Total Lack of Encouragement for Graduate Studies

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Could I please ask for some opinions from those within or who have been within academia (teachers, students)?

I am nearing the completion of my undergraduate degree, and need to decide what to do with regard to graduate studies. I would like to pursue a graduate degree in my area of special interest, but am presently despondent and dismayed over the complete lack of encouragement I have received from the teachers in this area at undergraduate level.

In terms of grades, I am apparently one of the top ranking students in my degree (at what is supposedly one of the top institutions in the country). I have left no-one in any doubt as to my strong interest in this subject area. And yet, I can’t recall any one in this area ever offering me a single word of encouragement to continue on with it, although I personally know other less well performing, less motivated students (by this, I mean students who are regularly absent from class for no specific reason) who have received support and encouragement to pursue graduate studies. The first time I raised my plan to pursue graduate studies at another institution with a highly specialised program suited to my narrow interests, I was outrightly informed that this other institution was most likely ill-equipped to deal with my disability needs (which are generally minimal). I did some independent investigation (by communicating with students of the other institution), and discovered that this was not the case at all.

Which brings me to the AS…I wondered whether this may have something to do with my having AS, but the truth is that, despite my oddities and problems, I have received really strong feedback and encouragement from the majority of teachers in other fields to pursue further studies, when I have taken their subjects.

So I am torn between the evidence. On the one hand, I have strong grades, plus I have the encouragement from other subject areas. On the other hand, I can’t dismiss the thought that if I really did have potential to continue on with this area, then surely someone in this area would have said something to me over the last few years?

Graduate school recommendations are given on the basis of potential, not your grades or interest. Will you make it at the next level? Just like basketball players in college--success in college doesn't necessarily translate to how well you will do in the NBA. Some pros weren't much of a success in college, but scouts recognized their potential and chose them instead of college stars.

But, I doubt any of my professors would have guessed how good I've gotten in teaching folks technical stuff based on what I did in college, despite my excellent grades at a top school. I wouldn't have guessed it myself.

Actually, this sounds like straight up, run-of-the-mill prejudice.

Yes, people who are otherwise decent, otherwise constructive, otherwise helpful, can have a prejudice (preconceived idea), esp. towards something they don't really understand.

Thanks for your reply.

I'm curious to know exactly how much 'potential' one has to exhibit in order to pursue a Masters degree (by coursework, not research)?

(Edited to add: A Masters by coursework is the degree I mean by 'Graduate Studies', not a doctorate).

I should clarify that it was a person at my current institution who told me this about the other institution, not the place I wanted to study at. I want to believe that the person who told me that intended it in a well meaning way. I just don't understand what they thought it would achieve by it.

Currently, I am an undergraduate. I have talked to graduate students. A lot come from a variety of backgrounds. There is no set option.

During your undergraduate years, people in your degree field usually do not offer words of encouragement. Especially if they do not know you.

Have you done research with them or taken more than two classes with them? Most faculty in your department only offer words of encouragement if they feel they know you very well.

It is incredibly hard. I understand but don't think it is because of discrimination or lack of ability. Often, they just do not feel they can accurately vouch for you.

When I say I am not going to graduate school, people who know me think like I am nuts. The faculty does not say anything, because they do not know me as well as the other people.

They only see a student struggling to get A's and B's and the occasional C. They don't see the student who makes his own computer programs from scratch that perform very useful and powerful functions. They don't see me track down a manufacturing problem of the Compaq Q56 computer.

Let me ask one more time: Have you ever done research with the faculty at your school?

I think it depends on the course of study. In Engineering, you are steered to either getting a job in the "real world" or getting your PhD, so you can teach. A masters is something your "real world" employer pays for--you take courses while working a real job. On the other hand, a masters of business administration is an entirely different animal.

It could also be that there is nothing left to teach you--you may have all the skills they have to teach.

I cannot see that you have specified your field. It makes a tremendous difference. The higher levels are often geared to specific types who match the characteristics of thgose dominating the field. I made it through the doctorate in linguisgtics a good while ago. Five years later the ingroup would have closed ranks to keep me out. 15 years later I was advising [it hurt] anyone remotely like me to look elsewhere for their safety asnd sanity.
If that is the case with you, you would be best adviused to try another field or a different department.

Wow, that's really serious. And Philologos, I'm sorry they were that way and I'm sorry that happened to you. And for something starts off with academic freedom and the importance of different people coming at questions from different directions, and then becomes some conformist deal like a stereotypically bad corporate environment, that's sad, anger-making, and everything in between. And obviously, obviously not the way things should be. And you are right. Not every field is this way, and the particular field someone is looking to go into makes a big difference. (And for fields that are conformist and hierarchical, there is no guaranteed time frame at all for when things will turn around.)

Thanks for your insights (and kudos to you for making your own computer programs).

Generally speaking, there are very little research opportunities available at my level in the non-sciences. However, the majority of our assessments are research-based papers, where we get the opportunity to pick and develop our own topics (and in some cases, to extend word-lengths). The professors generally tutor and grade papers for the subjects they teach, so they know me and my work. I’ve actually already published a research paper in an admittedly small peer-reviewed academic journal. The topic was my own, and I did the 99% of the work without any assistance.

At the end of the day, I suspect a large part of my issue stems from the fact that I am worried that my experiences may reflect the nature of the field at large. Going on to the Masters is a daunting and huge commitment, both financially and in terms of my needing to relocate far, far away. If I encountered the same kind of apathy I have thus far experienced, I think I would crash and burn. I have detected an attitude that because I appear more academically capable (on a piece of paper) than the average student, I need less support and guidance, when I actually need more. Unfortunately, this notion is apparently near impossible to understand, no matter how many times it is explained.

If getting a masters is costly, what is the payback or return on your investment?

A reality of life is that many of us have to experience special interests as hobbies--few of us can make a living at professional fishing, baseball playing , Lego building, or videogaming, no matter how much effort we are willing to put into it. I'd agree with your professors for discouraging you from continuing on in your field if there are no research possibilities (from what you have not said I can assume that teaching isn't an option)

Congratulations on the paper! That is pretty cool. (regardless of whether on not the field has enough opportunity to be worth the cost/risk of money, time, and moving. This is still a pretty cool accomplishment)

I was hoping you would drop by this thread.

I don’t feel comfortable identifying the specific area (it is very distinct), but it is an interdisciplinary field (within the social sciences/humanities), which falls under the broader banner of area studies (this description is probably too vague to be of assistance).

Would it be accurate to say that success in some academic fields (at the student level) rests upon producing work with a certain resemblance to that produced by the rest of the field? My work is apparently somewhat ‘different’ to the mainstream, although this is not something I have consciously set out to achieve, nor was I initially even been aware of this until my first bunch of essays were marked and returned with comments. I had come to think that being 'original' was a positive thing, but perhaps greater conformity is what is required?

Truthfully, the payback isn’t that great in any material sense. My ability to hold down anything beyond a low-level job (outside of doing research) is doubtful, as my level of impairment is significant. I think a large part of my motivation to progress to graduate studies stems from fear of the oblivion of the mundane. University is the only place where I feel like I make any sense as a person, and a place where (I think) my impairments are less impairing than they otherwise would be (if that makes any sense).

You are correct in that teaching is probably not an option for me. I think I’d die ten times over from the exhaustion of having to interact with students on a regular basis (but then again, I'd die ten times over from exhaustion from having to regularly interact with people in general).

Thanks. I hope to get another research paper published in a slighter better ranked journal this year. I have no idea whether I will be successful, but at least I have the assistance of another department (outside of my field) to help me this time around.

You will be hard pressed to find a prof. that will come out and give you encouragement. This is an area where social skills ( aka, well-practiced arse kissing) come into play.

You need a sponsor for the MA and PhD programs.... only way to get that is to kiss up to a teacher or be his slave for a semester in some internship.