having money and "making it"

[InHacSpeVivo]

There is a really fantastic rhetoric article by two profs at UMass Amherst about being working class (and working class pedagogy) in the academy. If anyone wants to check it out let me know.

And thanks to the OP. Dispite the moderate upheaval I appreciate the chance to see a thread where other working class applicant can commiserate.

[Mattie Roh]

 

In terms of tasting the chocolates...every school you apply to has its own acceptance rate and things that it is looking for. Statistics do not work in a way in which your applying to x number of schools raising your chances of getting in to a program. What it does do is lower the acceptance rate of each program to which you apply. That is why so many programs have gone from having 50 applicants to 200+. I don't know about you, but I don't think there were more than 10 schools that really seemed like good fits with the right faculty for what I want to do. You get what I'm saying? 

 

 

 

This, too. I admit I've felt uncomfortable at times because I really couldn't find more programs that I felt were a good fit. A lot has to do with location -- I don't want to live in NYC and am pretty resistant to Boston, would like to stay on the East Coast to be close to family, etc. I made a few exceptions, but I really want to be within driving distance. This made for some awkward conversations with LOR writers and others who've helped me through the process. I don't feel comfortable getting into details about family politics that make staying close to home important. 

 

So it is good, in a way, that I can only afford only so many schools. It stopped me from dreaming about California. One of my greatest fears is that I'll get into Minnesota (my top choice) and change my mind about making the move because it's so far. And continue to kick myself for it for the rest of my life.

[snyegurachka]

This, too. I admit I've felt uncomfortable at times because I really couldn't find more programs that I felt were a good fit. A lot has to do with location -- I don't want to live in NYC and am pretty resistant to Boston, would like to stay on the East Coast to be close to family, etc. I made a few exceptions, but I really want to be within driving distance. This made for some awkward conversations with LOR writers and others who've helped me through the process. I don't feel comfortable getting into details about family politics that make staying close to home important. 

 

So it is good, in a way, that I can only afford only so many schools. It stopped me from dreaming about California. One of my greatest fears is that I'll get into Minnesota (my top choice) and change my mind about making the move because it's so far. And continue to kick myself for it for the rest of my life.

 

I am actually in a similar position—I live in the midwest but would really like to get back to the Northeast. I only ended up being able to apply to one school near (in) my home zone. And having lived in both Boston and New York, I know that I don't want to live in either city again.  I was so averse to California, but when I narrowed down my choices to the best fits and top programs for my field, it made the most sense to aim for those schools rather than spend the money on applications for programs close to where I grew up that I am probably not as good of a fit for.

[georgestrait1982]

I am also surprised that this thread took the turns it has--application fees are just the tip of the iceberg. The field is so cutthroat that completing a PhD successfully enough to find a TT job requires a lot of free time, and free time requires a lot of money, which very few stipends provide. It's SO much harder to do good writing and teaching while also having to a) work another job, stress out about money, and c) forego leisure/stress-relieving activities for lack of funds.

 

As a result, those that are able to do work good enough to land those coveted TT jobs tend to hail from higher socio-economic backgrounds, and the content of their research reflects the "white upper-class bubble" referenced earlier in the thread. Student loans make it appear like we've got a more level playing field, but the game's just as fixed as it was mid-century. In many ways, loans actually INCREASE inequality. But that's a seperate (though related) topic.

 

/2cents.

[Ramus]

I am also surprised that this thread took the turns it has--application fees are just the tip of the iceberg. The field is so cutthroat that completing a PhD successfully enough to find a TT job requires a lot of free time, and free time requires a lot of money, which very few stipends provide. It's SO much harder to do good writing and teaching while also having to a) work another job, stress out about money, and c) forego leisure/stress-relieving activities for lack of funds.

 

As a result, those that are able to do work good enough to land those coveted TT jobs tend to hail from higher socio-economic backgrounds, and the content of their research reflects the "white upper-class bubble" referenced earlier in the thread. Student loans make it appear like we've got a more level playing field, but the game's just as fixed as it was mid-century. In many ways, loans actually INCREASE inequality. But that's a seperate (though related) topic.

 

/2cents.

 

This. I agree 100% with everything you've said.

 

The funny thing about academia is that many of us get into it because, whether we acknowledge this or not, we value otium. If we were only interested upward social mobility, or at least preserving one's social standing, presumably we would have chosen a field that paid better. There used to be an implied contract in pursuing academia over, say, law or medicine -- accept lower pay in exchange for some degree of leisure. The problem is that those students not born into the upper strata that look on academia as a viable career choice will likely never experience the very thing motivating them to get into all this in the first place. 

 

Frankly, very often I feel that chance is the only thing guiding poor students into upper tier schools. And this is not saying anything radically new -- we all know that the application process involves a degree of blind luck. But for students that, as others have indicated, have to work multiple jobs just to support themselves through SLACs or smaller state schools, there just doesn't seem to be a whole lot of time or money necessary to develop skills necessary to get into bigger and better programs. If you do make that jump, it seems like you fall into the 'anomaly' category.