Philosopher Michael Huemer has a page "Should I go to graduate school in philosophy?" It begins:
Many philosophy students decide to attend graduate school, knowing almost nothing about the consequences of this decision, or about what the philosophy profession is actually like. By the time they find out, they have already committed several years of their life, and possibly thousands of dollars, to the undertaking. They then learn that their initial assumptions about the field were unrealistically optimistic. They continue in their chosen path, even though, if they had known the facts at the start, they might have chosen a different career path. I have written the following points to provide a more realistic picture for students, before they make this choice
You could say much the same about most academic departments. A lot of people go to grad school because school is what they're good at.
There are pretty strong reasons to be wary of academic philosophy. And the question here is whether there are good things to optimize for which come alongside a PHD generally, and also in particular in philosophy. So what to optimize for when pursuing a PHD?
Some alternatives include:
1) Smart students
2) Excellent advisor (with the cost of very little time and attention for you)
3) Young but still good advisor (no time-cost)
4) Level of similarity between what you want to research, and what your prospective advisor researchers
5) Freedom to do what you want in terms of directing your research
6) Confortable physical environment (Campus with sports area, good weather, and comfy social areas, nice café's to study)
7) Good contacts - Whatever that means within philosophy PHD's
8) Whatever works - meaning apply to all you can and think later, which implies that it is worth applying because it gets you a phd, not because of what it offers to you in other ways.
9) Nothing to do with academia - in this case, once you guarantee you'll get your phd, you optimize for something else, like social environment, being New York, hot students, having a beach and hiking area, etc...
Maybe some of these can be extended to pursuers of a PHD in other areas. Also, I'm assuming price is not a consideration (either all give you scholarships, or are free)
It seems to me that education is one of the things that people are most irrational about, with a lot of people going the 8 route by default, not decision, for instance. And paying the cost (in motivation, success and happiness) later down the road.