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NNadir

(38,420 posts)

9. My son declined both MIT and Berkeley when he considered...

Reply to Omaha Steve (Original post)

Fri May 1, 2026, 07:57 AM

Friday

...the cost of living and the size of the stipend.

He instead chose a school with a livable stipend in the area, no TA requirements, and an advisor he admired from afar.

None other than Freeman Dyson declined to get a Ph.D on the grounds that he considered graduate school a form of slavery, although he did do research with Hans Bethe.

Graduate students, who work their asses off, are our future. We should honor them and support them.

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Highlight:

'We want to be paid a living wage': Graduate student workers at UIC go on strike [View all] Omaha Steve Thursday OP

They could take out student loans like I did as a school teacher for grad school JT45242 Thursday #1

A well thought out reply Omaha Steve Thursday #2

Unfortunately, these loans do have to be paid back ck4829 Thursday #3

Pro union but not in this case, right? RedArkGuy Friday #6

The university system needs overhauled JT45242 Friday #8

and this twodogsbarking Thursday #4

When I was in school, grad students would often grade papers. ananda Thursday #5

Maybe in undergrad school you could have learned . . . RedArkGuy Friday #7

My son declined both MIT and Berkeley when he considered... NNadir Friday #9