This is the first essay discussing the differences which I found when earning my PhD in Genetics at the University of Georgia compared to my JD in the Evening Program at NCCU.
Let me start with the big picture. Earning a PhD in the life sciences, where and when I did, was much like being sentenced to prison on an indeterminate sentence. What I mean to say is that there is NO "finish" date going into the process; and a lot of variability will occur amongst the time it takes to finish. As an example, I finished in a little over four years, but there were people in the program who had been in it for more than seven. The difference had nothing to do with work ethic or scholarship - it had to do with the project. Each person works with a mentor on his/her project. When the mentor and your committee feel that you have completed enough work to merit the PhD, you move on.
Some schools have time limits, some do not. During the time that I was working on my PhD, the words "free labor" (actually a more politically incorrect phrase was used amongst the graduate students) ran true. At the University of Georgia in the genetics department students DID NOT PAY TUITION - we received a stipend.
The stipend came from one of three sources. The first is payment made directly from your mentor's grant. The second is payment through a scholarly competition such as University Scholar or NIH Trainee. The third was the "ole standby" - a teaching assistantship.
With the excepition of being placed on a grant, each mentor had minimal involvement in the funding of the student. The costs of the student boiled down to the cost of the experiments the student performed in the lab.
Since there is no predicting the outcome of experimentation (that is why it is research), it can be a long and demoralizing process. I have a colleague who earned his PhD in molecular biology at another school and it took him 9 years. Some may say that taking that long is OK; psychians can take that long or longer to graduate. However, the job market and compensation of the two groups are not similar.
So the take home message for this part:
As a PhD Candidate, I had no idea when the education would be finished.
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