Switching schools for PhD after MA - Canada

[dondraper]

Hey guys,

 

I've been having a bit of anxiety over this predicament and I thought I'd come here to ask for some guidance. Btw, I'm a Canadian student and this is in regards to Canadian programs 

 

Long story short: I applied to several Master's programs in Social and I/O Psychology. I got accepted to two schools, one for Social Psych the other for I/O psych.

 

After a very stressful period of deliberation, I decided to do my Master's in social psych as I had a better relationship with my PI and I thought I would enjoy the content material more.

 

I just completed my first year and will be completing my Master's this coming academic year. Having completed my first year, I feel I made a mistake in the school I chose. I think I should have opted to go to the school I was accepted to for I/O psychology. I believe I have very valid reasons for wanting to do this that most people would agree with. 

 

My question is: Should I re-apply to the school I was accepted for I/O psych for the PhD program? This has been giving me a bit of anxiety because:

 

(1) I may not get accepted again, for the PhD

(2) I'd have to get LOR from my current PI who believes I have intentions to complete my PhD at my current institution. In other words, I'd be effectively cutting myself out of a pretty much guaranteed spot in the PhD program at my current school so long as I complete my Master's (which I intend to do).

(3) If I don't get accepted at the other school and I cut off my options at this school, I may be left with nothing... 

 

Anyways, if anyone can provide their experience with a similar situation, or their thoughts and suggestions, that would be great.

 

Thanks a lot,

 

A bit stressed out. 

Edited July 10, 2013 by dondraper

[nugget]

The only advice I have to offer if you do end up applying is to apply to a few different programs. Only applying to one school is very risky. 

[BeingThere]

After a very stressful period of deliberation, I decided to do my Master's in social psych as I had a better relationship with my PI and I thought I would enjoy the content material more.

 

I just completed my first year and will be completing my Master's this coming academic year. Having completed my first year, I feel I made a mistake in the school I chose. I think I should have opted to go to the school I was accepted to for I/O psychology. I believe I have very valid reasons for wanting to do this that most people would agree with. 

 

 

 

I don't know how it works in Canada, but in the U.S. it is my understanding that if you are accepted into a master's program, you would usually still have to apply to get into the PhD program at the same school. 

 

Is your issue with your current program something you can talk out with your current professor?  Maybe you both can come to a consensus about what your next step should be.  (Maybe you will even get his/her blessing and full support for you switching programs?)

 

It might at least be worth opening up the conversation.  If you are truly gravitating more toward I/O topics, maybe you could let that interest be known.  A good professor might see that it's also in his/her interest to not hold back a student who has other stronger interests.

 

However, if you just think you should have chosen the I/O program because there are things you don't like about your current program, then I am not sure how best to handle that.

 

And I agree that if you apply to PhD programs you should definitely apply to many more than one.

 

Best of luck to you, whatever you decide to do.

Edited July 11, 2013 by Bren2014

[wtncffts]

I'm a little unsure what you're asking. Unless your program is unique in this regard (or maybe something specific to psychology), master's and PhD degrees are completely separate, with separate applications. It's not unusual at all to do your PhD at a different school than the one at which you did your master's degree. In fact, off the top of my head every PhD student I can think of in our program did their MA elsewhere.

 

If you feel that another program would be a better long-term fit for you, and the place where you want to do your PhD, then by all means you should apply there. What makes your current PI think that you're planning to also do your PhD there? If you've told them that explicitly, then you probably should discuss the reasons why you've changed your mind, though you don't have to frame it in terms of being dissatisfied with your current program. I'd also be a little wary of assuming there's a guaranteed PhD spot, unless you've been told so directly. Unless the grad committee at your school isn't playing fairly, to my knowledge all PhD applications are assessed by the committee and ranked, regardless of where they're from - it would be unfair IMO if a faculty member had the kind of pull to guarantee a spot to someone.

[Guest |||]

It canada, and particularly in psych programs, you are usually admitted into an MA/Ph.D program, and this is explicitly stated.

[dondraper]

Hey guys,

 

Thanks a lot for your responses. As NicholasCage pointed out, when admitted to psychology Master's programs in Canada, it is usually with the expectation that the student will continue on to the PhD program if they complete the Master's satisfactorily. I believe that this is the case because the institutions invest considerable resources into the students, both financially and personally in terms of time and effort. That being said, they do not like to officially "guarantee" the spot, so students must still technically "apply", but it's more of a formality than anything else. 

 

As for the reasons why I want to switch programs, this has to do with current funding and job prospects. The other institution would have provided me more funding and co-op opportunities where I could gain experience, and much better job prospects post-graduation. I'll have the opportunity to go into academia or industry right off the bat, without having to do a post-doc. I also enjoy the content material and the PI who accepted me is exactly what I would want to study if I was doing I/O research. The particular school I was accepted to for my Master's was also in a terrific city I would enjoy living in. 

 

My current school, while it is great and I love my PI and is also in a great city, the funding and job opportunities are very bleak. I'm not sure if my PI will even have funding in the coming years (for RA funding, conferences, running studies, etc). and I already know he is very resistant to allow his students to do any applied work while completing their degree. I'd also most likely have to do a post-doc after obtaining my PhD and then face a very competitive job market. I'm not sure I'd want to spend the next 5 years or so earning a PhD while I'm practically broke and working my ass off, just to have to do a post-doc and then facing a job market where I'll continue being broke or having to move to the middle of no where, or both.

 

Anyways, hopefully that clarifies things a bit. I'm thinking now I should apply to a number of I/O programs for my PhD and just tell my PI in September when I need to start thinking about applications. While there is no guarantee I'll even get into a I/O PhD program however, so I'm not sure what I'd do if I wasn't accepted to any programs...  But i'm trying not to think about that and what a terrible mistake I made.

 

Thanks

[BeingThere]

That sounds like a tough spot to be in.

I certainly do not mean to rub it in, but did you not know all of those things (about job prospects, etc.) before you accepted the master's program? There is a wealth of information on things like that here in the states that applicants can look up before they even apply to a program. Maybe it's not so available in Canada - I don't know.

Sounds like a tricky situation to navigate, but I don't imagine you are the first person to change their mind once they get in a grad program.

If you did not get into any I/O programs, you could always try to get a couple of year's work experience in a human resources or related field or a lab assistant job. If you are young (in your early 20's?) you have more time than you feel like you have.

Edited July 11, 2013 by Bren2014

[nugget]

I think it makes much more sense to switch for all of the reasons you have just mentioned. Why invest another 3-4 years of your life working towards a degree that's not likely to land you the type of job you want when you're done? 

[phalanges]

A classmate of mine went through a sort of similar sort of realization this year. He decided that he wanted to do something a little more applied, but wasn't against continuing with his master's work at our school. He told his advisor about his plans to apply to more applied programs, but also indicated that he would also like to apply to the PhD program at our school, and would go to whichever place he thought was the best fit for him in the end. 

 

I think that there is a diplomatic way to approach your advisor for a reference letter without burning bridges, or making it seem like you don't want to work with them any more. 

 

Good luck!