waxing_academic

So, we all know that grad school demands so much of our time and energy that it is impossible to get everything done. You have to balance course work, research, writing, and TA responsibilities like an olympic juggler, continually shift your focus from one thing to another (something always suffers), and try to keep your sanity in the process. It's a constant strain on your self-confidence and spirit. So, when you get those compliments or small victories, it means so much. You savor them. You write the compliments on a post-it note, save the nice e-mails, and relish the positive feedback. This is the honeymoon phase of the relationship; the calm before the storm. Then, just when you start to actually feel good about yourself for a moment, when you think, 'Yeah, I can do this... I do have something to contribute... I deserve to be here," academia bitch slaps you. And, you're back to feeling like something your professors stepped in. Academia won't allow you to start feeling good about yourself. Academia puts you in your place. Academia is an abusive relationship. Sorry to vent. I thought it was better to do it here than on Facebook, where I might regret it later. Feel free to vent, too!

Thanks for the responses, all. It doesn't sound like any of you had courses that required the 30 hours a week that we were required to spend. I'm glad that others' experiences in general have been more positive. It does make me wonder about our department's treatment of grad students. Why would they subject us to this when other programs manage to teach their students stats without demoralizing them? I guess some departments still allow the abuse-grad-students-to-train-them model.

Hi everyone, Most of us will have to complete required Statistics courses for our programs. So, I'm wondering what everyone else's experiences have been like, especially for grad students in the social sciences. Mine was a frustrating, all-consuming, anxiety-provoking, mentally abusive, and somewhat traumatic experience. We were constantly made to feel like we weren't good enough and weren't putting in enough effort, even though we all put at least 30 hrs/week into that course alone. I was one of the 9 of 14 in my cohort that passed the first semester and made it to the second. The other 5 will have to repeat it, and I'm told by upper year students that more of us will inevitably fail the second semester. I'm pretty pissed about the way we were all treated, both by the professor and by the department who enabled the bad behavior, and am not happy about the prospect of repeating this sequence. I was told by someone from another Research I university that this isn't typical. I was hoping to find that out. There are some guiding questions below, but don't feel like you have to answer all of them. Questions: *How many and what statistics courses do you have to take? *Is/Was your stats professor a sadist? *How much emphasis does your department put on quantitative methods? *Is there any extra assistance offered by your program, like a summer course? *Do students ever or often have to repeat the course? *Did your cohort work together, or was it every grad for himself/herself? *How many hours per week do/did you spend on stats work? *What emotions did you experience while taking statistics? *Did you want to use quantitative methods before the course? Do you want to after the course? *Any advice from those who survived to those who are going through it? *Any other comments/questions/advice? Thanks! waxing_academic