Why Should You Not Pursue a Self-Funded PhD? (Short answer: because it is a scam.)

I can hear you wondering: what is a self-funded PhD, anyway? Is it even real? Unfortunately, it is, especially in the UK. A self-funded PhD means you have to cover the entire cost of the PhD program, including tuition and living expenses. Let me give you a short answer in advance: one should not pursue a self-funded PhD because it is a scam.

Let me put it this way, you can be the judge. Would you work day and night for a demanding, overbearing boss who gives you little respect and harsh feedback for four years, all while not receiving a salary but instead paying for that experience? Probably not, right? Even in a gulag or a labor camp, you would at least get food and shelter. But if you self-fund your PhD, you get nothing in return while still paying for your living expenses — rent, food, travel, insurance, and university tuition fees (ranging from £25,000 to £35,000 per year).

If you want to change your supervisor because they exploit your hard work while giving you a tough time, the department will likely say no and threaten your visa status because you are an international self-funded PhD student. Would you still sign up for this torture?

Let me continue. While you are paying your tuition fees and covering your monthly expenses, your supervisor ridicules you, and you get zero help from your department. You might think that what you learn will eventually matter and help you find a job, right? Unfortunately, it probably won’t. No one cares about your employability skills, and your supervisor is likely to push you to publish papers without considering your professional development. They don’t care about you at all.

On top of that, you might hope for some appreciation from the locals because you’re working hard for no money, actually spending money, and contributing to the economy. But sadly, they just want to take your money and kick you out of their country as soon as possible. Don’t even think about immigrating! They just want your money and don’t care about you as a person. It would be much better for them if you just sent the money and never set foot in their country. They’d happily mail you the diploma.

This strange reality is true in the UK. I’m telling you, a self-funded PhD in the UK is worse than any nightmare you could imagine, even worse than the combination of British weather, food, and their perpetually long faces.

So why on earth do people still do this, especially Chinese students? After spending a lot of time with these individuals, I have an explanation. China is the second-largest economy in the world, yet its soft power is relatively low. Their aristocracy is not as well-known or respected as the Brits’. So, some wealthy Chinese people exchange their money for a piece of that perceived aristocracy. These rich kids earn a PhD title and return to China, allowing their wealthy parents to brag about their children.

Another unfortunate reason is that things in China can be even worse to some extent. Some working-class Chinese families send their children to the UK, believing that obtaining a higher education degree from a reputable country like the UK will benefit them. Unfortunately, things are not like that anymore. Most universities in the UK are just scams, sucking money in exchange for nothing. The UK produces nothing of value and drains resources from everywhere else. Their weather and food are awful, and they have perpetually long faces. They have stopped manufacturing and have made their universities irrelevant. They make money from money, which was stolen from their colonies in the first place. So, they are living easy lives by selling dreams.

I hope that one day Chinese families will realize that universities in the UK are a joke. There are literally no jobs in the UK. It would be a hundred times easier to hire talented people and let them come to China. I hope I can convince at least one person not to come to the UK and pursue a self-funded PhD. It is a scam. It is not worth it.

It’s similar to what some users have commented about on Reddit.

- It’s like asking: “Why shouldn’t I clean other people’s houses for free, and then they also get to judge my cleaning, and if I can’t clean to their satisfaction, I won’t get an acknowledgment that I cleaned someone’s house for 7 years.”

- Not for free, you have to pay to clean their house. Cleaning for free is the ideal situation, actually!