Why I'm Leaving Graduate School

I have decided to leave graduate school, effective this May, with my Master's degree. This May, I will permanently move from the city where I attend graduate school, back home to New Jersey. Once moved, I will pursue full-time employment in an industry to be named later.

I've told lots of people already, many of whom are and will remain graduate students. They've been generally (and surprisingly) OK with my decision, although they've asked me a lot of questions. Some of these questions I've answered well (I think), others not so well. I am writing this post mainly to organize my thoughts in writing, but also to help answer some of the difficult questions that people have asked me over the past few weeks.

This was a decision that I made in January. I made it happily and of my own volition. A number of factors played into my decision, many of which are worth discussing. I will discuss them here.

Factor #1: Academia, while illustrative, meaningful, and unique in its strengths, is also kind of silly.

I actually really liked (and still do like) being a graduate student in Psychology. I learned so much about my strengths and weaknesses, how to assess other people's strengths and weaknesses, and how to be an effective manager through graduate school. I also learned a lot about theory, experimentation, and statistics. After two years of graduate school, I thought about what I enjoyed learning most. I decided it was the managerial/statistical stuff. I cared far less about theory and experimentation, and I also realized that I'm not enough of an intellectual to create my own theory of something.

Academics consider other, more successful academics to be minor celebrities. There's nothing wrong with this, per se. Compared with non-academics of similar talent, full professors are overworked and vastly underpaid. They deserve to be minor celebrities, but on the other hand, we all have free will (Yes, even graduate students have free will). I deserve to decide that I'd rather have weekends off and be paid more money, thank you very much.

Factor #2: Holding a Ph.D. degree appears to be very useful in some contexts, and less useful in some others.

I've spent a lot of time over the past two years thinking about usefulness. I knew from the outset that I probably wouldn't be happy as an underpaid, overworked professor. What, then, is the usefulness of graduate school? Teaching's never been my thing, and (as mentioned above) theory isn't, either. My interests have shifted to more methodological and practical concerns. At this point, my decision had already, mostly, been made for me.

Factor #3: Mortality matters, and I'd like to make less sacrifices.

Graduate students, because they're mostly young and extremely driven, always forget that their hearts will inevitably give out one day. Not to be a downer, but yeah, that's going to happen to each of us. Given this, I'd prefer to spend my weekends hanging out and working on hobbies (instead of plain working).

Factor #4: Money matters, and I'd like to make more money.

With my master's degree, even in the midst of this horrific recession, I can reasonably expect to make 2.5-3.0 times more money in industry than I do right now. This means I'll soon be able to afford "real" things, like a house and a nice car. These things matter to me, because reality, like prosperity, is hard to come by these days - and should be cherished.

Factor #5: For some people, it really matters whether they solve their own problems or some company's problems. I am not one of those people.

My dad worked in industry my whole life and I think he really liked it, so my attitudes toward industry are skewed in a positive fashion. I've seen firsthand how a good career can be financially and emotionally rewarding at the same time. Industry is not an intentionally-evil system that destroys the lives of people who work in it. It is somewhat cold and, well, "industrial". But on the other hand, some jobs are very interesting. I am only applying for interesting jobs... in an industry to be named later.

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If I learned anything from the 1999 movie "The Matrix", it is that reality is a completely subjective thing. My reality is not your reality, and you may have already thought of 16 different reasons why I am an idiot for leaving graduate school. By the metrics you use to determine success, you may end up completely right -- even when, from my point of view, you end up being very wrong. Only time will tell.

I do not hate Psychology, and I think it is a very useful social science. I do find several of its current major questions inaccessible to the general public, and that is a major issue (for me). I feel like Psychology matters to the extent that it helps regular people live their lives more successfully and with a firmer understanding of this thing we call "reality". Whether that is currently being done is sort of an open question.

The bottom line is, in two months I get to come home (where I've always felt most comfortable) and fall asleep with my girlfriend every night. This is a big deal to me, and as we all navigate our way through life, we should try to focus on maximizing the issues that we consider to be "big deals" for us. That's how I think we wind up happier and healthier.

Stay classy. Oh, and something having to do with gambling.