Academia Explained

[TexasTowelie]

[adirondacker]

1. LMAO! I have a friend that is an asst prof who has looked like a tenured since his grad school days.

I resemble the emeritus prof, but only have an undergrad. It could be an age thing

[TexasTowelie]

2. Technically, I was a post-grad.

I started working on a secondary education certification after I completed my undergrad degree, but withdrew at Thanksgiving. I wasn't in a graduate degree program though so I actually fit in an ambiguous situation--however, the social animal fit me at the time!

It kind of sucked withdrawing since I had a 4.0 GPA at the time and never did better than a 3.47 as an undergrad.

[adirondacker]

3. Another mutual friend of ours made it though 2years of grad school and called it quits when his

adviser yanked his chains several times too many. He was working at the time and just said fuck it to the masters ticket. This guy nearly aced the GRE's with little sleep and no study time. He was an Excellent test taker and could have easily breezed through a Phd. He took his engineering exam and left it at that. He's doing quite well having worked for the same company for the last 8 years.

[caraher]

4. PhD's are not about test taking, though

While you do take tests on the way, anything past a masters is more about things like endurance rather than being a good test-taker. It's about research, not absorbing what people already know. And politics.

If you don't absolutely need a PhD for a credential (e.g. for a job in academia) it's generally not worth pursuing unless it's for pure love of your specific specialty. Your friend stopped at the right time.

[Chan790]

5. The only way I'm ever pursuing my Ph.D is if I hit the lottery.

There's no perceivable reason to obtain a Ph.D in Literature if you don't even want an academic career unless you love the subject and have $100,000 to burn on tuition.

So, it's the lottery for me.

[adirondacker]

6. Picking the right adviser is probably the most important aspect of grad school.

Unfortunately, many Phd's do it for ego more than a passion. I worked several years in academia as a tech and know quite well the politics that play out. As someone else mentioned, it has become corporatized. Skirt chasers, manipulators , soul sellers, academia has it all.

I brought up the test taking abilities as one of my friends fortes. He is a "gifted" individual and could have finished his masters easily with a decent adviser. His job is in his field of study and loves it.

I agree with much of your statement though, and would have gone on through a masters program myself if life circumstances had been different. I recently got rejected for a position at Cornell that I was highly qualified for, but "required" a masters. Oh well. I got a much better offer from a small private consultancy firm.

[caraher]

8. I was fortunate in a couple ways

I entered grad school after working 7 years, and knowing what the prospects were in my field. And I did know that picking an adviser was really more important than picking a school. I interviewed research groups, paying special attention to what the current grad students had to say about things like average time to degree, the funding situation in the group, etc.

It was amazing how naive most of my classmates were about all that upon starting graduate study. But I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised - the system has an interest in there being a steady supply of bright eager folks who don't ask too many questions and work cheap.

[adirondacker]

9. In my field, companies are grabbing recent grad students, working them 80 hrs on salary

and burning them out in 2-3 years. It used to be if you could spell hydrogeology or hydrology you could obtain your degree and know you had a comfortable occupation that paid well. Times and the system have changed a lot of the aspects. Most of the governmental oversite positions are now handled by "third party" multinational environmental consulting firms that are only interested in turning a profit. The other jobs include working for a fracking company.

Research positions are increasingly requiring a Phd, and jobs are limited.

Looking back, I should have sold out my pro environmental ideology and worked for a petro company to bank enough cash to retire. Instead, I'm still paying off my BS loans 15 years later.

[caraher]

10. That's tempting to second guess...

but I suspect had you gone the other route you'd just have a different set of regrets. Your principles don't pay the rent but they do allow you to look yourself in the mirror each morning knowing you have integrity!

Student loan debt is another horrible problem... Although I had a good stipend and part-time engineer for a spouse I've still got credit card debt from raising a family during grad school, and she has her own loan debt from a failed attempt to teach math in "high need" schools (it seems these career-change programs are feeders for programs, like charters, aimed at ending and not mending public education; she aced her coursework but couldn't get a job and is back in engineering).

[a la izquierda]

7. I'm an assistant professor...

I look like Animal (as in totally frazzled) but I feel like a combination of Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch.