In a study of over 3100 grad students at Berkeley, similar to the other two studies,
95% were overwhelmed by grad school (i.e. stressed the hell out).
67% reported "feeling hopeless at times."
54% were "so depressed it was difficult to function."
10% had seriously considered suicide.
(1 in 200 had actually attempted suicide in the last year.)
Berkeley Graduate Student Mental Health Survey 2004
UCSD's 2007 Graduate and Professional Student Experience and Satisfaction Committee Report
National College Health Assessment by the American College Health Association (ACHA)
Chronicle: High Attrition
Chronicle: Why a PhD in humanities might be a bad idea
Chronicle: Feeling like a failure even with a PhD?
NYTimes: "In Tough Times, the Humanities Must Justify Their Worth"
NYTimes: "The Night the Professor Became a Nurse"
NYTimes: "The Case for Working With Your Hands"
Advice for math PhD applicants
Advice for philosophy PhD applicants
Advice for physics PhD applicants
Given similar economic and structural conditions, these are equally applicable to math, philosophy, or physics.
Additonal sources: NSF, Leiter Report, Dr. Schwitzgebel's blog.
U of A docs: Docs/
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