&gt; But I tell people, very seriously, that if they&#x27;re thinking of doing a PhD<p>I simply tell them not to do it--in Computer Science--if they are genuinely good at getting things done (for some mediocre people good at playing a certain type of a game, grad school can be an okay career path), unless (1) they need a student visa, or (2) they definitely want to go into academia (which generally only makes sense in a top 5-10 ranked school).<p>To me the litmus test is now this: do you need a particle accelerator (or equivalents) to conduct research in your field? If not, don&#x27;t do a PhD.