The University of North Carolina - Charlotte

When I was an undergrad, they always said to go to grad school because you love the particular area of study. That?s what I did, and that?s why I did it. Now I regret it.

I made straight A?s in everything at UNCC. My research papers were excellent, and so good that some teachers cast doubt upon my authorship. I took it as a compliment at first. Right around the beginning of my second semester, I saw what my UNCC graduate program for what it was: a cesspool of insane competition and asinine political posturing among a bunch of spoiled brats. Apparently, some of the in-state students were teachers? pets during their undergraduate studies, and they were insufferable bullies and petty know-it-alls as TA?s and GA?s. For some reason, I thought that graduate school would be an opportunity to advance myself intellectually and not have to participate a mean-spirited gossipfest.

Was I wrong. Professors and grad students alike engaged in back-stabbing and sabotage of student progress. Undeserved favoritism ran rampant through the department. I met too many graduate students of dubious integrity and academic ability who were accorded much more opportunity than I was. I felt like I had to watch my back the entire time. I wasn?t the only one who felt like that.

I have not heard from any of the doctoral programs to which I have applied. Strange. I wonder what my good professors wrote about me.