Hi Lowyat!

Just seeking your thoughts/opinion on this. I think until kepala pening.

I am currently in my final year of degree in Mechanical Engineering. My question is to further my studies to PhD or not?

My FYP supervisor has been encouraging me to continue doing my PhD under him.
My family is in a financially tight situation. Thus, I have never really considered furthering since I have set my mind on getting a job to support my family when I started of my degree studies. However, recently after discussing with some of my peers and reading here and there, I am pretty undecided now.

I have not started on FYP yet but have previously worked with him on some research works on a similar topic to my FYP. Plans have been made to publish a paper based on my FYP works. My supervisor suggest that I continue working on this project until PhD level. The uni allows to skip over Master program and go straight to PhD. He suggest to take on a scholarship having learnt my situation. I am generally okay and comfortable working with my supervisor. Having been generally well versed and experienced in this topic, would it be a waste to not complete it till PhD level? I am interested in research but its not a die-die must thing.

The stipend provided by the scholarship won't be much. Let's say we managed to pull through till completion and get a job. There will be loss of earnings in that time of study. Is it worth it? On the other hand, if the stipend is not enough for us to survive, should I just wave goodbye or what alternatives/options do I have if I insist to further?

Then comes the question of to do Masters or PhD. Some ppl say that doing a PhD will make you overqualified for the job, so stop at Masters. But opportunity don't come your way twice, if I can settle everything now, why not?

Currently my GPA is 3.1, and if all goes well, I will graduate with First Class Honours (a pretty messed up story on how this can happen haha). But due to my low GPA, I was wondering if it might affect my chance to get a good job. Most top companies require like a minimum of GPA 3.50 to even qualify for an interview. So maybe with a higher qualification I can cover up my bad past? Well, I have only myself to blame for the mediocre GPA, I know I could have done so much better but there is nothing I can do now to fix it. So instead of rushing into the industry and getting a meh job, maybe this might give me a better second chance. Idk can someone tell me am I getting this all wrong/right?

Another thing is that some of my peers are of the opinion that having a degree is too common nowadays. Most of my peers who qualify academically and financially are looking to pursue a Masters/Phd. So if without this almighty qualification, would I be at a disadvantage in the future when my peers enter at a higher salary grade and get promotions jumping right above me. One possible solution is maybe when the need comes in the future then only do I pursue it. But this becomes a complicated issue of maybe having to do it part-time or maybe sabbatical leave.

The age factor. I will be 24 when I graduate with my degree. Adding another four years plus for PhD, I will be 28 omg!! This is so old to enter the industry as a fresh graduate.

Anything else I should think of/consider? Am I overthinking stuff? Accept any suggestions/comments/criticisms etc.
Thank you in advance.

Thanks everyone for your replies.
Will consider what is shared into my decision.

This post has been edited by clikclak: Jul 24 2016, 04:22 PM