tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5300440395527276526.post5460323227964588898..comments2023-06-17T04:58:12.706-05:00Comments on Bavarder...: thoughts from the grindDolce Vitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04295002739774106772noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5300440395527276526.post-40414604548157438122008-04-18T17:23:00.000-05:002008-04-18T17:23:00.000-05:00Sorry to hear that, my advisor also encourages me ...Sorry to hear that, my advisor also encourages me to keep trying because part of the problem is that the committees are only as good as the people serving on them. On one of my grant evaluations, the reviewer of my grant didn't even seem like he/she had read my application or letters of support...so weird!the ramblerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04880051251204947503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5300440395527276526.post-85662817267276628762008-04-14T21:35:00.000-05:002008-04-14T21:35:00.000-05:00Good advice KFR. Where not prohibited by the lett...Good advice KFR. Where not prohibited by the letter (I got one once that said, essentially, we got so many applications that we can't give you feedback, so don't ask), I do ask nicely. I have yet to receive any feedback. Generally, what I get is complete silence.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the support, Cabiria! I can't wait for the day when you are on one of those committees. :) I also think you came up with the perfect way to encapsulate the dark underbelly - it is a pyramid scheme!Dolce Vitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04295002739774106772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5300440395527276526.post-8452385526562979322008-04-14T08:39:00.000-05:002008-04-14T08:39:00.000-05:00Feedback would be so helpful, I agree. And I agre...Feedback would be so helpful, I agree. And I agree about the pedigree biases as well, it sucks and I think it comes down to laziness. (Almost) every academic at (almost) every level has a fraud complex, so rather than have to make an original determination about the potential importance of a piece of work and risk being wrong or having an unpopular opinion, they trust to BigNameSchool admissions committee to have done it for them. Of course, BigNameSchool didn't want to do that to begin with, so they relied on a bunch of other variables (like FancyPrepSchool or ability to pay for test prep courses) to do it for them first. <BR/><BR/>I'm sure it comes as a shock for me to imply most of it seems to revolve around socioeconomic status (class and otherwise). :) Plus, I've recently come to the conclusion that those who get fellowships, then get more fellowships -- it's an unfair and fairly constant trajectory, I think. Fellowship committees, again being lazy, also trust each other to have done the work of assessing objective merit. I feel like at some point the pyramid scheme that most such committees/institutions aren't doing the initial screening work should collapse, but no. Anyway, that was my long way of saying, I'd pick your project. :) Not that I'll ever get to be on such a committee anyway!Cabiriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05982906595773773555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5300440395527276526.post-16181043517377774062008-04-13T10:04:00.000-05:002008-04-13T10:04:00.000-05:00Last I checked, you *can* request an official expl...Last I checked, you *can* request an official explanation for why your application was turned down - they have to keep everything on record. You might want to do that, on the off chance it was a "fair" decision and you could use the feedback to improve your next application.kungfuramonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03758527557709570768noreply@blogger.com