The Truth About the Best PhD Programs May Surprise You…

After all, according to the research you’ve been doing, checking college and university websites, looking at online PhDs vs. on campus PhDs, there are a lot of things that go into making the best PhD programs and every educational institution seems to claim they’ve got them all.  Right?

And certainly, there are specific things that matter a lot when choosing a PhD program–like funding, who your advisor will be, additional fellowships, the type of research the department is involved with on the whole, and how successful a program’s alumni have been.  These are all things you most certainly should look into when you are trying to figure out which of the programs you are looking at really rate among the best PhD programs available.

But once you’ve gone through the practical things, what matters is not how slick and glossy the school’s promotional materials are, not the size of their research library, not the sense of status the name of that university on your diploma will convey.  No, the main determining factor in whether or not students think they’ve chosen the best PhD programs ends up being… the students themselves.

Yes, that’s right.  It’s not the department, or where they’ve been published.  It’s you.  Why?

Well, PhD programs–whether they’re ranked among the best PhD programs or not–are primarily independent study exercises.  They also require a great deal of sacrifice and dedication, and academic and personal motivation, and sometimes for little quantifiable ‘reward.’  That means not only are you the one primarily responsible for what your program will entail as far as research and writing, but you are the one responsible for your own ambition, your own motivation.  No one’s going to be dangling a carrot to move you along.  You’re the one who will, in the end, make for the quality of your PhD program.

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