Some basic things you should know about being in a Ph.D. program

"Cloister, Glasgow University," by _skynet

Disclaimer: This post is not about the politics of humanities Ph.D. programs, the ethics of these arrangements, or whether you should go to grad school in the first place. But if you haven’t already looked into this and you’re thinking of going to grad school, you need to do your homework on this stuff. Start here.

A few days ago I had a nice phone conversation with a recent college graduate who was thinking about applying to Yale’s Film Studies program. Talking to her reminded me of my first year or so as a grad student at Yale, and what I remember most is just all-consuming confusion — the ubiquitous sensation of doing the wrong thing, and, worse, of not knowing what the right thing was.

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So, you’re moving to New Haven: Do you need a car? (Answer: No.)

(This is my third post about moving to New Haven. I’ve also written about where to live and what to do. I wish you the very best of luck on your move, but I regret that I don’t have time to answer individual questions about your situation.)

Parking Ticket
“Parking Ticket,” by alicegop

If there’s one thing that everyone knows about me, it’s this: I give the people what they want. And the people, judging by my Google Analytics, want to know whether you need a car as a grad student in New Haven. So here you go: No, you don’t, and you probably shouldn’t have one, either.

Disclaimer: I had a car in New Haven and you’d pry it from my cold, dead hands. But that’s because I’m a) lazy, b) from California, and c) prone to making bad decisions about the short-term/long-term benefits of things. Even I could tell, as I begged rides to the car-impound lot at two in the morning, that if I were smart, I would give up on the whole having-a-car thing.

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