Ph.D. Completion and Attrition

[socieconomist]

those article bullet points on integration posted by jenjenjen seem to be in line with my experience. my m.a. program had a phd track and i went with terminal m.a. for various reasons but particularly b/c i wasn't well integrated in the dept. Even though I was a t.a. for 2yrs w/mult profs, i really only got on well w/a few who were looking at econ sociology, one of whom left the dept. in my 2nd yr. nobody studied what i did, so just not a lot in common. the dept. only got an immigration scholar in my final year and it was a quant scholar. he's a great person and i keep in touch regularly. but yea.. anyway.. i agree. i think going back to finish my phd now is great b/c i'm acquainted w/faculty from program. and mult ppl are in the same field as me. and i'm in wine country so uh that's awesome!

(edit addition) and i'm in a totally dif place in life - i did my m.a. btwn 25 and 27yrs old - i'll be 31 when I start this fall. a ton of development has occurred since leaving my last program, which i think will a) actually facilitate integration and simultanesously makes it somewhat less important to me. Academic/scholar is only a part of who I am. I gotz other stuff to do, too! lol - i think for real, being able to balance academia w/the rest of life is huge and I've got that down solid. eh.. just additional thoughts, fwiw.

Edited February 22, 2012 by socieconomist

[msafiri]

My experience has been that whether or not the prof brings his/her students to a new university depends largely on how far along in their program the students are. Students that are pre-comprehensive exams usually come to the new university and those that are working on their dissertation do not. Of course, this assumes the student wants to move, which may not always be the case.

[jacib]

As far as I know, zero people have transferred out of my program, though some have switched advisers completely and some have dropped out completely. I can think of three transfers in, and all of them came with professors who they were already writing their dissertation with. I do not think it is very common in other circumstances.

[FertMigMort]

As far as I know, zero people have transferred out of my program, though some have switched advisers completely and some have dropped out completely. I can think of three transfers in, and all of them came with professors who they were already writing their dissertation with. I do not think it is very common in other circumstances.

I second this. I only know of three transfers, and they were all into our program. Two were after masters and before comps at their old program, so it was more like an upgrade to a better Ph.D. program than a transfer. One came in with an adviser. We have a lot more drop-outs.

[msafiri]

Well, I have experience related but not exactly the same. I did my MA at a university that grants PhDs but, you apply to the MA and PhD program separately (and, if you do the MA, you're basically guaranteed admission to the PhD program). While I was there, my interests evolved and changed and while I did apply to do my PhD there, I also applied to several other universities and ended up attending them. There's no hard feelings from the faculty at my MA program and they admitted that this other program was a better fit for my interests. I see them at the annual conference and we chat and catch up, which is nice.