I think they've just built a ton of momentum around that kind of culture here and its hard to reverse. They just set up some new committee to troubleshoot suicides on campus. If I tried to compare it to other schools with similar prestige (like ivies) I'd be speculating, so I couldn't say if it'd be the same elsewhere.

I do hope its different elsewhere because to me grad school is something one does if they're not satisfied with their career direction, so in that spirit there should be some exploration built in. CMU doesn't include this at all, so its like paying to work even hard than you would in a normal job. I would very much not recommend coming here for a graduate program.

This is something you might consider checking out, all the work is discretionary by definition, so I assume its more joyful and personal: https://www.recurse.com/. Might be hard to get in, idk.

I’ve heard of recurse, a few years ago. I’ll check it out now that I’m in a place where it could make sense. Thanks

I worked adjacent to many masters and PhDs when I was going to school. It was a trope that 'if you aren't mentally ill, you aren't working hard enough', as if the expectation was to destroy any enjoyment or wonder in your work. Or something.

Ah so its just that way everywhere huh. Very frustrating because as the article says, its genuinely less productive to engage in the grind. This feels true to me.