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I was merely expressing my frustration. This is called the venting thread, right? No need for you to be a jerk about the wait list torture that I'm going through right now, especially considering you're not in the same position. It's not "spam." I'm not out in the English forums pressuring people and telling them to make a decision already. I'm in the venting thread talking in general about my frustrations in the application process. Get over yourselves, both of you.

Without even seeing your responses, I impulsively emailed the DGS last night in a fit of impatient despair. Hopefully I can get some more clarity from her soon! This is really tearing me up.

Dear fellow F15 folks (accepted, rejected, and waitlisted):

Thanks for responses, folks! I think I've reached this point too! I'm wondering specifically about contacting DGS vs. head of adcomm. Did you only speak to the former, not the latter at all the schools? I've only spoken to head of adcomm, not DGS... erggg I hope that hasn't been interpreted as lack of interest in the program.

An additional quick question: have you all been in contact with the DGSes or the head of the adcomm (or both) at your wait list schools?

Not sure where to post this but a brutal and depressing read from VICE: Striking Grad Students on What It's Like to Live on $15,000 a Year Luckily, York U has been successful in striking for their demands. Toronto on the other hand... still going. Another one, from the perspective of two grad students. University of Toronto: Boundless Exploitation–“Business as Usual” IS the Problem

Spring Break starts for me this week! But with a 2/2 load and a thesis and two seminar papers due rather soon, I'm thinking my break will probably play out like this:

It is more common than not to have schools accept transfer credits from an MA degree. There is always a maximum number of credits that can be transferred and most US schools will accept credits from other US schools (though not all). It certainly would become trickier transferring international credits to a US institution, making me think it's not altogether encouraged by departments. ETA: Yes, apologies, should have noted I'm speaking from English Ph.D. standpoint only! (Thought that was a rather general standard, but I guess not!)

ARGGGGHHHHHH. Slow, selfish people who are "marinating" with their decisions about grad school offers: just. decide. Do you not realize that there are dozens of people waiting on YOUR decision, whose whole future 5-6 years depend on you, much like the way you were once at the whim of adcomm decisions?!

Either that or have a "soft" deadline for decisions (that's actually somewhat hard) on, say, April 10. Then, the next five days can be for shuffling around and finalizing a cohort. Hrmm. I guess I'll have to stay in extra close contact with the DGSes of my schools of interest.

That's what I don't get. There will undoubtedly be folks who wait until 3 or 5pm the day of to make their final decisions. What happen to all the schools that they turn down? There must be some shuffling/batch of acceptance offers sent out after April 15, no? Does this not mean that a bunch of us will have to roll the dice and wait for an offer that may not come all while giving up the certainty of our actual admissions offers? If so, how is this the system we're working with? It seems unnecessarily cruel!

This is one thing I'm maybe not grasping fully. So everyone has until April 15 to make a decision. What happens after that day? Obviously some of us may be waiting for offers that will only come after people receive all of their offers, which means we will for certainly be waiting until after April 15. How the heck am I supposed to navigate this messy confluence of dates? How late do some offers come after the 15th? Ack!

fail whale

That statement was a somewhat flip rhetorical gesture towards those who have consistently stated (ad nauseum) that the job market discussion has been repeated over and over, across multiple threads to the point of death, making it unworthy of further discussion. I, as you will know from reading my posts, have been arguing that the OP's warnings and job search experiences are highly valuable to us who haven't begun our degrees yet. Or did you not read the whole thread?

HOORAY!

Since the conversation seems to be heading into questioning whether certain individuals were duped or not duped by the system, I thought I'd point out a broader consideration of the discussion: Clearly, we on TGC are very much in-the-know about the majority of horrors of an academic career. But, in discussing alt-ac options or revolutionary action within academia, we have to consider those folks that aren't on TGC and haven't thought about these issues at all. I know an astounding number of grad students and prospective grad students IRL who are unaware of even the most basic aspects of life after a Ph.D. and still manage to garner several acceptances. They certainly won't be asking the questions that OP listed nor the ones that kurayamino asked during her Open House experience. Our conversations here can prepare those of us that care to speak more knowledgeably about it in real life. Obviously from the passion in this thread, we have all thought about the issue deeply and care very much one way or another. There are a huge number of students who retain the now-dated mindset that Ph.D. holders all settle easily into middle-class, "life of the mind" luxury. Such outcomes were possible 10-20 years ago but certainly not anymore. Unlike us, those students are still blissfully unaware, and they may arrive at the same sad conclusion that OP has when they enter the job market. (Also, I hate to invoke the "go-back-to-Russia" argument, but if these threads about the job market really, reaaaaalllly bother you so much because they apparently have been discussed to death, you are free to ignore them. No one is forcing you to partake in this conversation. And I'm not sure where the idea came from that people in this thread are "scaring" people away from academia. Everyone here is free to make up their own mind after a careful consideration of the facts. Besides, this conversation is being well-contained within clearly marked threads. If you think you know all that has been said here, just back away and discuss other things elsewhere.)

If you can't tell that a meme about a baby in Africa having AIDS is "outwardly" offensive and derogatory....

Thank you for posting this. A fantastic read and a perfect response to those who can't seem to understand why hating adjuncting doesn't mean one hates teaching. In fact, the relationship is often an inverse one! What I find interesting is that many here are talking about alt-ac and positions outside academia. This is, of course, practical and very helpful, I don't deny that. But it does nothing to help the worsening fate of academia, least of all those suffering in adjunct positions. I see that these seem to be two mutually exclusive concerns to some posters here but I don't think they have to be. Call it an "air raid siren" if you want, but if we all just turn our backs on academia, then we can't expect much more than for it to collapse. It would be great to see online organizing and brainstorming about what can be done about this (akin to the online organizing that surrounding National Adjunct Walkout Day). I'm curious to hear ideas from others because I don't have as much experience as I'd like regarding that kind of action.

I'm not quite sure about what distinction you're making here. Yes, there's certainly a material difference between physical labor and academic work but may I remind you that many adjuncts are living off food stamps. Yes, in much the same position as retail food workers. The adjunct on food stamps also cannot start a family, save up to achieve increased economic freedom, or to take your last example, free him or herself from generational poverty. I think that's one thing people often overlook: if a first generation college student pursues grad school, that doesn't necessarily mean they've broken the chain of poverty--at least not in this climate. And that's exactly my point. Many writers have called this the "Walmartization" of higher ed, and that's a perfect analogy. If we don't act, corporatization will seek to equate Ph.D. holders with retail shift workers. (edit): not that I'm saying there's anything inherently "better" about being a Ph.D. holder than a retail shift worker. I meant that instead of degrading Ph.D. holders to a position of exploitive abuse, we should be trying to raise retail shift workers up, and keep Ph.D. holders from sliding down as well. I think a lot of people here are taking the discussion very personally: no one here is calling you a naive idiot for pursuing a Ph.D. None of us should be here if that were the case. My only goal here is to get people to keep talking about these issues instead of simply writing it off as "bitchiness" or "negativity." Who's being negative here? The ones who are calling OP a naive fool for being shocked at the current state of academia or the ones who are trying to discuss the issue? It's ironic to me that those who keep wanting to shut down the conversation are those that are calling OP a naive fool for not knowing the academic job search is hell. Perhaps if discourse about this issue were freer, OP would have been more aware going into it and wouldn't have made this post expressing his or her shock to begin with.

I really disagree. I think OP's inflammatory rhetoric is needed in this climate. We don't need anymore waffley "Yeah, it's bad but it's not that bad!" talk. That's the kind of rhetoric that got academia into the corporatized mess it's in now. We need to stir the pot because if we don't, we know that administration will just keep hacking away until nothing is left but a mass of overworked and underpaid adjuncts. As to your second point, I don't really think I'm neglecting anything. No one's denying that a Ph.D. stipend is not a welcome and stable income (in fact, I am in the same situation where I've never made so much and for so long). Nowhere in my posts have I advocated for not entering a Ph.D. program. I myself am getting into it partially for the stipend money. I think it's important to point out, however, that people are so casual in thinking that they can simply waltz into another non-academic job after the TT job hunt is a bust. Let's remember that job prospects across all of society are generally crap. You get a stable income for 5-6 years. And then what? I don't get why people keep wanting to clamp down on this conversation. Let's talk and plan more about this instead of just saying "it is what it is."

Hey, look! http://www.salon.com/2015/03/24/to_hell_with_academia_how_i_learned_to_embrace_my_evil_advertising_gig_partner/

butterfly tattoo

I think this may be why. He interviewed himself (Oh, James, you cad!) as the "gay" James and "straight" James last week and had this to say: Clearly, not good for queer causes at all, and in fact, quite damaging. I understand he's being a bit glib, given the format of the "interview" but that's the kind of bro discourse that floats around nowadays and it ain't helping. Edit for link: http://dot429.com/articles/5801-the-straight-james-franco-talks-to-the-gay-james-franco Edit: I just saw you referenced the interview, Apppp, oops. Interesting that you took it to be positive, though.