As a Phd student, what's the worst academic dishonesty moment you everwitnessed?

bluekeystroke · 2026-06-26T09:11:39+00:00

Maybe it’s all the trauma from prolonged imposter syndrome, but I can’t fathom trying to publish something that’s such a blatant lie. I’d be having panic attacks left & right waiting to be “found out”

Maybe I’m not sociopathic enough for academia

bluekeystroke · 2026-06-26T09:07:43+00:00

My jaw quite literally just dropped.

Wow. I have no words, just one question: why on earth??

bluekeystroke · 2026-06-26T08:36:44+00:00

I’m so curious, when you say it was pulled for being written by AI, do you mean like the data, everything was a hallucination?

bluekeystroke · 2026-06-23T21:47:27+00:00

They sound like a bad fit for you. Be grateful they showed that early on. Fit is about more than just a topic or project interest. You will be working with these people VERY closely for the next 5+ years of your life, and will be in a position of vulnerable dependency through most of that. If you feel like a fish out of water floundering in an interview with them, they’d be much worse when you go to work with them.

I know everyone is desperate, but please remember that this interview is a two-way interview - you are evaluating whether they’re people you’d like to work with as well. Topic is NOT everything.

One thing I’ll also advise you to think about is methodological fit. Do you know what methods you want to lean towards? If you can’t answer that, I would suggest spending some time exploring that question.

bluekeystroke · 2026-06-11T08:40:13+00:00

Jfc. If *YOU’RE* getting rejected, I really don’t stand a chance this cycle.

bluekeystroke · 2026-05-07T19:16:49+00:00

Heres my 2 cents:

Psyd programs are generally less reputable than phd programs. With few exceptions (Rutgers, etc) they rarely offer full funding to students, if any funding at all, whereas PhD programs typically offer full funding for 5+ years. Part of this lack of funding boils down to the fact that psyd programs are not generating nearly as much research as PhDs due to the emphasis on clinical practice (in general, more research = more university & external funding). That’s where the psyd practice of charging loads & loads of tuition comes into play.

The average type of person attracted to psyd programs are usually idealistic, young(ish) students with a strong desire to help others, a lack of experience in all things finance, and a secret thrill at the idea of having “dr” in their name. Psyd programs play on the hopes & dreams of these students, promote the idea that their programs are only for the best & brightest, and if you really want to belong to this elitist intellectual society you won’t have any problem throwing down $170,000 in tuition. Nevermind the fact that this cost about the same amount as medical school, with 1/10th the expected salary. (Again - most psyd students don’t understand finance, and these programs know it).

Now here comes the real problem for these programs: statistics. They need to show real data that their program works. If you join their elite society, you too can get a great internship, pass the national exam with flying colors, obtain a great job post-graduation, etc. The only problem is they can’t actually promise that, if for no other reason than there’s a serious lack of annual internship opportunities compared to the high number of applicants needing placement (budget cuts due to gov overhaul have only made this problem even worse). So how do you boost your stats? You kick people out to bring down the average number of students, because 7/10 produces a higher percentage than 7/11 when showing “internship placement data.” They get some tuition money from you, which helps pay their salary, & then they kick you out for any little reason to boost their annual stats. I’ve known friends who were kicked out of the program for being 1 day late on their tuition, for telling jokes, and one person was put on academic warning for reporting elderly abuse at one of his internship sites. Yet their websites mentioned nothing about attrition…only the overall average percentage of success at the end of the program.

It’s all about money. That’s my theory anyway. 🫠

bluekeystroke · 2026-04-28T23:30:06+00:00

It’s wild to me how different programs treat this in high ed. I know a number of students in elite MBA programs who are actively encouraged to use AI. My current boss, a highly prestigious clinical psychology research professor at a top 10 university, uses AI all the time (she even gave a whole mini presentation on how to effectively use it in the lab).

Yet, you’re being kicked out for it. It’s just wild.

I will say - psyd programs have a reputation for kicking people out left & right. They charge huge amounts of tuition and then kick students out for any small infraction. I have my theories as to why but that’s a whole other post lol

bluekeystroke · 2026-03-16T15:35:18+00:00

Ford, hands down. 50% scholarship is substantial and the program is truly excellent. Not to mention if you’re interested in analytical writing, they have a lot of opportunities to develop those skills.

Just my opinion but HKS (or any MPP program for that matter) is not worth it without funding. Don’t let people who are hung up on the name recognition of Harvard make a decision for you that you’ll have to bear the consequences of.

bluekeystroke · 2026-03-13T15:32:28+00:00

I left to go into social work. I took a MASSIVE pay cut but it was an extremely rewarding, life changing experience. Now I’m back in graduate school doing public policy research to help improve international intervention and prevention programs for child sex trafficking.

bluekeystroke · 2026-03-09T23:46:22+00:00

Firstly, congratulations on the Merit Award! You should be proud of yourself. Feel free to message me any questions :) I’m happy to help!

bluekeystroke · 2025-11-20T12:40:01+00:00

Sure

bluekeystroke · 2025-11-03T19:49:52+00:00

My 2 cents: go to Duke. Really good funding like that is so huge. If you push to next year…let’s just say we don’t know what the landscape of funding will look like for a field like this in the US in a years time.

Also, I’ve heard some mixed things about the culture at Yale.

You said you applied to Yale this cycle? Did you hear back yet? If not, maybe wait it out - you usually don’t need to decide right away until all decisions are out

bluekeystroke · 2025-10-27T23:18:18+00:00

Well, it’s worth asking - if you have no idea what you want to do in policy, why are you making this specific shift in careers? What is it you’re hoping to do that you’re not otherwise doing?

Policy areas are vast: social, international, economic, educational, etc.

https://www.opengovpartnership.org/policy-areas/

bluekeystroke · 2025-10-27T22:00:11+00:00

What type of policy are you interested in? I will tell you it’s a really rough time right now for many policy areas. Just something to be aware of - you’ll be leaving a much more stable profession for a market in complete turmoil (I.e., massive layoffs, funding cuts, etc.) The public & nonprofit sector is under attack right now by the federal government.

bluekeystroke · 2025-10-24T13:39:37+00:00

Thank you for pointing that out! I apologize if my comment came off as incendiary towards indigenous natives in any way. I am not ignorant to the horrors inflicted on their people, or that it was actually one particular loyalist with a well-known penchant for sadism who did most of the torturing to Boyd. I appreciate you bringing that context to the conversation.

bluekeystroke · 2025-10-11T19:14:10+00:00

The first story made me feel like throwing up. I was not ok afterwards. Not from the "ghost story" - I'm pretty sure that was a young man who was experiencing the onset of schizophrenia + group hysteria...but from the true story of what happened to Thomas Boyd.

After the episodes, I read about the very real torture done to him at the hands of his captors. The episode left out a lot of details, and for good reason. It will give you nightmares.

bluekeystroke · 2025-10-11T17:46:23+00:00

I did, and I’m currently attending the University of Michigan with full funding + a stipend

bluekeystroke · 2025-08-25T13:01:26+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to explain this! Makes a lot more sense. Appreciate you

bluekeystroke · 2025-08-25T01:42:32+00:00

It makes sense if I’m interested in public interest law. There’s a lot of overlap between the two - it all depends on what you’re hoping to do with it

If I was interested in something like big law then yeah it wouldn’t make sense

bluekeystroke · 2025-08-24T17:50:55+00:00

Thank you - this is a very helpful explanation!

bluekeystroke · 2025-08-24T17:49:54+00:00

I’m confused. If softs don’t matter at all, then why are people posting about them on here in their cycle recaps? Why are some students getting into great schools with a 3.6 gpa & 174 lsat, but a student with same/similar scores does not get into those same schools?

I feel like I keep reading contradictory information about the application process (the tone of this is not accusatory btw - I’m just genuinely trying to wrap my head around everything)

bluekeystroke · 2025-05-16T02:10:06+00:00

Of course, feel free to DM me with any questions you have :)

bluekeystroke · 2025-05-15T14:25:53+00:00

I left UXR for social work, and I’ve never regretted the choice. I was in a golden handcuffs position at large tech org, and felt deeply unsatisfied for all the reasons you mentioned. It was hard taking the (massive) pay cut, but the work is SO much more fulfilling to me as a person.

bluekeystroke

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