QS Grad School Guide Review - Part 1

Previously, I found a guide that talks quite a bit grad school and suggested a few article that seems interesting. I read through them a bit and I am going share some of my views on 3 of those articles in this post.

Article 1 - Graduate Careers (p. 20)
This article touch on four different area of work - media, energy, law and pharmaceutical. It basically describe what are the criteria these jobs are looking for. At the same time, they try to market why PhD is important. I was actually hoping they were doing a comparison of how useful getting PhD in different field would be. For example, if you get a PhD in computer science, how much value does it add to your future worth. This article is rather disappointing.

Article 2 - Choosing a Masters Degree (p. 41)
This article starts off by showing the average income earned by Masters and PhD graduates in a life. People with a Masters degree earn on average US$2.7 million while people with a PhD earn US$3.3 million within their life time. Sounds like a fair number to me. Then, they start by describing the advantages and disadvantages of vocational and classic Masters degree. Vocational Masters degree means that it is a degree tailored so that you have all the skill sets you need for a particular kind of job. It helps to better position yourself in the job market. Overall, this article is rather informative.

Article 3 - Is a PhD really for me? (p. 46)
This is perhaps the best article that describe life of a PhD student and what you can expect from it, which I have read so far. It starts off by emphasizing on not to focus on financial rewards as there is an overflow of PhD's around. Then, it describe life of a PhD as continuous process of receiving review and critique for improvement. Seems to align with what I have seen so far. Then, it emphasize the importance of having funding during your PhD's study period. Make sure you manage your financial situation well. Lastly, the articles describe some of the pros of being a PhD students. I recommend anyone who considers doing a PhD to read this article.

I will be doing more review in my next post. Up to this point, I have a mixed feeling about the whole guide. Personally, I wouldn't completely trust what is written in. But Article 3 is definitely a good read.

Graduate Careers. (on page 20)

Graduate Careers. (on page 20)

Graduate Careers. (on page 20)

Graduate Careers. (on page 20)

Graduate Careers. (on page 20)