How old is too old for PhD?

[senmaster]

I just read this whole thread...very good one indeed...

I just turned 25 with couple of years work experience now..and am planning for grad study..If i were to do masters then phd ill be something like 32 myself..

Im not sure about this but I think I did read a post on TM saying that the average age for entry into US PhD was 27!! I found this hard to believe but yet again it may be internationals like me that push up the average..

[Holden_Caulfield]

Hi!
Check this document out
http://www.norc.uchicago.edu/issues/sed-2003.pdf
it has answer to your question from the accurate view of statisitcs :^)

[senmaster]

thanks holden...page 108 of the document says that:

median age doctorate : 33.3
median age econ doctorate: 31.7..

this is good news (i think) for those of us who are worried starting phd when 26, 27, 28...

[asquare]

Based on my own observations, average age seems to vary by dicipline and across schools. I'm in my late 20s, and at the upper tail of the distribution of my first year class at U of Michigan. The average age for American students in my program seems to be about 24-25, with two years of work experience post-BA.

I share the common concerns about starting a family, either while in graduate school or in the chaotic, tenure-chasing years post-graduation. But I don't think there's really any "perfect" age. I don't think that the first few years of a tenure-track job are any easier or more stable than graduate school, so even those who begin their PhDs immediately after undergrad and finish in their late 20s are faced with beginning families during a professionally demanding and unstable period of their lives. Even on a very fast track and in the best of circumstances, one would be unlikely to receive tenure before 35.

This isn't meant to be depressing, but rather to say that starting a PhD in one's late 20s is really not much more difficult than starting a few years earlier, in terms of family issues. And IMO, older students have the advantage of perspective and focus. We may have been out of the classroom for longer and our technical skills may not be as sharp initially, but we have a very good sense of what we want out of graduate school and the experience and self dicipline to pursue those goals Now, had I known I wanted a PhD in economics when I was 22, then of course I would have gone to school immediately -- and have been done by now. darn it! But as that wasn't the case, I'm treating the experiences I've had since I finished my undergraduate degree as advantages.

One thing to keep in mind as an older student is that you have to create social opportunities for yourself. The student lifestyle can be frustrating. There's only so much beer pong you can play after age 25 or so I find that treating school as my "job" makes my life more managable, and gives me a sense of control I'd otherwise lack. Instead of sleeping late and working until all hours of the night, I try to get up and go to school in the morning, and work all day long at the library, in classes, or in group meetings. I do my best to leave "work" at school, rather than take it home in the evenings. That means long hours in the econ building, but a lifestyle that is closer to what I had while working than while an undergraduate. It's been a choice that has worked for me.

[senmaster]

oh just to clarify...the median ages I gave above were for PhD completion..