Grad School Advice books
Apr. 19th, 2012 12:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osprey_archerI've been reading a how-to book about grad school. I've decided I need to try to find another one, because this book is a) twenty years out of date and b) EXTREMELY ALARMING.
Book: Grad school is extremely difficult. The hours are long, the pay is low, the social milieu is unsupportive, and writing a thesis is like having a root canal that lasts a year and a half.
Jin: ...well, this will be good for me. I've had insufficient adversity in my life.
Book: If losing a spouse causes stress levels of one hundred, then the average grad student has stress levels at THREE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN.
Jin: ....
Book: Unless you grew up in a war zone, grad school will probably be the worst thing that ever happened to you.
Jin: !!!!!
The author went to grad school during grad-school-as-cage-match era, when professors often kicked off grad school orientations by saying, "Look to the right of you. Look to the left of you. By the end of this Ph.D program, only one of you will remain. Bwahahaha!" (The evil laughter was probably only implied.) Now that schools are proud of their retention rates, rather than their attrition, presumably things are a little less hardcore?
Book: Grad school is extremely difficult. The hours are long, the pay is low, the social milieu is unsupportive, and writing a thesis is like having a root canal that lasts a year and a half.
Jin: ...well, this will be good for me. I've had insufficient adversity in my life.
Book: If losing a spouse causes stress levels of one hundred, then the average grad student has stress levels at THREE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN.
Jin: ....
Book: Unless you grew up in a war zone, grad school will probably be the worst thing that ever happened to you.
Jin: !!!!!
The author went to grad school during grad-school-as-cage-match era, when professors often kicked off grad school orientations by saying, "Look to the right of you. Look to the left of you. By the end of this Ph.D program, only one of you will remain. Bwahahaha!" (The evil laughter was probably only implied.) Now that schools are proud of their retention rates, rather than their attrition, presumably things are a little less hardcore?
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no subject
Date: 2012-04-19 08:31 pm (UTC)Some places/people think that cred accrues from misery suffered. Phooey on that.
What's your program? (What I'm asking is, what will you be studying?)
no subject
Date: 2012-04-20 12:20 pm (UTC)"That's nice, dear, but remember you have to choose JUST TWO."
Fortunately I don't have to choose just yet.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-20 02:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-20 12:18 pm (UTC)the Jedi templeacademia! Cast them out!no subject
Date: 2012-04-20 02:46 am (UTC)I think my DGS read this book because that is EXACTLY what he said in our year's orientation meeting. So far, not true. Though we have lost 6-7 for various reasons, but that's only half our class (of course, comps could kill another half of us left). And what's more annoying, is none of the groups below us are losing them at that rate which means less money. :P
And while I wouldn't say it's got a stress level of 313 (LOL), everything in that first bit you paraphrase the book saying IS correct. But hey, better to know going in? Make sure you know what you're getting into.lol
no subject
Date: 2012-04-20 03:06 pm (UTC)What are you studying?
Enjoyed grad school!
Date: 2012-04-20 03:05 pm (UTC)New reader... :) Good luck!
Re: Enjoyed grad school!
Date: 2012-04-20 03:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-21 01:31 am (UTC)My program...was kind of diseased, and a joke. If I did it over, I would pick a different program (woo, hindsight). And I don't recommend doing grad school and having a parent die halfway through after protracted illness and family drama.
My classes were way, way easier than undergrad, for the most part--but that's going to depend wildly on where you went to undergrad and the nature of your grad program.
But even with that, it only took me an extra year to finish my Master's. I don't think "cage match" is the usual, although it is really important to talk to current students and try to get an idea of potential advisors' advising style and whether their students are happy and not too frustrated about their project (some frustration is normal). Like, at this point, in science, I'd look for a lab where the advisor 1) doesn't strictly pick the students' research topics, 2) but has opportunities on their projects, 3) has a good track record for securing funding for students, 4) focuses hard on getting students to publish multiple papers in the course of their thesis/dissertation, and proves this via the CVs of their current students, 5) provides autonomy but is available for regular check-ins and support, 6) is organized. No idea how things work in history.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-21 04:45 pm (UTC)And funding is a lot harder to come by in the humanities, so I'm not sure how applicable that is.
But it's always important to have an advisor who works to help their students get published, and is available for check-ins and support...and I'll just have to see how hard the classes are.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-21 06:15 pm (UTC)(I love it when advisors put up an info page for prospective students, describing their advising style and goals for students and sometimes admitting up front that they're really freaking busy, so if you want an advisor you can't check in with regularly, seek elsewhere. Dunno if humanities folks do that, but I've seen it a fair amount among bio people. Not other science folks, so much.)
no subject
Date: 2012-04-22 12:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-04-22 01:35 am (UTC)