no phD student makes 30k at Harvard or ANY top school. None. At harvard, those are masters students. They are lucky to be making anything as most masters cost the student about 80k per year for tuition. The base stipend for phD is 50k, many departments, usually stem, offer a little more. DC has a friend starting in a stem field and their 26-27 Harvard contract is higher.
-grad student housing in cambridge is can be 1350 or can be 2000 depending on whether you want a 1, 2 or 3 bedroom(no shared bedrooms), for the packages provided by the cambridge schools.
-The phD take home pay, after tax, with a standard stipend at MIT for '26-27 will be 3800-3950 per month as the gross stipend has gone up to 4600 a month or 55k. This year it is 3600 per month from a gross of 4300. With rent of 1480 there is almost 2500 left over to live on when you have free health insurance. That is so much money for a single person. There are about 10 schools that pay similar to MIT for phD and most offer subsidized housing. Ask me how I know.
-the jobs they want need a phD; they do not see it as a sacrifice and with a top degree they will be hired anywhere they want
-it is much less financially draining than 4 yrs of med loans then wait to see where you match and move across the country yet somehow DCUM is obsessed with their kids being premed. MD, like phD is a long game to a successful career.
-We have a good friend in boston graduated from a flagship in the top 5, is near the end of a 2 year contract for a mid tier consulting group making 85k. The kid will either get promoted or be among the 2/3 that are let go. After 2 more years it funnels again and top 1-2 stars each year get promoted or get funds to help with MBA, others often choose to leave versus stay with flat pay around 100k and no chance to go up. The kid lives exceedingly well in a shared house in boston, his share of rent is 2600, with 85k gross. Yes he lives a lot better than DC for the 5 yrs of PhD, but will likely be out of a job and have to move since there is not much chance he will be one of the select few promoted or off to MBA. This is not MBB consulting or the next tier down, it is lower. They have already said AI is reducing the staff they need, at the first two levels. That track of mid tier consultant is certainly not anywhere near as prestigious as a phd from MIT. Yet DCUM is obsessed with consulting and IB as if those entry jobs are wall street and some magic ticket to making 200k a few years later. They are not. Most end up stuck at 100k or looking for a new job in 2-4 yrs.

Parents need to understand it is not the starting salary that matters it is the trajectory over a lifetime and for many the reduced finances that come with a phd or moreso with an MD are entirely worth it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PhD students spend several years with low stipends as students. The ultimate salary varies a lot by institution and field, but most starting salaries for non-professional school faculty are closer to 80-120k. And it often means moving to wherever there happens to be an opening; there is very little ability to say you want to live in a particular city or even coast for entry-level jobs, and the first tenure track job is now coming after moving around through low-paid postdocs and VAPs (visiting assistant professor) for several years. The uncertainty during all those years is tough, especially if you have a partner with a career as well. And I’m talking about PhDs from top programs in their field. It is not an easy road, and many people give up after spending their 20s getting the PhD. It’s a great life if it works out and you wind up with a tenured position in a desirable location, but students should know what they are getting into.

+1. People here are so obsessed with perceived prestige they will just make things up to shill for anything “elite.”

It is indeed elite to get a phD from a top institution. Certainly better than chasing $ in IB in a job that AI will replace.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of DS’s friends are either in good jobs in manhattan or DC, make plenty to live off, or they are a year in or about to start med law or grad. Gap years for those that took them were prestigious research/paid positions. They got jobs from on campus recruiting or offers after junior internship. One was alumni network in april after nih position fell through.

Not joking or exaggerating every single grad med and law is an ivy or Stanford or uchicago or Northwestern. Every single one. All but one are doing something different than parents and over half were on need based aid.

That’s what an elite undergrad does, but it is also because these kids are seriously talented.
None were recruited athletes. Coed friend group. All sorts of majors. Met through a casual music band/club/group for fun.

Ours graduated from an elite school (some would say the most recognizable elite school) and this is not the case. Some have elite PhD placements but the stipends/qol isn’t exactly enviable. One has a job at a major non profit from dad, another is in Investment Banking (you can guess what dad does), one os working in VC, and my son and two of his CS friends are underemployed living together.

Those who want elite phd are not worried about the stipend, which by the way is 55k at elite phD schools, has very little taxes taken out, and the school covers insurance and tuition and fees. Elite schools often have extra funds for travel/first summer and almost always have affordable efficiency apartments near campus for grad students. If you cannot live off of 55k with free health insurance and minimal tax, you suck at budgeting.
Grads of these elite phD are the most likely group to get tenure at top places, which of course pay more--220-320k range--or launch into industry for similar high dollars. Just because you do not consider these good outcomes does not make it so. People would give a limb to get into that career track, and your kid's big name undergrad likely helped a lot.

55K to live in Boston, Palo Alto, New York, Princeton….thats not good pay. Harvard grad students are on strike right now for poor pay and there’s students making $29k-30k. Also “minimal tax” doesn’t mean much when your take home pay is so small. Most students going into elite phds could find a job making $80-160k out of college. That’s a poor ROI and lifestyle decision for a tenure track position that is nowhere near guaranteed. This may be the worse take I’ve seen on DCUM

+1, DS makes $110k in Boston and 30k would send him in a spiral. Even 50k is pretty awful. One bedroom apartment is around $3,000-3500/month on average. That is your take home pay after tax…

Anonymous wrote:My son is a scientist and his company is paying for him to get is Master's. He lives in a beautiful house that he shares with two other roommates. He loves to travel and is really enjoying his life.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PhD students spend several years with low stipends as students. The ultimate salary varies a lot by institution and field, but most starting salaries for non-professional school faculty are closer to 80-120k. And it often means moving to wherever there happens to be an opening; there is very little ability to say you want to live in a particular city or even coast for entry-level jobs, and the first tenure track job is now coming after moving around through low-paid postdocs and VAPs (visiting assistant professor) for several years. The uncertainty during all those years is tough, especially if you have a partner with a career as well. And I’m talking about PhDs from top programs in their field. It is not an easy road, and many people give up after spending their 20s getting the PhD. It’s a great life if it works out and you wind up with a tenured position in a desirable location, but students should know what they are getting into.

+1. People here are so obsessed with perceived prestige they will just make things up to shill for anything “elite.”

Anonymous wrote:PhD students spend several years with low stipends as students. The ultimate salary varies a lot by institution and field, but most starting salaries for non-professional school faculty are closer to 80-120k. And it often means moving to wherever there happens to be an opening; there is very little ability to say you want to live in a particular city or even coast for entry-level jobs, and the first tenure track job is now coming after moving around through low-paid postdocs and VAPs (visiting assistant professor) for several years. The uncertainty during all those years is tough, especially if you have a partner with a career as well. And I’m talking about PhDs from top programs in their field. It is not an easy road, and many people give up after spending their 20s getting the PhD. It’s a great life if it works out and you wind up with a tenured position in a desirable location, but students should know what they are getting into.