Hi All,
I haven’t been on this site since last year during the exciting few months of grad school interviews and acceptances. Needless to say, a lot has changed since then.
I am currently enrolled in a psychology Ph.D. program, one class short of a masters degree. I am 100% sure that I do not want to get my Ph.D. and I do not want to go into a research career.
I definitely want to drop out of my program after I take my last class for my masters. I don’t know how to go about telling my advisor, or when I should do this. You see, I am in a unique situation in that I am the only graduate student in the lab, there is no lab tech, and no post-doc. We have a few undergrads to help run experiments, but I am in a very new lab and my job consists of a lot of software writing and engineering as a means to build the lab up. My advisor and I have a great relationship, and he has no idea I want to drop out. I feel so incredibly guilty because I feel like it would affect his career too, especially because he has already invested so much in me. He is sending me to work in a different lab for the fall to bring back a technique to our lab, and I am afraid to tell him before I go, because I actually want to learn the technique as a CV builder. I am sure that he would see me dropping out as weak and simply that I can’t live this lifestyle, rather than I just don’t want to. After I drop out, I would be more than willing to stay working in the lab for 3 or 4 months wrapping up projects and training other people.
I need advice. How do I tell him I want to drop out, which is basically saying he will have no one invested in the lab? When do I tell him?
One last piece of information. I want to go back to school and take 5 more undergraduate classes in order to apply to vet school, which I have learned is my true passion when research has never been. If I stay in the program, I can take undergraduate classes for free. Should I stay until I complete these courses?
Thanks everyone who took the time to read this.
- Anna