======= Date Modified 26 Jun 2009 11:42:03 =======
Hi Hannah,

Short answer: You obviously have the ability to do this, or they wouldn't have asked you.  However, if you're not sure you want to, it may well be a bad idea. Most people have to really want a PhD to make it through. 

Long answer:

Pros:

- Academia is rather more family-friendly than it used to be; one of my fellow PhD students stopped partway to have a baby, for instance, and plenty of the profs etc. of both genders have families, so this by itself is not sufficient reason not to. Raising a family and going the academic route would be a challenge, but so would any other career if taken seriously. 
- You "get on well" with your prospective supervisor. However, see question one below.
- You have funding.
- You've obviously got potential in academia and as a good PhD student, or the department wouldn't have asked you to do this.

The cons:

- You aren't sure.  PhDs have a high drop-out rate, so if you don't feel like you want to do it now... well, don't.
- You sound a little bit like you might be doing this "because your department want you to". Disregard this entirely, except insomuch as it indicates that you are able to do this.  Do what's right for you.
- You will get lonely, in all probability. It's a pretty solitary experience for most students. I wish I could say I'd found a good answer to this, but I'm not sure that I have.

The questions:

- How well do you really know your supervisor? : Try to get the dirt on them from other past and present PhD students if at all possible, since this relationship is kind of unique and has to work for the PhD to work.  Also, ask yourself if you like and trust them enough to be able to come to them with full disclosure of a problem, whatever kind, without feeling intimidated. This is vital.  The number one rule to surviving a PhD is keeping your supervisor happy, and being happy with your supervisor.
- How good are you at working on a big project alone? Did you cope well with doing your biggest undergraduate projects, or did you procrastinate, feel lost, etc?
- What is your level of interest in the topic?  Could you see yourself getting obsessively interested in it over the next three years, and channeling that interest productively?
- How much do you want this?
- What alternatives are you also considering?