Criminologist

I was in your situation before. I had difficulty getting a job with just an MS as well. I applied to a PhD program anyway, got accepted, worked for 2 years as a GA doing research, teaching, etc. After finishing classes and comps and getting some papers published in journals I have now easily able to get job offers for research positions without having finished the phd. If you can get a PhD funded offer, you could use it to get research experience to help you get a job offer.

I wanted to get back and post an update. I started my job about 4 weeks ago. I am not having any trouble working on it while working full time even though wake up at 7 and get back home at 5 (work from 8-4:30). I am working on it almost every day during the weekday for an hour or two, then around 10 hours max on the weekend. I was assigned to essentially write the intro/lit review for my dissertation which I have 4 months to complete, already wrote around 35 pages out of the 50 and hasn't been a month since. I still think it's reasonable to complete it within 2 years since i have the data already, setup the committee, etc. Actually I worry that the committee will be too slow to provide feedback, etc. since I am far away and can't see them in person, so if there is anything that would keep me from graduating in 2 years it would be outside my control. It helps tremendously that I'm single, no kids, pets, never married, no responsibilities. I think few people have a situation like mine with so much free time outside of work. What are your reasons why you don't feel like writing a dissertation when you get home from work?

My Phd program is low-tier, it's not a requirement just that they likely will not get funding, most students take longer than 3 years to complete, 5 with masters is typical, maybe 1-2 people graduate each year. At this point I am only getting the phd for the achievement of getting it, don't care about pubs, etc, but I am still frustrated.

My PhD program expects students to graduate within 3 years with a master's degree (that is all they are guaranteed funding for), almost all students have a masters though maybe 1 student has done this. Students are expected to take a week long comprehensive exam in the beginning of the spring of their 2nd year in the program. After they find out their results (about a month later), if they pass that they will form a committee of three members to write up a broad question based on your area where you have several months to work on (the second exam). As soon as I found out I had passed the exam (mid-feb) I contacted my advisor to set up the committee so they can begin to write the question for me, since then I was told numerous times I would have received the question at a particular time, but every time the writing of the question was put off and excuses were made, such as being busy with grading or administrative work, at this point three months later I have still not received the question and therefore accomplished very little during the spring term. It has been very frustrating to sit around doing nothing almost all of the semester. I am thinking that it is unreasonable for the program to expect students to graduate in such a short time then not do everything possible to get students to get through the program as quickly as possible, and make writing the exam question such a low priority. At least several other students were in the same situation as well. My question is do you think it would be worthwhile to send a message to the graduate director of the program and voice my concerns about this, or would this just harm my relationship with the program?

I have been admitted to PhD candidacy, I have finished all coursework, passed my qualifying exam and main comprehensive exam which required me to be on campus. This was done within 3 semesters of starting so I am progressing well. I already have my idea and a dissertation topic, and secured the data. I also have already formed my dissertation committee, all of the members who agreed to be on it after knowing I was going to be working full-time. They seem to be mostly supportive of my decision and there is good communication. The only thing I am lacking is not having defended the proposal, which would likely not be until the end of my third year, then I would plan to defend the dissertation at the end of my fourth year. For my program you have 8 years total to graduate or courses expire. I'll be working regular full time 8-4. but my position is not the kind where I will have to do any work at home or when I am on vacation. I'll still be enrolled in 1 credit hour so I'll have access to library resources online, and all of the software programs (SPSS, Stata, etc) I already have. I don't think life will get in the way honestly, I consider myself quite focused and responsible. My main concern is losing motivation and progressing to slowly now that money/getting a job is no longer a concern, but I think I have gone too far in my program to quit just because of work.

I actually spent a significant amount of time this semester in the process of obtaining a secondary dataset that could be used for my dissertation. 1-2 hours per day and then one day in the weekend does sound reasonable.

I'm about to finish up my second year in my PhD program in the social sciences and beginning to work on my dissertation. I have accepted a research position in my field in another state to start in the summer so I will be working full time while doing the PhD dissertation, rather than working as grad assistant part-time. Has anyone done this before and how difficult was it for you? I know it makes you less likely to finish the PhD but I am unusual as I would have no other responsibilities other than the job and dissertation (no family, kids, pets, hobby etc.). I still expect to finish the PhD in 4 years total so 2 more years (already have a Master's), how realistic is that?

So I ended up taking it in January and found out i passed a few days ago so I am happy. They didn't even say whether high pass or pass, just that I had a passing grade. Yeah I probably would not have benefited from taking it later because you are expected to find sources and research while you are taking the exam anyway, so it is more about preparation than how much you study or read.

Carnegie classification is more important than the outdated US news program rankings in determining quality of program in my opinion. When I applied to Phd programs years ago, I only applied to research universities classified as "very high research activity" (R1, R2, etc. terms are no longer used.). Also helps if it is a flagship school, they have the highest research activity, a lot of highly ranked programs are not. Another thing to consider is whether the school has membership in the prestigious AAU.

I don't have an adviser, and no one would know how prepared I am for the comprehensive exam. I know there are people who take in the spring and in the fall. Failing would give you another chance to take it but that is embarrassing. There's no reason for me to rush now actually but it is a take-home exam and they recently extended the time period.

I am a 2nd year Phd student and this is my last semester of taking required coursework. I have the option of taking the comp as soon as it is offered after I am done with the semester, the earliest in the beginning of January before classes. I could also wait a semester and take it in August, as I will be much less busier in the spring semester. I would have more time to study this way, however, the comp. exam is a take-home exam given over the course of a week (20-30 pages), so I am not sure if it is even worth it to prepare for it that much. But I would rather get a high pass on it than a low pass and I think having more time to prepare for it would give me a better chance. I would appreciate any advice.

Yeah, what I was thinking of saying besides that is I decided I was more interested in pursuing a career in research versus academia after completing 1 year and think it would be more rewarding then explain my reasons. I could just put this or the cover letter, or maybe if they ask me during an interview.

Thanks for the replies. I got a masters recently before coming to the PhD program. The jobs I am applying for are research associate/analyst positions in think tanks. I had thought about leaving off the doctoral student part in my resume, but I would still have in my work experience say that I am grad assistant since it is relevant and would help me get hired. you think interviewers could tell that I am in a PhD program since I am a grad assistant and I am just leaving it off? I don't want them to think I am trying to hide something. I also did address it in my cover letter saying that I was more interested in working in research. What about in the cover letter about saying I never needed or intended to complete the PhD, just wanted to obtain more experience before getting a position?

I am in my 3rd semester of my PhD program (last semester of coursework) and I am currently applying for masters-level research positions in my field. Already applied to one this summer I thought was a great fit and never heard back. Am I less likely to hear back from companies since I am in a PhD program and they will see this on my resume? I am also working as a grad assistant. My intent is to get a job next semester and then do the PhD program part-time or leave the program.

I am about to submit a paper to a journal article very soon for the first time. The journal does not have any guidelines written about how to submit tables, figures, etc.. I have 2 of them and currently they are part of the main word document right after the references at the end. Should these be put in a different file and which format or do places that don't have instructions for this not care? Thanks