Open days (one of many future posts, I'm sure)

Dear students/parents.  When a university tells you that they’re better than other ‘research’ universities because they focus on “teaching”, beware.  First, look at who is ‘teaching’ you/your kids.  No professional experience?  Just graduated?  Would you pay that much money to let someone who has little experience renovate your house?  I doubt it.  And it’s not just limited to that…I helped a student whose dissertation supervisor didn’t have time for them because they were doing their own PhD (and, not unusually, wasn’t given enough time to do it).  This student went beyond what they were taught and utilized some advanced research techniques.  Did they get the 1st that they deserved?  No.  Why?  Because the second marker nearly failed them because they didn’t UNDERSTAND what they’d done (at least they were honest about it) and the lecturer/PhD student supervisor didn’t want to go against their co-worker.  So they split the difference, resulting in an average mark.  Why?  Because the ‘teacher’ had never actually done research like that and didn’t feel obligated (or, perhaps they, too, were overworked) to look into it.