Applying for Grad School after Previously Quitting?

[txgrad1993]

Hi everyone,

I was accepted into an excellent PhD program in Statistics in 2015 and I completed a full year of the program. At the end of the year, first years take a basic exam which determines their eligibility to continue on in the program. I took the exam and passed at the Master's level, not the PhD level. I was then informed I would have to retake several courses and needless to say I was depressed. I wasn't in the best place in my life during this time anyway and I made a poor decision to leave and search for a career as I had a great resume already from my undergrad in math. Well, life happened and I became extremely ill and bed-ridden due to pregnancy (sorry if this is TMI) but since then (summer 2016) I have been a full time mom. I'm now trying to take accountability of some of the decisions I've made in my life and I would really like to go back and get my PhD. I have always loved school and I have come a long way with my mental health/stability since then and feel confident in my decision to go back to grad school. That all being said, do you think that I have a shot in getting into another PhD program given the fact I left a program back in 2016 and have since not worked, not been in school, encountered a "slump" in my life, and just been taking on a mom role the past 2 years? Please offer any advice or general comments if you can. I hope this doesn't come across as too desperate but I would like to know what my chances are given my circumstances.

[semling]

I think it would be tough — if you want admission committees to look past some unfortunate stuff, they're going to want to see recent grades and LORs. You can tell them, "I'm doing much better now" all you want, but they're going to want some hard proof before they take a chance on you.

I'm not very familiar with your field, but I would recommend you try to get into employment in your field first off and get some experience, contacts, perspective, etc. (even some research, if that's possible?) And then look into post-docs or master's programs where you could get some grades and faculty to recommend you.