[Not sure if grad school is really for me]

Think of your PhD as a means to an end. You've invested so much time, effort and money into it- it seems like a shame to not finish.

 

As far as the length and content of your thesis- that's dependent on what your advisor, committee and discipline want. Try and remember that a Masters is not necessarily about generating new and earth shattering research, it's about developing the skills, tools, and experience to conduct research. As insignificant as your research may seem, the process of coming up with a question, doing a lit review, conducting an experiment, doing data analysis, and writing/presenting results are all valuable skills.

 

While it seems like you're obviously not interested in grad school - which is totally ok - it would probably be worth your time to finish it up, since you're so close.

 

Also, the length of your thesis is not a representation of the quality and/or significance of the work you've done. 

 

As for your topic, I'm not in your area...but to me it seems like a decent project. You outline, as Seeking said above, the history of androids  their relevance, and why battery power is important. present your experiment - adding to the code - see if it changes battery life, results, discussion/implications/limitations, BAM- done. Throw in a few tables and graphs..and BAM WHAM...done even more!

 

Well, this is a Master's, not a Ph. D. Also, my project involves the Android mobile operating system (as opposed to iOS and Windows mobile, although now that you mention it, I could perhaps also work with some of those), not androids.

[Not sure if grad school is really for me]

First about your thesis - apart from the modified code, you need to give a background of the original code, some brands that are using the different variations of it, the need to modify it, what kind of variables and principles you are following to modify the code, why you chose to modify it in this particular manner, theories related to it if applicable, then the code itself. Finally, you need to explain why this code is better than the original one, how it works, if there are comparable modifications available in the market and suggest the directions this field can take in future. All this should easily cover at least 60 pages, typed in 1.5 spacing, 12 pt font. and this is in addition to the technical writing that you normally include related to the code itself. Besides, I believe STEM candidates are not required to write a very long thesis.

 

Now, the main question about your feeling about leaving or not - since you have already invested considerable time, money and energy in this program, perhaps you should complete this program and join in a job afterwards. While in job, you can figure out what exactly it is that interests you - search on the web, read some books and articles in that field to confirm that you will really enjoy your new field. Once you have decided upon your new field, take some undergraduate courses in it either online or as part-time. Get about 15-18 credit hours in the new field with a good GPA. After this, you'll be ready to transcend into your new Graduate field. While doing all this, you'll have your Engineering job to support you and you'll also save some money for your future Graduate study if needed.

 

Leaving something halfway through after you have invested considerably in it doesn't reflect well on your profile and also is a waste of your time, effort and money. So, look upon your Engineering training as a stepping stone to your new field of interest, rather than abandoning it. 

 

If you don't mind me asking, what field did you do your Bachelor's, Master's in?

 

I mean, regarding the code, I'm pretty much just adding or modifying a few lines of code in an already-existing program. And even then, they're mostly just workarounds because I'm not familiar with a lot of concepts in Android, like threading. I could maybe try to modify a second app and then compare it to the first, but still.

[Not sure if grad school is really for me]

Hey, guys

 

So I'm a second-year MS student in Electrical Engineering and I'm in kind of a life-changing dilemma. I did my BS in EE, as well, graduated in 2009, floundered around a bit for a year or so, applied to some grad schools, got in, and I've been in my MS program since 2011. The thing is, the whole time I've been in grad school, I've been realizing more and more that I just. do. not. care. about engineering. I struggled to get B's the whole time, I couldn't find anything that generated enough interest for me to do a thesis, and I basically just kind of...survived to get as far as I have now.

 

The thing is, I never really honestly admitted this to myself until very recently, but the truth is that I just don't care about anything that I'm studying, and I never did. Even when I was applying to undergrad schools, I applied to engineering for what I now realize are all the wrong reasons:

1. I thought I would suck less at it than I would at anything else.
2. I thought that it was what I was "supposed" to do.
3. I was afraid of what others would think of me if I didn't go into engineering.
4. Money

So basically, my entire post-high school educational career has been a lie!

 

I'm now working with a group for a thesis, but I'm embarassed that it's going to be quite short. Basically, we're modifying some Android apps to be more power-efficient and we're going to try to quantify the improvement in power-efficiency. But is that really good enough for a Master's thesis? How am I supposed to write a thesis on that? I'm basically just modifying some code in some existing Android apps. How many pages am I supposed to get out of that?

 

I've been considering dropping out, but I've already spent something like $30,000 on the program, not to mention rent and living expenses. What should I do? I'm thinking of talking to some career counselors and maybe switching to a different field entirely.

 

Any advice?

 

 

[Choosing a professor for a project]

So, I've gone to the chat room at this website a few times in the past, specifically when I was feeling really crappy right after a midterm, complaining about how worthless I am and how I'm planning on dropping out. LOL.

Well, I'm still in my MSEE program. Just started my second year, but now I need some advice. I have two possible paths to my MS: a thesis or a project, and I want to do a project. The problem is, I have to choose an adviser. I kind of want to do my project with a professor I had for one of my previous classes. I did okay in his class. I got a B, but I don't know if he...likes me. I wasn't particularly enthusiastic in his class and sometimes I had trouble focusing and got distracted. How should I approach this topic with him?

I'll be completely honest here. The only reason I'm in grad school is to help me in getting a job. I've never been super-enthusiastic about it. I know what you're going to say. "If you're not 100% devoted, it's not for you and you should drop out." Well, I'm more than halfway done and dropping out makes no sense, at least to me. So I just want to pick an adviser, do my project, and get out of here ASAP.

So, any tips? How should I talk to this professor?

[Should I drop out?]

I just feel like I've already failed. After doing so badly in undergrad (nearly getting kicked out) and actually getting fired from a job because of these habits, I STILL haven't got my act together. I don't think I can really be compared to anyone else because I don't think anyone else did that badly before grad school. And the grad school I'm going to is...pretty good. Top 40 good. It would be one thing if the grad school I was going to was, say, not even in the top 100 because people with bad undergrad GPA's get into those schools all the time. But I got into a grad school in which the average undergrad GPA for grad students is around 3.5.

I wasn't just given a second chance. I was given a second chance on a silver platter, and I STILL can't do well. I feel like I'm so ungrateful for this chance that's been given to me. I should have had a 4.0, now I'll be lucky if I can break 3.0. I feel like I've already blown my second chance.

Just to clarify, both my undergrad and grad schools are University of California schools. I don't want to go into more detail for privacy's sake.

[Should I drop out?]

Hi. I'm currently a first-year Master's student in EE. I just wrapped up my first quarter and, in all likelihood, my GPA is going to be below a 3.0. In my school, that means that I'll be put on academic probation for the next quarter. If I don't get a 3.0 or above in the next quarter, I'll be subject to dismissal in the following quarter, and if I can't get a 3.0 or above in that quarter...well, I think we all know what happens then.

There's a number of reasons why this happened, I think. For one, it took me a while to finally get all my classes selected. The quarter is 10 weeks long, but I didn't really have my schedule finalized until about 3 or 4 weeks into the quarter. I ended up dropping one class and adding a replacement for it in the second week. There was another class I wanted to drop, but I came to that conclusion literally on the day of the drop deadline, which was too late because the add deadline had already passed, so I couldn't add a class to take its place. So all that confusion made it kind of difficult for me.

Another thing is that I think I underestimated how hard grad school would be. I took 13 units this quarter, which, in undergrad (which was also on the quarter system), was a piece of cake. The minimum you have to take is 12. I'll admit, I did procrastinate a little, but I don't think my work ethic or time management was that much worse than everyone else's. But I do remember that I felt overwhelmed a lot during the quarter. Not being able to drop that class I wanted to drop definitely contributed significantly to this.

Also, it's been a while since I've been in school. I graduated from my undergrad school in December 2009 and I started grad school in September 2011. I had been working contract jobs in between and I think that, in that time, I forgot what it's like to be in school and have assignments, exams, projects, etc.

Finally, and I think this is a very shaky reason, but I was not exactly in the best place emotionally and mentally. I've always struggled with social anxiety, depression, and general emotional issues, although this isn't really the place to discuss the details of my mental health. Believe me, it would take a while. I didn't really have any friends, any social life, or anything to do. Of course, it doesn't really help that the town my grad school is in is pretty boring. Seriously, it's just suburbs and farmland. I didn't really know where to meet people or how to enjoy myself, but to be honest, there was a part of me that felt that I shouldn't be looking to do those things anyway. My brain says that I'm here to study, not to mingle and have fun, but my heart says otherwise. I guess you could say I had mild depression throughout the quarter, although I'm not a mental health professional, so I can't make that diagnosis.

Do these seem like good reasons, or do they seem like excuses? In any event, I'm wondering if, in the likely event that I get put on academic probation next quarter, I should drop out. I had similar problems in undergrad school, which is why my undergrad GPA was 2.9 (It was 2.5 at one point, but I slowly raised it). The same things have plagued me my whole life: emotional issues, mental health issues, social issues, all of which lead to work ethic and production issues. I was once subject to dismissal from my undergrad school and actually got fired from a job because of these problems. Every time I suffered a set back like that, I promised myself I would get my life in order, fix my habits, and never let this happen again...only to eventually let it happen again.

If I do get below a 3.0, I could try to give myself that pep talk again. I could try to change my habits and work harder. But it seems like a futile exercise. I'm terrified that I'm going to end up screwing up the next quarter and the following quarter again, and part of me believes that these attempts at changing my habits and work ethic are nothing but a meaningless charade.

So I'm wondering. Should I try again? Did I have valid reasons to not get a 3.0 or above this past quarter? Can I actually change my habits and do well next quarter? Or should I just give up and admit that, no matter how many times I try to improve my habits and work ethic, I'm eventually going to end up flunking out of grad school? I'm seriously leaning towards the latter, but the thing is that I worked pretty hard to get into this grad school. I never thought I would get in, considering my undergrad GPA and essays. But a part of me feels like, if I can't do well in my first quarter on campus, then I don't really deserve to be here.