A long shot: anyone want to help? Grad school in education; interest in critical theory.

[exisinggg]

Thanks everyone.

Comments

[coaldustcanary]

UIUC sounds like a no-brainer best choice to me, though Irvine doesn't seem bad - new programs are just riskier

[exisinggg]

See, problem #1 might be that I've never been to U-C. I need to do that, you know, yesterday. Unfortunately, they notified me of admission this week...

I realize that academia is becoming an abandoned mine shaft, and that you have to be sharkish to get a position -- sometimes any position at all. However, I have lots of QOL-type concerns; I'd like to be happy in my environment for the next five (six? seven?) years.

I'll try to visit next weekend and update you guys.

Thank you so much for the info.

[hkitsune]

I think coaldustcanary's point was that if you care so much about QoL, it's going to be difficult to deal with job searches once you're done, unless you want to work outside academia. Once you get a job you're going to be there for a very long time until you can convince another (better) school to pick you up.

[coaldustcanary]

Yeah, my point is what hkitsune said, but if you can get to C-U this week to visit, that may be helpful. If you are from CA, it probably will be a culture shock. (I've lived in the Midwest in towns that make C-U look like a big city most of my life, so, there you go.) But if you can handle it for 5 years, that might be good practice for needing to handle it for the rest of your life. You can find out if the tradeoff is really one you want to make to work in academia.

[exisinggg]

Understood. I do have an understanding of how oversaturated the academic market is and how bleak the options will be for many. I, like you said, grew up and went to college (Berk.) in California, and my family and S.O. are here, which makes things very tough. Hopefully I'll be able to check out U-C next weekend and mentally prepare myself for a more nomadic lifestyle.

Thanks for the $0.02!

[roseofjuly]

This is why sometimes I wish I had gone to a university in a cheaper area...I love my university and I love New York, but it's a whole lot harder surviving here on $30K than it would be anywhere else. If I had gone to school in the South or the Midwest, I feel like I'd be coasting.