Calling all Ph.D.s

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I had a very good undergraduate career, since I started it when I was older and was pretty well-established -- no need to deal with dorms, social issues, roommates, etc. -- and was judged based on my thinking and writing. I was a good student and did a lot of good work. Then I went into the labor force and did well there too. After awhile, I had a strong desire to further my education and entered a Masters program.

In the program, my grades were dependent upon A) my ability to extemporaneously speak about issues at a frightenling superficial level, and B) chat up my professors. As an Aspie, this was awful. After a short while, I was doing shots at work in preparation for evening classes and taking propranolol as a means to control my anxiety. Not good. I turned in a more-or-less average performance, overall, but I hated it. I loved the subject matter, but the experience was awful.

Since that ended about three years ago, I'm once again entertaining the prospect of going for a terminal degree. So, all of you advanced degree-holders, tell me about your experiences. Any opinions are welcome!

I must say it sounds like a poorly-structured establishment to me!
You mean all PhD lecturers aren’t Aspies too? (Maybe its jus the physicists).
What was the subject?
Theoretical Physics here…
You are aware that it is possible to pursue your research at another university?

It was, indeed, a poorly-structured establishment. However, it was very highly regarded, but not particularly Aspie-friendly. Most of my lecturers were established public-policy/foreign affairs types that were very sound-byte dependent. All were very smart, but the class structure only afforded superficial coverage of their voluminous subject matter expertise.

My concern is that in my research before going into the Masters program, everyone I solicited input from said "all Masters programs are the same -- it's a necessary waste of time." Experience since then, and feedback from others, suggests that this is overwhelmingly the case for nearly all Masters programs in, say, international relations, foreign affairs, poli sci, conflict resolution, international security, etc. (This probably doesn't hold for physics programs, since the emphasis seems to be on doing solid scientific work -- this doesn't seem to hold for most of the soft-sciences). So, I could go to a choice of twenty different programs and get the same crappy result.

I guess I'm wondering if this would be fundamentally different in a terminal degree program, since even in the soft sciences, the emphasis seems to be squarely placed on intellectual development. If this suspicion bears out, I would expect Aspies to do well. If not, well...

HI!

I will try to relate some of my experiences. I have an MLS degree from Indiana University and I work at a university library. Graduate school was actually fun for me because for the first time I had an opportunity to study what I wanted to study. Of course, there were some difficulties.

I have a very high anxiety level so I worried about every detail of every assignment. My attention span is very limited so class lectures were troublesome for me. Group projects gave me fits--not because of me but because of my group members. I lived in the graduate student dorm which was okay for me--I'm outgoing in my own way.

I am currently working on an Ed.D while I am working at my current job. Most of my classes are interesting and I'm getting good grades. My classmates and professors like me. Still, I have difficulty with some social cues and shifting my cognitive style as rapidly as my NT classmates.

My graduate experience has been very positive. While my Aspieness makes it difficult for me in many regards (i.e., limited concentration, attention span, cognitive shifts) it also makes me the somewhat quirky individual that many people like these days. (People hated me as a kid)

Best wishes on the Ph.D. program!!

PaulW