>>11318070Yes these are good points, but the notion I was trying to convey was that especially for people who begin undergrad late there is no reason to fall into despair over completing a PhD program past 30. If however you are entering a graduate program at 22-23 years old and do not complete your PhD until 30+ you are indeed a malingering faggot and probably not cut out for research science. These are different groups not entirely related to those I was talking about, but considering what you've said and also the possibility that there might be nontrivial overlap between those who do not belong in PhD programs and those who spend far too long in PhD programs and those who begin PhD programs quite late in life that is something to consider. However, if your performance, GRE and passion are far superior to those of younger age than you then you should not be dissuaded by anything other than serious life outcome considerations such as starting a family late, delayed career start, income loss, and possible accrual of debt, though of course any good institute pays your entire way so the undergraduate component is what really needs to be taken into account with respect to financial hardship. I have not yet encountered a younger person than myself who was as attendant to their studies or interested in their coursework as I am, nor do I feel at all threatened by those who will be working with me in the future that might be half a decade or more my junior. Its not relevant to my abilities or my goals, and if I am selected out of consideration for certain positions that is the loss of the institutes and research labs that choose to use gross heuristics in place of careful assessment of candidates. For other people the situation might be different, in my life some degree of ill advised confidence has gotten me quite far compared to the trajectory I was on naturally given my upbringing and life experiences.
