Una verdad simulada

Brian Leiter tells you why it is important to speak to some of the current graduate students to find out more about the department and the faculty you plan to work with for your graduate school (via Abi). Often, US News ranking is used as a sole criterion by Indian students to decide which grad school they want to attend. I often give students advice that I plagiarized from Abi: “don’t work for famous assholes; it usually isn’t worth it.” I know of a few cases where my friends quit after a few years into their PhDs, not because their work was going nowhere, but because they could no longer take shit from their advisors.

Quoting Leiter on some of the problems that could exist:

The Absent Faculty:  Are the faculty who look so good on paper actually around and interested in working with students?

The Sexual Predator Faculty: […] Are there repeated cases of sexual harassment complaints against faculty in the department?  Do they ever result in discipline?

The Nasty Faculty:  […] I recall the story of one department where a member of the faculty was known to reduce students to tears in seminar.

The Factionalized Faculty:  Many faculties are “factionalized,” in the sense that there are sub-groups that rarely see “eye to eye” about departmental issues, from appointments to admissions.

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