Change PhD advisor while you are a GRA

[sepehr]

Dear Friends,

I have been offered a graduate research assistantship by the Civil Engineering department at Cornell. Actually, I am not interested in the research being done by the advisor who has offered me, but I have accepted the offer since Cornell was a serious choice for me. Now, my question is that how can, if possible at all, change this advisor while I am a GRA and my funding is provided by him? Also, is it more wise to enroll and then discuss these or I can dicuss at this moment? In general please guide me.

Bests

Sepehr

[lewin]

I'm not in engineering so things may be different there, but in my discipline it would be a huge mistake (perhaps impossible) to attempt a switch.

Practically speaking, you're "employed" by the person/grant who is providing you funding. Depending on Cornell's rules, leaving his lab may mean losing the GRA. You may have to secure funding from another person (or pay out of pocket) if you don't want to work with your original adviser. A better option might be checking whether there is flexibility to do different research (i.e., something more interesting to you) while still being advised by this person.

There is another, more political issue: If you weren't interested in working with this person you shouldn't have accepted the offer from him. It's disingenuous to accept as a "back door" into the program intending to switch advisors immediately. Quite likely, trying to switch will ruin your relationship with that adviser and harm your reputation within the department. Or am I missing something here? Doing this seems like a huge mistake.

Edited April 15, 2010 by lewin00

[Riotbeard]

<br /><font size="3">Dear Friends,<br /><br />I have been offered a graduate research assistantship by the Civil Engineering department at Cornell. Actually, I am not interested in the research being done by the advisor who has offered me, but I have accepted the offer since Cornell was a serious choice for me. Now, my question is that how can, if possible at all, change this advisor while I am a GRA and my funding is provided by him? Also, is it more wise to enroll and then discuss these or I can dicuss at this moment? In general please guide me.<br /><br />Bests<br />Sepehr<br /></font><br />

<br /><br /><br />

If your funding is attached to your advisor then you may not have much choice, but if not, wait a while and feel out the department for the first semester. If you think you can change advisor smoothly go for it, but academia is an apprentiship field and if you alienate your advisor and the department, you are screwed.

[sepehr]

<br /><br /><br />

If your funding is attached to your advisor then you may not have much choice, but if not, wait a while and feel out the department for the first semester. If you think you can change advisor smoothly go for it, but academia is an apprentiship field and if you alienate your advisor and the department, you are screwed.

Thank you guys, I really appreciate the time you took to answer me.

Actually, I have another offer from a university in Europe which has a much better topic. However, I am really in dilemma since Cornell is a big name which gives me the possibility to work all over the world and also US. Is that worth to take risk and go to Cornell with this wish to change the advisor or it is better to stay in Europe. The university in Europe is TU Delft. I would really appreciate your comments

[liszt85]

Thank you guys, I really appreciate the time you took to answer me.

Actually, I have another offer from a university in Europe which has a much better topic. However, I am really in dilemma since Cornell is a big name which gives me the possibility to work all over the world and also US. Is that worth to take risk and go to Cornell with this wish to change the advisor or it is better to stay in Europe. The university in Europe is TU Delft. I would really appreciate your comments

Can't you be upfront with the Cornell Dept and see what they think about this? Tell them that you are NOW interested in somebody else's work more than this professor's work you thought you might be interested in, in the beginning. I'm sure they will understand and will try to work with you to find a solution. Its immoral to get paid from someone's grants and then abort that project when you know very well that it is going to happen. They are not going to appreciate it, I give you my word. TU Delft is a very good university, so you always have that back up as well.

[sepehr]

Can't you be upfront with the Cornell Dept and see what they think about this? Tell them that you are NOW interested in somebody else's work more than this professor's work you thought you might be interested in, in the beginning. I'm sure they will understand and will try to work with you to find a solution. Its immoral to get paid from someone's grants and then abort that project when you know very well that it is going to happen. They are not going to appreciate it, I give you my word. TU Delft is a very good university, so you always have that back up as well.

Dear Friend,

Unfortunately, I declined TU Delft's offer before you reply me. Now, I am left with Cornell and a subject in which I am not interested. I am really confused, it really pains me because I have already published 4 journal papers during my master studies in my area of expertise and now I have to work on a subject which I dislike. On the one hand, I do not ruin the chance of studying in Cornell and on the other hand I do not want to let anyone down by wasting his money. This is a very bad situation in my life......

[iced^T]

Dear Friend,

Unfortunately, I declined TU Delft's offer before you reply me. Now, I am left with Cornell and a subject in which I am not interested. I am really confused, it really pains me because I have already published 4 journal papers during my master studies in my area of expertise and now I have to work on a subject which I dislike. On the one hand, I do not ruin the chance of studying in Cornell and on the other hand I do not want to let anyone down by wasting his money. This is a very bad situation in my life......

Wow! I have an admit from Gatech and TU Delft. Though Georgia Tech has a great brand name for engineering, I think I would go for TU Delft. The course suits me better. What do you think my friend?

[sepehr]

Wow! I have an admit from Gatech and TU Delft. Though Georgia Tech has a great brand name for engineering, I think I would go for TU Delft. The course suits me better. What do you think my friend?

TU is outstanding in engineering, though you have limited chance for finding a job after graduation. Specially, if you study PhD, the stipend is one of the highest in the World. However, if I was interested in the thesis subject at Gtech, I would definitely go to Gtech because of high probability of finding a job in U.S and also the fact that salaries are much higher in U.S. What is your reason for going to TU Delft. Let me know, maybe it helps me to decide....

[iced^T]

TU is outstanding in engineering, though you have limited chance for finding a job after graduation. Specially, if you study PhD, the stipend is one of the highest in the World. However, if I was interested in the thesis subject at Gtech, I would definitely go to Gtech because of high probability of finding a job in U.S and also the fact that salaries are much higher in U.S. What is your reason for going to TU Delft. Let me know, maybe it helps me to decide....

Thanks so much for the reply !!! I am only interested in a masters as doing a PhD in design doesnt really make sense to me. I did my undergrad in mechanical engineering, and wanted to specialize in a not so technical field so i chose industrial/product design. Georgia Tech has asked me to take 1 year of preparatory courses because of my background. THis is the main reason why i dont wanna go to Gatech. Also, gatech is considerably more expensive - $40,000 (tuition + living) and for three years , it totals up to $120,000 !!!! TU Delft on the other hand costs about $40,000 for both years (tuition + living) and I can afford it even if i dont get any aid.

I wanted to go to Gatech because I am interested in design of musical instruments and they have a pretty famous center for musical technology that does research with my department (industrial design). But on mailing those profs, they said they were not in a position to give an RA. So i am pretty sure i will have to shell the money out of my pocket.

TU delft has one of the first industrial design departments in the world, it is famous. They have a specialization in automotive design which I am interested in. The only problem is the job scene. Though I am allowed to work in Netherlands for one year after completion of course, I keep hearing tat getting a job is difficult. Is it really so? But during that one year, I can go anywhere in th EU looking for a job. And is getting a job actually a problem after Masters? Because I remember, during my final year at undergrad, there were hundreds of companies wiling to hire us.

[Riotbeard]

It will probably depend a lot on the state of economy in 2 years, and the state of the EU in two years. Good luck with your decision!

[sepehr]

Thanks so much for the reply !!! I am only interested in a masters as doing a PhD in design doesnt really make sense to me. I did my undergrad in mechanical engineering, and wanted to specialize in a not so technical field so i chose industrial/product design. Georgia Tech has asked me to take 1 year of preparatory courses because of my background. THis is the main reason why i dont wanna go to Gatech. Also, gatech is considerably more expensive - $40,000 (tuition + living) and for three years , it totals up to $120,000 !!!! TU Delft on the other hand costs about $40,000 for both years (tuition + living) and I can afford it even if i dont get any aid.

I wanted to go to Gatech because I am interested in design of musical instruments and they have a pretty famous center for musical technology that does research with my department (industrial design). But on mailing those profs, they said they were not in a position to give an RA. So i am pretty sure i will have to shell the money out of my pocket.

TU delft has one of the first industrial design departments in the world, it is famous. They have a specialization in automotive design which I am interested in. The only problem is the job scene. Though I am allowed to work in Netherlands for one year after completion of course, I keep hearing tat getting a job is difficult. Is it really so? But during that one year, I can go anywhere in th EU looking for a job. And is getting a job actually a problem after Masters? Because I remember, during my final year at undergrad, there were hundreds of companies wiling to hire us.

Good luck with your studies at TU.

Firstly I should mention that I am at TU Delft and what I say is based on my experience which could be limited.

I would say first you should be careful with rules in the Netherlands as they might change in the course of your studies. Also, these rule are really delicate and sometimes with all of you wishes your request for staying one year more is rejected because of some technicalities you might not be aware of. Moreover, I am confident that getting a job in the Netherlands without knowing Dutch language is tough and the same holds for other countries in EU. For instance I was in Sweden for two years and I know that it is extremely tough to get a job therein without knowing Swedish. However, be happy since the Netherlands is almost the most international country in EU union and despite of all these difficulties you have more chances in the Netherlands compared with other countries.

P.S. What I said is based on your field of study and my experience. For instance, if you had studied petroleum or mechanical engineering at master level, I would have told you that you have very good chances in Norway although you do not know Norwegian. In these areas, your chance for finding a job in Norway is even higher than some states in the U.S.

Good luck

Edited May 8, 2010 by sepehr

[liszt85]

Thanks so much for the reply !!! I am only interested in a masters as doing a PhD in design doesnt really make sense to me. I did my undergrad in mechanical engineering, and wanted to specialize in a not so technical field so i chose industrial/product design. Georgia Tech has asked me to take 1 year of preparatory courses because of my background. THis is the main reason why i dont wanna go to Gatech. Also, gatech is considerably more expensive - $40,000 (tuition + living) and for three years , it totals up to $120,000 !!!! TU Delft on the other hand costs about $40,000 for both years (tuition + living) and I can afford it even if i dont get any aid.

I wanted to go to Gatech because I am interested in design of musical instruments and they have a pretty famous center for musical technology that does research with my department (industrial design). But on mailing those profs, they said they were not in a position to give an RA. So i am pretty sure i will have to shell the money out of my pocket.

TU delft has one of the first industrial design departments in the world, it is famous. They have a specialization in automotive design which I am interested in. The only problem is the job scene. Though I am allowed to work in Netherlands for one year after completion of course, I keep hearing tat getting a job is difficult. Is it really so? But during that one year, I can go anywhere in th EU looking for a job. And is getting a job actually a problem after Masters? Because I remember, during my final year at undergrad, there were hundreds of companies wiling to hire us.

I was offered an admission to Georgia Tech's MS in music technology course along with an RA position. The department is great, as you say, but its relatively new. You don't have reliable statistics on their placement records, etc but I'm sure it will be good. However, if it is going to cost you $120K out of your pocket, I would definitely think real hard about it.. I would probably choose TU Delft. Also, if your intention is just to get an MS, the value of a European MS as compared to an American one might not be all that problematic for you in finding jobs. In the case of a PhD and if you intend to teach at a research university in the US, it is then that getting a PhD in the US becomes slightly more important. So I would advice you to go to TU Delft. Finding a job is difficult regardless of where you study. So its preferable that you study where you feel more comfortable at.