Personal Statement

[alicexigao]

Hi,

I'm a first year PhD student, and my advisor has just been denied tenure. So I'm planning to apply to some PhD programs in the US just to keep my options open. My question is should I describe my experience in my current school and mention that I'm leaving because my advisor has been denied tenure? Or should I include this information somewhere else in the application, or just don't mention it at all?

I presume that if people see my record, they would want to know why I want to leave my current school/program, to join another PhD program? I just want to know if anyone else has had similar experience and how they described in their application materials?

Also, for PhD, there is no such thing as transfer, right? I basically just apply to other schools, and chances are that if I get in, then I can transfer some graduate courses that I've taken here to my new school? Is my understanding correct here?

Thank you very much!

Xixi

[frankdux]

not to pry, but will this professor be able to apply for tenure in the future? does his future look that uncertain? is there no one else who could take you on if he had to leave?

(sorry i can't answer your question. i'm just curious about your situation and you might be able to help some of us in the future if we face a similar scenario)

[alicexigao]

I think my advisor has to leave this university for sure. I heard that he doesn't want to leave this city, which means that he might get another academic/inductry job somewhere in this city. If he gets an academic job in this city, it's probably in a place not as prestigious as this university.

On the other hand, I am only first year, so technically I haven't made up my mind on which professor I want to work with for my phd thesis yet, so I am still in this exploration phase. Which is probably the main reason that I want to apply to other schools and have more options. I know it's a funny situation.

There are 1 other professor here that I think if I asked, he will agree to take me on as his graduate student, and that is not a bad choice either.

I am sure there are people who have been in this situation before! Please help me! Thanks very much!

[docstudent]

This question might be best suited for the Applied Sciences & Mathematics group or the Computer Science subforum, as it is quite program-specific. Best regards.