Welcome to the 2012-2013 cycle

[zzzzzz]

I have worked at a soul-sucking and meaningless 9-5 for only seven months right now and I would trade it in a heartbeat to teach and research a topic I love, even at a community college.

[PoliSwede]

I just reached the maximum of positive votes that I can hand out to posts. Well put everyone.

[TakeMyCoffeeBlack]

This is right. I know I've posted something similar before, but anyone who's had a job knows that dreams get crushed in the working world.

 

The PSJR board loves to use the "snowflake" trope. Ironically, all that crying and whining about how hard it is to be a grad student is just them failing to recognize that disappointment is not unique to social science PhDs. Guess what? You're not going to make partner at Sidley Austin or chief surgical resident at Cedar Sinai or be Daniel Day-Lewis's talent agent or the CEO of Coca-Cola, either.

 

There aren't very many jobs at the top of any field. The market is soft for everyone. The reality of being ambitious is that at some point you hit your ceiling. That's never easy and the worst of PSJR is one graceless way to react to it. For those of you that haven't worked or otherwise don't understand (from experience) what I'm talking about, remember this when you hit a wall: You can always drop out and manage a Starbuck's or become a lawyer if that's what you prefer to teaching at some forsaken LAC in western Kentucky. Seriously. Just know that no one is going to drop a ladder from the clouds for you there, either. The question, really, is whether, the consequence of reaching and falling short is worse than the consequence of not trying.

 

It seems like it was news to some PSJR posters that not everyone gets a TT offer at Harvard. Hopefully that's not the case here.

 

thumbs up

[Quigley]

Wow.  Beautifully put, everybody.

 

My undergrad advisor is the one who first encouraged me to pursue a PhD during my senior year, 5 years ago. I spent the subsequent time in the working world with a lot of ups, wonderful learning experiences, but also a great number of disappointments.  The romantic career path I had envisioned ultimately led to a desk job in a bureaucracy where I stare at the clock and dream of packing up my life and head off to grad school.  It has no meaning for me and the thought of spending the rest of my life doing this scared the hell out of me, which is when I became serious about applying.  Not everyone will end up getting tenure at Stanford, and that's ok.  I've experienced a lot of harsh realities in my professional career and am probably better suited to understand that now as opposed to if I came straight out of undergrad.  But the lifestyle of being a professor, coupled with meaningful and intellectually satisfying work, means that I can spend my life doing something I love.  When you look around, that's a pretty rare thing.

 

So when I e-mailed my undergrad advisor 18 months ago to tell him that the time had come and I'd be applying for Fall 2013, the last thing I expected him to respond with was a long, passionate plea to not pursue a career in academics due to the job market and declining financial state of higher education. I appreciate that he shared this with me because it's important to be fully informed before diving into an endeavor like this.  But there is nothing else I'd rather be doing and so I decided it was worth the time, energy, and risk to work hard and try with everything I've got to make it happen.  So despite his urging, I have spent the past year and a half working towards this dream and could not possibly be more excited that it has become a reality for me.  I hope the same happens for everybody else in the coming days and weeks.  Good luck all!

[lisasimpson]

cannot agree more. That is the whole point of my checking emails (now even the "real" mailbox) every five minutes!

[TTP25]

In the hopes of having some interesting news on this very boring day at work, I'd like to know if anyone else is applying to Pittsburgh and/or has any info about decisions there? All of the other schools I've applied to don't usually notify for weeks, so I'm currently obsessing over this Pittsburgh notification.

[ThisGuyRiteHere]

In the hopes of having some interesting news on this very boring day at work, I'd like to know if anyone else is applying to Pittsburgh and/or has any info about decisions there? All of the other schools I've applied to don't usually notify for weeks, so I'm currently obsessing over this Pittsburgh notification.

I was SOOO close to applying to Pitt...Political Econ program looked SO appealing...but with my GRE/GPA, I just could not justify an application sadly..Good luck tho

[forestgreen]

Wow.  Beautifully put, everybody.

 

My undergrad advisor is the one who first encouraged me to pursue a PhD during my senior year, 5 years ago. I spent the subsequent time in the working world with a lot of ups, wonderful learning experiences, but also a great number of disappointments.  The romantic career path I had envisioned ultimately led to a desk job in a bureaucracy where I stare at the clock and dream of packing up my life and head off to grad school.  It has no meaning for me and the thought of spending the rest of my life doing this scared the hell out of me, which is when I became serious about applying.  Not everyone will end up getting tenure at Stanford, and that's ok.  I've experienced a lot of harsh realities in my professional career and am probably better suited to understand that now as opposed to if I came straight out of undergrad.  But the lifestyle of being a professor, coupled with meaningful and intellectually satisfying work, means that I can spend my life doing something I love.  When you look around, that's a pretty rare thing.

 

So when I e-mailed my undergrad advisor 18 months ago to tell him that the time had come and I'd be applying for Fall 2013, the last thing I expected him to respond with was a long, passionate plea to not pursue a career in academics due to the job market and declining financial state of higher education. I appreciate that he shared this with me because it's important to be fully informed before diving into an endeavor like this.  But there is nothing else I'd rather be doing and so I decided it was worth the time, energy, and risk to work hard and try with everything I've got to make it happen.  So despite his urging, I have spent the past year and a half working towards this dream and could not possibly be more excited that it has become a reality for me.  I hope the same happens for everybody else in the coming days and weeks.  Good luck all!

 

i had a similar experience with phds who i worked with for a while out of undergrad... they were very pessimistic on the whole academic path and gave me serious pause about pursuing a phd. so i waited a few years, tried other jobs, but am now more convinced than ever that a phd is what i need to do what i want.

 

and to the (real) fears about the academic job market, it is going to be a hard push for us, but also think of the other things you can do in the hard times when things aren't going great in academia. tons of folks i know do the circuit between academia -> government -> think tank/policy advocacy and seem really happy. not getting the most coveted TT position at one point in you career does not mean going unfulfilled forever; you just may need to change gears for a bit. at least for those policy-interested folks out there. 

[ThisGuyRiteHere]

i had a similar experience with phds who i worked with for a while out of undergrad... they were very pessimistic on the whole academic path and gave me serious pause about pursuing a phd. so i waited a few years, tried other jobs, but am now more convinced than ever that a phd is what i need to do what i want.

 

and to the (real) fears about the academic job market, it is going to be a hard push for us, but also think of the other things you can do in the hard times when things aren't going great in academia. tons of folks i know do the circuit between academia -> government -> think tank/policy advocacy and seem really happy. not getting the most coveted TT position at one point in you career does not mean going unfulfilled forever; you just may need to change gears for a bit. at least for those policy-interested folks out there. 

Since I am interested in political economy, this why I am taking econometrics, mathematical econ and will probably take a grad Micro/Macro sequence or more econometrics...gotta be flexible these days

[Littlej8]

In the hopes of having some interesting news on this very boring day at work, I'd like to know if anyone else is applying to Pittsburgh and/or has any info about decisions there? All of the other schools I've applied to don't usually notify for weeks, so I'm currently obsessing over this Pittsburgh notification.

I applied to Pittsburgh, but I have not heard anything from them yet. I checked back to last year and I think they got around to sending acceptances early February.

[CoS]

First time poster. I'm waiting on Berkeley, Harvard, Michigan, Columbia, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Duke. 

 

The lack of news has been depressing, to say the least. 

[TTP25]

I applied to Pittsburgh, but I have not heard anything from them yet. I checked back to last year and I think they got around to sending acceptances early February.

Ya I figure it won't be for at least a few days. Oh well.

[ThisGuyRiteHere]

I am beginning to think Monday and Friday may be the hot days of the week for news.

[tlh0223]

In the hopes of having some interesting news on this very boring day at work, I'd like to know if anyone else is applying to Pittsburgh and/or has any info about decisions there? All of the other schools I've applied to don't usually notify for weeks, so I'm currently obsessing over this Pittsburgh notification.

 

 

I called Pitt last week to ask for information about the decision process. The program assistant said that they wouldn't have decisions until mid-February! I was surprised because I knew it was much earlier last year. So I'm not quite sure if she just told me that to stop being bothered by people like me, or if it's true... haha

[PhDhopeful2013]

sloooowww day today... yawwwwnnnnnn

[Quigley]

Maybe the rest of the week will be pretty quiet if most of the excitement is out of the way after yesterday. 

 

I've noticed that Michigan is one of the few schools that releases acceptances and rejections all at once so that may make a mess all over the results board in a just few days.

[Longtime Lurker]

Congrats to the Iowa acceptance.

[ThisGuyRiteHere]

Congrats to Iowa

[ThisGuyRiteHere]

And the WashU interview

[ThisGuyRiteHere]

IN AT KENTUCKY.

IM BOUT TO SHOUT IN CLASS AND DO A PRAISE DANCE.

[forestgreen]

IN AT KENTUCKY.

IM BOUT TO SHOUT IN CLASS AND DO A PRAISE DANCE.

 

congrats!!

[RiffRam]

I'm in at Iowa! So very relieved/happy/excited right now!

[Mnemonics2]

IN AT KENTUCKY.

IM BOUT TO SHOUT IN CLASS AND DO A PRAISE DANCE.

 

This. This is an appropriate reaction. Well done sir.

[RiffRam]

IN AT KENTUCKY.

IM BOUT TO SHOUT IN CLASS AND DO A PRAISE DANCE.

Congrats! Fortunately I don't have class on Tuesday, so I was able to do that!

[Longtime Lurker]

IN AT KENTUCKY.

IM BOUT TO SHOUT IN CLASS AND DO A PRAISE DANCE.

 

Congrats!  I know what you mean - I've been lucky enough to be at home each time I've been notified, and thus have been free to jump around the apartment in celebration.  Staying calm while answering the phone is the biggest challenge.      Really happy for you!

Edited January 29, 2013 by Longtime Lurker