tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post5129823043697831880..comments2024-03-24T21:12:27.165-07:00Comments on 100 Reasons NOT to Go to Graduate School: 3. Your pedigree counts.100 Reasonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13655155303350793785noreply@blogger.comBlogger121125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-45162469458671688042023-08-14T05:23:58.257-07:002023-08-14T05:23:58.257-07:00When I was a very young graduate student, I met a ...When I was a very young graduate student, I met a brand -new assistant professor who had a friend who had written a song about his current life situation. The title: "Grocery Boy with a PhD." Yes, he was bagging groceries and stocking shelves.Lorenzonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-83235944664939917912017-05-11T11:25:27.333-07:002017-05-11T11:25:27.333-07:00I have to agree. A school reputation does count. ...I have to agree. A school reputation does count. My Interim Dean recently told me that anyone who gets their PhD at an online school (like me) is only trying to (fraudulently) justify a salary increase. The same Dean recently extended my probation. Draw your own conclusions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-80482125384951814072016-05-11T15:10:58.636-07:002016-05-11T15:10:58.636-07:00I also want to add that the general rule I've ...I also want to add that the general rule I've mentioned is proven true by Anon's (5:52PM) and Aaron's post. <br /><br />Mizzou's history department is ranked at 64. I suppose the "saving grace" to this is that it's the flagship public university for the state of Missouri. The assistant professors that are alumnus of programs ranked higher than 25 attended Yale, Columbia and Brown. WashU and Emory then follows in ranking. The outlier is Kansas sitting at the 50 mark.<br /><br />The lower the ranking one would go and the more regional the less "elites" you'll see. If the "elites" can't secure TT at other "elites" they'll find TT jobs at flagships that aren't in that cluster.GoldRush Applehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04672912751538200761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-4034530513102956482016-05-11T14:56:27.793-07:002016-05-11T14:56:27.793-07:00But why would you categorize the history programs ...But why would you categorize the history programs that way? <br /><br />If you're talking about undergraduate rankings regardless of program, sure, but for the doctoral level rankings are different. According to US News (2013) Berkeley, UCLA, Michigan and Chicago are in the top 10. MIT is listed at 27. Cornell and Hopkins are just outside the top 10 alongside UNC. William & Mary and Notre Dame are ranked at 36.<br /><br />Again, your clusters would work if you were talking about undergraduate prestige. A doctoral in history is a whole different ball game.<br /><br />The general rule is if you want to teach at the top 25, if not the top 15, then you should attend a program that is within that cluster of considered elites. GoldRush Applehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04672912751538200761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-37500971875226857382016-05-11T14:18:48.002-07:002016-05-11T14:18:48.002-07:00What a fine example of projection and stupidity, i...What a fine example of projection and stupidity, if not outright lying.<br /><br />(1) Claim that spouse's 800 - yes, 800 - page dissertation would've made a major impact in her field,<br />(2) Claim that she couldn't attend Yale Law and therefore do a clerkship under a justice sitting on SCOTUS due to family obligations, and<br />(3) Claim that due to her sex she was benched for partner at, supposedly, the #1 law firm in the world (I didn't even know there were rankings for law firms).<br /><br />This site is great. <br /><br />Also not sure how being female played into anything in your "brilliant" Yale Art History student. <br /><br />I've checked Michigan's Art History page and I came up with two women that fits the description in your story. Either it's Elizabeth Sears or Rebecca Zurier. <br /><br />Sears was employed by Princeton University in 1982-1987. Usually talks about obtaining tenure is anywhere between the 4th or 6th year. She left Princeton for Michigan to obtain tenure 13 years after her doctoral studies. <br /><br />If anything, I believe this part of your post is true but not your story about your wife. I've known a couple of lawyers who've done clerkships under SCOTUS justices that had children. I'm also perplexed why your wife abandoned her dissertation regardless if she had a poor advisor. There are many art history programs where I bet she'd get a look at for hire.GoldRush Applehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04672912751538200761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-87380151790231120972016-05-11T13:52:03.133-07:002016-05-11T13:52:03.133-07:00@ Anon (May 30, 11:52AM) -
>>Excel isn'...@ Anon (May 30, 11:52AM) -<br /><br />>>Excel isn't really a marketable "skill," especially among the number crunchers who use it daily. I was told over a decade ago that engineers don't even bother putting this kind of thing on their resumes. <br /><br />You pretty much defeat your entire premise. If you're apply to a company that uses Excel daily then it is a marketable skill <i>for</i> in the eyes of the company. What isn't marketable is not having it. What's in-demand is what's marketable. <br /><br />>>It can be useful, but it won't get you a job - not even at $24,000 p.a. working for a bank. <br /><br />Useful is marketable. You talk about things you don't understand.<br /><br />>>80% of those using Excel probably don't use 20% of what it's capable of, and furthermore are likely to misuse that 20% because of lack of training/awareness of basic math and statistics (e.g. the so-called random value generator fails random distribution tests and therefore should not be used in statistical work - you have to roll your own). <br /><br />I bet you don't even know how to properly use the "random value generator." <br /><br />Learning Excel isn't rocket science, though it does have a learning curve, so I'm not sure where you got the 80% from, unless you're implying that only you know how to use Excel the correct way and that 80% of those who are employed are royally screwing up their projects for their business.<br /><br /><br />>>Your average HR monkey has no awareness of this, but may ask you whether you can set up a pivot table (which won't get you hired either, but it enables the monkey to check off another box).<br /><br />HR monkey? Wow. I wonder what your business background is.<br /><br />Again, I'm not sure how knowing Excel isn't a marketable skill the way you present it as. <br /><br />>>Basic programming won't get you hired - whether it's basic Basic, basic C++, or basic Java. <br /><br />Ask all those that have taken courses in basic programming from one of those intense 6 month programs and tell them that. <br /><br />You dismiss the knowledge of using Excel and you dismiss basic programming. I'm pretty sure you got some bitterness in you towards that (A) were hired who have such skills and (B) that are better than you at their job than you are or (C) you're some moron who got a PHd in the humanities/social sciences who turns his noses up at cubicle workers, because for whatever inane reason you escaped "the man."<br /><br /><br />>>Arguing that you can learn whatever other specific computer language or script that may be asked for because you know something about language Z will get your resume a quick trip to the round file courtesy of the HR monkeys. They have to be able to check off their little boxes without any actual understanding of what they're hiring for. <br /><br />Since HR "monkeys" (you seriously got issues with HR) don't have the same responsibilities as the candidate interviewing for a banking job I wouldn't expect them to know what the candidate is suppose to know. You're comparing apples to oranges. <br /><br />In fact, HR must be doing something right because they hired my brother who knows Excel and it hasn't been a disaster on his part. <br /><br />>>This is why in 2001 you could find employment ads requiring 10+ years Java programming experience (among a slew of TLAs - three-letter acronyms - with similar experience requirements).<br /><br />Cool story.<br /><br />>>So as you sally forth in search of employment with your 'practical' skills, all I can say is good luck, you'll need it.<br /><br />What skills would be marketable in your eyes, as well as practical, that would get one a job?GoldRush Applehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04672912751538200761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-55525709467470454262016-05-11T13:25:44.375-07:002016-05-11T13:25:44.375-07:00I'm not sure where you're getting at, Anon...I'm not sure where you're getting at, Anon (Jan. 1, 2:34PM). No one said that U of M has the same recognition as Harvard or Stanford. What's being discussed here - at least it came more narrow in focus in the comment section - is program prestige, not university prestige. <br /><br />And the poster who mentioned her program being medieval studies went to Ohio State, not Michigan.<br />GoldRush Applehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04672912751538200761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-37443336163586861272016-05-11T13:13:51.714-07:002016-05-11T13:13:51.714-07:00@ Anonymous April 27 2:04PM: Stop lying. You didn&...@ Anonymous April 27 2:04PM: Stop lying. You didn't go to a state university for its vocational track (strange you didn't have any specifics). <br /><br />Most likely you're an unemployed with an M.A.GoldRush Applehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04672912751538200761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-50845520283100870052016-05-11T11:39:38.474-07:002016-05-11T11:39:38.474-07:00>>Nowhereville State U
The great irony to ...>>Nowhereville State U <br /><br />The great irony to this is that the places Podunk U's are located aren't exactly "nowhereville" since it's technically on a map. <br /><br />College Station? Why that's Texas A&M. Columbus? That's Buckeye territory. Champaign-Urbana? State of Illinois and home to University of Illinois. Omaha? Tuscaloosa? Cornhuskers and Crimson Tide.<br /><br />Those that condescend aren't nearly as smart as they think they are. GoldRush Applehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04672912751538200761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-50403937900343063402016-05-11T11:23:45.373-07:002016-05-11T11:23:45.373-07:00TP, the proof is in the pudding when you look at t...TP, the proof is in the pudding when you look at the humanities & social sciences faculty pages. Depending on the field, where you get your Phd matters. So cut the BS and get your head out of the sand. <br /><br />"If you have solid statistics and studies to backup your claims ..... The core tenet of most graduate schools is intellectual rigor. In arguing a point, this means having evidence and a way of substantiating any truth claims"<br /><br />Strange. You argued a point yet you don't follow your own advice. Gotta love "intellectuals."GoldRush Applehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04672912751538200761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-55156697833019031782016-04-04T02:42:54.495-07:002016-04-04T02:42:54.495-07:00This is utterly true. It is a brutal food chain, a...This is utterly true. It is a brutal food chain, and, these days, such an explicit one that nobody even bothers to sugarcoat it very much. Today I positively shudder whenever I reflect upon my naivete at the time I drank the grad-school Kool-Aid in 2001. I was 35 and had an Ivy-league bachelor's degree (Columbia), but my initial post-graduate career efforts had tanked, and in grad school I sought escape (yes, from reality, the job market, and myself). To avoid accumulating debt, I bunked at "Hotel Mama," as the Germans call it, and attended a large third-tier state university--for in the area, that was the only option. I figured I would reboot myself by earning an M.A., then seguing into a top-ranked Ph.D. program.<br /><br />My mother, of all people, was skeptical, because as a born New Yorker (NYU grad, too), she was no stranger to collegiate pecking-order snobbery. But after I met the faculty at the third-rate university, I exulted, "Why, it's really a hidden gem of a program--look, almost all of them have the Ph.D. from an Ivy or public Ivy!" <br /><br />Little, little did I know what that meant--and does not mean. im Exilnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-63400434438353187322016-02-25T12:39:37.268-08:002016-02-25T12:39:37.268-08:001. Concentrate pedigree value in a few urban areas...1. Concentrate pedigree value in a few urban areas on the New England, mid-Atlantic, and California coasts.<br /><br />2. Use this to enforce the liberal politicization of academia.<br /><br />3. Use 1-2 to enforce liberal politicization of national government, some state governments, and key industries.<br /><br />4. Use 1-3 to consolidate economic power in 4-5 key states, which enter into symbiotic relationships with the federal government/ dominant party in return for receiving the majority of national tax dollars.<br /><br />5. Involve federal government in expansion of student loans. Hike tuition faster than inflation to grow institutional bureaucracies to aid in consolidating steps 2-4, and impoverish/economically cripple all other regions of the country. Expand outright grants and opportunities to non-citizens to consolidate political and economic power. Accelerate offshoring of industrial sectors likely to generate alternate power centers.<br /><br />6. Generate ethnic violence, using the universities to provide support. Abdicate key federal law enforcement responsibilities, abdicate key health, environment, and security responsibilities (or even engineer disasters deliberately), and misuse government resources to quash undesirable internal dissent through excessive and inappropriate force.<br /><br />7. Police public speech and thought by co-opting electronic media and communications. Begin widespread and intrusive surveillance of the dis-empowered classes.<br /><br />8. Using terrorism as a cover, curb cash transactions and promote the "cashless society." Ostensibly in aid of law enforcement, this will actually consolidate power in a very few hands, create greater dependence, and be misused to squelch political dissent and facilitate outright theft.<br /><br />9. Accelerate automation of labor.<br /><br />10. Make abundantly clear that resistance is futile, that there are inviolable class barriers, that government will arbitrarily pick and destroy targets, that law does not apply, and that media is more or less uniformly controlled.<br /><br />Congratulations America.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-67690576899092302002016-02-23T16:15:27.954-08:002016-02-23T16:15:27.954-08:00...not to mention egregious instances where the st......not to mention egregious instances where the state school buys a hot-air bl*w-job from a rich Democrat criminal for hundreds of thousands of dollars, that might have gone to actual scholarship or even a teaching position or two.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-11627090289619677552016-02-23T16:12:01.948-08:002016-02-23T16:12:01.948-08:00Proper capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and ...Proper capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and grammar, in my experience, impresses no one and won't even get you a paid job as a proofreader. Sad, but true. <br /><br />What's even worse - proper orthography, grammar, and punctuation *in another language* will not get you a paid job as a translator, editor, diplomat, proofreader, teacher, or marketing consultant.<br /><br />The idiots won, the rest of us who gave a sh*t about literacy can go push daisies.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-62049446799664638582016-02-23T10:41:15.758-08:002016-02-23T10:41:15.758-08:00In my major metro area, getting a position in the ...In my major metro area, getting a position in the community college system is the first prize for taking a graduate degree at the local (Big State U.) university. Hard to say what happens to the majority of the hundreds of graduates that don't make the cut. A few (VERY few) of the international students tend to go on to teach at very small poorly-ranked institutions or return home to teach at more prestigious institutions. Some local graduates go on to become perennial tutors. Some become CC staff or administration.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-90879906623018508872016-02-14T20:13:02.980-08:002016-02-14T20:13:02.980-08:00Karen Bruce appears to have gained a position as a...Karen Bruce appears to have gained a position as a lecturer at Ohio State. Which usually implies non-tenure non-research post.<br /><br />Not something I'm aiming for...Gabrielle du Venthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06582010231664074253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-66890527867082382692015-08-01T12:20:52.731-07:002015-08-01T12:20:52.731-07:00Nope. What you say is only true if you are fooled ...Nope. What you say is only true if you are fooled by the superficiality of branding. Sorry, pal, but that applies to education as much as - if not more - than anything else.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-43278232440714846672015-08-01T12:19:31.540-07:002015-08-01T12:19:31.540-07:00Please read Malcolm Gladwell's "David and...Please read Malcolm Gladwell's "David and Goliath." It makes a very strong case for being a big fish in a small pond (amazing student at a good or even better-than-average school) instead of being a small fish in a big pond (a once-amazing-but-now-average-because-of-relative-comparison student in an amazing school). It not only applies to schools but also to those hired out of school. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-57085645586934644702015-06-13T17:05:07.585-07:002015-06-13T17:05:07.585-07:00Sounds about right. I just looked up IUPUI (India...Sounds about right. I just looked up IUPUI (Indiana University Purdue University - Indianapolis).<br /><br />They appear to have two new asst profs, one with a PhD from University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign and the other from University of South Carolina.<br /><br />The bigger problem is that the dept. there is staffed mostly by adjuncts - what looks like their own retired professors and PhD candidates from IU-Bloomington and Purdue. <br /><br />Another one - Clayton State University in Morrow, GA, an exurb of Atlanta. <br /><br />They have 3 asst. profs - PhDs from Ohio State, Univ of Toronto, Emory.<br /><br />Like I said before, I work at the community college level and we never see PhD candidates from anything better than Big State Universities - and they are rare and often the dregs of what their departments must have to offer. It's usually regionals but they are also not the strongest and can be beaten by strong Master's only grads if their teaching is not strong. Although we do have a Kansas PhD alumnus here.<br /><br />Sometimes it baffles me why so few PhDs try at our level and instead want to languish in adjunct-hell at the university level. Aaronnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-35578271668356426122015-04-25T18:13:13.680-07:002015-04-25T18:13:13.680-07:00pedigree does not matterpedigree does not matterMikehttp://www.repairpc.canoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-70390475002096022622015-04-25T17:52:02.439-07:002015-04-25T17:52:02.439-07:00Inspired by the comment above, I decided to look a...Inspired by the comment above, I decided to look at a public university history department in the middle of the country to see what kind of people it has been hiring. <br /><br />This is where the 6 assistant professors of history at the University of Missouri-Columbia got their Ph.D.s: Yale, Columbia, Brown, Wash U, Emory, and Kansas<br /><br />In that list, Kansas is the exception that proves the rule. <br /><br />Mizzou is what you would call a Big State University, so I checked out three regional universities.<br /><br />There are 4 assistant professors of history at Missouri State-Springfield with Ph.D.s from: Cornell, Leiden, Wisconsin, Missouri<br /><br />3 at Northwest Missouri State: Missouri, Nebraska, Arizona State<br /><br />2 at Western Missouri State: Duke, Akron<br /><br />You can see a general pattern with a couple of surprises.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-21066034633164286072015-04-14T15:41:51.420-07:002015-04-14T15:41:51.420-07:00The problem is far more pronounced in the academic...The problem is far more pronounced in the academic profession than elsewhere in the "real world". If a graduate from a low prestige college goes into business and proves they have a talent for getting things done, their school pedigree will likely be forgotten and disappear to the bottom of the resume. Maybe it's similar in the natural sciences, where a graduate from a low prestige school might solve a real problem. But in the humanities/social sciences, the academic pedigree means everything and it stays at the top of the credential list for life. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-36293792759574836602015-04-14T15:04:10.262-07:002015-04-14T15:04:10.262-07:00It sure would be nice to see some updates from the...It sure would be nice to see some updates from these still in grad school people. After nearly 5 years, how did the degree in medieval studies work out? <br /><br />Prospective grad students should pay close attention to this blog, because every item is right on the mark. <br /><br /> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-60870176804653131982015-03-07T15:24:11.264-08:002015-03-07T15:24:11.264-08:00University of KY geography is ranked in the top 10...University of KY geography is ranked in the top 10 programs in the world. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4276812992911002375.post-61030596734400188442015-02-20T10:30:08.382-08:002015-02-20T10:30:08.382-08:00An excellent post - and (despite my wishful self w...An excellent post - and (despite my wishful self with utopian dreams) I have to agree with it. The comments below by everyone including those who like to be called Mister Anonymous (much like me) were equally illuminating.<br /><br />Bottomline - pedigree matters. As for the person who mentioned Chomsky - this is certainly an interesting comment from Chomsky himself and perhaps even true to some extent (admittedly it was new to me and I appreciate your contribution to my knowledge). <br /><br />But let us admit it, we would not have paid much attention if it had been said by Professor Chomsky teaching at the Zhejiang University or at the Tsinghua university or the IIT. Each of them has merits, and excellent faculty, but we make judgements based on our perceptions. Ditto for PhDs.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com