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The problem is that there are plenty of graduate students willing to work for peanuts.
by selectron 10y ago
The problem is that there are plenty of graduate students willing to work for peanuts.
- mattkrause 10y agoYou also don't know how you stack up in the tournament. The people entering graduate school have usually done really well in undergrad. However, being in the top 1% (or whatever) of that small pool provides you with a lot less information than you'd think about your prospects in a pool of people who were also in the top 1% of their own undergrad classes. Repeat for grad school->postdoc, postdoc->tenure track, and so on.
- selectron 10y agoI agree completely. I also think there is way more luck involved than people want to admit - a lot interesting results are unexpected, and there are so few jobs the timing has to work out for you. I have known plenty of great post docs who couldn't get a Professor job, and plenty of Professors who seem pretty mediocre.