I know, I am outsider. GTFO. Beta. etc.
Would someone reference the origin, etymology, mythology, history or otherwise beginning of said humorous thread within threads.
Explain the real analysis inside joke
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You are stupid. Real analysis joke stems from the fact that (barring theory donkeys) even though you dont venture beyond multivariate calc and differential equations in most economics, a lot of top university grad programs look for that RA as a signal for general quantitative proficiency.
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Like many memes on here, it actually doesn't originate on EJMR. But unlike many of the copied memes, it also didn't originate at autoadmit or Reddit.
You see, this one goes back to WWII, when American U-Boat commanders were having to decide who to send onto Omaha Beach first, and get slaughtered, and who to hold back. Robert Whiting, a spritely Colonel with an MBA in Math from MIT, came up with the ingenious idea to sort the troops according to their Real Analysis grade. Whiting was played by Tom Hanks in the famous re-enactment of this episode, Saving Private Ryan. It sends chills down my spine every time I see Hanks go down the line of scared troops and ask, "What did you get in Real Analysis? B+??? Front of the line." And in so doing, Hanks made sure that the stupid people were killed, and the smart survived, which explains 80% of the great growth in productivity in the US in the 1950s. (Make sure to read Cristy Romer's paper on this in the Journal of Economic History -- fascinating read.)
So the meme originates from the fact that had we been born in the 1920s, getting a B+ in Real Analysis would have resulted in death. Today it just relegates you to bad Ph.D. programs, ULRM faculty positions and public scorn on EJMR. Small price to pay, compared to Robert Whiting's sacrifice.
By the way, a few years ago the same Robert Whiting, now an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on. "You have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked sarcastically. Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously. "Then you should know enough to have your passport ready." The American said, "The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it." "Impossible. Americans always have to show their passports on arrival in France !" The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained, ''Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchmen to show a passport to. By the way, I assume you received a B+ in Real Analysis." You could have heard a pin drop.
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10/10.
I demand you re-post as its own thread.
Like many memes on here, it actually doesn't originate on EJMR. But unlike many of the copied memes, it also didn't originate at autoadmit or Reddit.
You see, this one goes back to WWII, when American U-Boat commanders were having to decide who to send onto Omaha Beach first, and get slaughtered, and who to hold back. Robert Whiting, a spritely Colonel with an MBA in Math from MIT, came up with the ingenious idea to sort the troops according to their Real Analysis grade. Whiting was played by Tom Hanks in the famous re-enactment of this episode, Saving Private Ryan. It sends chills down my spine every time I see Hanks go down the line of scared troops and ask, "What did you get in Real Analysis? B+??? Front of the line." And in so doing, Hanks made sure that the stupid people were killed, and the smart survived, which explains 80% of the great growth in productivity in the US in the 1950s. (Make sure to read Cristy Romer's paper on this in the Journal of Economic History -- fascinating read.)
So the meme originates from the fact that had we been born in the 1920s, getting a B+ in Real Analysis would have resulted in death. Today it just relegates you to bad Ph.D. programs, ULRM faculty positions and public scorn on EJMR. Small price to pay, compared to Robert Whiting's sacrifice.
By the way, a few years ago the same Robert Whiting, now an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on. "You have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked sarcastically. Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously. "Then you should know enough to have your passport ready." The American said, "The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it." "Impossible. Americans always have to show their passports on arrival in France !" The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained, ''Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchmen to show a passport to. By the way, I assume you received a B+ in Real Analysis." You could have heard a pin drop. -
Like many memes on here, it actually doesn't originate on EJMR. But unlike many of the copied memes, it also didn't originate at autoadmit or Reddit.
You see, this one goes back to WWII, when American U-Boat commanders were having to decide who to send onto Omaha Beach first, and get slaughtered, and who to hold back. Robert Whiting, a spritely Colonel with an MBA in Math from MIT, came up with the ingenious idea to sort the troops according to their Real Analysis grade. Whiting was played by Tom Hanks in the famous re-enactment of this episode, Saving Private Ryan. It sends chills down my spine every time I see Hanks go down the line of scared troops and ask, "What did you get in Real Analysis? B+??? Front of the line." And in so doing, Hanks made sure that the stupid people were killed, and the smart survived, which explains 80% of the great growth in productivity in the US in the 1950s. (Make sure to read Cristy Romer's paper on this in the Journal of Economic History -- fascinating read.)
So the meme originates from the fact that had we been born in the 1920s, getting a B+ in Real Analysis would have resulted in death. Today it just relegates you to bad Ph.D. programs, ULRM faculty positions and public scorn on EJMR. Small price to pay, compared to Robert Whiting's sacrifice.
By the way, a few years ago the same Robert Whiting, now an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on. "You have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked sarcastically. Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously. "Then you should know enough to have your passport ready." The American said, "The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it." "Impossible. Americans always have to show their passports on arrival in France !" The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained, ''Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchmen to show a passport to. By the way, I assume you received a B+ in Real Analysis." You could have heard a pin drop.I laughed so fieking hard at the last line.
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Ok, attempt at serious explanation.
The substance behind it (as above) is that RA grades are used by PhD adcoms as one (of many) signals for PhD admissions, specifically ability to do well at the technically more demanding aspects of comps, also some areas of theory work. And general intelligence of the required kind.
The meme is mocking Testmagic, a message board for intending PhD students. There, a groupthink culture developed that RA grades are all that mattered, and without an A in RA, applicants are sunk. This got worse as testmagic started to be dominated by people who didn't get into good programs giving "advice" to new applicants. This is also the origin of the lesser meme about Canadian masters programs (that doing one of these is supposedly essential to getting into a top US program).
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Like many memes on here, it actually doesn't originate on EJMR. But unlike many of the copied memes, it also didn't originate at autoadmit or Reddit.
You see, this one goes back to WWII, when American U-Boat commanders were having to decide who to send onto Omaha Beach first, and get slaughtered, and who to hold back. Robert Whiting, a spritely Colonel with an MBA in Math from MIT, came up with the ingenious idea to sort the troops according to their Real Analysis grade. Whiting was played by Tom Hanks in the famous re-enactment of this episode, Saving Private Ryan. It sends chills down my spine every time I see Hanks go down the line of scared troops and ask, "What did you get in Real Analysis? B+??? Front of the line." And in so doing, Hanks made sure that the stupid people were killed, and the smart survived, which explains 80% of the great growth in productivity in the US in the 1950s. (Make sure to read Cristy Romer's paper on this in the Journal of Economic History -- fascinating read.)
So the meme originates from the fact that had we been born in the 1920s, getting a B+ in Real Analysis would have resulted in death. Today it just relegates you to bad Ph.D. programs, ULRM faculty positions and public scorn on EJMR. Small price to pay, compared to Robert Whiting's sacrifice.
By the way, a few years ago the same Robert Whiting, now an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on. "You have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked sarcastically. Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously. "Then you should know enough to have your passport ready." The American said, "The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it." "Impossible. Americans always have to show their passports on arrival in France !" The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained, ''Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchmen to show a passport to. By the way, I assume you received a B+ in Real Analysis." You could have heard a pin drop.