> rates at most places are reasonably high If you really believe this, pressure USC's department to start publishing their pass rates each year and pressure yo

> rates at most places are reasonably high If you really believe this, pressure USC's department to start publishing their pass rates each year and pressure your peers at other institutions to do the same. IME departments outright lie on visit days and/or change their definition of "reasonable" any time they accidentally over-admit. E.g., Berkeley -- one of the few places to actually reveal information of any sort on prelim pass rates -- describes their pass rate as "reasonable" and in the same sentence goes on to clarify that they typically pass 2/3rds of students but of course don't make any promises or anything. Maybe us Ph.D.s are so damn battle-scarred we don't realize that a 1/3rd attrition rate on a poverty salary is actually really unacceptable and absolutely not normal? Can you name a single software company that works like that?