SANFORD: Graduate programs inviting, not frightening

" You're at a disadvantage being from Nebraska," the director of graduate studies at the Ivy League University (which shall remain nameless) told me in a frank voice. It wasn't that there was any problem with being from Nebraska, per se, she continued to explain. It's just that they didn't know anyone there, either personally, by reputation or from anything they had published. It seems the Ivy League Good Ol' Boys Club does not have a branch office at UNL. "Also, having no work experience is a problem."

What did they mean by "work experience" I wondered. It's true, I haven't worked as a professional, I explained, but I have worked, both before college and during, mostly in my field these past few years. I wasn't sure what counted by their reckoning.

"You don't need to come off so apologetically," she said, the description making me blink. "You don't have to be polite. This is New York. You need to present yourself more forcefully." She then restated my work experience to me, exactly what I'd told her it was, but as if daring her listener to question its validity.

It was a good lesson, but as the interview went on I had to wonder, what exactly were they expecting? Don't Ivy League students work during college at all? Did they expect me to come coddled from some cotton-walled academic cradle, blinking into the fluorescent office lights?

Another professor told me that if I wanted to pursue a doctorate I had to be prepared for life as an academic. Most professors work at least 50 hours a week, she warned and sometimes up to 70 if they really want to make a name. So what? I thought. I work 84 hours a week right now, when you add up my classes, two jobs, and school work.

Professors don't make much money, she added. I managed not to snort. I would never expect to get rich on an academic salary, but that's hardly the point, is it? I'd already looked up the numbers for my discipline from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The poorest professors in the poorest areas still make twice what I did last year, including student loans, and the best paid in the highest paid areas regularly make in the six digits. A really good month is a paycheck with a comma in it.

The department chair told me I needed to enjoy reading and not be afraid of the blank page. I should be the kind of person who is constantly pondering things, over coffee, in the shower, almost "haunted."

"Not everyone is suited for this," he warned.

They all warned me. At all the universities I visited, they warned me. "I'm not sure if this the right place, the right program, the right department, the right occupation for you." Were they trying to scare me off?

It had nothing to do with me personally. They didn't know me from Eve when they started in on the warnings. True, they turn down 10 for every one they admit, so it's not like they need to recruit. Yet nothing they warned me about seemed particularly scary. In fact, their descriptions only made me more interested, excited and certain I was on the right track.

Again I wondered, what were they expecting?

When I stepped off the airplane in Philadelphia, I honestly had little idea what to expect myself. I had researched these universities. I had appointments with the right people. Yet, UNL doesn't have a Ph.D. program in my discipline and a department only a quarter the size of the smallest of these schools. What were these places like, I wondered. Would they be as exciting as they sounded from thousands of miles away?

At the first interview, I learned that all of their Web sites lie. They say you'll have a year to develop your dissertation proposal under their guidance, but the truth is they want a well thought out proposal with the application, just to see if you have a critical mindset.

The Web sites for the graduate programs are all geared toward master's students, so a Ph.D. student will likely find a different environment. Reading the faculty profiles is far more informative.

Being accepted is like winning the lottery. Even if you rise to the top of their list, they still have to pair you with a professor who shares your interests and also has the time to take you on. Being in the top ranks is no guarantee of admission.