Tuesday, February 4th, 2014
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The Illustrated Guide To A Ph.D.
The Illustrated Guide To A Ph.D.
Every fall, I explain to a fresh batch of Ph.D. students what a Ph.D. is.
It’s hard to describe it in words.
So, I use pictures.
Read below for the illustrated guide to a Ph.D.
Imagine a circle that contains all of human knowledge:
![](http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/images/PhDKnowledge.001.jpg?maxX=440)
By the time you finish elementary school, you know a little:
![](http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/images/PhDKnowledge.002.jpg)
By the time you finish high school, you know a bit more:
![](http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/images/PhDKnowledge.003.jpg)
With a bachelor’s degree, you gain a specialty:
![](http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/images/PhDKnowledge.004.jpg)
A master’s degree deepens that specialty:
![](http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/images/PhDKnowledge.005.jpg)
Reading research papers takes you to the edge of human knowledge:
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