We Need a Yelp for Doctoral Programs
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We Need a Yelp for Doctoral Programs
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Re: We Need a Yelp for Doctoral Programs
#2How are the data needs for such a doctoral and post-doctoral evaluation program different from the data needs for https://collegescorecard.ed.gov ?
Data: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/data/
Data documentation: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/data/documentation/
Re: We Need a Yelp for Doctoral Programs
#3collegescorecard measures the outcome. In the post, Profesor Leonard talks about doctoral programs being rated based on research outcomes.
Re: We Need a Yelp for Doctoral Programs
#4So someone to extort colleges to remove bad reviews?
Re: We Need a Yelp for Doctoral Programs
#5How are the data needs for such a doctoral and post-doctoral evaluation program different from the data needs for https://collegescorecard.ed.gov ? Data: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/data/ Data documentation: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/data/documentation/
Reviews seem like the biggest need.
“The culture in the X department is terrible, everyone works 80 hours a week and is miserable”
“Night life is great at least, the grad students usually go out for student nights at blah blah after seminar”
“Underrated X program because at university Y, don’t be fooled we literally have 4 of the 5 top researchers in field Z”
Etc.
Re: We Need a Yelp for Doctoral Programs
#6So someone to extort colleges to remove bad reviews?
Ha ha I know where you are going :) My take from the post was that there needs to be some information provided to end users based on which they should be able to decide what colleges to choose. Ranking thatis dictated by third parties cannot be a criteria. And student should not spend too much time emalining each and every college they are interested in.
Re: We Need a Yelp for Doctoral Programs
#7No. We don't need a consumer review website, because PhD students (I am one) are not the consumers of doctoral programs. We're the workers. We need a union.
If we're in a good program, we're receiving valuable training both in our coursework (or before PhD in an MS/MA if your country does it that way) and in our research work. Ideally, we're building up a network of collaborations and acquaintances in the scientific community that gives us an "in" for the next stage of our career, while also being mentored by world-class experts in our fields.
In a not so good program, we're used as TAs for a few years and then rapidly encouraged to drop out.
Either way, most of what we do is not like most of what an undergraduate student does. It is like what an entry-level professional does.
Re: We Need a Yelp for Doctoral Programs
#8How are the data needs for such a doctoral and post-doctoral evaluation program different from the data needs for https://collegescorecard.ed.gov ? Data: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/data/ Data documentation: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/data/documentation/
Reviews seem like the biggest need. “The culture in the X department is terrible, everyone works 80 hours a week and is miserable” “Night life is great at least, the grad students usually go out for student nights at blah blah after seminar” “Underrated X program because at university Y, don’t be fooled we literally have 4 of the 5 top researchers in field Z” Etc.
But it is so hard for people to give reviews. People seem to give good review when are they are very pissed off or very happy. Later seems to be a very rare case.
Re: We Need a Yelp for Doctoral Programs
#9This article really rubs me the wrong way. I don't think I would find a Yelp very valuable, and the most important metric for a PhD program isn't job placement numbers. The idea that job placement correlates to PhD quality is just plain wrong. Incredibly intelligent students leave PhD programs through no fault of their own, and people who get nothing out of a PhD program can get a cushy job easily. It's a horrible metric.
I found that the difference between faculty members at the same institution can be immense. This is because faculty have great control over your life due to how doctoral funding works in the United States. If you wish to continue a Biology degree, you must be willing to work with this faculty member, in this area, on this specific problem. Some faculty are rigid about a specific problem, some are not.
Even more complicated is that some students need more guidance than others. Or some students want much less. And the student doesn't necessarily know what they need before entering the program.
This is why I think it's smarter to give doctoral students more freedom and flexibility in switching faculty. The school should be supportive of a student in this process rather than focusing on their job placement numbers.
Re: We Need a Yelp for Doctoral Programs
#10[deleted]