gm,

I wasn’t trying to prove that Brandon’s comments were relevant to my article, but merely trying to clarify what he was saying.

I’m not sure if you’re accusing me of wishing I had an automatic spot in grad school or of being naive, or if you’re making a general observation. Personally, I didn’t even realize I wanted to go to grad school until two years ago. I never assumed I would not have to compete for a spot. But in my research, I’ve found that demographics of grad school students are changing, especially for journalism, as more and more out-of-work professionals re-enter school. I’m not saying this isn’t fair to undergrads like me, but I do wonder how it will change the makeup of the workplace five or ten years down the road.

That’s a question I don’t have an answer to.

gm,

I wasn’t trying to prove that Brandon’s comments were relevant to my article, but merely trying to clarify what he was saying.

I’m not sure if you’re accusing me of wishing I had an automatic spot in grad school or of being naive, or if you’re making a general observation. Personally, I didn’t even realize I wanted to go to grad school until two years ago. I never assumed I would not have to compete for a spot. But in my research, I’ve found that demographics of grad school students are changing, especially for journalism, as more and more out-of-work professionals re-enter school. I’m not saying this isn’t fair to undergrads like me, but I do wonder how it will change the makeup of the workplace five or ten years down the road.

That’s a question I don’t have an answer to.

gm,

I wasn’t trying to prove that Brandon’s comments were relevant to my article, but merely trying to clarify what he was saying.

I’m not sure if you’re accusing me of wishing I had an automatic spot in grad school or of being naive, or if you’re making a general observation. Personally, I didn’t even realize I wanted to go to grad school until two years ago. I never assumed I would not have to compete for a spot. But in my research, I’ve found that demographics of grad school students are changing, especially for journalism, as more and more out-of-work professionals re-enter school. I’m not saying this isn’t fair to undergrads like me, but I do wonder how it will change the makeup of the workplace five or ten years down the road.

That’s a question I don’t have an answer to.

I read Brandon’s comments on Matt’s column but fail to see how they apply to yours. You were writing about the challenge of students like yourself competing for grad school slots with people who have professional experience in their field. You also were commenting about the difficulty of gaining the experience employers want. Matt’s challenge with our bureaucracy is not a byproduct of these larger issues. So what is being proposed here?

I would suggest that the core problem is found in the naive belief held by students and fostered by counselors, teachers and administrators from primary schools on up, that all one has to do is earn a bachelors, get decent grades and you will be able to get the job you want making great money, or get into the grad school of your choice. Lost in translation is the reality that each of us is competing with dozens, hundreds, even thousands of others who may be better,worked harder or just better connected. Wishing something is different does not make it so, nor should it. If you ran a paper, magazine or TV station, you would want to hire the best person. In other words the people who applied for a job with you would be competing for the position. The same applies to grad school admissions.
The failure of our schools to make students aware of this reality is a real indictment of the system. It shouldn’t take until someone is finishing school for them to discover that life is rarely easy.

I read Brandon’s comments on Matt’s column but fail to see how they apply to yours. You were writing about the challenge of students like yourself competing for grad school slots with people who have professional experience in their field. You also were commenting about the difficulty of gaining the experience employers want. Matt’s challenge with our bureaucracy is not a byproduct of these larger issues. So what is being proposed here?

I would suggest that the core problem is found in the naive belief held by students and fostered by counselors, teachers and administrators from primary schools on up, that all one has to do is earn a bachelors, get decent grades and you will be able to get the job you want making great money, or get into the grad school of your choice. Lost in translation is the reality that each of us is competing with dozens, hundreds, even thousands of others who may be better,worked harder or just better connected. Wishing something is different does not make it so, nor should it. If you ran a paper, magazine or TV station, you would want to hire the best person. In other words the people who applied for a job with you would be competing for the position. The same applies to grad school admissions.
The failure of our schools to make students aware of this reality is a real indictment of the system. It shouldn’t take until someone is finishing school for them to discover that life is rarely easy.

I read Brandon’s comments on Matt’s column but fail to see how they apply to yours. You were writing about the challenge of students like yourself competing for grad school slots with people who have professional experience in their field. You also were commenting about the difficulty of gaining the experience employers want. Matt’s challenge with our bureaucracy is not a byproduct of these larger issues. So what is being proposed here?

I would suggest that the core problem is found in the naive belief held by students and fostered by counselors, teachers and administrators from primary schools on up, that all one has to do is earn a bachelors, get decent grades and you will be able to get the job you want making great money, or get into the grad school of your choice. Lost in translation is the reality that each of us is competing with dozens, hundreds, even thousands of others who may be better,worked harder or just better connected. Wishing something is different does not make it so, nor should it. If you ran a paper, magazine or TV station, you would want to hire the best person. In other words the people who applied for a job with you would be competing for the position. The same applies to grad school admissions.
The failure of our schools to make students aware of this reality is a real indictment of the system. It shouldn’t take until someone is finishing school for them to discover that life is rarely easy.

Obviously I’m not Brandon, but I think what he means comes across better in his comment on Matt’s grad school column. It all comes down to the squeaky wheel getting the grease, I believe.

Obviously I’m not Brandon, but I think what he means comes across better in his comment on Matt’s grad school column. It all comes down to the squeaky wheel getting the grease, I believe.

Obviously I’m not Brandon, but I think what he means comes across better in his comment on Matt’s grad school column. It all comes down to the squeaky wheel getting the grease, I believe.