i enjoy reading this thread, but can you guys break up your paragraphs? epic bricks of text going on here thank you -a fan of this thread
ps: i cant believe your whole family has PhDs… good brain genes
Lol we don’t. I left my program after 2.5 years (yes after passing both the really hard exams I mentioned previously) because I thought I was finished and they disagreed and wouldn’t let me defend my dissertation (mostly it came down to politics as they didn’t want to let a 22 year old get his PhD for at least another 2.5-3 years!).
Do you put ‘everything but dissertation’ on your resume? When I was at a group interview with my school, a classmate got really roughed up by that. But he still had a pretty good reply. 22 is crazy young. sigh, i wish i was an academic. im just a troublemaker
No, I put that I have two MS degrees but all coursework was done at the PhD level not the Masters level. This usually encourages a healthy discussion of what happened and why. I also have my ta/ga duties on there (ex. teaching several finc courses) which kinda gives away that I was in the PhD program and not the MS. Basically, I want the knowledgeable interviewers to know that I didn’t flunk one of the exams I had talked about while explaining to them why I left while not leaving an impression of being a quitter etc. (you would be amazed at how receptive people are in the industry to a statement like “I didn’t want to stay in the academic world for 3 more years just to revise and resubmit a dissertation and working papers that I had already written and been over many times with a fine tooth comb.”)
adavydov, were you getting your PhD at the University of Chicago?
Lol No I’m not nearly that smart! If I was at Chicago I would have probably toughed it out and trusted my profs a bit more than I did though. But if I ever go back that will be one of the schools I would apply to (i.e. I would only go back to a top school that would add something to my resume), and since my dissertation is basically finished (and based on proprietary data) I would likely choose an institution that was willing to be flexible with my circumstances and prior PhD classwork (i.e. if I go back there ain’t no way I am re taking the entire course work required).
Thanks, adavydov. What’s your dissertation on?
Dissertation was over several topics centered around the informational content of short sales.
adavydov, do you mind shooting me an email at maratikus.maratikus@gmail.com, I would like to talk to your more about PhD stuff offline.
Email sent
Thats all very interesting to read. I am in a similar situation, CS PhD. I submitted my thesis and am preparing for my defense at the moment. Since I finished early too (in 2.5 years), I had to “wait” (which allowed me to leave the program and work for a while) before finally submitting - politics are really bad on that each PhD student is expected to take at least 4 years to complete. I decided to start the CFA program (and take the FRM exam this November) because the focus is so much more in investment, that it provides a good value-add in terms of knowledge given my particular background. But, if I would have known that I have a passion for finance before starting my PhD, I would probably have decided for a Quant/Finance PhD at our school (which is really really good), or even abroad. That may have allowed me to skip CFA and FRM. But then, I enjoy the experience, nothing to regret so far 
Egal agree 100%. You are very lucky your school let you leave and essentially finish in absentia while working, mine wouldn’t let me do that. Also, for us the program was a mandatory 5 years (at least)!