Rankings: How Important Are They?

[Redflight]

Thanks bro and of course congratulations dude. Also, I'm a female. All I know is that I'm glad that I have professors that care about me who are writing for me. I have also, as of last night, been admitted to a top program (in the twenties, I've discovered), so let's not assume that just because I advocate for people ignoring rankings and finding a good fit for them that that must somehow mean that I have no interest in any other programs. 

 

Obviously, my sentiments don't apply to someone who ardently believe in rankings because, well, I'm responding to the post at large and not trying to sway someone with a strong opinion. Also, do you really think one person's letter did the job for you? I'm sure you had a strong packet as a whole.

I have lurked this forum for over a year and have never posted or created an account once, but your last few responses have prompted me to opine my mind. You, lady, are one hell of a bitch and are acting like an immature brat. You will quickly learn not everyone on this planet will agree with you, and that is perfectly fine. So pull the dick out of your ass and quick acting like a baby. No one gives a fuck.

Now ban me. I don't care. Never posted here before anyway.

Stupid brat

[Fiz]

I have lurked this forum for over a year and have never posted or created an account once, but your last few responses have prompted me to opine my mind. You, lady, are one hell of a bitch and are acting like an immature brat. You will quickly learn not everyone on this planet will agree with you, and that is perfectly fine. So pull the dick out of your ass and quick acting like a baby. No one gives a fuck.

Now ban me. I don't care. Never posted here before anyway.

Stupid brat

Lol damn bro

[Fiz]

I cant take this thread no more. Too much hostility. Idk y im still even here. I already got in!!

Poof! Ban me 2 i guesss

[Ozymandias Melancholia]

I have lurked this forum for over a year and have never posted or created an account once, but your last few responses have prompted me to opine my mind. You, lady, are one hell of a bitch and are acting like an immature brat. You will quickly learn not everyone on this planet will agree with you, and that is perfectly fine. So pull the dick out of your ass and quick acting like a baby. No one gives a fuck.

Now ban me. I don't care. Never posted here before anyway.

Stupid brat

lolwut

Textbook case of "Pot calling the kettle black."

Edited February 12, 2014 by Ozymandias Melancholia

[despejado]

I have lurked this forum for over a year and have never posted or created an account once, but your last few responses have prompted me to opine my mind. You, lady, are one hell of a bitch and are acting like an immature brat. You will quickly learn not everyone on this planet will agree with you, and that is perfectly fine. So pull the dick out of your ass and quick acting like a baby. No one gives a fuck.

Now ban me. I don't care. Never posted here before anyway.

Stupid brat

Never got this vibe from Arthurian. I actually find her super articulate and passionate, which is totally okay to be. Right?

[Redflight]

lolwut

Textbook case of "Pot calling the kettle black."

Fuck you! And your whore dog, too!

[Redflight]

Never got this vibe from Arthurian. I actually find her super articulate and passionate, which is totally okay to be. Right?

Passionate? More like an irascible princess. She might just be on her rag, however.

[despejado]

Passionate? More like an irascible princess. She might just be on her rag, however.

I have a feeling you're trolling. No one in their right mind references things like that over a minor, impersonal dispute. Chill out.

[Fiz]

Yeaaa i mean i disagree with Arthurian but this is just....mean....play nice or go home

[ComeBackZinc]

Everybody should go ahead and click "report" on this thread.

[hashslinger]

Wow, rape and menstrual insults on the same page. Someone's got some vagina phobia going on. Tough week?

 

However, I'd like this thread to remain up. I think it's got some great discussions otherwise.

[ArthChauc]

I'm not going to devote my time or energy to responding to whatever that was above. Disagreeing is one thing, ignorance and blind hatred is another. I feel really sorry for you that something that was not directed at you upset you so much. 

 

As I think we're all aware (and I'm speaking about myself at this point), tone is hard to convey over the internet. I hope it's very clear to everyone that I don't have any particular issue with anyone on this board. My "dude" and "bro" comments were sarcastic. Also, I hope Toe (the fact that that's a shortening for your username is funny) knows that my own feelings about rankings have nothing to do with me trying to tell people that everyone should think the way that I do--I'm only giving my opinion from my own personal experience. I think you might have missed it, but I complimented Toe (ugh) saying that I thought (he? she?) probably had a good overall packet that lead to acceptance. 

 

I don't even know what to write at this point, haha. I read the post and just started laughing. I think this thread has provided a lot of good discussion and back-and-forth over a topic that's widely debated and has many different viewpoints. I don't believe one of them (including my own) to be the "right" one, but I think they all provide insight toward the process of choosing schools to apply to and choosing schools to attend. 

 

For that reason, I think the thread should remain up. 

 

If I, as a female, wasted my time responding to every instance of misogyny and ignorance I face daily I wouldn't have time to breathe. I guess this just goes to show that being a grad school applicant doesn't necessarily make you intelligent...or even a decent person. 

[ArthChauc]

(Sidenote: does anyone else think it's funny that you are limited to how many upvotes you can give per day? I laughed when the box popped up and read "you have reached your quota for positive votes for the day". In my mind it was like, "Alright, Arth--that's enough positivity, go back to your melancholic self".) 

[despejado]

(Sidenote: does anyone else think it's funny that you are limited to how many upvotes you can give per day? I laughed when the box popped up and read "you have reached your quota for positive votes for the day". In my mind it was like, "Alright, Arth--that's enough positivity, go back to your melancholic self".)

Hahaha yes. It happens to me almost every day. I guess GC thinks I'm excessively positive.

[hashslinger]

Redflight's not even worth voting down or reporting, as far as I'm concerned. Basically this person is either here to troll or has reached that mid-February breaking point when it becomes clear that one is not going to one's desired program.

 

To get back to the topic at hand ... which is interesting ...

 

I too often get annoyed with the "Top 20 or nothing" rhetoric on these boards. I hope that people honestly don't feel this way. There is a very big world outside of the top 10, top 30, or top 50. If you truly want to throw everything away because you didn't get into a certain caliber program, then that's kind of your loss. I saw some people in my own MA cohort take the attitude that if they didn't get into X kind of school they just weren't going. And a few made good on that promise. Years later, they work in insurance or graphic design or as stay-at-home parents. Some are perfectly happy with this decision and like the fact that they don't have to worry about the academic job market. I, however, would not have been happy throwing the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. I would have wanted to go on to grad school regardless of the status of my program. I have enjoyed the process thus far, and the experience of writing a dissertation has been worth it, regardless of whether or not I get my desired job. Most people in academia really do not get their desired job anyway; if you think that you're going to be courted by multiple universities just because you go to a certain school, you're probably mistaken.

 

ArthurianChaucerian is absolutely right that people from lesser-ranked universities get jobs. Do you honestly think that grads from the top 12 schools in the country are the only ones getting hired? Do a little digging by looking at faculty pages outside the major flagships; you'll see PhDs from all walks of life and all types of different programs (and not just in rhet-comp). Maybe some people have a serious issue with working at a non-R1 or non-prestigious SLAC. If that's the case, then no, maybe you really shouldn't go to grad school.

 

Lastly, I think it's pretty disenchanting that people here are set on perpetuating this same tired system of prestige. It's one thing to be aware that it exists (and believe me, after watching the hiring process at my own program, I'm quite aware that it exists); it's another thing to pronounce all programs outside the top 20 as obviously unworthy of anyone's attention and incapable of producing good scholars. I mean, seriously. Is that the attitude you're going to take when a CV from the perfectly good but non-Ivy Washington University in St. Louis crosses your desk? Are you going to refuse to have the grad student from UMass-Amherst on your panel because, gee, obviously if they'd been any good then they'd have gone to Harvard? This is getting a bit ridiculous.

 

By the way, one of my best professors from my MA program went to WUSTL. She has produced scholarship and won major awards like you wouldn't believe.

[Kamisha]

Maybe don’t report the thread. We can just report those particular posts and that user. Do you know who that person is, ArthurianChaucerian?

 

I ask because one of my classmates (who I beat out for a job and a fellowship) got on GradCafe a few days ago and tried to discredit me by making up a bunch of crap. Like that, this feels personal. 

 

Side note: I run out of positive votes SO fast. I mean, I can understand limiting negative votes, but why positive ones? Haha

[ArthChauc]

Hey, Kamisha. No idea who it is. Sounds like some sad person with too much free time and not enough sense. I don't have any enemies in my program and my profile is really vague--in fact, the only people who know in real life that I use this are my program best friend and my fiancé. Must be just a random misogynist. 

 

Also, your classmate sounds like a jerk. I'm sorry that happened to you. How did you find out who it was?

[Redflight]

I am a misogynist, so what.

Tricia, I was not even speaking towards or about you, so pipe down.

[Kamisha]

I am a misogynist, so what.

Tricia, I was not even speaking towards or about you, so pipe down.

 

If you’re going to cyber-stalk me, you could at least do me the courtesy of spelling my name correctly. 

[despejado]

I am a misogynist, so what.

Tricia, I was not even speaking towards or about you, so pipe down.

This is totally, totally nuts.

[ArthChauc]

I hope that was the first line of Redflight's statement of purpose. 

 

"I am a misogynist, so what. Also, have I mentioned I like Zizek?"

 

And yes, Des. Truly pathetic. 

[ComeBackZinc]

Again, I don't think that anyone claims that people from outside of the top-tier programs never get jobs. Nor do I think anyone is saying that you should only consider top 20 programs. And yes, there are many individual professors from outside of the top programs who have gotten jobs. None of that changes the reality that all else being equal and in general, people from the most prestigious programs have the best job prospects and enjoy a significant advantage on the academic job market.

[Redflight]

If you’re going to cyber-stalk me, you could at least do me the courtesy of spelling my name correctly.

Excuse me. Trisha.

[Fiz]

Again, I don't think that anyone claims that people from outside of the top-tier programs never get jobs. Nor do I think anyone is saying that you should only consider top 20 programs. And yes, there are many individual professors from outside of the top programs who have gotten jobs. None of that changes the reality that all else being equal and in general, people from the most prestigious programs have the best job prospects and enjoy a significant advantage on the academic job market.

This.

[Fiz]

I hope that was the first line of Redflight's statement of purpose. 

 

"I am a misogynist, so what. Also, have I mentioned I like Zizek?"

 

And yes, Des. Truly pathetic.

I looooolllld hardcore at this!