# My graduate school is full of retards. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 27, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-graduate-school-is-full-of-retards/623256 "2012-05-27T16:55:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-graduate-school-is-full-of-retards/623256/21 "2012-05-27T19:03:06Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Anyone with tuition money can get a PhD these days because it’s apparently impossible to fail a class. Where you go, maybe. You need to get into a more competitive program that weeds out the retards at the application stage by rejecting people that can’t put together a coherent sentence. I don’t think it’s impossible to find a school with higher standards that is still affordable. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-graduate-school-is-full-of-retards/623256/22 "2012-05-27T19:05:37Z")
It sounds like the OP has a legitimate complaint, but the examples chosen don’t really support it. Perhaps that’s a skill that they can develop in graduate school. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-graduate-school-is-full-of-retards/623256/23 "2012-05-27T19:06:44Z")
Phd or Ed D or doctorate? It’s so different in the sciences, IMHO. I took one real class during grad school. Everything else was research. The people I was with were really talented. Now TAing or the undergrads was an eye opener… ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-graduate-school-is-full-of-retards/623256/24 "2012-05-27T19:27:41Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Two answers: “No,” and “Depends.” > > First, “no” because it’s National Security Agency. :smack: I know you can type abbreviations after clarifying - I just assumed the OP was complaining about that sentence because someone started off with it. Or it was just badly written in general. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-graduate-school-is-full-of-retards/623256/25 "2012-05-27T19:28:41Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > You “did someone’s homework”? As in, helped him cheat? …yes. I got paid for it, too. I’ve also helped friends with their grad applications. I write really great essays. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-graduate-school-is-full-of-retards/623256/26 "2012-05-27T19:30:39Z")
> [@Farmer\_Jane](#): > > …yes. > > I got paid for it, too. > > I’ve also helped friends with their grad applications. I write really great essays. 😃 And you’re supposed to be a teacher? ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-graduate-school-is-full-of-retards/623256/27 "2012-05-27T19:39:10Z")
> [@Farmer\_Jane](#): > > …yes. > > I got paid for it, too. > > I’ve also helped friends with their grad applications. I write really great essays. 😃 Yeah, you seem like a real stickler for detail. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-graduate-school-is-full-of-retards/623256/28 "2012-05-27T19:44:23Z")
> [@Farmer\_Jane](#): > > …yes. > > I got paid for it, too. > > I’ve also helped friends with their grad applications. I write really great essays. 😃 > [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > And you’re supposed to be a teacher? Well, teachers _do_ often need opportunities to make a few extra bucks… ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-graduate-school-is-full-of-retards/623256/29 "2012-05-27T19:48:33Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > It’s so different in the sciences, IMHO. I took one real class during grad school. Everything else was research. The people I was with were really talented. Agreed - I am in grad school now and haven’t taken a class in years, everything is about research. Of course, I also haven’t written a 1000 word essay in years. As Ruken says, the fact that people are paying their own tuition would be a red flag for me. My program very rarely accepts self-funded students, so usually if you can’t get funding you’re out of luck. Most people not only have their tuition paid, but also receive a stipend to live off. I recognize that this is likely different outside the hard sciences though. There are a couple of people in my program who do make me wonder how they got into grad school, but for the most part everyone is pretty good and many put me to shame. If I felt like I was completely surrounded by idiots, I’d really question my decision to attend this university. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-graduate-school-is-full-of-retards/623256/30 "2012-05-27T20:02:10Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Well, teachers _do_ often need opportunities to make a few extra bucks… Hey, if a _graduate school instructor_ assigns something that easy, it’s not my fault. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-graduate-school-is-full-of-retards/623256/31 "2012-05-27T20:06:14Z")
> [@Farmer\_Jane](#): > > …yes. > > I got paid for it, too. > > I’ve also helped friends with their grad applications. I write really great essays. 😃 Sorry, then you’re part of the problem. Help edit, help someone brainstorm, fine. Write it for them or do their homework? That’s unethical from both sides. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-graduate-school-is-full-of-retards/623256/32 "2012-05-27T20:21:54Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > It sounds like the OP has a legitimate complaint, but the examples chosen don’t really support it. Perhaps that’s a skill that they can develop in graduate school. How so? The sentences are weak. They have poor word choices and bad structure. I _could’ve_ quoted spelling mistakes and bad grammar, but I thought I’d hold the class to a higher expectation and show you some higher-order violations of good writing. > [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Maybe my expectations were destroyed by the abysmal essay-writing skills of my own (undergraduate) classmates years ago, but some of those don’t sound _that_ bad to me. What’s the offense in the Truman one, for example? Government agencies are not “signed into effect.” There are several different ways of phrasing that idea that wouldn’t have made the writer seem like he was penning it on a napkin. > [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Or this one: "“A realization came about in the years following 1942.”? Presumably several realizations have come about since 1942. Plus, can a single realization come about in multiple years? That’s one slow realization! > [@Rigamarole](#): > > You know it’s funny you pick that as an example, as it’s a rather stupid one. The only “correct” spelling of al-Qaeda is: القاعدة‎ > > Transliterating into the Roman alphabet is a matter of taste, and there is no truly “correct” spelling of a word transliterated from a language that uses a different alphabet. Alternative spellings in English include al-Qaida and al-Qai’da, with the latter actually being the most accurate. But all are equally “correct”. I’ve bitched about this countless times on this board. I’ll accept any of the other examples you gave as “correct.” The point is, there’s no fucking ‘u’! ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-graduate-school-is-full-of-retards/623256/33 "2012-05-27T20:27:48Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > How so? The sentences are weak. They have poor word choices and bad structure. I _could’ve_ quoted spelling mistakes and bad grammar, but I thought I’d hold the class to a higher expectation and show you some higher-order violations of good writing. For serious, I don’t know how anyone can look at: “When you think of the element of surprise what do you think of? I know for me I though mainly about the timing but [an author] opened my eyes to what the element of surprise really means.” …and come away thinking, “Hm, yes, not so bad, that seems okay to me.” ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-graduate-school-is-full-of-retards/623256/34 "2012-05-27T20:28:49Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Sorry, then you’re part of the problem. Help edit, help someone brainstorm, fine. Write it for them or do their homework? That’s unethical from both sides. I had to pay for the dentist. I have no shame. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-graduate-school-is-full-of-retards/623256/35 "2012-05-27T20:31:23Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > Where you go, maybe. You need to get into a more competitive program that weeds out the retards at the application stage by rejecting people that can’t put together a coherent sentence. I don’t think it’s impossible to find a school with higher standards that is still affordable. I don’t know how it is in other fields, but in my field basically no-one pays for a PhD. Almost anywhere with even a half-decent PhD program waives tuition for _at least_ the first four years (more commonly these days, 5 or 6), and the better schools also provide a stipend for 4-6 years, in return for some teaching or research assistant work. This is because every knows that you won’t make much money as a history PhD, so having people graduate with $100K worth of debt would result in no applicants at all. The biggest problem, in terms of quality, is that some schools decide that they “need” a PhD program to boost their prestige and/or to guarantee a supply of cheap labor so the profs don’t have to do all their own grading. These marginal schools often get candidates who are pretty smart, but really don’t have what it takes for a PhD. The best candidates end up at the big schools, which have their pick of the applicants. Also, because the supply of history PhDs far outstrips demand, graduates from the lesser PhD programs often find it much harder to get jobs, unless they have produced really exceptional work. When i began at grad school, our program took about a dozen candidates a year out of about 200 applicants. We were all given a free ride with tuition, as well as a four-year stipend to live on. Competition for good students had led to that stipend being raised to five and now, i believe, six years. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-graduate-school-is-full-of-retards/623256/36 "2012-05-27T20:36:58Z")
> [@Farmer\_Jane](#): > > Hey, if a _graduate school instructor_ assigns something that easy, it’s not my fault. 😉 I guess the _Ethics 101_ class was full. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-graduate-school-is-full-of-retards/623256/37 "2012-05-27T20:42:37Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Anyone with tuition money can get a PhD these days because it’s apparently impossible to fail a class. In [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=630260), you said you were enrolling in American Military University, which is an all-online, for profit school. If you’re still there, then of course this is the case - that’s the entire reason that schools like AMU exist. It’s regionally accredited, so it’s a step above some of the other for-profit institutions out there, but it’s still a business first. Schools like AMU are great for people whose employers are paying for additional credentials or for already-employed people who need another degree for promotion, but they’re not for students who are looking for a world-class education. If you want higher caliber classmates, the for-profit field isn’t the place for you. You need to go to a school that focuses primarily on education and/or research, depending on your specific field and goals. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-graduate-school-is-full-of-retards/623256/38 "2012-05-27T20:46:29Z")
> [@Enginerd](#): > > In [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=630260), you said you were enrolling in American Military University, which is an all-online, for profit school. If you’re still there, then of course this is the case - that’s the entire reason that schools like AMU exist. Yep. I was going to ask the OP exactly what sort of school he was attending, but if he’s at AMU, then the main criterion for admission is, like most other for-profit schools, a full bank account or access to student loans. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-graduate-school-is-full-of-retards/623256/39 "2012-05-27T20:54:52Z")
> [@Enginerd](#): > > In [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=630260), you said you were enrolling in American Military University, which is an all-online, for profit school. If you’re still there, then of course this is the case - that’s the entire reason that schools like AMU exist. It’s regionally accredited, so it’s a step above some of the other for-profit institutions out there, but it’s still a business first. Schools like AMU are great for people whose employers are paying for additional credentials or for already-employed people who need another degree for promotion, but they’re not for students who are looking for a world-class education. > > If you want higher caliber classmates, the for-profit field isn’t the place for you. You need to go to a school that focuses primarily on education and/or research, depending on your specific field and goals. Can’t I just keep taking the courses at AMU and bitch about it to you guys on occasion? It’s not so much the quality of the education or my peers that bothers me. It’s that I’m being forced to read their drivel and respond intelligently to their, uh, less-than-cogent musings. If my current class was run like my previous classes, my interaction would be limited to “Hey, great post. I totally agree with what you said about \_\_\_” and this thread wouldn’t exist. But no. Every Sunday I have to spew a 500-word response to their linguistic bowel movements. Also, to clarify something, I’m going for an MA, not a PhD. In the OP, I just meant that if the writing is this bad at this level, then the sky must be the limit for how far these people [del]can[/del] will be allowed to go. Why not a PhD? Hell, why not the Presidency? ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-graduate-school-is-full-of-retards/623256/40 "2012-05-27T21:05:39Z")
Do they accept Kenyan students? (sorry couldn’t help myself there). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-graduate-school-is-full-of-retards/623256.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-graduate-school-is-full-of-retards/623256.md?page=3)