Dissertation Blues
  • Home
  • Dissertation Blog
  • On the Lighter Side...
  • Contact DBlues
  • Celebrating
Call: (678) 8242-PhD

managing Risks through doctoral journey

10/31/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
       Those of us who pay for their doctoral degree out of pocket, or rely on student loans, know that the initial estimate for the cost of the program is typically between $53 K to $115 K over the normal course of the program. The normal course of the program is 5 years on the average (in the United States) where fee schedule varies by the program and the institution. This initial cost estimate typically includes the cost of books, labs, library facilities, and the cost of the fee for the number of courses required to graduate from the program. Embarking on a doctoral journey is a serious undertaking and requires a major financial commitment. All of us have heard horror stories where this undertaking did not go as expected and ended up costing students their health, home, job, and even their marriage. The good news is that if proper assessment and planning are done prior to embarking upon the program most of the risk associated with the program can be mitigated. I would like to share my thoughts on various risk factors over the next few blogs.

Financial Risk Planning
       The first rule of thumb is to realize that your student loan is a loan, and you do end up paying it back with interest. Over the years I have seen way too many students using their student loan as free money. When planning your doctoral journey, it is a clever idea to plan around the financial flow that could successfully get you out of this debt in a reasonably defined time frame. Be realistic! Even if you are promised a job promotion upon completing your doctorate, know that graduating from your program is not always accompanied with a green windfall.
       Those who choose the path of paying out of pocket as they go, have two key advantages over students who rely solely on student loans. First, paying out of pocket every semester painfully keeps you motivated to get the best bang for your buck. Secondly, your financial planning may allow you to pace yourself realistically through the program as guided by other factors in your personal life.
In cases where academically you are going strong, but are running low on personal finances, a mix of pocket funds and student loans can be an effective plan. In this format, you only rely on student loans just to avoid exhausting your pocket without sacrificing the momentum of your academic progress.     

Picture
       In all cases, the best strategy is to aim for cost containment. Know that just by making a good plan and by sticking to the plan can save you tens of thousands of dollars. The initial estimate of the cost of the degree program does not take into consideration the expenses for editing, formatting, data gathering, and data analysis etc. However, the brunt of extra cost above and beyond the initial estimate comes from repeating courses, and not being able to wrap up the dissertation within the allocated time. These unwanted costs can be contained by taking into consideration the following simple strategies:
  1. Never repeat a course: Don’t waste time finding shortcuts around difficult courses. Immerse yourself in the material, learn, and pass it.  Worst case scenario, if you think the course is too difficult for your current skill set, consider withdrawing within the add and drop period (at no cost), re-register in the course at a near future date and use the extra time that you have gained upfront to learn the material.
  2. Learn the skills needed to graduate: Invest your time to learn the ropes. You have ample time to learn through your coursework before you hit the dissertation phase. Learn how to write, edit, format, and run statistical analyses required for your research. Even if you spend a couple of hundred dollars learning these skills through external courses, it is way cheaper than hiring someone to do the job for you.
  3. Keep external help to a minimal: There is no reason why a doctoral should send her dissertation for formal editing (if required) more than once. Clean up your paper the best that you can and have the content approved by your committee and chair before sending it out for editing. Do not do major changes after you have paid an editor to clean up your paper.
  4. Design your research in a way where you can gather data yourself without paying companies for archival data. Likewise, if you are using survey instruments, you can save hundreds of dollars on license fee on commercial instruments, by reaching out to researchers who designed the survey and ask permission to use their instrument.
  5. A dissertation is nothing more than a process. Break your dissertation process into sizeable chunks, allocate a deadline with each portion, and systematically execute your plan to finish in time.
Hope these tips help you contain the financial cost of your doctoral journey.
Cheers!
Dr. K.

0 Comments

Desired mindset for a doctoral student

10/17/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
   Performance coaches can’t stress enough on importance of the right mindset required to achieve goals.  So, what should be the mindset for a doctoral student?  This is probably the single most important question that is least frequently asked by doctoral students. I think in one sentence the answer to this question can be best provided by the age old Chinese proverb "You can't fill a cup that's already full". Doctoral journey is typically a very humbling experience, and getting humbled is not necessarily a very pleasant experience.  One has to unlearn much before new learning can begin.  In reality, the pain associated with the process is nothing more than the discomfort a student feels in breaking out of existing personal paradigm and making an effort to see things in a new light.  My quite frustrating journey, almost overnight became enjoyable the day I stopped blaming all external elements and started focusing on self development.  The mindset that worked for me can be summarized through the following seven points:
  1. Never second guess your decision to start your doctoral journey
  2. All schools, online or traditional, provide a fair opportunity for a self motivated individual to learn.  The system was not made with you in mind therefore the system cannot be unfair specifically to you
  3. The entire journey is nothing more than a process with some very specific requirements. You are not in the game to change the requirements; you are in it to fulfill them willingly or otherwise
  4. People who have completed their journey have already done what you have not yet achieved. Respect their achievement like you would like others to one day respect yours
  5. There are no short cuts through the journey. Be patient, consistent, and persevere
  6. Be ready to learn new ways of thinking and try to appreciate them with patience. A doctoral degree is a degree of endurance
  7. Expect to grow with the process... emotionally, spiritually, intellectually, and also skill wise. Many students, specially the "good students" find it extremely difficult to let go of their academic behavior from high school and college years that focuses on quickly completing the assignments and maintaining their GPA and approach the doctoral process too mechanically. If the doctoral journey has failed to evolve you as a person, you have missed the essence of the journey somewhere down the path. With all the money, time, and effort invested in the process wouldn't it be wise to walk away with everything the process has to offer?
:)
Hope this helps!
Regards, 
- Dr. K

0 Comments

    Author

    Dr. Khan is a certified life coach specializing in academic success, and personal breakthrough coaching via strategic intervention.

    Archives

    November 2017
    October 2017

    Categories

    All
    Mindset
    Planning
    Skill Set

© 2015 dissertationblues. All rights reserved