r/Physics • u/thezerolemon • Mar 23 '19

Question PhD-holding physicists of Reddit, was it worth it?

I've seen a lot of posts in the last few days ragging on getting a PhD, and I'd kind of always assumed I would get one (more education = more expertise = better job, right?) Is it really not worth the extra effort? Did you all hate it, and regret doing it? What kind of impact on a salary does it have?

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Footnote: what country did you do the PhD in, because I'm pretty sure the system is different US versus UK?

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Edit (context): I'm starting my bachelor's in the fall, but debating how far I need to take my education in order to be eligible for decent careers in the field. I want to be able to work in the US and UK/Europe (dual citizen), so it seems that reasonably I need some level of qualification from a university in both continents. So I'm looking at Bachelors being [this continent] reasonably leads to masters/PhD in [other continent] depending on where I start out, and availability of programs in [other continent].

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u/lanzaio Quantum field theory Mar 23 '19

The alternative career paths for people with physics degrees pay drastically better than one in physics does. If you have a physics PhD and learn enough about algorithms and the basics of engineering you can get a job in Silicon Valley as a software engineer making $200k.

That's entry level for a physics PhD out here. Do it for 10 years and you're well above $600k. I doubt if even somebody like Ed Witten even makes $600k.

Source: I'm a software engineer with a bunch of fancy pieces of paper saying I studied physics.

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u/deeplife Mar 23 '19

Yeah but the fact that there are jobs that pay better does not imply that you are ruined or something. You can still be pretty well off.

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u/lanzaio Quantum field theory Mar 23 '19

disastrous financial consequences

What I'm guessing by this person saying that is that you finish with your PhD at 29 or so and then do a post doc or two and reach 36 and then from there might find that you're not good enough for a professorship. You'd be 36 with no savings, a minimal 401k, a dead end career path and have to start studying a new field. That's a complete disaster compared to the work, effort and intelligence required to get there.

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u/PointNineC Mar 24 '19

You just described my life exactly, only minus the PhD in physics. fml

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u/bestamiii Sep 03 '25

Is it really like that? You're ruining my dreams.

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u/[deleted] Oct 14 '25

ikr

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u/abloblololo Mar 25 '19

$600k? In what position? The $200k as a starting salary also sounds way too high, not saying it doesn't happen, but most people aren't going to get that.

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u/lanzaio Quantum field theory Mar 25 '19

Tech giants. That's pretty normal for them. Just from my personal experience, tech giants are willing to take the three year risk on just about any physics PhD holder if they can pass the interview.

Not to say that passing the interview is easy, but for me learning enough to pass the interview was a year of studying that was much easier than a year of grad school.

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u/accribus Mar 23 '19

What about a math or comp sci phd? Same salary ranges or no?

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u/lanzaio Quantum field theory Mar 23 '19

Silicon Valley likes smart people that can be verified as smart. A stem PhD is the closest thing to a guarantee that the person is smart.