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Glasperlenspieler

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  1. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler got a reaction from Cheshire_Cat in Trigger Warnings   
    Last post and then I'm done.
     
    While I can't access the two articles he links to because they are behind paywall (if someone with access want to send them to me, I'd be grateful), this seems to indicate that my reading of the letter is more or less on the right track. Chicago isn't so much  concerned with trigger warnings and safe spaces as pedagocial practices. Rather, they're seeking to defend freedom of speech in such a way that all ideas can be profitably discussed: http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2016/08/university-of-chicagos-free-speech-crusade.html
     
    Furthermore, the University's free expression statement shows that this is not simply a new response to movements in academia that Chicago dislikes, but rather a retiteration of their commitment to certain values in the face of what they see as recent threats to them.
  2. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler got a reaction from Gvh in Trigger Warnings   
    I suppose I’m somewhat more sympathetic to the University of Chicago’s position. While I’m not against the use of trigger warnings per se and I do thing Chicago could have approached the topic better, it strikes me that their message is not so much an attack on a particular pedagogical practice as a statement that they are unwilling to condone the sort of shenanigans and serious attacks on academic freedom and intellectual integrity that have gone on in the past few years.
     
    Consider:
    -The Kipnis affair at Northwestern (http://jezebel.com/feminist-students-protest-feminist-prof-for-writing-abo-1707714321)
    -Columbia students demant trigger warnings for greek mythology: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/05/14/columbia-students-claim-greek-mythology-needs-a-trigger-warning/
    -Identity politics run amok at Oberlin (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/05/30/the-new-activism-of-liberal-arts-colleges) and Wesleyan (https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/09/23/wesleyan-students-boycott-campus-newspaper-threaten-funding)
    -Speakers being disinvited or disrupted for holding unappealing views at Cardiff (http://www.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2015/10/28/comment-the-attack-on-germaine-greer-shows-identity-politics), Yale (http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/11/the-new-intolerance-of-student-activism-at-yale/414810/), and Brown (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/06/brown-university-professor-denounces-mccarthy-witch-hunts.html)
     
    And this is all in the past two years!
     
    So while I agree that we ought to approach difficult topics with caution and let students make informed decisions about what is best for them and their intellectual development (and perhaps trigger warning are an effective way to do this). I can understand Chicago’s position and see it as taking a stand for academic freedom and the free exchange of ideas, and I rather appreciate their reluctance to get pulled into the muck that these cases demonstrate.
     
    Indeed, I tend to think that a lot of the above problems come from the increasingly consumerist approach to higher education that exists in this country where students see colleges and universities as offering a service and thus have the right to complain and demand change when the service doesn’t match their perceived needs and desires. I think there are some strengths to this approach but a number of risks as well. I certainly don’t know the best way to handle these difficulties and I’m not convinced that Chicago has the right approach, but I do appreciate them taking a stand.
    Two other pieces of food for thought:
    http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/253641-obama-hits-coddled-liberal-college-students
    http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/189543/trigger-warnings-on-campus
  3. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler reacted to ExponentialDecay in Achieving a publication in order to appear more attractive to Ph.D committees   
    I don't sit on an admissions committee. That said, for the purposes of formal academia, it's only a publication if it is published in a non-undergraduate peer-reviewed journal. As a method, it may be cheaper than a conference, but it is also more uncertain and takes a much longer time. Keep in mind that, even if it is accepted at a journal, you will most likely be asked to make revisions, and the turnover for the whole thing is six months at minimum. I would also check with your professor if he thinks the specific paper you have in mind is publishable, and is not just saying "a publication is a good way to get something solid on your C.V." in a theoretical in a vacuum sense.
    tl;dr if you have a publishable paper, of course you should send it out to journals. But your PhD admissions strategy probably shouldn't be wishing really, really hard that it gets accepted, if you know what I mean.
  4. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler reacted to maxhgns in Which school is good in philosophy of mind?   
    Look for the programs where the people you read teach. You should also start by looking at the Philosophical Gourmet's specialty rankings. Don't take them as the gospel's own truth--there are a lot of problems with them--but it is a good place to start looking. Those are all among the best PhD programs for phil. of mind, but most programs with strengths in phil. of science and metaphysics are also going to be pretty good for mind. And don't treat them as a strict ordinal ranking. 
  5. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler reacted to poliscar in Comprehensive List of PhD's that Require Subject Test   
    Skim it, learn character names, plot-lines, details regarding meter & poetics, etc. You don't need to read in detail to succeed on the Lit GRE; the identification questions are generally quite shallow. 

    That being said, I am a little puzzled as to why you're applying to English programs. Whether you feel the material is worthwhile or not, all of the programs you seem to be interested in will also require you take to graduate coursework in pre-modern lit. Princeton, for example, only allows you to opt out of a single period from Medieval - Modern lit. Likewise, the program at Berkeley has all PhD students take a graduate course on Shakespeare. If the cursory knowledge required by the GRE is potentially a deal-breaker for you, are you going to be ok with working with the material at a more advanced level? 

    I also have to say that I think you're doing yourself a disfavour by avoiding Shakespeare/Milton/etc. To play the devil's advocate, I'd point out that Homi Bhabha has written on Milton. In the same vein, you'd be hard-pressed to avoid The Tempest in Postcolonial & Critical Race studies. There's also a lot of imporant recent scholarship that continues to draw on this work—Feisel Mohamed's Milton and the Post-Secular Present, for example, or Fred Moten's reading of Shakespeare's sonnets in In the Break. Whether you enjoy it or not is really beside the point, because you're going to have a hard time getting away from it, even if it isn't your primary research focus. 
  6. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler got a reaction from RachelH in Fulbright 2016 - 2017   
    Since nobody else has responded, I'll give it a shot.
     
    I can't speak for the relative competitiveness for the two countries (you are talking about the research grant, right?), but I suspect that given similar acceptance rates, you'll have a better shot at whichever country you can make a more convincing case for the applicability of your research project.
     
    That being said, I'd like to urge you not to think of Austria as a consolation prize (not saying that you are doing this, but I think it's not an uncommon perspective). After living in Austria for almost a year now, I find it actually preferable to living in Germany (full disclosure: I haven't actually lived in Germany long-term, but I am fairly familiar with it at this point). With a Fulbright, I think it's fair to factor in quality of living, and depending on your interests Austria has a lot to offer and in my mind some substantial benefits over Germany. Particularly if you are into the outdoors, Austria (especially the western part) has a lot to offer. Plus being a smaller country, I think Austria can be a little quirkier and more unique which I really appreciate.
  7. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler reacted to maxhgns in Religion MA to Philosophy PhD   
    It's easy enough to think of scholars with a research concentration in Schopenhauer's thought. What's harder is finding philosophers at PhD-granting programs (who aren't emeritus). The only other scholar who springs to mind immediately is Dale Jacquette at Bern. Paul Guyer (Brown) has published on Schopenhauer, as has Lydia Goehr (Columbia). I guess some time peering at the Schopenhauer Gesellschaft might reveal a few more. Incidentally, they currently have an essay competition on for an essay on Schopenhauer and religion.
  8. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler reacted to Romanista in Fall 2017 Applicants   
    I don't understand why some people want to be creative writers and think that the next step is to get an MFA or PhD in the same subject. You don't need those credentials. The writers that you inevitably must study in order to write very often do not even have MFAs or PhDs in creative writing because those are somewhat new degrees. Creative writers should embrace this, because you can still write without having to go through the stresses (and poverty) of graduate school. If your plan is to teach creative writing at the college level then perhaps an MFA or PhD could be worth it, but there are actually tenured faculty who teach creative writing with just a BA. Those people are famous writers but still, that should give you an indication of the value of those degrees and how difficult the job market is. 
    Inevitably some won't like this post but I have to vent. MFAs are really just cash cows for the corporate university. It is true that the university will always profit of off you studying there, even if you are fully funded. But at least in literature or comp rhet or sociology or computer science or whatever, you are dealing with the type of work and research that can only be done on campus, with access to expert faculty and up to date facilities. Creative writing is a lot more spontaneous and it just bothers me that everyone has this kneejerk gotta go to grad school mentality toward creative writing. For the most part, all this does is allow universities to make more money and then give it to administrators instead of adjuncts. 
    People will pay you to write. It won't be creative writing, but it will probably lead to a much better life than taking a chance on the academic job market and only ending up with adjunct work to show for it. It's almost an illusion to think that you can make a living as a creative writer, and slightly less of an illusion to think you can do so as a tenured professor of creative writing. Besides, you won't even be able to write full-time if you are a professor. A creative writer would be much better served by finding a job that supports him or her so that they can write in their freetime. It won't be easy, but writing rarely is.
    Go to graduate school in the humanities if the kind of research and or job requires that you do so. I just don't think that creative writing fits that maxim.
  9. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler reacted to maxhgns in Music and Philosophy   
    True, those are important exceptions. Thanks for catching that. I don't think either of them is much of a fan of post-structuralism, but Goehr definitely knows a lot of "continental" philosophy. I'm not as sure about Higgins but you're right, she probably does as well. (At any rate, they're both knowledgeable about "analytic" philosophy of music!)
  10. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler got a reaction from marjorie_emc2 in Able to get hired in US with a distance-learning degree from an overseas college?   
    When applying for MA programs for Fall 2017, don't just focus on UWM. There are about 5 or 6 other well respected philosophy MA programs that offer full funding (I think there's a list floating around on these forums somewhere). Apply to as many as you afford/that seem interesting. Given your psych background/interest, Georgia State might be a particularly good fit for you.
  11. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler reacted to SamStone in M.A. advice   
    What is your background in? And how much experience do you have in philosophy? Those two pieces of information would really help in replying with some advice on what programs you should be applying to...
    I am currently finishing at one of the PGR-mentioned programs, and from my experience many of the students don't have undergraduate degrees in philosophy—if they do, they come from lesser-known colleges and want to improve their chances of getting in to great PhD programs. The programs that were referred to as the "high-ranked" MA programs (though there is no official ranking as far as I know) when I was applying two years ago are, in no particular order: Northern Illinois University, Brandeis, Georgia State, Tufts, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Western Michigan, and Virginia Tech. If you're goal is to get into a top phd program, then I would definitely recommend applying to many—if not all—of those. But there are also other good programs to look into. For instance, UM-STL, SFSU, LSU, Cal-State LA. The reason why those programs is double. First, the faculty that teach at the "top" MA programs are most-likely well known, they are very active in their fields (publishing, conferences, etc.), and many of them have probably also taught at other PhD programs in the past. Second, because of the first reason the schools can, as you mentioned, admit the most promising students. That said, I would add that "most promising" can mean many different things to different departments—some programs feel that the 'most promising' students are not necessarily the ones that come from amazing undergrad situations but are students that have an obvious intensity of interest and have potential to grow. (See, for instance, Robert Schwartz's from UWM, post here: http://schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com/2009/09/applying-to-ma-programs-in-philosophy.html). 
    Regarding funding: a high percentage of these programs have great funding opportunities. So I don't know exactly what you mean that "funding looks scarce." While it is true that Tufts and Brandeis are known for costing quite a bit...I don't think that those two serve as the standard. For example, NIU, UWM, GSU all offer funding through TA-ships, which (I think) most students admitted receive. Also: V-Tech, SFSU, and CSLA (and I think LSU) offer funding, though maybe not as much as the others. What makes you skeptical in this regard? Sure, the programs that offer funding don't pay a ton of money, but as far as MA-level study the money is totally live-able...how much would be necessary for it not being "scarce"? (Philosophy isn't necessarily known for leading to high-paying jobs...)
    Anyway, I don't see why you shouldn't apply to several of the MA programs, if you have the money to apply to more than a few. I didn't have a background in philosophy and I was accepted into 3 of the 7 that I applied to. I would just recommend making sure your writing sample and letters of recommendation are promising.
     
  12. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler reacted to jjb919 in 2016 Acceptance Thread   
    Accepted to Fordham off the wait list!
  13. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler reacted to ClassApp in Best way(s) to work on and strengthen foreign language skills?   
    Well, the first thing is that schools (particularly graduate schools) often offer '____ language for reading knowledge' courses, which means it'll be an advanced/quicker class designed not for speaking but for academic reading. You should take advantage of this if you have the time in your new program. It'll take half the time or less than learning it in traditional LANG 101 classes.  You might be able to have an independent study with a professor in a language department if you don't have access to the academic reading classes.
    You also might be able to get funding from your school to learn languages (I'm funded by my undergrad this summer to go to Germany and do an immersive German program), which is a super quick (and fun!) way to learn the language.
    I have to warn you that I'm a Classicist, but I'm going to recommend those old hard-core grammar books for learning languages, if you're teaching yourself, especially for reading knowledge. I personally just like to have the conjugations presented to me, the uses of the subjunctive explained, etc. That said, if grammar isn't your thing or it scares you a bit, you might be better off with a newer book that focuses on practicing with sentences and doesn't directly explain grammar (this just drive me crazy, but everyone learns differently!). 
    I would recommend against a Rosetta Stone approach--these programs are designed for daily conversation, which is not the grammar or standard vocabulary set that you need. I know you weren't leaning towards it, but just reaffirming!
    So essentially, a lot of suggestions here depend on your situation. I know these aren't books--but maybe something to think about regardless
  14. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler reacted to __________________________ in Questions for Current PhD Applicants   
    Thanks unraed :).
    Ummm... yeah.  Hm.  This is the main thing I'm getting from reading about your experience teaching.  I was teaching in a public high school in a rust belt town with a poverty rate of 35% and a lot of issues with gang/drug related crimes and rural poverty.  And yes, I consider the job I had to be exploitative.  I had no benefits, was paid on an hourly wage for hours that only reflected a fraction of the hours I was actually working, and had very little support from administration and other teachers (including basic things like being kept informed about basic district policy).  If that's not exploitative, I'm not sure what is.  I now live on the south side of Chicago and I'm not teaching now, but I can tell you for a fact that the teacher's union and the way public education here is f***ed up.  There was a city-wide strike on Friday.  The union has very little power and the way public schools here is very top-down, with public schools getting shut down in low-income neighborhoods in favor of a charter school system that literally makes a profit off of taking students from adverse backgrounds and training them to do well on the SAT through extremely regimented, authoritarian, and paternalistic teaching methods and piping them to name-brand schools.  I don't know what it's like in Austin, but I can tell you I didn't teach kids who read Derrida.  I taught kids who were barely literate and were trying to graduate so they could get out of school system that had failed them and devote more time to supporting their families.  I taught homeless kids, kids who sold drugs, kids who were parents to their own children and/or to their younger siblings.  Since those are the types of kids who most need teachers -- good teachers, passionate teachers -- that's why I'm reticent to say that teaching is a solid "plan B."  Because it's a completely different ballgame than going to graduate school to be a literature scholar.  There's no comparison.  If you're doing it, more power to you, etc. but it sounds like your teaching situation is pretty exceptional.  I.e., not what many peoples' experience would be.
    As for teaching kids of the 1%, this is a lesser of two evils teaching gig for a lot of people.  I've heard grad students on this forum and IRL talk about teaching in a prep school or a suburban district as a plan B many times.  I don't fault that route at all, but it's a different can of worms.  I still don't think it'd be a simple or smooth-as-silk transition, but yeah, actually, coming out of graduate school in literature with a Ph.D., I would think you'd be better prepared for that work than teaching at a public school like the ones near where I live now or where I was teaching.
    Thank you.  That's putting it lightly.  None of this is to hate on public schools or being a teacher -- I'm a big advocate of teachers and public education, but I also support teachers' rights and supporting teachers who are passionate about doing that, not just having a plan B that they have no idea about for the event that they don't get a job in academia.  I think that's misleading.
  15. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler reacted to unræd in Questions for Current PhD Applicants   
    You've misread molloy's post. He's one of the most tireless advocates here on issues of income inequality and the importance and rewards of teaching socioeconomically disadvantaged students, which he has, you know, actually done. In the phrase "the alternative being to be lucky enough to find a job teaching the children of the 1%" the "teaching the children of the 1%" percent is a bad thing, the downside to taking a more stable and financially secure job in a private school instead of a public one. Telling him what he has no idea about when you have no idea about him is, again, not the most charitable of possible responses.
  16. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler reacted to AbrasaxEos in Questions for Current PhD Applicants   
    @rising_star told me to come on over from the Religion boards to say a bit from perspective of someone who just about finished a PhD and then decided to straight up quit.  Just about finished as in halfway through my dissertation.  I'm not going to chastise anyone here, or make vague admonishments about "you don't know what it's like" or "wait until you get where I am!"  because I don't think they are helpful.  I also don't think any of you would really listen to more of this, as you all seem to be well-knowledgeable about the grim, meathook realities of academia and everything that it involves, and don't need another white guy hanging around wagging fingers.
    All that I would say is that it is ok to do something else.  You can quit your PhD at any point in the process.  Don't sit around being miserable, developing avoidance problems of various sorts while you make excuses based on the finest of all fallacies, that of the sunk cost.  It has already been said here, but you can be passionate about something and find it fulfilling and not have to do it as a job.
    I don't regret my time moving towards a PhD, it gave me some nice getting paid a rela time reading and writing and thinking about interesting problems, and taught me plenty.  I don't blame my advisors, or my program, nor did I feel exploited by them.  I made the choices that I did, including to go to graduate school in the first place, and I take my excessively idealistic self to task for those.  What I will say is that I think you should look at the PhD as leading to a job.  If you don't, how the hell will anyone take you seriously enough to actually give you one when the time comes to apply?  Don't make excuses about the inherent worth of your program, or your path of study.  It isn't inherently worthy of anything, it is shit until you take it and put it through the alembic to spin gold.  I think this is where I do look strongly at my five years in a graduate program and have some regrets.  I spent a lot of time trying to convince myself and others that I didn't care if I got a job when I was done, or that the study of religion (insert your field here) was just so interesting and diverting that studying it was reward enough.  Go read through my earlier posts and you'll see me doing it left and right. 
    I don't know if this is convincing, it just want to be a voice that says you can just do a job that you generally enjoy.  I'm not passionate about what I now do during the week for work, I like it, I like my co-workers, I'm good at what I do, and I get paid a lot more money than I probably could have expected to make as an academic outside of a tenured prof at a top-tier institution.  I read Derrida, Butler, and every book I own on Late Antiquity during my ample free time, I go to SBL/AAR if I want to, and I guess I could probably even give a paper if I so desired (which i don't, because I also think these are mostly for people who need CV lines, and I have no need for such).  It isn't all about money, or about pure pragmatics, but I just think we ought to be sure we're not calling skubala Shinola.
    You can flame me out of here or question my motives if you would like, and as has already been done.  Who knows, maybe I'm a PhD applying for jobs a full month or so after most of them have already been offered and I'm trying to thin the herds.  I suppose if you really don't believe me, I can send you a redacted copy of my withdrawal form or something.  Anyhow, I'm glad to talk more or PM, etc.  so please do reach out.
  17. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler reacted to thinkingandthinking in Questions for Current PhD Applicants   
    Yeah, I'm with you on the LA/NY analogy--though, tbh, when you find yourself actually headed that way, the advice you get from many (often not actually inside the industry, though, which I guess is the major difference) is about the same as it is here. I was one of those fresh-out-of-HS kids that deeply wanted to go to art school and pursue that path, but was convinced out of it by the "but it's not practical" crowd (aka my parents). Now I'm on a different path (one that I'm also deeply passionate about, though), but look back and regret that choice: I realize that although I would never have (probably) been able to be just a painter--in the same way that a TT job might be an illusive dream--there are jobs, many of them, adjacent that I could have pursued and made work with that background. I'm not going to let the same discourse that persuaded me out of an arts career persuade me out of this. I'm not going to make the same mistake I did before about whether or not to follow a passion. I'm not going to leave the chance to do one of the things I deeply care about for at least a few years behind, only to realize that there are things I would have been set up to do, even if not the ultimate dream, again. As I said before, where I work now, I know lots of people who have very recently graduated with humanities PhDs--aka, they, and everyone they've graduated with that didn't find academic employment, have found fine enough jobs. Maybe I'm wrong, or have a one-sided image (though it's not like these people are coming from a top-top-tier program, so I'm guessing it's somewhat representative) but I don't see it as a line between employed and out-right unemployed--just employed or not-academically-employed. Some of these colleagues are the excessively bitter ones, but, I'm also lucky that many of them are supportive of what I'm doing, many of them don't regret having taken that detour. Maybe, though, I just remain the overly idealistic artistic type that wouldn't particularly mind living sparsely to pursue a passion--and have realized that having slightly more to spend on living space/etc., but w/o work I'm dedicated to, is more depressing than the other side. (Not for everyone, of course, I realize--with kids, etc. depending on you for stable income or so on. But I'm happy to sacrifice, and in a place to do so without hurting anyone in doing so, so, certainly not a norm.) (Not to mention, my dad, who was the main force in the "do it, because it's practical" has recently been backpedaling hard on that: realizing that he spent so long chasing a "practical" career--some of it definitely important for family support, but also definitely not all of it--and missed out on doing anything particularly meaningful. I'm not going to follow that, and he doesn't want me to, anymore).
  18. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler reacted to emmajust in Fulbright 2016 - 2017   
    Do you remember when they were moved up from the alternate list? Was it a week after the decisions were released, or months later?
  19. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler reacted to js17981 in Questions for Current PhD Applicants   
    It is a tough question to answer. I don't know that I can. I think I certainly would have wondered about it, too, but I also thought, when I applied to a PhD, that this was one of the very few lines of work that I would be happy in. 
    That was a naive thing to think, I came to realize around two or three years into PhD. And not because I was hating grad work, but because I realized it was just sort of a limiting way to think about myself and my career options. 
  20. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler got a reaction from jillcicle in Questions for Current PhD Applicants   
    js17981 you mention regretting that you ever got a PhD. Out of curiosity, do you regret it more than you would have regretted not getting one if you had chosen to go another path? I think this is a hard question to answer (counterfactuals are always hard), but I think I know myself well enough to recognize that if were to chose to not even attempt to pursue a PhD, I would very likely spend the rest of my life wondering what if.
    I recognize the odds of ever attaining a tenure track academic position are low, but I also think that I have the skill set to have at least as good of a shot as anyone else and I recognize that there are few careers that are as attractive to me. Given these facts I would much rather give it my best shot than always wonder if I could have made it. There's of course a point when this line of thought stops being tenable, and one should start surveying other options (and it's good to be cognizant of these goong in), but I'm not there yet and am reasonably confident that I can recognize it when/it I am.
  21. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler got a reaction from savay in Questions for Current PhD Applicants   
    js17981 you mention regretting that you ever got a PhD. Out of curiosity, do you regret it more than you would have regretted not getting one if you had chosen to go another path? I think this is a hard question to answer (counterfactuals are always hard), but I think I know myself well enough to recognize that if were to chose to not even attempt to pursue a PhD, I would very likely spend the rest of my life wondering what if.
    I recognize the odds of ever attaining a tenure track academic position are low, but I also think that I have the skill set to have at least as good of a shot as anyone else and I recognize that there are few careers that are as attractive to me. Given these facts I would much rather give it my best shot than always wonder if I could have made it. There's of course a point when this line of thought stops being tenable, and one should start surveying other options (and it's good to be cognizant of these goong in), but I'm not there yet and am reasonably confident that I can recognize it when/it I am.
  22. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler got a reaction from klader in Questions for Current PhD Applicants   
    js17981 you mention regretting that you ever got a PhD. Out of curiosity, do you regret it more than you would have regretted not getting one if you had chosen to go another path? I think this is a hard question to answer (counterfactuals are always hard), but I think I know myself well enough to recognize that if were to chose to not even attempt to pursue a PhD, I would very likely spend the rest of my life wondering what if.
    I recognize the odds of ever attaining a tenure track academic position are low, but I also think that I have the skill set to have at least as good of a shot as anyone else and I recognize that there are few careers that are as attractive to me. Given these facts I would much rather give it my best shot than always wonder if I could have made it. There's of course a point when this line of thought stops being tenable, and one should start surveying other options (and it's good to be cognizant of these goong in), but I'm not there yet and am reasonably confident that I can recognize it when/it I am.
  23. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler got a reaction from HumanCylinder in Questions for Current PhD Applicants   
    js17981 you mention regretting that you ever got a PhD. Out of curiosity, do you regret it more than you would have regretted not getting one if you had chosen to go another path? I think this is a hard question to answer (counterfactuals are always hard), but I think I know myself well enough to recognize that if were to chose to not even attempt to pursue a PhD, I would very likely spend the rest of my life wondering what if.
    I recognize the odds of ever attaining a tenure track academic position are low, but I also think that I have the skill set to have at least as good of a shot as anyone else and I recognize that there are few careers that are as attractive to me. Given these facts I would much rather give it my best shot than always wonder if I could have made it. There's of course a point when this line of thought stops being tenable, and one should start surveying other options (and it's good to be cognizant of these goong in), but I'm not there yet and am reasonably confident that I can recognize it when/it I am.
  24. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler got a reaction from thinkingandthinking in Questions for Current PhD Applicants   
    js17981 you mention regretting that you ever got a PhD. Out of curiosity, do you regret it more than you would have regretted not getting one if you had chosen to go another path? I think this is a hard question to answer (counterfactuals are always hard), but I think I know myself well enough to recognize that if were to chose to not even attempt to pursue a PhD, I would very likely spend the rest of my life wondering what if.
    I recognize the odds of ever attaining a tenure track academic position are low, but I also think that I have the skill set to have at least as good of a shot as anyone else and I recognize that there are few careers that are as attractive to me. Given these facts I would much rather give it my best shot than always wonder if I could have made it. There's of course a point when this line of thought stops being tenable, and one should start surveying other options (and it's good to be cognizant of these goong in), but I'm not there yet and am reasonably confident that I can recognize it when/it I am.
  25. Upvote
    Glasperlenspieler got a reaction from Dr. Old Bill in Questions for Current PhD Applicants   
    js17981 you mention regretting that you ever got a PhD. Out of curiosity, do you regret it more than you would have regretted not getting one if you had chosen to go another path? I think this is a hard question to answer (counterfactuals are always hard), but I think I know myself well enough to recognize that if were to chose to not even attempt to pursue a PhD, I would very likely spend the rest of my life wondering what if.
    I recognize the odds of ever attaining a tenure track academic position are low, but I also think that I have the skill set to have at least as good of a shot as anyone else and I recognize that there are few careers that are as attractive to me. Given these facts I would much rather give it my best shot than always wonder if I could have made it. There's of course a point when this line of thought stops being tenable, and one should start surveying other options (and it's good to be cognizant of these goong in), but I'm not there yet and am reasonably confident that I can recognize it when/it I am.
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