boxyroxy

I am beginning my second year and have passed my qualifiers. We are required to take an entire sequence of probability theory which spans two semesters. This class is killing me. I am anticipating that I will not be able to solve a single question on the midterm, the homeworks are impossibly hard - this is the first year they offered this course. My entire cohort feels more or less this way about the difficulty of this class. I've had a 4.0 since my masters up to my first year here. I suspect due to all the time I am sinking in this class, and the fact that I am barely learning anything, that this 4.0 will no longer be there after this year/semester. But I am a PhD candidate at this point, and there are no qualifiers or other department mandated exams on this material. In any other department, I am supposed to be spending time doing research or at least looking for topics and potential advisors. I am turning to you guys to ask - what should I do? A. stop worrying about GPA and focus on developing a research direction and the other easier classes B. grind for the A - a good grade in this class will be impressive for advisors

It is indeed distasteful for a professor to speak to you that way. However I would heed your professors advice about advanced math classes if your goal is a phd. Seems like you need to start treating this as a business transaction. Your professor seems to think phds all end up in academia unless they wind up in industry by mistake. You want a letter from him, then you should tell him you want to go into academia (whether you actually do, is up to you - 5 years after you start your phd). If your professor truly believes people end up in industry due to something going wrong, then your professor must believe things go wrong for at least half the statistics graduates in the US. His thinking is very backwards and really not grounded in reality. I would be concerned for the students being advised by this professor.