What makes a bad PhD student? Do YOU do these?

[@rnguyen9368]

The last point, perfectionism!! I'm at the beginning of my second PhD year, and I feel like perfectionism has held me back so many times already! I'm now learning to let go of things and be kinder to myself. Sometimes the biggest pressure we receive is from ourselves! Thank you for the wake up call 👏

[@ktsilver3844]

i'm really struggling with apathy as a 3rd yr - i've not been burntout but it's the loneliness, feeling that i'm behind my peers that have jobs, being behind on data collection, and other things that have taken over as a negative mindset. I think something that will help is just remembering the WHY and finding something within my research that brings the passion back. Thanks for all your videos, i've been watching them for years and always come back when i feel like i need motivation, because it's almost like you are the only person who understands !!

[@aditisiddharth6472]

I’m a month into my phd- and I’ve realised you don’t feel like you’re moving forward until you suddenly do. So u spend 90% of your time worrruing about not doing anything whilst doing a little a day

[@iliyawho5516]

this is so me. i do a little bit of reading everyday and worry if those arent enough. and then sometimes during discussion i realized wow i actually have read quite a lot.

[@dzsamir6689]

What IS your speciality ?

[@tonyezekiel2819]

You speak the sad reality in a hopeful way, which means at the end of the video we realize our mistakes and feel motivated to correct them. Thank you!

[@LeeSeungrhee]

I wanna share my though about your channel (positive one!): I like the way you talk about stuff mostly because you're very modest. From PhD student's perspective it is very good to see a modest academic talking about all of these aspects in such a friendly way. Thank you for all your advices!

[@inesfeknous4974]

The problem with your channel is that I NEED to see all your videos at the same time 😅 They're all good advises and recommandations, and since I'm a 2nd year PhD student I need all of them in my head like NOW Normal people would spend the weekend on Netflix series while I'm trying to watch all the videos of Andy, is that called Addiction? 😂

[@ktsilver3844]

lol me too, it's the only way i'm going to get through this. My new quote is "only Andy can save me now" lol

[@oliversavklintfalk6983]

Very good points, especially the last one! I'm currently writing my research proposal for my PhD application in business administration. I have already struggled quite a bit with "perfectionism", the problem is, at least for me, to judge what is "good enough"

[@luminousblue1539]

Wise words. Especially about patience. Thank you Andy :)

[@evelynkarkkulainen1784]

Thank you and greetings from Finland

[@ABHISHEKJHA-uw7dn]

Your videos have been such a big help, Andy. Thank you so much.

[@rupeshnaik597]

Thank you for making videos on this topic. With your videos i feel like somebody is always there with me. Your tips are great and working for me. I feel lucky to have you at early stage of my PhD.

[@rafaelvaldiviamanrique6141]

I have been experiencing a dilemma in the past months, whether i should or not persue a phd after my master thesis. After a thoughtful rough weeks, I made my decision. I am not doing a PHD. Reasons: i dont have a clear view of my future, but i am sure my place is not in R&D. At some pint in my life, I would like to have my own business. Sure, phd before my name could gain recognition, but, in my experience, if you can sell your work properly, people won't even look at your title unless your business is in life sciences. I do not think i am doing somethin wrong here, even if I already got an offer for an open PhD position, which in my case, would be the easiest way.

[@ExplanationNext]

Andy out hear spitting out facts as always!

[@renegade1807]

I wrote a long comment but I think I accidentally deleted it before posting, doh! I was just trying to suggest, that in order to expand the content on this channel, it would be great if you could do the occasional online interview with other PhD students, and graduates. Your perspective is great, yet it could also be a good thing to also get the opinions, thoughts and perspectives of your peers. Thanks. 👍

[@janswanton3631]

Thanks, Andy! Really sound advice, as ever!

[@DrAndyStapleton]

My pleasure!

[@jasongraham1651]

I really enjoy your videos. Thanks so much

[@komteera7494]

Thank you Andrew... Many realisations I had from your video and they are all true.... Keeping disciplne, patient and trying to let written works being far from perfection in time, are all I have faced right now. Great to find and watch your fab video. Thanks indeed. (^_^)

[@tianli3599]

The first mistake, apathy, lack of motivation, is however no way to fix, if you don’t enjoy the things you are doing. The only way to fix is to find another thing I enjoy.

[@Nnelshshsh]

An insight video into online distance learning PhDs in the Covid era and options for charity external funding would be great. Do students need to stay on-campus for course work and research during a pandemic for nonlab sciences or most univ. does it online? Are full-time PhD and part-time work (for a company) (if you have external funding and not from the uni.) possible at the same time? Keep it up, a great channel!

[@Gouda_travels]

"online distance learning PhDs in the Covid era" Yes 100% we need a video on that

[@Nnelshshsh]

@@Gouda_travels Done the research and found that only few prominent universities from UK provide legitimate online distance PhDs.

[@AnushaGames]

Hi! I saw your first point about apathy, and was wondering if there is a way out of that mindset? I was faced with severe anxiety and depression when I started my phd during the pandemic, and have since then been finding it hard to get out of the rut of procrastination and not caring enough but also caring too much to the point that I keep moving my supervisor meetings out of fear.

[@janswanton3631]

I don't know if this helps. Thinking about it and thinking about thinking about it, aren't real! Every time you think about it, you add another negative thought, but nothing moves on. Book up that supervision, make a list of what you want to talk about, send your supervisor a copy and keep your copy safe. Then, think about something else and meet your supervisor when that date arrives. Meeting them is what is really happening and that is the real path to achieving anything. It will give you more confidence and make it easier to ridicule negative thoughts next time they try to take over. Good luck. Remember what Hamlet says, 'there is nothing good nor bad but thinking makes it so!'

[@ritac9769]

When it comes to the fear part, use the apathy to your advantage. I don't let my advisor dictate how I'm feeling because I decided I just don't care. PIs are flawed, scatterbrained, and sometimes stupid people, just like the rest of us. If you do your best and fail, it's their fault, and they often want to put that pressure on you. Don't let them. Just do your best and if you're unhappy just walk away. Decide that it doesn't matter. Why stress about something that doesn't matter? Grad school is not the end all be all. The world is a big place and you can still live many lives. You're there to learn and make mistakes and get over the fear of failure, so lean into it, fuck shit up, and do your best. Your inner motivation and curiousity about your research will carry you far if you don't lose track of it.

[@saranzm2977]

@@ritac9769 I need to read your comment every morning before going abt my day! Nice Rita! ❤❤

[@GJMR18]

I need help because I do not understand why my supervisor ask me to do experiment that are not related to the important questions. Sometimes I think he is trying to entertain me with experiments that are not relevant and the time goes fast, I do not think is that I am not patiant.

[@Gouda_travels]

can changing a univ and starting a new PhD be the solution to some students who can't integrate in the research group they are in ?

[@xy4669]

I am wondering the same

[@mau345]

Perfectionism is a subtle and cunning form or procrastination i noticed.

[@MizanurRahmanITA]

Thanks a lot

[@Your_friend_infitinity]

Thank you for this video. I do like your channel very much. Currently, I am writing my last paper and I am about to submit my thesis. I have one very hardworking supervisor who helped me and gets money for my project. Another supervisor doesn't do much but tries to get as much credits from my work as possible. Usually, I had two of them as correspondence authors in my paper but now I want to add myself to this list. I know by university policy I have right to decide who will be a correspondence author, and being my supervisor doesn't automatically guarantee the place there. So, how do I slide my email address of correspondence into this paper and keep good relationship with my supervisors? I would appreciate your advise very much.

[@SaaVisha]

You mentioned that by the end of your PhD you became a "different" person. By "different" do you mean good or bad person? 😅 just curious to know the change

[@soccergalsara]

give me a shout if you're ever looking for anyone to demonstrate a bad PhD for your channel

[@Mnogojazyk]

Disillusionment - Understanding that, despite the claims that the academy is better than human because it’s the way of the academy, your would-be colleagues are just as human as the rest of the species. You’ll discover that they exhibit the foibles of the human species as everyone else. You have to come to terms with that and do your work (study, lab work, literature reviews, etc.) or you’ll be miserable and a downer to your would-be colleagues, and to yourself, your friends outside the academy, neighbors, family, and so forth. Or you can flee as I did.

[@adrianameneses5762]

The interesting thing is those apathetic students have scholarships and opportunities....

[@TheGregXP]

It´s not apathy. It´s just clinical depression.

[@rafab.3308]

Well, it's good that I'm finishing my PhD next week xd I've been horrible PhD student according to these points! Xd

[@SaaVisha]

After watching your video… I believe I am definitely the bad PhD student. Horrible is a good word though 😁😂😂😂

[@starshipx1282]

Hmmm. First!

[@GOTHAM21]

Two things. One, when does an explanation become a reason and when does it become an excuse? Two, you won't see us in the next video. We will see you lol unless you're referring to you youtube stats. I crack myself up sometimes. Lolol

[@dontran391]

Added to the list of What Makes a Bad PhD Student is: Feeling Overly Proud, Showing Off Too Much, & Lack of Humility (aka. Arrogance) That was my Sin when I was in the Chemistry PhD Program & my sins made my overall experience in the Chemistry PhD Program become a living hell. When I first got that Acceptance Letter to go to the PhD Program, I felt proud of myself. But I became "Too Proud". I "blow up" on Facebook/Instagram, showing off my Acceptance Letter, especially I used that method as a way to flirt women on Facebook/Instagram. Added to more problems, I took lots of selfies of me using fancy Chemistry Equipment (again, back then, I thought it was a method for me to flirt women on Facebook/Instagram). Then, trouble arise. My peers, who were my Facebook/Instagram Friends saw that toxic behavior of mine & they slowly lose respect for me. In addition, my advisor somehow also know about my behavior as well. All hell break lose from there, particularly a toxic relationship between me & my advisor developed... The good news was that I FINALLY completed my PhD Degree. But it was costly. It involves the Assistant Dean of Graduate Students to be involved to prevent escalation of conflicts between me & my advisor (as well as my surrounding peers at Chem. Dept). My lesson learn from my horrible experience in the PhD Program is: 1) Be Humble 2) Stop using my PhD as a Method to Flirt Women (especially seeking Women's Validation) on Facebook/Instagram. Women are NOT impressed at me anyways. I should learn to BE MYSELF more & STOP SEEKING OTHERS FOR VALIDATION.