this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] reallykindasorta@slrpnk.net 66 points 1 week ago (10 children)

This just confirms what every young person in academia knows: gotta get on uppers to be competitive.

My partner is a PhD candidate and at a recent party a postdoc was telling us how he acquired a giant crack rock at the beginning of his grad career and whenever he needed to finish a big assignment or something he would lick it.

[–] ALostInquirer@lemm.ee 4 points 1 week ago (6 children)

Are doctorate/grad school programs distinctly competitive? My impression was that they were more challenging but similar in nature to undergrad insofar as loads of coursework to stay on top of to complete courses and ensure you got some of the most expensive, "You endured it!" paperwork in the world.

[–] reallykindasorta@slrpnk.net 10 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Getting a. PhD isn’t super competitive (speaking from the US), but if you aim to get a professorship at an R1 it’s somewhat competitive across the board. The program coursework vs undergrad depends on the program too— I would say most differ somewhat substantially though. For most humanities degrees you’re doing coursework for 2-3 years and teaching undergrads while you prepare for qualifying exams, then you teach and write your thesis for a few more. The graduate courses are often in seminar (circle discussion) format rather than lecture.

[–] ALostInquirer@lemm.ee 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Thanks for some detail! What you describe reassures me in my decision not to get further into it, particularly as a professor path seemed one of few traditional options with what I studied.

[–] reallykindasorta@slrpnk.net 2 points 1 week ago

Yeah it’s not the best path for everyone, and some subject areas just don’t have enough teaching positions to reasonably expect to get one

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