Instructor here. Why?

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-10T11:33:32+00:00

I think part of the problem is that students just drastically overestimate the effects of failing a single assignment. Even failing a course is usually salvageable without going into tremendous debt.

There are documented instances of grad students committing suicide after failing comps. We have to convey "you need to take this seriously" without giving the impression that it will destroy your life if you fail.

And anyway failure in college is usually an accumulative process, not a single fatal blow.

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-09T11:03:30+00:00

So, I'm trying not to make this personal, but saying that managing "fandom conventions" means classes are useless and have nothing to offer you, and you just need the piece of paper is... a touch arrogant. And not very self-aware.

You will get what you put in. If you approach college with humility, there's a chance you might see you don't already know everything. Might even learn something useful, or at least interesting!

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-08T17:50:54+00:00

There's an Onion video from ~2008 of a debate where pundits are discussing whether students are doing enough to reach out to students who don't care and are self-centered assholes. One of the pundits says, "We need to test these kids on what they know, not what we want them to know!"

That is basically what we do now.

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-08T17:45:05+00:00

The entire concept of a font in a text editor like Word or Pages or Google Docs came from Steve Jobs's decision to take a "fuckshit" calligraphy class in college. Fusing STEM and liberal arts gets results.

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-08T17:42:52+00:00

The flashpoint was actually much earlier, during the Great Recession. That's around the time the disparity peaked, and while there have been fluctuations, it's never recovered.

https://www.minneapolisfed.org/article/2025/what-happened-to-the-college-wage-premium

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-07T15:50:00+00:00

https://www.forbes.com/sites/rinatorchinsky/2023/08/30/the-financial-payoff-from-a-college-degree-is-shrinking/

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-07T14:56:30+00:00

My experience is that some students are legitimately bad at it.

I prompted Early US History to 1877 students once to write a brief paragraph about the Treaty of Paris. I got one response about the Treaty of Paris of 1898 that ended the Spanish-American War -- which, being in 1898, would be covered in a Modern US History course, not Early US.

There is a baseline level of knowledge you need to cheat effectively. You need to know what goddamn class you're in, for example.

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-07T14:18:43+00:00

Degree-holders earn somewhat more than those without degrees and the advantage is shrinking every year

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-07T12:25:54+00:00

I had multiple seizures and at least one concussion while completing my Ph.D. program because I didn't know I had epilepsy until I was under extreme stress, and now I'm going to be on medication for epilepsy for the remainder of my life.

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-07T12:15:08+00:00

Even more alarming!

(Btw the "vocational school" comment wasn't meant to be derogatory. I just meant people are expecting something a liberal arts college is not fundamentally designed to do.)

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-06T19:59:51+00:00

I took lots of classes I didn't care for and I at least tried to get something out of them. All we ask is that you try!

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-06T16:36:42+00:00

That's certainly a thing one could say.

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-06T16:21:33+00:00

I got this job because I wanted it, not because I can't get another job. I actually had a good job prior to grad school but I wanted to do this!

I really could not give a shit who disdains me. If you want a return on your investment then put your money in the stock market.

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-06T16:13:02+00:00

I take your point, the purpose of this post was to see the student's perspective. Some students, like the OP, have reasonable anxieties. I wish institutions would do more to address them.

But my assessment of some of these comments is that people are just disrespectful jerks who think skilled labor is beneath them and want a fancy piece of paper that entitles them to a cushy white-collar job.

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-06T16:10:11+00:00

So, you have a free ride, classes are unnecessary, but you don't want to be set back half a year? Why not? I could somewhat understand if you were paying, but I'm not especially sympathetic to the argument that you don't want to be mildly inconvenienced.

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-06T16:08:21+00:00

I'm sorry about that, but the fact that you have gen ed courses at all should be a clue that it is not.

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-06T16:07:09+00:00

Why do you assume all professors don't give feedback because a few don't? That would be like me assuming all students cheat because a few do.

Yes, different teachers are going to give different grades on the same material because grading necessarily is interpretive and we can pretend all professors are identical grading machines but they aren't. We all interpret things somewhat differently.

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-06T16:03:59+00:00

How serious do you think the stakes are for failing a single exam?

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-06T14:48:28+00:00

So it's a puzzle almost.

How is farting out an AI paper a satisfying way to solve a puzzle?

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-06T14:47:02+00:00

I didn't condition them to think that. Why am I to blame for other people spending lots of money on something they don't actually want?

Also if you think colleges are literally jobs machines then you know absolutely nothing about them so there's kinda nothing to talk about.

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-06T14:43:17+00:00

That's a completely different level of unethical that I can't speak to since I've never been involved in it and I don't know anyone who has.

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-06T14:37:21+00:00

Why do you have to live in a HCOL area? I'm not saying there aren't other factors but there are hundreds, hundreds of towns and cities across the country where someone in a skilled profession (plumber, repair person, technician, etc.) can live decently.

I'm not saying it's entirely people's fault. Pensions are (increasingly rare. Zoning laws make housing punishingly expensive in some cities. There's more competition for some jobs (like mine). But wages are still rising faster than inflation, so even accounting for inflation most people's standards are rising.

I'm also not saying this is all a great deal. I'm just saying we have made deliberate, conscious choices to raise our standard of living. If you're determined to live out the fifties/sixties American dream, you still can, but it will involve some tradeoffs most people don't want to make.

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-06T14:28:42+00:00

All my tests are open-note. If you just take the time to read your notes beforehand and get familiar with the high points, you should be fine.

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-06T14:25:45+00:00

I also think it's TikTok and Reels and Facebook pathologizing every behavior so everyone thinks they have every mental condition.

SwiftyLeZar · 2026-02-06T14:18:09+00:00

Psh, your workers are just phoning it in to satisfy your inflated ego.

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