You know if you fast track...

Everyone has stories about people who fast track. When I first told people that I was fast tracking (AND even now...two weeks before I being my PhD), I received many words of wisdom that started with something along the lines of  "You know if you fast track...". Some of them went like this:

"...it'll take six years to do your PhD"
"...it'll be disastorous"
"...you lose that year of learning you don't get by doing a full MSc"
"...you'll be done when you are 27"
"...you'll end up like the other people who have fast tracked (aka...poorly)"
"...I think you will be successful"
"...you'll have to work really hard to make up for that year of publishing papers you lose"

So as you can see, most are negative and many jumped all over me before I could even get a sentence out! But I think there were two camps: the "senior" PhD students had absolutely nothing good to say about it. The "Newbie" PhD students were supportive and thought it was a good idea. Another way to look at this, senior PhD students are extremely bitter (true) and new PhD students (who haven't been broken down) are extremely naive (also true).

Its easy to be swayed (or scared shitless) by peoples' opinions. The one thing I learned in the process is that to every point, there is a counter point. Someone was unsuccessful, but in the circumstances they got themselves in, ANYONE would be unsuccessful. I may be done when I am 27, but will I be lacking publications and experience to get me a job once I am done?

I always knew that this is what I wanted to do, and I think I will use peoples' opinions as things I need to look out for. Everyone was right, but maybe these are not reasons to avoid fast tracking, they are just things you need to look out for and have a game plan to battle. In the end it is an a decision that needs to be made on a person by person basis. How much research has this student already done? Publications? Conference Presentations? Troubleshooting skills? Innitiatve? etc.

So I hope in the future that I can say to someone, in a nice (non-judgemental way) "You know if you fast-track for the right reasons...you won't regret it"