Walter: You could add to your list – although what you have said implicitly embraces this – the advice often given by my late and dear friend, Jim Martin. He told young graduates – who were interested in going on to graduate school – to pick as prestigious a school as possible and, if admitted, go underground and learn to play their game (don’t internalize it, however; always know the difference) and, after getting your PhD, go out and write/teach, etc. what you want, being able to use your institutionally-respected credentials. Jim had his PhD in history from U. of Michigan.

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