Leaving phd with masters reddit Fellow humanities PhD candidate here. You should really sit down and do the math/logic and make some decisions - what opportunities will you have with a phd that you would't have with a masters, what path can you take with a masters in your field and would you like them even less than what the other choices are. Finally, you can just TA if you feel uncomfortable using RA funding. Learned a ton. I have seen PhD students left behind to fend for themselves and start with a whole new advisor. Im on the verge of failing final semester of masters in architecture. So even my reason to stay in Academia was faulty. I work with a lot of PhDs, MDs and other science people (MPH, masters, etc. I don’t feel like I’m In most cases, a professor who is leaving is leaving for a better university. I realized I was incredibly burned out, unhappy, and didn't want to stay in academia. Will it make a difference If I get a PhD? Any advice will be appreciated. Lastly phd is fucking hard not because of research because of fucking assholes PIs, low payment, corrupted peer review. I'm not super happy, and realizing that a lot of my goals (in terms of jobs, salary) do not require a PhD. "Skipping Masters", as you can tell from comments is not really a concept and definitely not a "common" one either in Physics or out of Physics. As a result, I am wondering if it is worth finishing the PhD or leaving with a masters degree. Burnout is a real thing. I have had an almost identical career path with OP, starting out on a KTP, doing a PhD with no Masters etc. A masters isn't required, but our degree programmes are also much more specialised. If you got a masters during your PhD, that’s even better, because then you can just put that you got the masters (and it’ll look like that’s what you intended to get). Masters are expensive to obtain. D. Long story short, I really love my job and haven't looked back for a single second. Please give us a few hours to notice your removed thread and if it follows the rules of the subreddit , it will most likely be approved. CSCareerQuestions protests in solidarity with the developers who made third party reddit apps. Sure, I've had postdocs and PhD students from the US in my lab in Germany. Otherwise, a PhD is an entrance ticket to try your luck in the academic world, but that is a highly Definitely like and care about what I'm doing now more and don't regret leaving my office job behind. Life happens and circumstances, desires, and perspectives change, so don't feel bad at all about realizing the best thing for you is to complete a Master's rather than a PhD. I kept taking courses that aligned to a Master's degree offered by my school with the intention of getting an MS within 3 years of the program. The corporate structure leaves very little room for creativity and personal growth. The best place on Reddit for admissions advice. I make good money in a job where I don’t need a PhD, and have for years. The reasons I’m contemplating staying at the same university for my PhD are:. It was worse for international students too. Opens some doors, but I think a lot of flack PhD gives masters is more PhD graduates trying to justify their terrible decision by saying that a masters graduate isn't qualified to do their job, which isn't true. Master’s here. The most important thing about PhD is to learn about how to do independent good quality research and I wish you the best on that. The team and my manager are extremely supportive (all PhDs themselves) but the fact that I'm leaving soon makes me sad, brings me severe anxiety and makes me question myself if this is the right path for me to take. program with my Masters degree (biochemistry) after failing my first round qualifying exam. a PhD or thesis Master's requires oral and written communications skills and the ability to do self-directed work. Then everybody would just apply for a PhD and quit with a Master degree after finishing all the coursework. I suppose the only problem is that usually they don't accept more than a couple people from outside their master's program, I'm leaving my PhD program (UK-studentship) for a job that starts in March 2022. You can use your masters major paper to research aspects of ecological restoration with the help of several PhDs in your circle of advisors. They have NO clue that I've been feeling the program hasn't been right for me (I'm planning on just asking them to meet to catch up), and I'm extremely anxious about the whole situation. I am currently an undergraduate and am about to graduate with a BS in biological sciences with a focus in behavior, neurobiology, and physiology. I went from According to my mentor it isn't unusual to master out at my school since there isn't a separate master's program, and in order to earn a masters you need to get accepted into the PhD Whether your PhD/postdoc stays there and keeps working on that project under new mentorship, or moves with you if you can support them in your new position, is a complicated decision they TL;DR: Young graduate student in his first year of a PhD program who has lost a passion for the academic world. Science background. Some more information that you might want to consider: the income difference life long between a masters and PhD scientist averages 3%. Thanks Update: Masters would do just fine for assay development in many companies, depending on the OP's experience. I completed my Bachelors and Masters degrees at the same university, and have been thinking about continuing at this university for my PhD (social sciences field). It’s unfair to your supervisor and very unfair to somebody who could have your place instead who really wants to do it, especially if there is funding involved. Mannheim is in general considered to be among the best Universities in Germany (if not the best) for Econ, so doing a Masters degree there should definitely open doors. Seriously considering quitting but don't know what to do. Engineers apply the knowledge of math & science to design and manufacture maintainable systems used to solve specific problems. I wasn't sure how common/successful people are going for a PhD after leaving academia for a few year. This is slowly changing because there simply aren't too many social psychology professor jobs in the world relative to the number of PhDs, but most social psych programs haven't openly embraced the need to teach industry skills at this point. I think you should go for it! And it may even help kill your anxiety towards completing your PhD; new job means networking and knowing people, I'm sure you'll finish your PhD even sooner. If your ultimate goal is to get a PhD, you should enroll in a PhD program. School ain’t going nowhere. View community ranking In the Top 5% of largest communities on Reddit. Also, from a financial perspective, having a PhD means your income ceiling is MUCH higher than somebody with a masters. and I'd argue that a PhD is actually quite highly sought after if wanting to do R&D. All have gone on to have successful clinical careers. The Reddit Law School Admissions Forum. e: PhD with 0-3 years of experience, or masters with 3-5 years of experience or bachelor's with 5+ years of experience. You should only obtain a Masters if you plan on using those skills in the future as a physician. I myself was in a Master's program for 2 years then in a Doctorate for 1 year before leaving academia, I really don't think having a graduate degree increases the likelihood of getting people with the right attributes. I started January 2020, covid happened and circumstances My very good friend started PhD with me in 2014 and then, due to somewhat similar reasons as yourself, left for industry after 5+ years. A big part of it has to do with which law school you go to. I am about a semester into my Phd program at a middle pack UK university and am thinking about pulling the plug. I would love to hear other stories of people leaving PhD programs and how your life is now, maybe a word or two of encouragement. Thinking about leaving PhD program in dissertation phase. The ones that care are run by jerks that you don’t want to work for anyways. That final year of my undergrad experience I had also opted to start a graduate "dual enrollment" type program our school offers that allows undergrad students to double count several of their senior level classes towards both their undergraduate and graduate degrees. There was no course work, only research. I’m not really sure who else to ask at this point. 5 years to graduate, it is not that rare at all and certainly not failure. Say a Master's in X field could get you a job in X field, but a PhD in X could get you a job in fields Q-Z. Your advisor/mentor, if they're not a supportive one, a PhD would be a colossal waste of time, money, effort and in fact a good chunk of your youth if you don't enjoy it. If I am pursuing career in finance (working as a financial analyst/research associate/portfolio manager/financial advisor/credit analyst, etc. So, I took stock, thought long and hard, and read a million blogs on Grad Cafe and Reddit. Posts like, “ Leaving a Stats PhD Program with a Master’s, Then Re-Applying ”, “What looks better on a CV: 2nd Masters or Incomplete PhD (ABD)? ”, or “[C] Unsure whether to quit/stay on PhD program”. But the actual process was less logical. I realized how much I missed my academic life (when I was doing my masters) and hence my decision to go back for my phd. This is a decision I’ve been pondering for some time and I just can’t figure out what would be best for me. 5 years thinking it would be worth it for the PhD. A lot of jobs that need a PhD will be okay with a masters and experience. The reason behind this is my PhD advisor, his lack of supervision and biasedness towards other students has compelled me to do this. Also, funny enough, a bank might not lend you 200k for a condo, but many students can get 200k in student loans with deferred interest. I really hope it doesn't negatively impact my career. I don’t know if this counts as “leaving academia”-I transitioned from a humanities visiting faculty position to my current advising/academic coaching role but still at an R1 university, so I haven’t left higher Ed. Being employed for that stretch has let me save H-1B non-immigrant visa holders in the United States. I routinely waver on whether to master out or grind it out. There seems to be a number of droll respondents. I know I 20 votes, 15 comments. Some schools don’t allow people to “Master out” - especially those schools that charge $20-60k for a Master degree in that same field. I'm 27 and in my first year of a PhD. 5 of my PhD program. Feel free to reach out to the mods if you feel your thread has been unjustly removed. I have not seen anyone at my school be wowed by an applicant having a Masters degree. I know three. Lots of people start PhD programs not being sure of themselves and loving it, and other people start convinced they will go into academia only to drop out quickly. Debating leaving PhD . Considering leaving PhD after 2 yrs So, I'm a PhD student in a STEM field that I used to be quite passionate about, and I entered grad school with the intention of going into academia. So, I will avoid saying "a paper hat". r/fortnight will attract a different I am PhD student at a US university (QS ranking>500). Internet Culture (Viral) my first semester of grad school, literally August - December of 2020. Internet Culture (Viral) though, that leaving with a masters is better than leaving with nothing. On a wider perspective, being armed with a PhD will also be powerful throughout your legal career. Enough of psycopaths in academia!! As someone in a major where a Masters or PHD is certainly valuable enough to find myself tempted into grad school, I say get out now. But now everything is blowing up in my face. If PhD was 3x my industry workload I might not have left. You are not guaranteed a job at the end. market in favor of applying to a handful of librarian and rare books/special collections jobs alongside applying to a masters program for library and information science (which had always been my intended backup plan since I’d worked for my university’s Get the Reddit app Scan this QR code to download the app now. My daughter learned from me, did her Bachelor’s degree, her Master’s degree and is now in the throws of PhD thesis writing having done her lit reviews, experiments and research etc (STEM). Remember nobody gets fired for hiring a Phd in a quant trading role. I have completed my 2 years here. I’ve dealt with an abusive advisor for 4. When I leave, I will have to deal with everyone’s reaction, everyone begging me to stay, etc. But say that if they ask you about the role. I feel discouraged and demotivated most of the time. It sounds like you had a valid reason and did something constructive after leaving, so you should be able to frame it positively, especially if you have strong letters of recommendation from the time leaving the program. [4] I am looking into all of the paperwork with the registrar's office and Graduate division. I did my own PhD in the US, stayed there, and then moved back to Germany for a professorship (I am German). I started my PhD almost immediately after getting my BS, and this might not have been the best decision in retrospect. This subreddit is for discussing academic life, and for asking questions 88 votes, 40 comments. Reddit's spam filter also catches some threads. Leaving a PhD Program . I am not really enjoying research, and am not able to make progress at all. In my PhD, I wasn’t even a student, but I was considered an employee (common in mainland Europe). The potential downsides of leaving include disappointing my parents and the professor who recommended me for this position, as well as missing out on potential career promotions and opportunities that a PhD can offer. Leaving PhD for industry . As someone who has made a career with a doctorate in mathematics: the first thing that I did was to work in academia, in particular, started with postgrad appointments (often set up specifically to support new doctorates), and then got a job lecturing and researching at various universities [2] This past semester, I did my best to __ but unfortunately struggled with ___ and have realized that for XYZ reasons, this program is not the right fit for me. I did so well during my masters, but I was so unhappy doing my phd. The program is in the US. reddit's new API changes kill third party apps that offer accessibility features, mod tools, and other features not found in the first party app. I want to get into industry. Conversely, students who enroll in a masters program not only r/LeavingAcademia: Leaving academia happens all the time. (In the first semester of my 2nd year) I’m considering leaving the program with a masters degree. I'm on the older side of folks in my program, but definitely not the oldest. I’m a second year PhD student. Masters programs are shorter and by the time a person thinks they want to quit it makes more sense to just stick it out and graduate. Academia has become an increasingly more competitive career track, such that in order to be competitive for PhD admission, many people are completing postbac/predoc/lab manage/research tech jobs prior to PhD in addition to their Bachelors. One of my PhD students took out a loan to buy a condominium when they moved here for their program. Goal of working as a ML Engineer. To be honest with you, I’d rather have a masters who completed what they intended to versus a PhD who quit. Universities may try to convince you it is so that you're willing to adjunct five classes a semester at two different schools without health insurance. (started the first two as a masters student) and am making decisions/mistakes/failed experiments I’d expect from a new grad student. So there is mobility at every level. If you want to be a functioning part of industry with a great salary, a Master's is a wonderful option. Leaving MAE PhD program with a masters degree with a masters degree . Am I correct in thinking this So I'm almost 2 yrs into my PhD program, and thinking pretty hard about leaving with my masters. This might also be a short path with similar financial rewards. And PhD programs have course requirements (that usually almost exactly line up with the masters requirement) and can be finicky about accepting masters-level coursework from other institutions. I specialized in science from the beginning and have worked with life science and pharmaceutical companies, big and small, answering strategic business questions. When she left, the project was pretty much unfinished. I’m in my second year, so I haven’t “done a PhD”, but I’m in grad school. It is often frowned upon to leave a PhD program after you receive an MS, if this is your intention from the start, because the program would have admitted someone else who wanted a PhD had they known. edit: now that I think about it, there were others but the rule is the same. I joined a general management consulting firm after a two year science masters. I had experience in a different graduate school program (a PhD program in a different field of psychology), which gave me another GPA I loved working on my PhD in theoretical math, and I believe it can be a good path for some. Is a PhD in Cognitive Science or Neural Computation a risky/bad path? At least where I worked (data science consulting)!we would prefer a phd in that field over the masters you listed. More Since, PhD takes longer time to complete, you need to go through many frustrating days and nights its better for you to drop it now and re evaluate if you really want to do phd later. PhD is straining currently because of COVID + topic is very niche. I've been going back and forth on this decision for about 4 months or so. There has to be more to life than just this. (Admittedly the circumstances were different — I left to join a different I think my friends who quit made the right choice for them, and leaving academia post PhD was a great choice for me. The movement of the PhD students can be part of the negotiation. Meanwhile, you already invested 2 years of your time on this, so, check with your school if you can obtain Master’s degree at least. I can share details if desired but I’m writing this to tell grad students who are in their earlier years that if you have doubts about getting your PhD and/or have doubts about your PI, get out while you can. Career options/advancement is a common reason for pursuing a PhD. Maybe a PhD isn’t for you. Imo don't put "offered graduate role", it's a bit weird. Her book comes from her experience. Fast forward to 3 PhD's outside of education are a little more rare. They just moved out, and now they have a property that they can rent out. A PhD is awarded in a specific degree granting program/department and that program has a name Maybe in the US, but not generally so. I left the PhD program though because money was tight and we wanted more kids. Hi, I was wondering how possible it is to get a PhD after working for a few years. I know that I would want to work at a biotech company after, and my program offers a thesis or non thesis masters option. But I see a lot of ppl in my program who tell they hate the work and are completely miserable and I don’t understand what they are doing. For most places, while the do list the other two, most of the time they go with the PhD candidate. Chemists, engineers, and other STEM type positions vary a lot. PhD is just work experience while getting paid pennies. 1. One example is Joan Bolker, who, in her book Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day talks about how she dropped out of / did not finish her first PhD, but later went back and took a second one and succeeded there. If you are looking for a PhD with a more clinically inclined path, I recommend looking at University of Kentucky. Leaving PhD in Third Year . I have CS undergrad and masters in quant finance from a top 5 school. [3] I have decided to return to my previous institution, The university of ___ to do my PhD. On top of that specific subreddits, and even threads, are going to attract specific demographics. Is it really worth it? being 525k give or take in depth for 6ish years and not even all your money goes to paying it back youve got more housing costs taxes maybe a car, phone, laptop ect. Brief stay in PhD before leaving academia. If you have a PhD and end up at a third tier school, you might still have issues finding employment. If you have a Masters and end up at a Top 14 law school, jobs will end up finding you. Or check it out in the app stores TOPICS. So unless financially (in the long term) it is better to quit, I would say it is worth sticking with the program. Edit: ok actually things have changed as of 2021 - if you do manage to master out you’ll get a graduate visa for 2 years allowing you to get a job without The masters would allow you to teach at the community college level and lector at university level. 12 votes, 25 comments. When I got my Master’s at UNC 35 years ago, all English majors got a PhD regardless of their area of specialization. Dear professors community of reddit, I am a PhD student in STEM considering to quit my current programme. Last year I left the job for grad school - a 1+3 Masters+PhD programme. The masters is more likely to apply toward a PhD. Two dropped out after MS2, one after G2 (leaving graduate school with a master's degree). Hi fellow applicants! I was lucky enough to be accepted into a master's program that I am really excited about. Then they complete a View community ranking In the Top 1% of largest communities on Reddit. Leaving Ah ok, you do you then. In biology, which is also my field, it is important that you find a good lab to do your research, the rest is secondary. Most companies, even for PhD level roles, will have some equivalent experience listed for other degrees. Her PhD project was investigating aged mice, so you can imagine that it took forever to do one experiment. Like other posters say, it's a filter that companies Social psych PhD programs are still heavily geared toward producing academics. In my PhD program, you would not be admitted without a master's degree, but people in the same subject area doing the MA and PhD version of the program take some courses in common during the first year, and thus the people I had foundation courses with who were MA students and went on to the PhD program didn't have to retake those for the PhD and instead could take more The department is encouraging me to write a Thesis to get a second Masters and my advisor has been fully supportive of me choosing family and mental health over a PhD. If you go to a higher ranked law school, your chances of finding a job dramatically increases. I got a masters, started as a data scientist, became a computer vision engineer. I also worked with data generated by someone who later committed I feel like if I pursue a masters for now, I'll be able to make a more informed decision on when I should enroll for a PhD (whether immediately or after some work experience) and which concentration. Long time listener, first time caller, ha ha. Although, I don’t have the experience of going through a PhD, I feel like I can somehow relate to you. Master vs PhD? I’m a freshman in college (psych major, math minor). My plan is to take 2 Spanish classes next semester while working part time, and then start my masters in Human Resources management in France in the fall. It's hard to say how leaving will hurt future job prospectsdepends on how niche your field is and how prominent your current employer is in your field. Students spend 13 years in a crap education system just for another 4 years tacked on so we can get the bare minimum to reasonably enter the work force at decent wages. Additionally, a Master's in X field may allow you entry into the same position, but hold you back in terms of promotion. Just wanted to let you know that you are a really brave person, and you’ve absolutely made the right decision of leaving your PhD. Sure, you could leave now and probably double your current income, but in 10 years your PhD will give you unlimited options. Probably more a reflection of the toxic work environment than the PhD program. I realized that I was ruining my mental health, hated I ended up changing and leaving my PhD (graduating with a masters instead next summer). I am leaving a physics PhD program with a master's degree. You're not a failure. Thus I am writing a resume! TLDR: . I'm doing my Masters at a top-rated research group at an average-rated university and planning to apply for PhD programs for next fall. When I was offered the PhD, it seemed like a great opportunity to rectify my incomplete masters and develop myself further, and I thought that as long as I kept a check on Outside the US progression is 2 yrs Masters + 4 yrs PhD. So, I am currently getting my masters in public health with a concentration in epidemiology and am debating if I should get my phd. Hi everyone, I was hoping that you could give me some advice. Reply reply Reply reply [deleted] • Good advice here, but also find out if it's possible in your case to drop the PhD and take a masters and leave the program. This is not a case of a mid-programme slump or anything that can Posted by u/OblivionCaballero - 1 vote and no comments I’m in the third semester of my PhD and could leave with my masters next semester. While I was looking at the qualifications for these types of jobs, I notice require a masters/PhD or pursuing a masters/PhD degree. However, I be be moving to the US from another country and will be leaving my husband behind temporarily. Absolutely worth it. I really would like to do original research and would also like to be involved in some way in policy making (I figured this would be best achieved by eventually working with a state health department or a government agency). Either you are still in limbo or stuck in the endless wait or just received what we all wish for, the elusive Greencard, this reddit space is for you. I did my PhD in a save-the-world social sciences field, and I was a little uncertain about whether I'd be content working in tech. The average salary of someone with a phd/masters is 60k-90k but ive seen outliers. I know the impending feeling to finish PhD; most of my PhD friends found it real hard to find jobs after graduating. Still, I loved the program itself and I think I would have had less fun in a Master's program than I did leaving a PhD program with a Master's. It's also 3-6 years of your life (depending on whether you do a PhD in Europe or the US). Western is definitely a stickler for that. View community ranking In the Top 1% of largest communities on Reddit. Even during my masters, I couldn't end up in any of the internships and most of the projects and thesis were done at the university so didn't get a chance to gain any relevant experience. There’s no way to make more money with one, and absence of one hasn’t slowed me down. I wanted to know the career prospective after a masters. You're early enough in the process that leaving isn't necessarily a mistake, 5 extra years is a long time to be something you don't want to do, but know that you are locking yourself out of not business side roles in the industry by not getting a PhD. I know this is probably not what you wanted to hear. I am thinking to quit the PhD here and move to the University of Tokyo. We see, across seasons, how the members of his team also get moulded to act and treat patients in similar ways. Or maybe I’m not PhD-ing correctly lol It was easy enough to work part-time and complete my first master's degree, but I found it a lot more challenging to take courses even part-time for a second master's degree in higher education administration after I was working full time, and ultimately ended up leaving the program and not finishing. Don’t take the PhD and quit in December if you’re already thinking about leaving. Wondering if I should quit PhD and accept offer or rather power thru PhD and search "dream job" after. For the lower ranked schools, it likely won't be a nail in the coffin, but having the PhD will still be more optimal than leaving without. It took me two cycles and I want 1 for 11 in total on PhD programs (but better on masters, which for me were not funded). So, I'm about to be eligible to receive my Masters this December (1 semester left), and I'm trying to decide if I should actually dive into the job search seriously and consider taking this masters and running, or if it would be worthwhile to try to finish my PhD quickly, say at the end of year 4 with a stapled together dissertation (that would Afaik, McMaster and Ottawa don't really care. Luckily loving research correlates with having a good time during your PhD. Don't feel like leaving a PhD after only a Master's is somehow a failure, or that you shouldn't apply to PhD programs because you are not 100% certain of your future life plans. I am considering my options, so I wanted to get some advice. Post any questions you have, there are lots of redditors with admissions Leaving a graduate program isn't a deathblow to getting into another one (but it does make things harder), but you DO have to be prepared to explain why. ) and if I wanna pursue a masters in Finance, I believe that would be called "relevant" work experience. Professor here. Reply albasri PhD, Cognitive (Perception) Leaving PhD for dream role in industry. I hope this post can help someone, one way or another and normalize dropping out. They called it an "incidental masters degree" That said, PhD programs frown heavily on entering a PhD with the goal of leaving in the middle with a masters degree. Thank you! going the Counseling Psychology route since many of those programs required a master's degree and accelerated your PhD as a result. My husband left his PhD program with just the Masters and he has no regrets. Hi All, It been almost 8 months I am in the process of scouting for Job opportunities and unfortunately couldn't find any. His program was applied economics and now pulls in about 100k year salary making about the same as some of his colleagues who finished the PhD I’m currently in a PhD program (starting my 2nd year this fall) and looking at my options to master out since I realized a PhD is not for me for several reasons. Posted by u/floretine - 7 votes and 13 comments However, it seems like a PhD is very rarely required for industry jobs and is usually treated as the same as a masters degree plus 1-2 years of work experience. Hello everyone, I am looking for some advice regarding whether or not I should pursue a Masters or a PhD in biology. And sometimes it’s still really hard. More importantly however, the behavior of reddit Take some time, enjoy making some money and leaving work at work. Throughout the show, we have seen House skirting ethical boundaries with the aim of saving lives. But, leaving this PhD is not even a barrier to pursuing a PhD later on in life. If you graduate with a Chemistry degree, for example, you will have studied nothing but Chemistry for the last 3 years, and your final year will have had very specialised optional modules within it. I agree with the other comment saying to not delude yourself. Agreed with everything posted here. A PhD program typically takes 5-6 years to complete. I am American and came here to do my masters, when I finished, I was offered a spot on the Phd program with full scholarship and stipend. Academia has many pros and cons, but it isn't special. PhDs aren’t this horrible huge life altering thing that academics love to make it out to be. Anyway, my issue is that I really don't enjoy doing research. I feel like this is as good of a place as any to ask for advice, but I truly feel like I’ve hit an immense wall I can’t climb over. Continuing with the same group would be great for my research but however, the prospect of working at a top-rated university and the additional life experience of living in a different city is equally attractive to me. This is easy for me to say attending a European university with a time limit of 3 if you have your phd, you will never get eliminated from quant trading roles, just because you don't have Phd. Out of the other 3, 1 went to phrama also in a similar area as me and I am 2 levels higher than her in terms rank, despite having a Masters and she has a PhD. Check out the sidebar for intro guides. The entire point of this would be to get the tuition covered through the PhD program, but no interest in finishing the entire program. What Masters showed was that it is not necessary to act in these ways in order to be a good I feel bad about leaving, I haven’t told anyone yet, but I will have to tell them within 2 weeks. Leaving PhD for dream role in industry . I didn’t personally know any aspiring writers, but Lee Smith and Doris Betts, among others, taught Creative Writing, so I have reason to believe that they existed. 12 votes, 15 comments. All did fine. My PhD is in a subject that I’m generally interested in and my adviser is very supportive and has a lot of great resources and projects coming in. ) I feel like I would be wasting my time, given the number of faculty positions available and the time it takes to do post docs and the amount of stress it all involves once it starts taking 50-60hr weeks to get everything done. can't even get interviews at a systematic hedge fund. I was on fellowship. Last your phd outside academia has no much value, I met brilliant people without phd and had successful endeavor. I've seen plenty of people with masters I did finish the PhD and moved into tech after my PhD. So don't do it if you don't really want to. I’m aspiring for a PhD position in a top university myself, but am already so anxious. A while back there was a thread about an accepted candidate whose offer got rescinded because their thesis got delayed due to COVID and they couldn't finish everything by June 30 (note: they will finish well before med school even starts, but not by the June 30 deadline). . Just my thoughts. CSCareerQuestions protests in solidarity with the developers who made third party reddit Leaving to take an industry position, especially if it's one that might usually require a PhD Leaving to start a different PhD program from scratch due to change of interests While there are analogous situations for undergraduate dropout rates, these are rarer compared to "regular" dropouts where students discontinue any further undergraduate education and to students View community ranking In the Top 5% of largest communities on Reddit. I had great letters of recommendation and a lot of service work and a lot of research experience. Clearly other people were worried about If you want to go in that direction, consider going back to school for a Masters' in CS/statistics if you can deal with the cost. IMO, it is the work experience that is relevant to the Master's program you're targeting. My mental health. AskEngineers is a forum for questions about the technologies, standards, and processes used to design & build these systems, as well as for questions about the engineering profession and its many disciplines. You are brave and strong and definitely worth it! I left my PhD for a masters as a rising 5th year. It takes courage to decide to leave and I don't have any, so instead I'll just end up leaving by default (because my PhD mentor left the uni and I have until then to find a new one). I'm excited to start the PhD but I also like my job a lot and it has been very difficult to leave. Reddit iOS Reddit Android Reddit Premium About Reddit Advertise Blog Careers Press. I've been thinking about getting a masters within one more year and leaving graduate school, at least for some time. In certain countries, students are led to believe that they need to first get into a masters program, then enroll in a PhD program for further study. I decided the best thing to do is just start applying to jobs. Loved my experience going back to college. I was planning to just take classes and earn a master’s in clinical in 4 years, but are there other routes I might take? I see that many people go straight to PhD. People in those industries tend to make more than 100k. Besides, if someone really wants to be a professor, then who cares about the Posted by u/Joanies_Mom1965 - 1 vote and 4 comments Get the Reddit app Scan this QR code to download the app now. I have seen PhD students left behind, but continue to work with the original adviser remotely. It has made me a "slave to the machine" just so I can see my bank balance grow. Any advise would be great The Reddit Law School Admissions Forum. In the US the progression is 5-7 yrs PhD, Masters don't typically exist except as "consolation prizes" for leaving a PhD early. My work focuses on immunoassays and I know quite a few developers with BS/MS/PhD, unsurprisingly for the same work you'll need a lot more experience with the BS whereas we can and do hire newly minted PhDs. Hello guys, depressed PhD candidate here again. I've only just finished the Masters bit and about to enter the PhD part with a new supervisor I actively requested to transfer to. Getting a masters after/while working is a pretty viable path because it's "relatively" lower commitment and doesn't take as many years. Life is quite interesting in the way that it can open unexpected paths! But whether or not you have a PhD does not determine your worth as a person. These are not necessarily better paid jobs, but they are fun for people who like to do research. This is not how the system works at Cornell or in the US in general. As such most Canadian and European universities only fund a PhD for 4 years since its expected for a student to finish in 4 (with some taking 3 or 5). It has to happen, actually, to many people. Taking into account the attrition rate, starting/being accepted to a PhD program is an accomplishment in and of itself. Reddit has a few large STEM subcultures like IT, dev, and engineering. and in turn, I am further along financially than her (remember, any education is an investment for ones career). r/GradSchool Many PhD students take 6-6. If you are set on doing a masters then I'd reject the audit offer, things aren't that impersonal and quite a few recruiters recruit both for accounting and ib roles and there is quite a bit of movement between big4 audit and financial advisories, so you don't want Hi all, I'm going to meet with my supervisor next week to discuss leaving my PhD program. My sincere advice is to not start a PhD directly. I hate leaving a job so soon but honestly have started to realize my sanity is worth more. If pure science is your aim, understand that leaving with a Master's will build your glass ceiling in the field. Overall, I think if you’re unsure about the field or speciality you want to go in (if you even want to specialize in a field) then I’d say find a job and you can decide what you like and dislike. Thinking on leaving my PhD program . You should have appropriate expectations and understanding before going into graduate studies and academia. Is this an option at UW? I know most Universities offer an MS at some point in a PhD program. Check out the sidebar for Took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that it wasn't worth finishing for me, because the jobs a PhD opened up for me relative to a Master's were so few and I wanted almost none of them. According to my mentor it isn't unusual to master out at my school since there isn't a separate master's program, and in order to earn a masters you need to get accepted into the PhD program and then choose to leave after your second comprehensive exam. Is leaving a PhD program for a much better paying job a good decision? Enter workforce after undergrad or enter a Master's program? CSCareerQuestions protests in solidarity with the developers who made third party reddit apps. Or maybe it’s not for you yet. Reply reply How about 14 yrs between Bachelors and Masters and then 2 years from Masters to PhD (the masters was a stepping stone to PhD). i have several reasons for wanting to leave but here are the ones that stick out the most. Hi everyone! I’m currently a first semester PhD student and I am feeling unhappy with my current program. It’s not like a PhD in (unapplied) physics is going to make your job prospects that much better than a masters. Developed a ton of confidence and a focus for the rest of my life. I've been reading up on relevant blogs and forum threads, and became to wonder if there would be a place where people who quit physics PhD programs gather around. I have never heard of a Canadian student go undergrad>PhD although some universities advertise that exceptional first year masters students can convert their degree path into a PhD. Once you pick option 2, you have the flexibility of getting out with an MS and also the option of thinking about a PhD. Finishing with the PhD will open up the door more to JD admission at Harvard IMO. true. I've been on the job market for 4 years since getting my PhD (humanities/social sciences). Was offered a high-paying job at Silicon Valley AI startup, job is customer engineering tho, not my dream role. Hopefully, I will be finishing my Master's in Neuroscience (atleast the experiment part) amidst the pandemic. but I'm unsure and want to practice sooner than later while leaving it open as an option in the future. A few months ago, I ended up leaving my Ph. It really was my main motivation. Having invested one Most research jobs require a PhD. My feelings: I'm not really interested in continuing the PhD programme. However, if you don't tell anyone that this is your intention, there is no way for the program to know; PhD students drop out all the time after getting a masters (it A PhD is helpful if you want to be director of data science, but there is a lot of politics and admin responsibilities in that line of work. one way or another and normalize dropping out. It is a constellation of reasons: It is often frowned upon to leave a PhD program after you receive an MS, if this is your intention from the start, because the program would have admitted someone else who For what it's worth, I left my first PhD program with a master's degree after passing my qualifying exams. Quitting phd should be normalized when you early on for what ever reasons. To get a math PhD, you will be working very hard in your prime years in exchange for very little pay. I'm hoping to leave the job and return to my PhD. Also with a masters degree, some comp sci courses, and maybe some community college courses you may be able to get into a decent data science, decision science, operations management, or information technology masters program that neatly fits both of your interests. General purpose data science is easier to get into, but here too people expect a PhD candidate to have something a bit more specialized. I have intentions of applying for the PhD program in Economics, but with the ideal of leaving early with a MS in Econ. I'm about 75-80% sure I'll be leaving grad school with a masters. I. Masters quitting the team, was the point. If I quit with a masters, it won't be until January anyway, but I also feel like I won't be able to be 100% sure if I'm leaving or not until it happens. Met good people. They offer funding to PhD students with the goal of putting quality applicants on the job market, which masters students can't do. I’ve transferred lots of dual credits and have 4 years of free school. About half of PhD students don’t finish their program. It varies wildly what a PhD means. I'm currently in year 2. To add to that, my goal is to do PhD after the masters which means another 4-6 years away from him. 3M subscribers in the AskAcademia community. I basically only studied because I thought otherwise I would have wasted my time by getting my last degree. I have been feeling mentally drained from having a difficult transition to a new city, feeling like I don’t fit into the environment and feeling academically inadequate. I'm in my 3rd year of an education PhD and I feel like I'm dying here. After my PhD I still thought if I leave now for a career that doesn't need a PhD I wasted my time. I am now 57 and guess what I never got around to doing, my PhD. Getting the master's would make my I decided after my Masters to work for a couple of years then go back and do my PhD. Whether that's electronics, signal processing, semiconductors etc. Same here, MBA -> industry -> PhD, although my hours between industry and PhD have been about the same. You should think of starting and leaving graduate school the same as you would with any other job. I didn't plan to leave grad school, and I am not prepared at all, especially for a job search. However, you will never head an R&D lab with a Master's and you will never be a CSO of a company. I came into this because I want to be a professor and Hi, 28F here. tov szigjmk tpvitf und xrnwgn nnjmu wshrl vnhc zyvv kgua