labayadere

Hi all, I am a first year PhD student, and I think I made a terrible mistake in selecting my program. I ultimately chose my program because of my advisor and geographical location. I really, really like my advisor and am happy with the line of research I am doing with that person. However, I am realizing that the program as a whole is not a good fit for me. This is mainly due to a disproportionate emphasis on an area of the field that I am simply not really interested in; I'll use a culinary school analogy and say that while I decided to go to culinary school (grad school) to become a specialist in French cooking, the program as a whole (the coursework, majority of faculty, invited speakers, general attitude in the department, etc.) focuses on Chinese cooking. I of course see the merits in becoming a well-rounded cook (researcher), but that's not why I decided to dedicate my life to this line of work. Don't people get PhDs to become specialists, not generalists? The thought of spending five years in a department with this kind of atmosphere really depresses me, and I am terrified that because of the way the program is organized, I won't get the training and expertise I need to be competitive on the academic job market. Other students who think of themselves as French cooks in the program feel the same way as me. We have met with a few of the French cooking faculty, and unfortunately they did not share our view that we needed more training specific and relevant to French cooking. This, however, is not the prevailing attitude in the field; our faculty are unique in their perspective. I feel paralyzed, and don't know what to do. Going to a different university would be complicated, as my current institution was also my BA institution (there was a gap in between. However, in many ways I feel that ultimately I would be happier, more productive, and better trained in a different program. FWIW I'm in a scientific discipline and had already secured my own funding before starting my program.