If you are optimizing purely to get a degree, then you’ll probably want to hit up some combination of all of those factors. However, be sure that you’re not really asking ‘how can I optimize my degree such that it’s useful for X later’.
Since the degree itself is largely worthless, it may be better to optimize not for the phd, but for the contacts and social status needed to do anything with it.
Alternately, perhaps the answer is ‘get a degree in a useful field instead’.
One way of thinking about this is “optimize for having good 4 years of your life” not “optimize for something you can get from having spent those 4 years in a phd program”. If you consider it, there is actually very few things you can get after having a phd in philosophy, that you could not having a phd in other field, like economics. This includes sometimes even a career as a professional philosopher.
About your link, it shows that going through the degree is worthless, whereas the degree itself still signals some things, I know someone who is pursuing a PHD (DPhil) because it signals earning capacity, which he’ll later turn into banking to earn to give.
One interesting remark about the status and contacts, is that it may cost 10 times less money, and half or a quarter of the time, to get the exact same contacts and status if you optimize for contacts and status than if you actually were pursuing a PHD. But people usually are not willing to go outside that outside the box box.
By and large then I agree with your conclusion, specially when considering the 1⁄20 − 1⁄50 chances of actually making into a philosophy PHD program.
One interesting remark about the status and contacts, is that it may cost 10 times less money, and half or a quarter of the time, to get the exact same contacts and status if you optimize for contacts and status than if you actually were pursuing a PHD. But people usually are not willing to go outside that outside the box box.
Have you ever seen this actually work? It’s usually pretty obvious to me when someone is pursuing this strategy and I usually avoid such people because they are trying to extract value from me without much to offer in return.
If you are optimizing purely to get a degree, then you’ll probably want to hit up some combination of all of those factors. However, be sure that you’re not really asking ‘how can I optimize my degree such that it’s useful for X later’.
Since the degree itself is largely worthless, it may be better to optimize not for the phd, but for the contacts and social status needed to do anything with it.
Alternately, perhaps the answer is ‘get a degree in a useful field instead’.
I tend to agree with all that quite intensely.
One way of thinking about this is “optimize for having good 4 years of your life” not “optimize for something you can get from having spent those 4 years in a phd program”. If you consider it, there is actually very few things you can get after having a phd in philosophy, that you could not having a phd in other field, like economics. This includes sometimes even a career as a professional philosopher.
About your link, it shows that going through the degree is worthless, whereas the degree itself still signals some things, I know someone who is pursuing a PHD (DPhil) because it signals earning capacity, which he’ll later turn into banking to earn to give.
One interesting remark about the status and contacts, is that it may cost 10 times less money, and half or a quarter of the time, to get the exact same contacts and status if you optimize for contacts and status than if you actually were pursuing a PHD. But people usually are not willing to go outside that outside the box box.
By and large then I agree with your conclusion, specially when considering the 1⁄20 − 1⁄50 chances of actually making into a philosophy PHD program.
Have you ever seen this actually work? It’s usually pretty obvious to me when someone is pursuing this strategy and I usually avoid such people because they are trying to extract value from me without much to offer in return.
When someone wants to befriend you despite not belonging to your class you run away?
For me, I would minimise contact if this person appears overly ingratiating,