Current English PhD students - Q&A

[havemybloodchild]

I'm looking at textbooks and wondering- in grad school is it absolutely necessary to buy the newest edition?  I always just bought the cheapest available option in undergrad and it was never a problem but I don't know if that will fly going forward.  

[dilby]

8 minutes ago, kendalldinniene said:

I'm looking at textbooks and wondering- in grad school is it absolutely necessary to buy the newest edition?  I always just bought the cheapest available option in undergrad and it was never a problem but I don't know if that will fly going forward.  

I'd check in with your profs. Some of them will probably want their students to be reading the same edition so you can all easily talk about the same parts and not have people trying to figure out what page they need to be looking at.

[havemybloodchild]

Just now, dilby said:

I'd check in with your profs. Some of them will probably want their students to be reading the same edition so you can all easily talk about the same parts and not have people trying to figure out what page they need to be looking at.

I guess I'm reticent to ask because the stipend is so big (comparatively) I'm worried I'll come across badly...but goddamn those texts add up.  I know several of my undergrad profs wanted me to buy the "correct" edition as well, for the reason you stated, but I always made it work.  Eventually I charmed them into not caring, haha.  But maybe it's unprofessional to do that in a graduate program.

[Glasperlenspieler]

1 hour ago, kendalldinniene said:

I'm looking at textbooks and wondering- in grad school is it absolutely necessary to buy the newest edition?  I always just bought the cheapest available option in undergrad and it was never a problem but I don't know if that will fly going forward.  

In my experience, it can be a pain in the ass when not everyone has the same pagination (and you may be left behind in discussion if everyone else has the same pagination and you don't). That being said, there's almost always someone in class who has a different edition. This has been especially tricky, albeit somewhat unavoidable, in cross-listed courses where some students are reading the original and some are reading an English translation. If you choose to split the difference (buy some with the recommended edition and some the cheapest) then I'd definitely try to buy the recommended edition for anything that's been translated. 

[WildeThing]

No professor that I have had has cared about the edition I use. Ultimately, it will be your problem if the pages are different and up to you to solve it.

[urbanfarmer]

On 5/6/2019 at 4:50 PM, kendalldinniene said:

I guess I'm reticent to ask because the stipend is so big (comparatively) I'm worried I'll come across badly...but goddamn those texts add up.  I know several of my undergrad profs wanted me to buy the "correct" edition as well, for the reason you stated, but I always made it work.  Eventually I charmed them into not caring, haha.  But maybe it's unprofessional to do that in a graduate program.

I think any professor will be (or should be!) understanding of financial issues-- no matter how decent your stipend is, there are very few stipends that are good enough that no one needs to be mindful of money. In all the seminars I took, there was always (or almost always) a number of different editions present. Whether it was newer/older, or a different publisher of the classic, etc etc-- it was sometimes annoying, but no one thought it was a big deal. Also, I know a few people in my program who are really on top of checking things out of the library, either at the school, or from one of the city libraries. If they really like the text and/or think they might write on it, they buy it, but otherwise they save a lot of money (and space!) by not buying books they'll only read once. 

[thepeeps]

Current PhD students: What does your typical day look like?

[indoorfireworks]

On 3/5/2019 at 6:27 PM, signandsignifiers said:

 In other words, make absolutely certain that each faculty member you need to work with will work with you--and check if anyone's planning to retire any time soon.

I've been thinking about this issue a lot and am wondering if there's a decorous way to do this. One of my POIs is 77 and another is 70. Do you have any suggestions for how to inquire? 

Edited August 6, 2019 by indoorfireworks

[signandsignifiers]

On 8/6/2019 at 12:31 PM, indoorfireworks said:

I've been thinking about this issue a lot and am wondering if there's a decorous way to do this. One of my POIs is 77 and another is 70. Do you have any suggestions for how to inquire? 

Send them an email! Ask them frankly if they're taking on graduate students. You don't have to say that you're worried about age, but you do want to know that they'll direct your dissertation or at least be on your committee (there are other reasons why they might not take on new students, so it's good to ask even if the faculty member is younger). If you have their word from the onset, it's less likely that something will happen.

[Ramus]

On 8/6/2019 at 12:31 PM, indoorfireworks said:

I've been thinking about this issue a lot and am wondering if there's a decorous way to do this. One of my POIs is 77 and another is 70. Do you have any suggestions for how to inquire? 

Frankly, I wouldn't even consider having anyone that old serve as an advisor or dissertation director. Even if you do ask them straight up if they're going to retire, there's always the real possibility that they change their minds (happened to a guy in my cohort who came to work with a dude that retired a year later), take ill (an unfortunate reality), etc. But, more importantly, it's a bad idea to have someone that old direct your thesis because profs that old don't have to give a shit anymore. There will be no repercussions if they take too long to email you back, devote little time to you and your development, or act like a jerk to you. They may or may not be up on the most recent scholarship, let alone that in your area of expertise. Chances are their professional connections are dated, too. And don't forget that they haven't been on the job market for literally decades, and almost certainly have very little sense of what's needed to be successful on the present job market.

So, in short, just don't put yourself in a position to depend too much on the old faculty. By all means, chat them up, ask them the questions about the minutiae of literary cruxes, talk about how their careers developed, etc. But don't take them on as an advisor or a dissertation director.

Edited September 16, 2019 by Ramus

[indoorfireworks]

On 9/16/2019 at 7:32 PM, Ramus said:

Frankly, I wouldn't even consider having anyone that old serve as an advisor or dissertation director. Even if you do ask them straight up if they're going to retire, there's always the real possibility that they change their minds (happened to a guy in my cohort who came to work with a dude that retired a year later), take ill (an unfortunate reality), etc. But, more importantly, it's a bad idea to have someone that old direct your thesis because profs that old don't have to give a shit anymore. There will be no repercussions if they take too long to email you back, devote little time to you and your development, or act like a jerk to you. They may or may not be up on the most recent scholarship, let alone that in your area of expertise. Chances are their professional connections are dated, too. And don't forget that they haven't been on the job market for literally decades, and almost certainly have very little sense of what's needed to be successful on the present job market.

So, in short, just don't put yourself in a position to depend too much on the old faculty. By all means, chat them up, ask them the questions about the minutiae of literary cruxes, talk about how their careers developed, etc. But don't take them on as an advisor or a dissertation director.

On 9/14/2019 at 12:28 PM, signandsignifiers said:

Send them an email! Ask them frankly if they're taking on graduate students. You don't have to say that you're worried about age, but you do want to know that they'll direct your dissertation or at least be on your committee (there are other reasons why they might not take on new students, so it's good to ask even if the faculty member is younger). If you have their word from the onset, it's less likely that something will happen.

 

It's tough because there aren't a ton of professors in my field of interest in general, and the 77yo is in a really specific niche that I haven't seen anyone else doing. At least the 70yo is at a school with other profs in the specialty. Anyway, thanks both of you for your input.