Ramus

The official rule is that the instructor has the final say on what distinguishes the S/U version of the class from the graded version. In practice, every S/U class I took at OSU was the same as the graded class except that I didn't have to write a final paper.

I could have just lucked out, at least for the time being, but my experience in corporate life hasn't been similar to this, to use your phrase, "capitalist hellscape." There is corporatese, which I find by turns annoying and amusingly preposterous, and some mundane work, for which I have a relatively high tolerance. More often, though, my day-to-day has me doing challenging, interesting work, collaborating with a bunch of smart people, and being given a lot of opportunities to learn knew things and deepen my industry knowledge. You're right about job security - nothing beats tenure if you can

I agree with most of what you've said, @dr. telkanuru, though we'll have to agree to disagree on whether the PhD is "still a worthwhile experience" in spite of its problems. I will add, though, that working for $30-35k a year, while a pretty sweet deal by the standards of grad student pay, still means you're missing out on a good deal of income that you could have earned if you'd entered the workforce after earning your BA. Add to that missing out the development of skills and experience, potential promotions or raises, etc., and by the end of 5 years, you've lost out on a fair amount. I think

This. I'm right there with you, @helloperil. I told myself I could have until the five years of funding were up and that I'd bounce if I hadn't finished by then. Now I wish I had yanked the cord earlier. My advice on this point was, alas, of the "do as I say, not as I do" variety. Yes, yes, yes. It really sucks, and I feel for those who throw up their hands and say, "I just don't have the time or energy." At one point, I was working 45 hours a week, TAing and working an internship at the same time (and commuting 6 hours a week to the internship, to boot). It was absolutely ex

I'm sorry my posts have provoked in you such irritation and hostility. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors, and I hope your education and career choices bring you peace and happiness.

Speaking of the "infamous thread," I'd encourage all the newer members of the forum to read the first half of it. While it's become infamous around here for how toxic it become on the back end, as I was reading it last night, I was really struck by the quality of the initial discussion more generally but also the astuteness of the senior posters and the predictability of the younger posters (I was in the latter group at the time). Here are a few of the gems: And a few of the snarky, smug, and dismissive posts by those who were applying to schools that year: If your f

Eh, that other post wasn't the most generous or thoughtful thing I've ever written, but I don't think it was self-destructive. I don't see the basis for your attribution of defensiveness to me, though I don't see much value in litigating it. While I welcome healthy skepticism, your suspicions are misplaced. They seem to have arisen from your reading of what I say I "want": my intent was to express what I value now (in contrast to my undergrad days), not what I desire but am currently lacking. As it happens, my current position is precisely the job that allows me to pay a mortgage, go o

And I'm over here, virtually screaming, "For the love of God, think about your 401k!" In all seriousness, I think it's incredibly difficult to convince 22-year-old humanists that they should care about job security, or money, or work-life balance. At that age, I thought worrying about money and all that was so crass and small-minded. Now, I just want a job that doesn't drive me crazy and gives me the comfort to pay my mortgage, go on vacation (...eventually), and pursue my hobbies and interests. *Cue Progressive's "We can't protect you from becoming your parents" commercial.*

I definitely had flashbacks to "The Graduate School Ponzi Scheme" thread when making this post. Have I become VirtualMessage?! Maybe so, albeit without the vitriol. For the noobs:

While I caution y'all from placing too much stock in anecdotal data, allow me to share two brief examples of other recent PhD outcomes from my subfield. I imagine you all know the stories about those who end up in adjunct hell, but I wanted to share these two stories because they help illustrate what can happen even when you do everything "right." Person A: Graduated from the University of Michigan three years ago with two publications in hand, had participated in one of the keynote panels at the national conference in our field, and was well connected with all the big names in our histor

Sorry you feel that way. Feel free to ignore and continue on the path you're on. I wish you well, and I hope you end up in a stable, well-paying position that brings you security and happiness. Unfortunately, the likelihood of you or anyone else on this forum finding such a position in the professoriate is next to nil, which is why I'm compelled to "proselytize." I'm not looking for an apology, as things worked out fine for me. Please reserve your condescension for someone else. I think you're missing the point. It's not that people aren't intelligent. I was a smart undergradu

Whether you think she's a saint or a skeez, Karen Kelsky is more forthcoming about the fucked up state of academia -- its people, its job prospects, and its insane value system -- than any of the professors I had in undergrad or in my PhD program. For all those considering a PhD, I recommend you spend ten minutes of your time on this video: While I imagine most of you have heard the horror stories of the job market -- which really has gotten vastly worse in the last year -- I think Kelsky does a better job than most other explanations I've seen in presenting how the whole psycho

OSU '20 grad here, and I'll say that OP ain't wrong. Lotsa big egos and asshole vibes from Macpherson, Brewer, and Wheeler (sorry not sorry to be shady and name names), the kind of people who may be very smart but can be insufferable on an interpersonal level. My wife was a staff member in the department during my time there, and several times she came home talking about how Wheeler had badly mistreated her. So, obviously I have some bias here, but I do think how someone treats those beneath their station is pretty revealing of their personality. If you're unwilling to be kind to staff,

With all due respect, you have been advised many times to turn down partially funded offers, virtual programs, cash cow programs, and other really bad options. What makes you think a worse option would warrant a different response? Call me a grumpy old timer, but it seems to me that the responses to all your other posts aren't getting through. So let me put this as simply as possible: do not apply to, let alone consider an offer from, a program that will require you to pay anything out of pocket. Full stop.

Tbh, that's usually a bad sign. Programs that fund fully are vocal and transparent about it. Don't wait. If they don't fully fund, you should turn them down immediately. There is no good reason to even consider a humanities program that isn't fully funded. It shouldn't feel weird to you, because it's not going to be weird for them. They get this same thing every cycle. Be direct: "Can you please tell me about the nature of your funding package? How many years of funding do you offer? Are all years guaranteed? What's the annual stipend? What are the health care benefits? What, i