Perceived Progress in Grad School

I was recently talking with some friends who are still in grad school. One of them joked that if you plotted Perceived Progress on your PhD against Actual Progress, it would look something like this:


You know, there is that long period at the beginning (region A) where you are making progress, but it doesn't actually feel like you're getting anywhere. And then there is that interminably long period at the end (region B), where you think that you are basically finished -- except that you're there for a year or more before you actually are able to finish (because you weren't as close to being finished as you thought you were).

The above figure is really funny (to anyone who has been in grad school), precisely because it is so true.

However, you can't forget those pesky committee meetings, where you discuss your project with the professors who are in the position to approve or disapprove your research plan. Those always seem to go horribly wrong, either because they correct your perception of how far along you are, or because the goalposts get moved ("Hmmmm, that's interesting. You should take more data to support your argument..."). So, I proposed that the plot should actually look more like this:


There are still the characteristic behaviors at the beginning and end. But you can't forget about the inevitable committee meeting right at the end, in which the setback you receive is enough to make you want to give up and become a farmer.

At any rate, the point is that at most points, you perceive yourself as being closer to the end than you actually are.