Lifestyle of a PhD/PsyD student?

[hs2013]

What is the typical day like?
What are the differences between different years/parts of the doctorate program?
Would you consider it to be like a 9-5 job or requiring more work than that?
How difficult is it to keep time for wife/kids and also excel in your program?

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[deleted343839]

I refer you to this thread:

PhD/PsyD - Time for a social life?

There have also been a few others on the topic.

The short answer is that this can vary by program, but if you work hard and treat it like a 9-to-5 job you will probably be fine most of the time. There will be periods of high stress/high demand when you may need to work through a weekend or into the late evening, but this is not the majority of the time. Again, this is assuming that you stay focused and work hard during “business hours.” Time management skills are essential especially as you progress in your program and have (usually) less structure imposed on you. You will be transitioning from one activity to another (research, lab meetings, taking classes, teaching classes, seeing patients, etc.) from day to day or within the same day, and your unstructured time will be very easy to piss away.

I was productive in grad school but I didn’t live in my lab. I was often the first to show up in the morning because I knew I could be productive then. The point is not to be an early bird but to know yourself. The majority of folks I saw who were working away late into the evenings and weekends week after week were either (1) battling some pervasive problems with work habits and/or ADHD spectrum symptoms, or (2) staying “busy” in a sort of performative way.

 

[bcliff]

The first two years were relatively mild, then escalated dramatically in years 3 and 4 and started to return to baseline in year 5. I attribute some of this to idiosyncrasies of my program and my own training experiences, including a shift from a predominantly clinical- focus towards a more research-oriented one at the end of year 2. I also pushed myself to take advantage of opportunities for additional funding, which worked for me (and opened a lot of doors) but isn't for everyone. From year 3 onward, I earned more as a PhD student than I did working full time before graduate school. This coupled with full funding (e.g., tuition waiver, etc.) allowed me to get through graduate school financially solvent (e.g., with savings, 401k/IRA, minimal debt).

In hindsight, I had a ton of free time in years 1 and 2 that I wish I had made better use of, but this seems par for the course of most grad students I know -- It's hard to make use of time, when you're still acquiring basic clinical, statistical, and methodological skills. I worked most nights and weekends during years 3 and 4, probably averaging between 70-80 hours/week. In year 5, I was able to get most things done during the week plus one additional writing day each weekend, likely averaging between 50-60 hours/week. If I had been willing to earn less money during graduate school, then I probably could have reduced my workload by about 20-30 hours/week from year 3 onward, but I was able to manage all of my responsibilities and found these paid opportunities to be hugely helpful in terms of professional development and networking, so the sacrifice was well worth it for me.

This arrangement worked for me but isn't for everyone.

 

[ClinicalABA]

What is the typical day like?
What are the differences between different years/parts of the doctorate program?
Would you consider it to be like a 9-5 job or requiring more work than that?
How difficult is it to keep time for wife/kids and also excel in your program?

I'd echo what MamaPhD says. It's easily manageable with good work habits, though it can suck at times. I found it to be less consistently 9-5, but more like one day 8am-10pm, the next 10am-7pm, then maybe a day where I cashed it it an 3pm and did something fun, before hitting the books again at 8pm. Much more academically intensive during the first few years, with a lot of the stats and research related coursework, as well as the non-clinical course requirements. Course responsibilities lessen as you progress, taken over by clinical and research activities (e.g., internal clinical and research teams; outside practicum; thesis and dissertation).

I went to grad school in the area where I was already living, and did not have to move. I was able to satisfactorily maintain existing social contacts and life, as well as finding time for new social contacts from school. Got married at the end of my first year, and sustained the relationship through grad school (still going strong today). 2 other students in my cohort came in with existing relationships which didn't last until the end of grad school, but this was more related to things like long-distances between, age, etc, than to the amount of work required. I think it would be harder with children, as they tend to be less understanding of reasons for missing things. Nobody in any years of my program had children during the time I was there, but I think this is somewhat related to overall trends in having children later in life vs avoiding it during grad school. I seem to recall posts on here from people who had children during grad school, and it certainly can be done. I used grad school as a convenient excuse not to have children. My daughter was born 10 months after I got my Ph.D., so I obviously ran out of goo excuses pretty quickly once I graduated!

 

[foreverbull]

Many folks end up pulling anywhere from 35-60 hours/week or occasionally above at hectic times. First year is usually less intensive, then it progresses upward from there, generally, especially once practicum starts. Several factors will influence average hours worked in a week, such as number of courses (factor in class time plus homework), exams, due dates, research related deadlines, whether you end up teaching a course, etc.

I still had time for a social life, though. I also found that managing hectic and constantly changing schedules grew easier with time because I learned hiw to balance work-life better. Then first year is largely an adjustment period.

An average day might be practicum or assistantship 8-5, evening class, next day morning classes then assistantship in the afternoon (evening free), etc. I found that there were a few evenings I either had classes or worked late and then a few evenings free for homework, etc. Weekends I usually worked one of the days and had a free day, although there were some times I just didn’t work at all on the weekend, particularly during those lovely semester breaks.

Things are broken up day by day so as to switch between classes, practicum, and assistantships/research, sometimes doing two of the three in one day. It worked pretty well for me because I like using different skill sets and having different roles, some less demanding than others to balance out the roles that required more energy/intense focus.

Edit: Those with families in my program sometimes took and extra year or more to finish so as to have more family time during the program. It’s a trade-off, though, to pay more and finish later than your cohort. It is a difficult sacrifice if there are little ones in the picture. Graduate programs in general aren’t set up to support families very well, unfortunately, due to the time sacrifice and financial sacrifice.

 

[StellaB]

I already had a career before grad school, and found that the first two years felt like less than full-time work, but the third and fourth year were significantly more (65-80 hours was not unusual). Like others have said, I wish I would have known what to be working more on in my first two years to smooth things out later on (developing a clear research focus ASAP would have helped me, as I had an advisor who did not want me to just do his work for him). I also worked at an externship for several years so that I could specialize without sacrificing generalist training, and I am extremely glad that I did so, because 1) it paid, 2) I was able to network and make a lot of important connections, and 3) I had a ton of hours when I applied for internship. Was married at the start, still happily married, but no kids. One person in my cohort had kids during school, and took one extra year. Some people with no kids took two extra years... it varies. A lot comes down to your own work style and whatever lab you're in - they can vary in how structured they are, so if you're not as much of a self-starter, you might end up having some painful weeks playing catch-up here and there. Overall not too difficult to maintain a social life - I made a lot of friends inside and outside of the program during my years there.

 

[Justanothergrad]

What is the typical day like?
What are the differences between different years/parts of the doctorate program?
Would you consider it to be like a 9-5 job or requiring more work than that?
How difficult is it to keep time for wife/kids and also excel in your program?

1. It depends on your classes, research activity, practicum expectations, and work (RA/TA) duties. There is no simple answer. Days will vary drastically.
2. See above.
3. More, although you have more flexibility. Many often note that transitioning to a 9-5 is tiring or difficult because of the decreased flexibility in scheduling all sorts of life things (fun like trips, and required like doctors appointments).
4. Many who enter programs have significant others. By the time graduation occurs, most are partnered/married and many have kids. It is unlikely to be 'easy' (although, what part of a relationship is) but it is not only clearly do-able but also a standard part of the experience because it's the life stage people are at. This is really a 'you' factor with respect to how you balance duties and set boundaries.

 

[Indiana_Jane]

What is the typical day like?
What are the differences between different years/parts of the doctorate program?
Would you consider it to be like a 9-5 job or requiring more work than that?
How difficult is it to keep time for wife/kids and also excel in your program?

1. Like others have said, this varies by year. I am in my 3rd year at a fully-funded PhD program. My first two years were course heavy, although I specifically tried to take as many classes during my first two years to reduce course-load as clinical work ramped up. Very difficult to describe a typical day - some days are all clinical work, others are a mix of clinical/research. I try to keep 8-5 hours, but often work a few hours on the weekend as well (if my toddler naps/things go according to plan - see #4).

2. First two years - course-heavy, felt like it took more time to complete research-related tasks (learning curve). Third year - a ton of clinical work (mix of individual therapy, group therapy, and assessment cases). YMMV though - I am choosing an assessment-heavy path and therefore have less time during my week because I choose to do more assessments.

3. I agree with @Justanothergrad. I worked FT before - I feel like I have more flexibility but more work now (because research can easily creep into "after work" hours).

4. I had a baby in my first year. I am on-time with milestones, have solid research productivity, and I am ahead in terms of clinical hours; however, I am always tired. I love it - but it is hard! I have an incredibly supportive/involved partner and family close by. I am very committed to setting boundaries with respect to time/scheduling, and I try to choose projects/commitments carefully.

 

[Pragma]

One thing to say is that you can probably work about as many hours as you would like. Depending on your goals, and timeframe, working longer hours may make more sense.

I was interested in graduating within 5 years. I generally pulled 50-80 hour weeks working to be highly productive in my lab and generate a lot of publications, on top of balancing everything else. It paid off for me and I got good post-graduation job opportunities and was able to slide into a comfortable lifestyle pretty quickly.

I also had no children or major health problems, so this was doable for me. People with kids and other responsibilities or time demands usually have to balance themselves more and pace themselves, or build in a lot of efficiencies.

 

[singasongofjoy]

tl;dr; Highly variable depending on program and adviser; ask current and past students to get better idea. Also know yourself well and maximize your productivity accordingly.

Very much echo what @MamaPhD said about transitioning from place to place/activity and easy to squander a lot of time that way so you need to be prepared to somehow make the most of all those times when you're waiting for the next thing to start/waiting on other people unless you want to be up LAAATE.

In my program things ramped up every year to a peak during 3rd year when 70 hour weeks were not uncommon, but a lot varies not only by program but by adviser. Mine had some undoubtedly unreasonable expectations/things we were asked to do that students probably should not be doing and I was super motivated to get out in 4 years so ended up going on internship my 5th year instead of 6th and it was brutal, especially 3rd year when 80hour weeks were the norm. Other students took more time (and/or had more reasonable advisers) and had a more- uh- enjoyable time, and managed to have kids, dating life, etc., but even so I had time for a modest social life. The key is to know how you work best and maximize that. E.g., I work best when I am not at home - too many distractions at home. So finding work spots on campus, getting into habits, and always having an article or etc ready to read in any downtime (as well as an easily portable, small solid-state computer to carry around but a double monitor to use at home during designated paper writing/research days) were key for me. As was learning when something can be just "good enough" and creating study/homework/reading groups with people who learn and study similarly to me so we could split up the job of making outlines etc .

 

[mypointlesspov]

I'm in my 4th year at a university-based PsyD program. I feel like I had it pretty easy compared to most others in this thread, however, I am taking an extra year to complete my program which definitely reduced my overall work load.

During my first semester, I worked approximately 30-35 hours per week (this includes classes, homework, studying, research, and my PT job doing behavior therapy). My first practicum started in my second semester, which added an additional 10 hours to my week.

My second year was about the same, doing about 40 hours of work per week (practica, classes, homework, studying, research, and PT job).

During my third year, I worked about 50 hours per week (20 hours of practica, 10 hours as my department's testing librarian, 15 hours of research, one class per semester, and supervision group). This was definitely my most hectic year, especially toward the end of the academic year when I was rushing to get my dissertation proposed.

Currently, I have 32 hours per week of practica and 14 hours of research/dissertation work. From August to November, I spent an additional 4 hours per week on internship applications. With the exception of internship apps and dissertation work, I have generally avoided bringing work home. This year has definitely felt the most "real" to me in terms of feeling like I have a full time job.

 

[CatLover&PsychEnthusiast]

I had a full time job before grad school so I can make a direct comparison for my experience. During grad school I missed the freedom of having a 40 hr/wk job, leaving work at work and having the weekends for leisure. In contrast, in grad school there is always more work to be done (writing publications etc), so working evenings and weekends were the norm for me. Every program is different in terms of which years are hardest, in mine first year is a particularly challenging one.

 

[PsyDGurl]

When I entered grad school my kids were 2 and 2 months old. I knew it was going to be difficult but I figured that because my kids were young they wouldn't remember (be scarred) by mommy being in school. I couldn't have done it without a supportive spouse, and my amazing extended family. The first 3 years were hard but manageable, but the last few years of school and residency were HARD. Moving my family across the country (away from family/friends etc) for residency had its challenges (personally and financially). In the end, my children were able to sit in the stands and see me graduate which felt amazing and has really resulted in many conversations in our home about the value of education etc.

I am almost registered now and work as a contractor. It is amazing to have earned this flexibility after so many years of hard work. As a mom of two school-aged children, having a solid income and huge flexibility is priceless for us. My recommendation to anyone starting grad school with children is to make sure you have a solid relationship, a supportive spouse and a wide support network that can help out with the kids. Without those things, I never would have made it.