Profs discuss Ph.D.'s

Acting as Moses, English Professor Al Filreis opened the last in a series of three graduate study panel discussions yesterday with "one of the ten commandments" of post-baccalaureate education. 0 "Don't go right away," advised Filreis, who used personal anecdotes to impress upon students the disadvantages of pursuing advanced degrees immediately following graduation. As a graduate student at the University of Virginia, Filreis said he experienced "culture shock" the year after graduating from Colgate University. He added that he had not "prepared psychologically" for the change. Filreis also advised students to take a "consumerist approach" to choosing a graduate school. Comparing the decision of attending school to buying a car, Filreis said "You don't plunk down the money without investigating it." Concluding his portion of the discussion, Filreis stressed the necessity of "doing this because it makes you happy." School of Arts and Sciences Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and History Professor Walter Licht offered statistical information as well as practical advice for students considering graduate study. "The attrition rate is 30 percent in the first three years of school," Licht noted. He insisted that a student "has to be driven" to pursue an advanced degree, and used his extensive experience in graduate admissions to relay that prospective graduate students should seriously consider the personal value of pursuing a doctorate. Outlining the importance of having both personal and intellectual motivation while going to graduate school, Licht reminisced about his own "intellectual Eureka," the revelation that he loved history. "I wanted to be teaching history at college, and I knew the only way to do that in the U.S. was to get a Ph.D." Licht said. "You need to be doing something that always turned you on." English Department lecturer Kathryn Conrad offered her recent experience with the Ph.D. program at Penn. Conrad also argued against attending graduate school directly after college. Speaking of her own unhappy experiences, she said "I was burnt out." Conrad commented on the current job market, noting that it is "very bad" and added that many students enter graduate school thinking the additional education will get them a better job. She also warned students to consider whether or not the path to graduate school is worth the possibility of going into debt. "Not everyone is going to be able to get the ideal academic job," she said. "It's a hard road but well worth it." Likening Ph.D. students to "baby turtles," University Museum Associate Director Stephen Epstein said "some make it and some don't." Epstein demonstrated his enthusiasm to the audience of 30 students, claiming that he has the job of his "wildest dreams ? and a Ph.D. made it possible." He insisted upon the importance of having an advanced degree when working in the anthropology field, and added that "without a Ph.D., you're a janitor."

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