Those Bloody Cowards

[booksareneat]

The NY Times has a blog entry today (http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2009 ... ection/?hp) about the nail-biting of college acceptance time. I read it and wanted to stand before all those high school seniors saying, "you want rejection kid?" and then laying into some real blood-chilling description of the grad school process. Punks.

[lotf629]

I agree. Any process in which the most selective schools in the country are still taking hundreds and hundreds of kids, nearly 10% of applicants, does not count. Also I challenge you to find high school kids whose immediate livelihood depends on a college acceptance. :6

[hadunc]

Wait till those kids find out that not only does it not matter where your undergrad degree comes from, but having a degree is no guarantee that you will find a job, even you go to an ivy. The let the REAL nail-biting begin.

[JKessler]

Agreed. Let's think about this even more depressingly:

We're all competing for meager fellowships where making $20,000 a year is considered a good stipend. The programs demand upwards of 60 hours of work a week, learning extra languages, teaching, researching, writing, et al. After struggling for 5-8 years as a poor grad student while your peers drop out around you. Then you face a shrinking and more difficult job market, where hundreds are applying for a single tenure track position, another few years of "publish or perish" until you finally are reviewed for tenure...which you might not get because your research is "not up to critical and professional standards."

This makes Sylvia Plath sound more like Walt Disney. Good luck everyone. Stay sane, or at least as close as you can.

-Jeff