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submitted 12 hours ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

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[-] reallykindasorta@slrpnk.net 31 points 11 hours ago

This just confirms what every young person in academia knows: gotta get on uppers to be competitive.

My partner is a PhD candidate and at a recent party a postdoc was telling us how he acquired a giant crack rock at the beginning of his grad career and whenever he needed to finish a big assignment or something he would lick it.

[-] Bassman1805@lemmy.world 21 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

This definitely seems like the more likely explanation. There certainly is a mental/emotional hell you go through in academia, but with this y-axis being specifically about psychiatric medication... all I'm seeing is that grad students like/need Adderall.

[-] Apytele@sh.itjust.works 8 points 10 hours ago

Yeah my thought looking at this is that it's my understanding that you basically need an extended hypomanic state to complete a PhD and if you're not making that much dopamine at home, store bought is fine.

[-] ALostInquirer@lemm.ee 0 points 10 hours ago

Are doctorate/grad school programs distinctly competitive? My impression was that they were more challenging but similar in nature to undergrad insofar as loads of coursework to stay on top of to complete courses and ensure you got some of the most expensive, "You endured it!" paperwork in the world.

[-] restingboredface@sh.itjust.works 5 points 7 hours ago

I agree with other replies here with one addition. People who get into grad school are generally the high achievers from their high school and undergrad programs, so they are used to being the only or one of few star students. In PhD programs everyone is a star student, so it can be a bit jarring to folks used to being head of the class when they suddenly aren't.

It can cause a bit of jealousy and competitive thinking but most of the time students get past it and focus simply on enduring the gauntlet.

[-] reallykindasorta@slrpnk.net 7 points 8 hours ago

Getting a. PhD isn’t super competitive (speaking from the US), but if you aim to get a professorship at an R1 it’s somewhat competitive across the board. The program coursework vs undergrad depends on the program too— I would say most differ somewhat substantially though. For most humanities degrees you’re doing coursework for 2-3 years and teaching undergrads while you prepare for qualifying exams, then you teach and write your thesis for a few more. The graduate courses are often in seminar (circle discussion) format rather than lecture.

[-] ALostInquirer@lemm.ee 2 points 8 hours ago

Thanks for some detail! What you describe reassures me in my decision not to get further into it, particularly as a professor path seemed one of few traditional options with what I studied.