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A thread about advice to grad school applicants, because I realize I have a lot to say about it. #withaPhD 1/56
This thread focuses on advice for 1st gen students from disadvantaged backgrounds (like me) and why it's different for us. #withaPhD 2/56
People say we could make SO MUCH MORE money if we don't go to grad school, but an upper middle class life isn't our starting line. 3/56
Honestly? If you're like pre-PhD-student me & you make $8.40/hour & don't have health insurance in your FT job that requires a B.A.? 4/56
A grad school stipend & health insurance just might be a HUGE step up. If you're trapped somewhere, it might be a way out. 5/56
Why might that happen? We were told any BA was a step up from blue collar (not really true) & didn't have middle class networks. 6/56
Inadequate career advising at our understaffed public colleges didn't help us to get those jobs. We couldn't afford unpaid internships. 7/56
Opportunity hoarding meant our peers with white collar parents were using those networks to get those jobs. We needed another way out. 8/56
This doesn't mean we don't have culture shock in grad school. We do. An important consideration: Can you structure things to help THAT? 9/56
Can you find places where you can talk about how it feels to be around grad students bemoaning how much less money they get now? 10/56
Can you find ways to tell the faculty their perspective on your financial situation is wrong, if well-meaning? 11/56
If someone says you shouldn't apply if you can imagine another life, know that's them saying they can't imagine another life. 12/56
Because you and I know you can imagine blue collar work. You just have different aspirations. That's good! Not a liability. 13/56
But don't let anyone guilt you into going back to poverty if the job market sends you into some other field after you have your PhD. 14/56
It's okay not to adjunct for peanuts #withaPhD if you can find another job that pays a decent wage. Let no one shame you. 15/56
So my advice, if you're considering grad school and you don't even know any middle class adults very well, is as follows: 16/56
1. The internet is your friend. Use it to investigate schools. 17/56
2. You don't have to visit schools ahead of time. I applied sight unseen. If you get in, most will offer money for a visit. 18/56
3. Ignore the cost of the degree when applying. If you are in a respectable PhD program, they will pay for everything. It's a job. 19/56
4. But you will have to pay to apply. Start saving early. It cost me about $100/school, on average, to apply. 20/56
5. You will also have to pay for and take the GRE. You can take it more than once, but it's pricey. So don't. 21/56
6. Instead, get a practice program. You can make your own with books from most public libraries. 22/56
7. If you're in college, use your college library to get GRE prep materials. 23/56
8. Drill for the GRE as if it were a class. Set goals, take practice tests, and learn what you don't know yet. 24/56
9. Take the GRE very seriously, even though it's really just a hoop to jump through. Go to the exam well rested. Eat breakfast. 25/56
10. When they do fly you out for a visit, talk with everyone about their experiences, esp. grad students. 26/56
11. Where do people live? Why? How much do they work? Do they get extra funding for research costs? 27/56
12. Make sure you're not just picking an advisor, but a whole deparment and a whole school. You have to love your subject & school. 28/56
In the end, know that a PhD program is one of many paths to overcoming obstacles to a stable, middle class life for us. 29/56
It literally saves some of our lives. So if a promising student comes to you & says, "I want to get a PhD," think about the positives. 30/56
There are positives beyond the professorate. 31/56
While you present the obstacles to landing an elusive tenure-track job, don't do it in contrast to a life the student never knew. 32/56
Instead, present grad school realistically. It's a job with benefits that pays more than some jobs and less than others. 33/56
It may set you up to get a better job in the same field, or another kind of job in another field. 34/56
It will require self-motivation. It will put you in circles where people are mostly upper middle class, and that may be hard. 35/56
But so will the job you get afterward, probably, so it is good practice. 36/56
It will sometimes test your mental health severely. Rates of mental illness are higher among academics than in other professions. 37/56
Faculty have a lot of power over you, and you may need help to process that. 38/56
But your boss will also have a lot of power over you (less than a prof, but a lot), so it may be good practice. 39/56
In graduate school, you will have the chance to chase your own interests on your own schedule. A reward for loving your topic! 40/56
You'll go to places you never imagined (For me, going to the coast of Oregon for a conference was like being in a far-off paradise). 41/56
You'll have health insurance, predictable income (for the duration of the stipend), and stable housing (probably, at least at first). 42/56
You might become a professor afterward and continue living a similar life, teaching, writing, and learning about stuff you love. 43/56
You might not become a professor, but you can use the skills you gain to do something else that might be better than pre-PhD, too. 44/56
It's a risk that may be less risky than not going for some people, even if this isn't true for most college grads. 45/56
Finally, know that you don't have to stay in grad school if you don't want to. 46/56
Taking a masters and going on to do something else is fine. Literally thousands of people do this every year. 47/56
Just like people quit their jobs to take other jobs, you can do that with grad school. Again, let no one shame you. 48/56
My advice comes down to this: If grad school is a job you want, and you want to take the risk of applying, feel free. 49/56
During grad school, you should set yourself up for success whether or not you end up as a professor. 50/56
Use the flexible schedule you have to do informational interviews with people. Find out what people do with your kind of education. 51/56
Get some different kinds of work experiences. Try out different student jobs available to you. 52/56
Try getting involved in student organizations and government, too. They'll be great administrative experience for you later. 53/56
Make grad school the internships you couldn't afford to do. That way, you won't be a one-trick pony when you graduate. 54/56
Meanwhile, go to all the conferences you can get funding for. Present your work. Make a name for yourself. Publish if possible. 55/56
Set yourself up for success either way, & grad school will just be the next step up in your career, not derail it. 56/56
