Post Academic

Since it’s summer and we’re shaking up the Sunday schedule a little bit, it seemed like the right time to address a few of the search terms that lead to Post Academic. What follows is a list of search queries, followed with our responses.

“school bans stupid things”: The Man can get you down, can’t he? If you aren’t liking The Man in college, wait until you get to the Hamster World and he forgets to stock the vending machine or, even worse, pay you on time.

“leopold bloom is annoying”: Post Academic isn’t taking any sides on the greatness of certain literary characters, but those are fighting words to many professors. How did you wind up here?

“sexy checklist”: Boy, do I regret naming a post “Making Checklists Sexy.” I extend my deepest apologies to Atul Gawande.

“courteous rejection letter sample”: If you are a member of a search committee who is trying to be kind to the people who didn’t get the job, good for you and your professionalism! Arnold can help you with the ever-popular “Rejection Letter Do’s and Don’ts.”

“how academia messes with your mind”: Read the whole “Surviving Grad School” section. It’s not easy. We’re here for you, friend.

“why do people bloat after death?”: This is not our field. HowStuffWorks can handle it from here.

If you ever start a Web site or blog of your own, you will soon discover the joys of search engine terms. Many of you are here because we’ve been foisting Post Academic on our friends and peers, but some of you wound up here through some surprising avenues. Here I’ll give tips to those of you who typed in those search terms and are wondering “How did I get here?”

“prom rejection”: Oh, no! Getting rejected by a prom date is as bad as getting rejected by a dream grad program. Wait, strike that. It’s worse (see picture on Arnold’s rejection post here). Our post on how to cope with rejection still applies. I’d wager that grad school rejections are often as irrational and inexplicable as prom rejections. So, pick yourself up and keep asking others. You’ll find that date. And when you show up to your prom, you make sure you look good.

“academia gossip blog”: Aside from which schools are broke-ass (answer: all of them) and which programs are getting slashed (ones that cannot be “monetized” or whatever), we don’t trade in gossip per se. But we do have tips on how to deal with ivory tower gossip, whether you are the gossiper or the gossipee.

“to whom it may concern letter format ass”: I presume that the search term was cut off because it was too long, but receiving a generic “to whom it may concern” rejection letter sure does feel like ass. And, if your department sends out these letters on a regular basis, revise them immediately.