Conclusion: sorry, but you all seem to be a gang of miserable, jaded, nihilistic, incurious, what's-in-it-for-me bastards. I hope aspiring PhD students don't take any of this nonsense too seriously.

I don't think I read a single first-hand account in this whole thread; just a lot of whining, hearsay, entirely made up bollocks, and a hell of a lot of chips on shoulders.