Drop out? Stick through until masters? Who do I talk to?

[cortexafan]

Hi all,

I'm a first-year in a competitive, fully-funded history program. Only problem? A semester in, I am sure that this is not the right career path for me. I am unenchanted with academia, the life of the mind, and what seems like a relentless pursuit by incredibly smart people of small, minute details that get them nowhere. I am genuinely unhappy in the day-to-day of the program.

My question is: do I leave after this semester, or stay? After this semester, I will have 7courses completed, including a thesis-length paper. My school doesn't award masters to PhD students until they've taken 14 courses and passed comps, which will take me another year and a half, at least. BUT: There is a masters program, for which students need 8 courses and a thesis for completion. How do I ask about dropping down/getting my masters early? I would stay on even if I needed to pay for one semester, but cannot see myself staying if it means an additional 3/4 semesters after this one. The masters program isn't funded, which I can see as an obstacle- will they ask me to pay back for this year? I am nervous about letting on that I want to drop out, and feel that I cannot ask my advisor without having a concrete plan. That said, having a masters will be helpful if I choose to stay in history on the secondary level, especially since I'll have put in a year by the time I quit.

Any advice? I feel so lost and can't even figure out who to talk to in my program about all this.

[DBP]

I suggest you leave after this semester, if not now.

The longer you stay in the program, knowing that you're unsatisfied, the more upsetting and stressful it will become for you to be in a place you don't want to be.

The master is an attractive option, but is it really worth it? What will it gain you career-wise now that you know you don't want to pursue academia (at least in History)?

If you can talk to a counselor, general or career-specific, they can help you sort out the confusion.

Best of luck!

[fuzzylogician]

If you haven't talked to your advisor yet, some ways of getting information about the possibility of transferring to the Masters program are

- ask older students if they know of other cases when this happened (and how it was done, what happened to those students, etc),

- ask someone in the administrative staff, if you think you can trust them. They will likely know and might have less of an incentive to do anything with the information that you asked,

- If your department has a student rep. or anyone who is willing to act on your behalf, ask them to find out the details while keeping your privacy.

I agree that you should not stay for a full PhD and you should learn more about the benefits of staying for a Masters before you commit to that. You shouldn't waste time in a program where you are unhappy and where there are no (/not enough) benefits to sticking it out.

[jameswilson799]

Better leave than rotting out in a career path you are not interested in.