I went to pretty good school in India for my undergrad and grad. It was not sufficiently challenging. I did another masters in the US from a middle tier University. I found it more challenging and engaging. I've been motivated to continue learning and taking class (both via MOOCs and on prem) when necessary to learn new concepts. I love the passion here, the library system and the access to star performances and innovators via meet ups and conferences.
The Disappearing American Grad Student
91–100 of 142 posts
Re: The Disappearing American Grad Student
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
To be clear, I'm not knocking my parents here, more pointing out how much the culture has changed
Yeah you never win or pay off "ancestor debt", and you'll never be free of the debts you owe your children. At the end of it, being an adult looks a lot like working for everyone else all of the time and it sucks. It is what is is though and it's worse to be useless. At least that's how I get through the week.
Well if you don’t like it just jump off a bridge like a reasonable person.
Re: The Disappearing American Grad Student
#93What about non-STEM fields? Are Americans well represented in other graduate programs?
Plus, if schools want more Americans in graduate STEM programs, couldn't they just use affirmative action to tilt the demographics in the direction they want?
Re: The Disappearing American Grad Student
#94The hidden assumption in the article and most of the comments I see is that Americans are not applying to these graduate schools. It's also possible that Americans are applying, but the international students are simply much better qualified and are therefore admitted in greater proportion.
Re: The Disappearing American Grad Student
#95I remember 20 some years ago... that I had asked a few grad students about their GPA and GRE scores before applying. I remember having a decent recommendation, gpa .5 higher than a couple of guys, and OK GRE. Didn't get into the masters program. As a supposedly privileged white guy, I think there is much more to it. I think the schools prefer foreign students as they will take the shit pay and long hours much like H1…
Capitalism is a system of oppression/enslavement/civilization... which now generally behaves anti-white (ethnic European) because the most capitalist countries are the most white countries, and because it's convenient to replace whites with cheaper and easier to control foreigners, thus "replacement migration". It also keeps wages low (like pushing women into male roles does) and thus makes the population more powerless, as does the division created by anti-Western "minorities" (... for now, mostly) such as the Muslims.
Follow the money and you'll meet your masters, and the only way to win in this system is not to play (or to play the system, instead of letting it play you).
Re: The Disappearing American Grad Student
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can't speak to overall statistical numbers, but of the 75+ international graduate students that I've spoken to, I would estimate at least 85% plan to stay in the U.S. I find this particularly surprising given that their status is essentially that of indentured servants; their advisors can deport them at any time with only 14 days of notice. This one-way power dynamic can produce cruel, callous treatment and mercile…
My friend quit his postdoc with a prestigious researcher in his field after witnessing the abuse the international students in the same group were subjected to.
Thr flipside is discrimination against whites, because they're less easy to exploit in the academic threadmill... kind of like affirmitive action, discriminating against whites while also paternalizing minorities, promoting them beyond their competence and throwing a shadow over their accomplishments, "Did I just get this job because I'm a fag?", hurting both groups and only benefitting big money.
Universities are the banks' game and have been a while. One challenge of this century will be retaking the gateways to the job market, but it's not just that, every well has been poisoned and every root cut. Dangerous days.
Re: The Disappearing American Grad Student
#97They make a single mention of what could be a significant contributing factor; student debt. A quick google search for India and China show that many of their top public universities charge ~$300 and ~$800/year while UC Berkeley is over $14,000. After 4 years, with on-campus housing the first year, the Berkeley student owes about $72,000 while the Indian student owes $1,200. As far as the income differences between t…
I didn't understand your math, but your comment about 0 year/7 month prompted me to write this. For my bachelor's education in India, my parents took a loan of 200k (2 lakhs) rs that took them I think 4 years to pay off. Unless we can get into a government college, a lot of us cannot afford private education.
Re: The Disappearing American Grad Student
#98What about non-STEM fields? Are Americans well represented in other graduate programs? Plus, if schools want more Americans in graduate STEM programs, couldn't they just use affirmative action to tilt the demographics in the direction they want?
I got my phd in communications in 2014 from a Big 10 school. International students were around 10-15% of the grad students and most of those were from eastern europe. So at least our department was very different than the STEM departments discussed in the article.
Re: The Disappearing American Grad Student
#99The monetary value proposition of grad school simply isn't very good if you're a US citizen. There is non-monetary value (like advancing human knowledge) that makes grad school worth it for some, but the pay is low. Imagine you just graduated from a quality undergrad with high grades and strong recommendations from your professors. Maybe you had an internship or two or spent a summer doing research. Maybe you even ha…
You didn't hit on the shifting literal economics of academia.
I was interested in continuing further in academia. Publish or perish, combined with the devaluation of negative results in publication, was a deterrent but workable. The thing that killed all interest in academia for me was the revelations of Stefan Grimm. Measuring the value of research in dollar bills? I mean you can give practically countless examples of how absurd this is. The square root of negative numbers? What sort of nonsense is this? We need to be studying real, important science - like how to make a better horse saddle or boat sail.
Re: The Disappearing American Grad Student
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think I should give you direct values, instead of simple speculation. I am masters student in one of the US citizens, and am being funded by my parents savings, so this is all very relevant. I grew up in an above middle class Indian household with an income of about $10,000 a year. My parents lived very frugally (I lived in possibly the highest Indian COL area) and my parents started saving early. Over about 25 yea…
It’s very sad actually that in the US my parents saved absolutely nothing for college because when my one parent that attended did it they could afford it with a summer job.
I think my parents ended up being really surprised that college couldn't be paid for with a summer job. I don't think Boomers realize the price increases we've seen in college tuition prices.