Wellington, Bathmaker, Hunt et al. (2005) identified "hard work" as a critical success factor in any doctoral program (p. 4).
The very word "degree" derives from the Latin term gradus, which means "a step"; thus earning a degree connotes taking a step upward, as if climbing a ladder (Wellington, Bathmaker, Hunt et al., p. 5).
One could compare this upward motion to ascending a steep learning curve. The hard work or difficulty encompasses challenges at every level--intellectual, physical, and emotional.
All: On a scale of 1-10 (1 being "extremely easy" and 10 being "excruciatingly difficult"), how difficult do you expect the doctoral program to be?
Other than personal sacrifices, what kinds of disappointments do you expect to be part of the process?