Dartmouth (Guarini) will not admit math PhD cohort this year

> On Nov. 10, Colla wrote to current math graduate students that “status and support” for current students “are not changing” and that the program will see “every currently enrolled student through graduation,” according to an email obtained and reviewed by The Dartmouth.

> “Stipends, insurance and the five-year funding guarantee all remain in place for students making satisfactory academic progress,” Colla wrote. “Advising relationships, qualifying exams, degree requirements and teaching and research appointments will continue as planned.”

Everybody's attacking this but when have graduate school programs ever been responsive to the job market? They're constantly minting more PhDs, MBAs, and LLBs than the professions can absorb; even MDs have begun to find it hard to get a good return on their investments. Maybe getting out of that business is the responsible thing to do?

It's easy to blame Dartmouth for its shortsightedness but they have a point. Education, including graduate school, is more and more resembling vocational training and anyone paying for it, whether an individual or the university via an assistantship program, has to calculate the return on investment. With the recent FUD created by LLMs for math research, it is reasonable to ask what kinds of careers math PhDs can now expect and whether the field can absorb the current level of math PhDs.

As a Dartmouth alum, this is a step in the right direction. I appreciate that the school doesn’t chase growth for growth’s sake. And PhD graduates are being minted at too high of a rate according to many people.. so you’re damned if you do (“why aren’t schools preparing their students for jobs?”) and damned if you don’t (“look at them cutting positions!”).

The reality is that a PhD means just about nothing these days. Speaking as someone with a PhD (very thankful I graduated before LLMs ruined academic publishing completely), I’d like to see a bit more meaning to the degree.

Moreover, basically no one wants to stay in academia anymore because the pay is laughable and the prestige isn’t what it once was thanks to the last political decade. Salaries need to increase.

"The field is changing; rather than be a force for change or try to help steward folks through the change, we'll be sitting this one out. Good luck out there kids."

Whoever makes these decisions should get admitted to the drama school!

Also FTFA:

""" Beilock announced at the meeting that the College is “working to reduce Dartmouth’s spending by $50 million,” in order to increase faculty and staff salaries “especially if and when inflation continues to rise,” according to a transcript of her speech published on the Office of the President’s website. """

Uh huh. Increase staff salaries. That'll fix things.

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