Unsure about accepted PhD offer

[nayrita]

Hi everyone,

I am in a very confused state. I have accepted a funded PhD offer in CS for Fall 2020 after debating a lot between 3 offers. I am quite ashamed to admit this, but I am not quite sure about my research interest yet. I chose this offer as a safe choice, but the professor here is the only professor in my area of interest. Moreover, she is working on a domain closely related to my domain of interest currently, and I chose this offer thinking that maybe with time I will like it and she will get flexible. But I don't know why I am being very repulsed by this research domain and can seem to picture myself having a career on it. Everyone is suggesting that I should go with this, since assistantships for international students may get very limited in next year for COVID19. I have also received suggestions that I can get a terminal MS/switch schools if situation gets worse. But I have read that such options are not always possible, particularly if the professor is involved in research from the start.

I am in great mental unrest and don't know if I should decline the offer or not. I don't think I am ready for a 6yr long commitement under these constraints. But it is late May and it would be unethical as well to decline this late, but I don't know what to do. Any suggestions??

[Inspired]

It seems to me that you need to use two lists with a list of the pros and cons of this proposal. It can only be your decision and none of us can know what will be better or more interesting for you.

[Anna D.C.]

On 5/27/2020 at 5:47 PM, nayrita said:

Hi everyone,

I am in a very confused state. I have accepted a funded PhD offer in CS for Fall 2020 after debating a lot between 3 offers. I am quite ashamed to admit this, but I am not quite sure about my research interest yet. I chose this offer as a safe choice, but the professor here is the only professor in my area of interest. Moreover, she is working on a domain closely related to my domain of interest currently, and I chose this offer thinking that maybe with time I will like it and she will get flexible. But I don't know why I am being very repulsed by this research domain and can seem to picture myself having a career on it. Everyone is suggesting that I should go with this, since assistantships for international students may get very limited in next year for COVID19. I have also received suggestions that I can get a terminal MS/switch schools if situation gets worse. But I have read that such options are not always possible, particularly if the professor is involved in research from the start.

I am in great mental unrest and don't know if I should decline the offer or not. I don't think I am ready for a 6yr long commitement under these constraints. But it is late May and it would be unethical as well to decline this late, but I don't know what to do. Any suggestions??

I think you just forced yourself into that offer. But you need to think carefully about declining it. The economic crisis arising from the pandemic does have an impact on educational institutions. If you do not have a full scholarship, consider this. Out of state and international students might shoulder the financial loss of schools after the pandemic, similar to what happened after the 2008 global economic crisis. 
Weigh the pros and cons, especially the financial impact of that program. You can reflect on the following questions:
Will you have a better job opportunity in that field? 
Where will you work after, will you return to your home country or work where you will study? 
How competitive will be the job market for your field? Weigh both locations. 
What are your long-term aims?
Will you be able to achieve your goals during and after six years of studies? That's a lengthy period. 
Consider your age after graduation if you plan to be in a new organization. If you already have one, you should not worry about it. Organizations give credit to a person's degree when it comes to promotion. But they have a maximum point for that. And it will not guarantee a high office. You will compete with others with an administrative position who stayed there and benefited the organization while you were studying. Excellent young college and master's degree graduates also land managerial positions. In a research organization, their mentors can promote them when they prove themselves capable of leading a project. You can also go on this route in case you decline your offer.  

I hope this helps! And I wish you success in your decision. 

[nayrita]

19 hours ago, Dann said:

I think you just forced yourself into that offer. But you need to think carefully about declining it. The economic crisis arising from the pandemic does have an impact on educational institutions. If you do not have a full scholarship, consider this. Out of state and international students might shoulder the financial loss of schools after the pandemic, similar to what happened after the 2008 global economic crisis. 
Weigh the pros and cons, especially the financial impact of that program. You can reflect on the following questions:
Will you have a better job opportunity in that field? 
Where will you work after, will you return to your home country or work where you will study? 
How competitive will be the job market for your field? Weigh both locations. 
What are your long-term aims?
Will you be able to achieve your goals during and after six years of studies? That's a lengthy period. 
Consider your age after graduation if you plan to be in a new organization. If you already have one, you should not worry about it. Organizations give credit to a person's degree when it comes to promotion. But they have a maximum point for that. And it will not guarantee a high office. You will compete with others with an administrative position who stayed there and benefited the organization while you were studying. Excellent young college and master's degree graduates also land managerial positions. In a research organization, their mentors can promote them when they prove themselves capable of leading a project. You can also go on this route in case you decline your offer.  

I hope this helps! And I wish you success in your decision. 

Thank you for your reply!

I have been working since last 2.5 years in the software industry, and directly applied to PhD programs after my bachelors. I think this was a huge mistake, I should've applied for MS programs to understand my research interests better, which is why I struggled a lot to choose between 3 good offers. You are right, I kind of forced myself into this offer considering a considerable amount of funding gap with other offers, a kind, young professor and a cohort of people from my country in the same lab, but the downsides are that she is the only professor working in something related to my interest. I already know that I will want to switch, but there is no one to switch to. After accepting I researched a bit and tried to learn about this domain and learn about future jobs more, but I seem to get more anxious that I am not liking the domain and future career prospects at all. I don't know if I should consider this getting cold feet or potential red flags. 

From considering future careers, I think I will never be happy in a long term career in this field. But the funding concerns in corona situation is making me think if I should let go off a funded offer, or I should give it a try and then try to transfer. But I have came across posts regarding how hard a phd transfer can be and I am not sure if reapplying would be a better option. I have read a lot how unethical declining offer after April 15 is, and how burning bridges is very bad, and I am really concerned about it.

I have also received suggestions to defer and try in other places but that seemed to be unethical as well.

Edited May 29, 2020 by nayrita