I have completed my qualifying exams for PHD but want to switch College?

[BostonChris]

Hi,

Can I do my dissertation in another College? This is a hard conversation to have with my existing committee.

[littlegirlvik]

I honestly don't have an answer to this for, as I'm just going into my second semester of grad school. One place I go to for advice / to read what other grad students and previous grad students think of an issue is on a community based blogging site called Livejournal (www.livejournal.com) called grad students. Link here: http://community.livejournal.com/gradstudents/profile

You can make a journal really simply, explain that you have a question and made the journal specifically for the question (otherwise, people may accuse you of trolling), and get some advice there.

My biggest question for you is why you're looking to leave. I'm not sure if you can easily move from one program to another at this point, as exams are different everywhere. My school, for example, does a comprehensive exam, which is actually supposed to be the first 50 pages or so of your dissertation, and a publishable article. We don't do "exams" in the more traditional way anymore.

Would it help to get outside professors on your committee? Are you looking for different perspectives? Having a difficult time with your adviser? For me, I would look at the reasons you're looking to switch programs, and really examine what the motivations are at this point.

Good luck!

-Vicky

Hi,

Can I do my dissertation in another College? This is a hard conversation to have with my existing committee.