AndyColada

Thank you so much for your reply, eucalyptus! As a matter of fact I did not do poorly in all of my classes, however I did get an incomplete in my two math classes. I would say while I am extremely interested in Political Science apart from the math, pure formal theory does turn me off. However, I am afraid I did not leave the best impression at the school for obvious reasons. As a first year I did not get that much time to build relationships with my professors. I would be lucky if they still remember how I did in their classes. This is a real dilemma to go back and ask for recommendations. My undergraduate professor probably remembers me better because I spent a couple semesters as his research assistant and worked on a published paper with him. However, he also wrote my original recommendations and it would feel awkward to ask him for a recommendation to another school, even though this time I am actually confident I would do well. Thank you for your advice in any case. You gave me some hope.

I went straight from undergrad into a PhD program. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with my life yet. I liked the subject I was studying, but I wanted to explore other possibilities in life besides academia. But I was expected to apply to grad school by my professors so I did, and I got into an alright program, so I went. After a year I was depressed, not getting any work done, and dropped out. Now it is 4 years later, the funding for my original program has expired. I have worked in a couple of different jobs and considered many options, but I find that I am spending ALL of my free time on my graduate field. I recently picked up some of my old Political science books and loved them. Is it too late for me to get back into a program? I feel desperate. I am not passionate about anything in life besides this, only it has taken a few years living in the real world to find that out. I wish I had never gone to the first program now because it is hurting my chances to go back.