I am about to start my PhD in Immunology and I am starting to freak out

[postgradstudent]

I am scared that it will be more than I can handle. I am definitely going to do it and try my best, but I want to know what my options are if I decide I can't handle it.

If, after I take all of my classes, after two years or so, if I can't handle the program can I drop out and get a masters or an equivalent degree?

Do I have to pay the school any money for getting the masters certificate (I am getting a stipend and tuition is waved)?

[fuzzylogician]

Though I understand the anxiety, I think it's too early to be planning failure-based contingencies. Give yourself the best chance of succeeding by assuming that you will.

That said, (1) quitting (in good faith) is not cause to have your stipend retroactively revoked. It's a different matter if the school thinks you were using them by signing up for a paid PhD instead of an unpaid Masters with the *preconceived intention* of just getting the Masters and leaving. (2) whether or not you can get a (terminal) Masters if you quit in the middle of a PhD program depends largely on the program. It needs to be able to grant such degrees to begin with, and it needs to be willing to grant you that degree. This is information that you should find out through your program, somehow. I think it's a legitimate question to bring up with administrative personnel or with the DGS during orientation: what happens if you drop out at various stages of the program. You could also ask more advanced students in the program if you'd prefer - I'm sure there are precedents for people dropping out in the past.

[ANDS!]

Jesus I don't know how some of you were able to handle college life. This transition is similar to the one you should have experienced when you went from lower division to upper division coursework. The jump will be even steeper, but if you have adequately prepared yourself then all the tools will be there for success. These people do not want you to fail and will do everything they can so that it doesn't happen.

As for whether you can bail out and grab a Masters on them - this should have been something covered during a "getting to know you. . ." session or is something you need to ask your advisor. No one here can answer that for you since no one knows the program you are in.