Assistant professor rants: review randomness causes three potential PhD students to quit academia
AffectionateLife5693 · reddit · 2026-07-30
An early-career assistant professor on Reddit laments losing three potential PhD students due to the conference review process.
- He worked with talented undergraduates on research he considered above the bar for top conferences (he has 10+ years of review experience).
- Papers received positive reviews (including one with four weak accepts) but were rejected, leading to endless resubmission cycles.
- Each resubmission addressed previous concerns, only to face more random reviews: when papers have no obvious flaws, reviewers pick random points.
- Three students lost interest in academia; a fourth was barely convinced.
- The author warns that careless or malicious reviews can alter career paths.
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