APPLYING TO GRAD SCHOOL, POST #19: DEALING WITH COMPETITIVENESS/COMPARISON

There's so much competitiveness during the application process and beyond; how do you handle it?

@OpenAcademics @PhDVoice #AcademicChatter #AcademicTwitter #phdchat #gradschool #firstgen #nontraditional

The unfortunate truth about academia (in its current state) is that it's relentlessly competitive. Motivational quotes abound on not comparing yourself to others, but that's MUCH more easily said than done, especially when other people sometimes do the comparing for you.
So how can you survive the rest of the application process (and hopefully beyond) as gracefully as possible?

Firstly, I want to address "online forums." I won't name any because if you already know them, then you know what I'm talking about, and if you don't know any of them,...
I would personally recommend to PLEASE stay off of any online forums for prospective grad students. From what I've seen, those forums tend to be less of a helpful discussion, and more of a place for people to show off the grades, exam scores, interviews, and acceptances...
they're most proud of. I consider myself quite lucky because I didn't know about any of them when I was applying, so I never had to consciously prevent myself from reading and engaging with them. For what it's worth, I was able to get all the help and information I needed...
throughout the application cycle from directly corresponding with my prospective programs/supervisors/etc., so in the interest of self-preservation, I don't think you'll miss out on much by not checking those forums.

This is ironic, I know, but similar deal with social media:...
With things like Twitter, you have the benefit of *mostly* curating the experience that you want, but it's not always perfect, so if you're finding yourself feeling a bit lousy from some of the posts you're seeing, please take breaks from social media as well.
Now that I've talked about avoiding the comparisons and the feelings of inadequacy, it's worth noting that it's pretty impossible to avoid those completely. My most earnest advice echoes something I've mentioned previously: know who you are, know why you're applying for grad...
school, and take pride in your story and in getting this far. If you catch yourself comparing yourself to others, reason with yourself and remind yourself *why* it's not worth your time or effort to compare. For any comparison to be 100% fair, you need to compare your entire...
life (and past lives, if applicable) to that of the person your mind is trying to compare with, and that's not possible, is it? You've had a completely unique journey to get to where you are today, with a unique set of strengths, weaknesses, adversities overcome,...
and perspectives and skills to contribute. Try your best not to listen to the people who say that you need to fit a certain mould in order to succeed in your field, whether that be in regard to age, education, achievement, or any other aspect of you – and *especially* try not...
to listen to yourself when you start thinking that maybe you aren't as good as the people around you. Strive to do the best you can with what you have (and what you don't), and then applaud yourself for succeeding, because that truly is a success in itself. Be as supportive of...
yourself as you would be of your closest friend!

Something I do recommend is leaning heavily on the support you do receive. "Support" doesn't have to be from your mentors or academics who know exactly what you're going through; it can be from a friend outside academia who...
knows nothing about your prospective field of study, but who will stay up late with you and listen to your rants and cheer you on as you head off to interviews, or it can be a regular customer from your previous/current job who has never seen you in an academic setting, but...
who has so much blind faith in you and always excitedly asks how things are going (I had both of these people in my life, and I'm forever grateful to them). You don't need the entire academic community of your field of study to sing your praises in order to be worthy of going...
to grad school and pursuing a topic you're passionate about!

On that note: Remember those potential supervisors you bravely reached out to earlier in the application cycle? The ones who decided...to support you have most likely not done so lightly. You should remind yourself...
that an actual academic has deemed you worthy of their support and mentorship, and that's AMAZING!

Ultimately, a huge factor in grad school admissions is luck, so if you start doubting yourself, your qualifications, or anything else, and if you're having a hard time...
bringing yourself out of it, try to remember that almost anything is possible for anyone!

And if you need a pep talk or a cheerleader or a listening ear for a rant at any point, please message me. I've got you!

More from For later read

Humans inherently like the act of solidarity. We are social beings. We like to huddle up and be together.
They used this against us.
They convinced us that it was an act of solidarity to flatten the curve, to wear a mask for others, to take the vaccines for others,


and to reach #covidzero for others. They convinced us that this was for the greater good of society.
In reality, this couldn't be further away from the truth. They have divided us and broken the core structure of our society. They have dehumanized us with their masks.

They set us against each other into clans on opposite sides of a spectrum. They have turned us into aggressive beings fighting for our survival. Some of us fear harm from the virus, others fear harm from the vaccine, and yet others fear harm from the attack on our civilization.

We are all on a flight or fight mode. We are all operating under the influence of fear. We must collect ourselves and reflect on what has happened over the last year.
How is this for the greater good of society?

They used a tactical warfare strategy against us.
'Divide and conquer'.
We fell for it.
Now we must become aware of it and fight back.
We must reunite. We must find true solidarity to save our world. To free ourselves. To regain our autonomy.
I’ve asked Byers to clarify, but as I read this tweet, it seems that Bret Stephens included an unredacted use of the n-word in his column this week to make a point, and the column got spiked—maybe as a result?


Four times. The column used the n-word (in the context of a quote) four times. https://t.co/14vPhQZktB


For context: In 2019, a Times reporter was reprimanded for several incidents of racial insensitivity on a trip with high school students, including one in which he used the n-word in a discussion of racial slurs.

That incident became public late last month, and late last week, after 150 Times employees complained about how it had been handled, the reporter in question resigned.

In the course of all that, the Times' executive editor said that the paper does not "tolerate racist language regardless of intent.” This was the quote that Bret Stephens was pushing back against in his column. (Which, again, was deep-sixed by the paper.)
Wow, Morgan McSweeney again, Rachel Riley, SFFN, Center for Countering Digital Hate, Imran Ahmed, JLM, BoD, Angela Eagle, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Lisa Nandy, Steve Reed, Jon Cruddas, Trevor Chinn, Martin Taylor, Lord Ian Austin and Mark Lewis. #LabourLeaks #StarmerOut 24 tweet🧵

Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, launched the organisation that now runs SFFN.
The CEO Imran Ahmed worked closely with a number of Labour figures involved in the campaign to remove Jeremy as leader.

Rachel Riley is listed as patron.
https://t.co/nGY5QrwBD0


SFFN claims that it has been “a project of the Center For Countering Digital Hate” since 4 May 2020. The relationship between the two organisations, however, appears to date back far longer. And crucially, CCDH is linked to a number of figures on the Labour right. #LabourLeaks

Center for Countering Digital Hate registered at Companies House on 19 Oct 2018, the organisation’s only director was Morgan McSweeney – Labour leader Keir Starmer’s chief of staff. McSweeney was also the campaign manager for Liz Kendall’s leadership bid. #LabourLeaks #StarmerOut

Sir Keir - along with his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney - held his first meeting with the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM). Deliberately used the “anti-Semitism” crisis as a pretext to vilify and then expel a leading pro-Corbyn activist in Brighton and Hove

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