nina gorman

That's a good and difficult question (one I noticed on the poli sci forum as well). It's hard after putting so much time and effort into applications to switch gears and get grounded and rolling with other goals. I am researching other schools and will look at them more closely than I did this year , for one more go round next year (especially on the 25%, 75% stats for GREs, GPA's and other student outcomes for applicants (e.g % accepted/ denied) as listed on http://www.petersons.com.) Basically, will aim a little lower in rank for the schools and try to get with schools that have faculty and think tanks that match my research interests a little better (e.g. African civil wars, authoritarianism); Will try to get published for the first time and make some contact with academics that share my interests, maybe do a prison poetry workshop. Am trying to keep my eyes on the overall aims in my life vocationally (e.g. writing books on obstacles to peace and democracy, working with non-profits, ideally establishing a scholars retreat), and see the PhD as only one possible means to these ends. Will try to avoid the tunnel vision of aiming primarily for a professorship in academia (my 20 years as an adjunct has not been bad, just restrictive professionally and a bit socially), a professorship ideal which is progressively becoming more out of reach for even some of the most published ivy league applicants with impeccable stats. There's a lot of work to be done in this troubled world and a PhD may or may not be the best avenue to making our best contributions (or even to making a buck). nina aka liz gurley flynn

Hello companeros, In the poli sci forum, a couple of the posters came up with the theory of the crapshoot to explain how grad committees select the accepted, (a crapshoot albeit with some players possessing more strengths over others). I proposed a derivative of Marxian theory to partly explain the crapshoot phenomenon ,i.e., that the variable of increasing competition in academia combines with grad committee selection criteria in order of this priority: 1) research interests matching those of the committe and dept. power holders 2) availability of funding specific to certain applicants (e.g. U of Az dept I applied two took 8 of 70, half of which about are funded with grants specific to Native Americans, if they follow last year's protocol- and I am both pro affirmative action and pro quota ) 3) references on and off the record, especially iinternal 3) GRE scores (Is 800 better than 790? ) 4) grades (Is 4.0 really better than 3.93? ) and random factors (e.g. does the applicant like hats or look good in them?). Any other theories? Points for originality. Nina aka gurley flynn P.S. a little edgy - rejected today by fU of Md soc, first preference, 2 down and 1 to go

To Ammar and MVC and other Posters, Your crapshoot analagy sounds pretty fascinating/ realistic. My theory is that education, like other resources (jobs, oil, etc) is becoming more scarce and therefore, competitive. I think it was Marx who argued that the wages will progressively be leveled between professionals and proles (so, for example with my two masters degrees I am now making lslightly more than a Walmart or fast food manager but less per hour than my truck driving son who has not gone past high school). Similarly yet different is education in which more and more qualified people compete for fewer and fewer spots. My theory is that this intensifying competiton in academia occurs along with grad committees making decisions based on (in order of priority) 1) who can help them or the power holders in the dept. with their research (the fine nuances of which most applicants will never be privy to) 2) which foundations will be willing to fund which applicants (e.g. U of AZ which rejected me has about half of its grants going to Native Americans for the 8 folks they took out of 70 applicants- and I am still pro affirmative action even for quotas, unlike most of my Anglo peers) 3)which applicants agree with their areas of interest and social/political views, 4)references -esp. how fancy and internal the names are (off and on the books) 5) GRE scores (e.g Mmm Is this 800 better than this 790? ) 6) grades (is this 4.0 better than this 3.99) 7) other random bullcrap (e.g. does this applicant like hats)? This theory is one that may explain somewhat your expereince MVC in getting accepted 1 out of 2 with less experience last year and this year's fear of going 0 for 8 with acceptances this year i.e. the phenomenon of the almighty "Crap Shoot". P.S. May be partly grouchy since U of Md ditched me today - 2 down, 1 to go Nina aka gurly flynn

Rising Star, Interesting areas in geography. Can you point to any good sources or authors on obstacles to providing potable water in SubSaharan Africa or elsewhere on the continent? I understand about half the inhabitants of the continent struggle without running water/ sanitation/ drinkable water- hence, part of the reason for high child mortality rates from preventable contagious diseases. I would like to do a few papers on the sociological/ political obstacles to addressing this. Any ideas? Nina aka gurley flynn

Undergrad Bucks Community College A.A. 4.0 Temple 3.6 B.A. (psych major) Grad: John Jay College of Crim Justice M.A. 3.84 (forensic psych major) Temple U. M.A. in Sociology 3.6 GRE: 560 (Q)(38%) yuch; 600 (v)(84%); Analytic/Writing: 6.0 (90%) Adjunct lecturer and psychotherapist for about 20 years (am an old dudette of 50) with only a few poli sci courses as undergrad so returned to temple non-matric for couple courses (grad and undergrad) regret my single parenthood kept me working 50 hours a week (no child support for 18 yrs) and no publications/ some HIV program research experience and a few conference presentations/ political volunteer work for peace, prison health, etc. political justice poet /afraid ap committees may see me as lefty research interests: comparative politics esp. of political violence, civil wars in Africa, democratization movements authoritarianism, nationalism, military identity and military culture/ want to write and work for non-profit/ visit lecture in Africa and China /Rejected from U of AZ- / waiting on CUNY- Poli Sci / U of Md- Soc

Rising star, I am trying to get into grad school too and if accepted will likely be a grad assistant myself. Where are you applying to? Are you poli science major? I've been rejected by WUSTL for Poli Sci and waiting on CUNY for Poli sci and U of Md College Park for Soc. Nina aka Liz Gurley Flynn

Re: The Temple applicant with the prof declined tenure. That's something. The two profs I met there, Tony Lucero and Mike Hooper were both pretty cool- laid back but into their work. I have not had much interaction with their polisci dept since I just returned to Temple nonmatric grad in poic sci. The students I met there enjoyed the program and the profs but a few bemoaned the limited courses available some semesters. I found the culture particularly harsh in the sociology dept, tho, when was in the doctoral program there. For our qualifying exams for the MA (which allowed or disallowed us from continuning on to the PhD), the committee grading these two day essay exams gave about a dozen of us a "low pass", two or three of us a "high pass", and one or two a no pass. Most of us then received form letters telling us we were not sufficiently qualified to pursue the PhD and would do best to exit the program now. When some of us approached the committee about the letters (as we all had As and Bs and took our work seriously), we were told that they sent those letters every year and that it was all part of the "initiation process" into the PhD program. Other soc students in my cohort and myself were pretty turned off nevertheless by this harsh culture, but most stayed on anyway. I was glad I had to leave to go to Florida to help family (where I had the luck of landing a f.t. job teaching with my psych Masters at a HBCU). nina aka gurly flynn

Awesome quantitative score. I would think you would be desirable for some schools especially those with a political economy or demographic or economics focus.(e.g. SUNY, Columiba). My best guess is that they wonder about your sociology interest and/or experience, and/or if your research interests match theirs. Did you propose a specific research plan? Professors and think tanks from schools to work with? How would you gauge your writing skills on your writing sample? Was your sample well referenced with a good dialogue with the sociological iterature? Did you give them strong academic references from your professors? Nina I was rejected from CUNY last year. Trying U of Md this year for soc and couple others for Poli Sci. Nina

Dear MVC: Sorry for mistake of calling you despairing when you specifically said you were not desparing yet over possible future strike out. I also didn't answer directly your poll- I'll continue my part time adjunct work with a community college and my part time counseling with severely mentally ill folks. Also plan to write on civil war in Congo, try to get a few poems and papers published (am not published yet), pick back up more with some volunteer political work (hard to find the democratic socialists in Philly tho) and/or do a poetry workshop in the local prison, and seek out some professors in Philly working on my research interests. Of course, before I do all this, but after I get the final rejection letter, I'll probably be a slumpy and grouchy B, and just lay around feeling sorry for myself for a few weeks. (I figure I deserve a few good crying spells and self- beratement from all this hard work on courses and applicaitons - could be cathartic). Nina

Dear Despairing, I too am preparing for the possibility of striking out completely - especially since I've applied to only three programs, but I do not want any PhD. I want to take content specific courses and to work with specific professors to prepare to write books (i.e., on civil war and authoritarianism esp. in Africa) and do community speaking for non-profit. I have taught f.t for an HBCU and have done adjunct work in social science for close to 20 years. Ideally, I aim for f.t. teaching but don't expect it at a major urban U. I also aspire to teach overseas a bit while researching or adjuncting / visiting lecturing. Academia as you note is extremely competitive and getting worse. Hence, a poli sci advisor at Temple discouraged me from pursuing the doctorate for purposes of securing a f.t. professor position, partly since Temple had several hundred applications for a few teaching slots for the poli sci dept there where he teaches. Most universities get at least 100 or more for a slot or two, but much less if they don't offer as much pay (e.g. community colleges, historically black universities, catholic ones). There are still vacancies if you consider these lower paying colleges. The community college I work for is having trouble hiring since it pays low forties and can't attract the well published or experienced. II saw both LaSalle and Barry have trouble filling spots with their 40,000 salary offers (with even green PhDs). As you probably know, most universities want publicaiton history and the major urban ones prefer Ivy league as well. Don't despair. There are opportunites with less prestigious schools; adjuncting that is still pretty easy to get despite weak pay in many places (are some islands of decent pay) and there are non-profits and think tanks, and sometimes temp fill in opportunities, and for better or worse in f.t. academia is still partly based on who you know and whether your speciality area is what they are seeking. Despite our oppression with slim pickens, we are among the highly privileged to have gotten this far. Half of Africa's adults still have not even completed primary school and walk for water every day. It's the way of the world. Nina