[yvonne]

[quote author=Robbie link=topic=12063.msg117219#msg117219 date=1429840966]
Related, but off-topic. I remember talking to a physics graduate student who said he was getting his Ph.D. in four years - I said that was very impressive - that he must be very good. He replied that the best students actually take longer (because their advisors want to keep them around), and the worst students take longer (for obvious reasons), but the ones in the middle take less time.

I'm sure CTCard has more knowledge than I do.

Very few students get a physics Ph.D. in four years anymore. Though everyone wants the time period to be shorter than it really is, so folks tend to shave off time (i.e. a few weeks shorter than 5 years becomes 4, etc.)

There's probably a tendency that roughly fits what that student described to you. I would put it as: poor students take a long time for obvious reasons, good students often take on tough problems that are hard to solve and take medium amounts of time, some average students take on straightforward problems and get done faster.

Overall, time to Ph.D. degree is a poor measure of quality of the student.
[/quote]

Must students be officially registered at the school and paying tuition while they're working on the dissertation?

[yvonne]

[quote author=Robbie link=topic=12063.msg117219#msg117219 date=1429840966]
Related, but off-topic. I remember talking to a physics graduate student who said he was getting his Ph.D. in four years - I said that was very impressive - that he must be very good. He replied that the best students actually take longer (because their advisors want to keep them around), and the worst students take longer (for obvious reasons), but the ones in the middle take less time.

I'm sure CTCard has more knowledge than I do.

Very few students get a physics Ph.D. in four years anymore. Though everyone wants the time period to be shorter than it really is, so folks tend to shave off time (i.e. a few weeks shorter than 5 years becomes 4, etc.)

There's probably a tendency that roughly fits what that student described to you. I would put it as: poor students take a long time for obvious reasons, good students often take on tough problems that are hard to solve and take medium amounts of time, some average students take on straightforward problems and get done faster.

Overall, time to Ph.D. degree is a poor measure of quality of the student.
[/quote]

Must students be officially registered at the school and paying tuition while they're working on the dissertation?