Thread by @dougwebberecon

I remember getting a very nasty letter from a Graduate Director when I was applying to grad school. I have saved the email for over 10 years as a reminder of how NOT to treat people 1/

I won’t name/shame this person, but he was the DGS at a top 10 school in 2007, so the list is pretty small. /2

When I was trying to decide where to do my PhD, I had several nice email exchanges with this DGS, as he outlined the differences between the schools I was trying to decide between. /3

When I informed him I was choosing Cornell, I genuinely felt bad, and wrote a long note to him thanking him for all his advice and explaining why I thought Cornell was a better fit for me despite his school having a higher overall rank /4

His response was first to argue that I was wrong in my assessment of things. I wouldn’t do this, but if he really thought I had grossly misread the situation I can see how someone could justify doing this. /5

But then he closed his letter with something that really stung:
“Maybe you aren’t as committed to being a promising young researcher as I once though you were” /6

That really hurt, but it did at least convince me that I had made the right decision in turning this school down. /7

I think about this letter now because I am writing notes to students who are accepting/rejecting offers from Temple, and I can’t even begin to put myself in a place where I can understand this type of behavior. /8

For the students who choose to go somewhere else, I genuinely hope they succeed, and assume that they are making the best decision for themselves 9/9