applications are generally cheap and high information value
They’re cheap but not that cheap. I did mine in a rush last year (thanks to Bilal’s encouragement) and it still took me at least two weeks of basically full time effort and that is much faster than normal. It also costs like $1000 or more to do a dozen applications.
Also you don’t get much information. You buy a few lottery tickets. The number that come back winners is a weak signal of how good your application was.
Above some P(you want to do a PhD), I claim this is cheap, given it could effect the next 1-6 years of your life. I think I agree with you that you need to be at something like at least 25% (discussed offline) or so here already to actually commit to doing the applications. But I think your probability can be lower for spending some smaller amount of time “considering” applying.
Also you don’t get much information. You buy a few lottery tickets. The number that come back winners is a weak signal of how good your application was.
Mostly agreed. The information I think you get is whether a PhD is a good option for you. It forces you to think through the prospect and you get to chat to PhD students and professors through the process. I updated positively on PhDs after applying through this process.
They’re cheap but not that cheap. I did mine in a rush last year (thanks to Bilal’s encouragement) and it still took me at least two weeks of basically full time effort and that is much faster than normal. It also costs like $1000 or more to do a dozen applications.
Also you don’t get much information. You buy a few lottery tickets. The number that come back winners is a weak signal of how good your application was.
[Edit: I still am glad that I applied!]
Above some P(you want to do a PhD), I claim this is cheap, given it could effect the next 1-6 years of your life. I think I agree with you that you need to be at something like at least 25% (discussed offline) or so here already to actually commit to doing the applications. But I think your probability can be lower for spending some smaller amount of time “considering” applying.
Mostly agreed. The information I think you get is whether a PhD is a good option for you. It forces you to think through the prospect and you get to chat to PhD students and professors through the process. I updated positively on PhDs after applying through this process.