RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!!!

Dear LW,

Don't be dissuaded from your dream by the frustrated and failed academics who've written in. (ABD stands for "a bitter drag.") If you want that Ph.D., then get it. I can tell you from experience that it’s a noble and rewarding pursuit.

However, you should be realistic about what it will take to get that teaching job. Even in the sciences and engineering, competition for these jobs is stiff. To get the job, you will need to do an outstanding dissertation. Once you get the job, you will need to work long hours until tenure is achieved. Also, you may indeed get a job in North Dakota. The reward is the academic job itself, where you have a lot of freedom to do what you want. The interaction with students is great, they keep you young and alive.

It’s true the pay isn't as good in academia as it is in industry or government. However, the freedom that comes with the job and the security that comes with tenure is impossible to find elsewhere. Also, the pay isn't terrible, it’s enough for a good life. Besides, money doesn't guarantee happiness anyway.

I would recommend that you investigate what financial aide is available through the school before you do the videos. They could come back to haunt you later. At the very least, you can get student loans. Teaching and research assistantship may also be possible, depending on your field. There are also some fellowship programs available.

Also, maybe you can't support that family member anymore if you go to school. You didn't say what the situation was, but one reason we pay taxes is so that a safety net is available for those that can't provide for themselves.

So, my advice is to go for it. Life is short and you only get once chance to live it.

This woman needs to get informed. Most PhD students--at least those at universities, as opposed to smaller, "boutique"-style colleges--fund their PhD by working as teaching assistants or research assistants or some kind of fellow in the department. In other words, they get their PhD for free, or nearly free: they get a tuition waiver at least, and in many, many cases, a stipend that IS ENOUGH TO LIVE ON if you're willing to live like students do, i.e. cheaply. (Hint: try going to a university that's not in a super-expensive city). Sometimes they get a partial stipend (i.e. not enough to live on) and have to supplement it with smallish student loans. Sometimes they get no stipend and fund their living expenses through a combination of student loans, grants, scholarships, and part-time jobs.

That's how people get PhD's in this country. Heck, that's how some people get JD's (my brother GOT PAID to go to law school). So why on earth is this woman thinking of doing fetish videos?!?! First off, she shouldn't need to: all she needs to do is get into a PhD program that funds its students. And secondly, if she DOES do fetish videos, guaranteed they are going to be on the web in seconds flat, and that's not exactly going to help her get a job when her PhD is finished.

So, my recipe for her PhD success:

(1) Research universities where she could do the degree she wants. Find out about their financial package (i.e. how are their students funded). Plan on applying to the ones that are the best fit for what she wants to do and her finances. Then,

(2) Get books to study up on the GRE. The better her GRE score, the better her chances of getting into a good PhD program. Then,

(3) If any of the PhD programs that she found in step 1 are near her home, consider renting out rooms in her house and continuing to live there during the program; this may be cheaper than selling the house and renting. (Heck, if she's going to spend another year or so researching PhD programs, taking the GRE, applying, etc., she might as well look into renting out rooms in her house NOW, to help cover her mortgage better.) Then,

(4) Take the GRE. Take it again if her score isn't good enough the first time. And start putting applications together for schools that WILL FUND HER. Then,

(5) Apply; see who accepts her; see what financial packages they offer her.

And voila! No need to do fetish videos at all!!

I am not an academic and I do not care to be one, but I will defend those who are academics and point out the many problems in the field. Sure, they're frustrated - there's a lot to be frustrated about. They're also not being whiny or negative; they're being honest.

Sure, you can dispense the customary advice of follow your bliss, but when extensive amounts of time and money are involved, you have to think long and hard about undertaking such a venture. There are a lot of crappy jobs out there, yet they don't necessarily mean taking on the huge opportunity costs that you do when pursuing a doctorate. If I was spending several years in school and racking up debt or barely getting by, I'd sure as hell would want a decent return on my very large investment.

At my alma mater, the French department posted an opening for a single tenure-track position. Over five hundred people applied. That means, according to some letter writers here, around 499 people are "failures." These failures, no doubt, received doctorates from the very best schools, published articles, and racked up sterling credentials.

The professor whose blog I included told me that when he interviewed for his position, there were at least two dozen applicants he had met whose credentials rivaled his or were even better. He admitted that he was amazed he got hired at all considering the depth of the talent pool.

The people who didn't get hired are not failures, they're just caught in an insanely tight market. Especially at elite colleges, hiring one person means rejecting several equally qualified and deserving candidates. It's just the way things work and I imagine it's heartbreaking for those among you who are academics and have been through the job-hunting process.

Looking at academia with only rose-colored glasses is naive at best and blatantly irresponsible at worst. By all means if academia is what you love, go for it, but be certain that you know what it entails.

http://chronicle.com/weekly/v50/i19/19a01001.htm

http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i46/46a01001.htm