Next year's dilemma

[psycholinguist]

So here's the quickie version of my grad-school-application experience this year:

Send out eight applications. Get two invitations to visit schools. Go to visit Program X and absolutely fall in love with it. Have a professor essentially beg me to enroll in the program. Meet with grad-students and have an awesome time. Start to wish that I could eliminate the other main choice and just commit to X right away. But go visit Program Y two weeks later. Turns out they can't give me any money because I'm not an American citizen. Thank them and realise that the hard decision has been made for me. Go home and email Program X saying that I'm ready to commit but just haven't received the actual acceptance-letter. Receive a rejection-letter in return. Spend a few days getting over the nasty shock. The one remaining option is Program Z, the safety-school.

Now, what I could do is to go get my MA in psychology at Program Z, then reapply to the Ph.D. psychology program at Program Y if I still have my heart set on it; updated credentials would make me a far more-competitive contender for a spot in their program, especially as my first degree is in something else (namely, linguistics). The thing is that Program Z has a Ph.D. program of its own. So if I left Z after the MA and went straight over to Y, would it be tantamount to a betrayal? I'm grateful to Z, and it doesn't look so bad, but if I can't get excited about it the way I was (and pretty much still am) about Y, then I'd be feeling more than tempted to give Y another shot. (Incidentally, funding from Z and Y would be almost identical, so money isn't a big issue here.)

Any opinions? Thanks!

[jferreir]

First, I'm sorry to hear about Program X. It's never a good feeling when someone craps on your heart (Super Troopers, anyone?).

Now, down to business...

Pursuing a graduate degree at a different school is not tantamount to betrayal. In fact, I've heard many professors actually recommend it (networking, research diversity, etc.). That said, I think you're getting ahead of yourself...

I know you had your heart set on Program X, but you have to be motivated/excited about Program Z. That is, you need to focus on the present task; concentrate on working hard toward your MA and worry about pursuing your Ph.D. when the time comes. If you're not excited about Program Z, you probably won't work to your full potential (and you'll be miserable to boot). Besides, you never know, after completing Program Z your interests/goals may change... I've seen weirder things happen!

If you really can't get excited about Program Z, then perhaps you should re-evaluate and determine a different course of action. In my view, it just seems silly to invest so much time/effort/money into something you're not committed to. Above all, learning should be fun (what's the point otherwise?). Take a deep breath and reassure yourself that life goes on and you will too. I know it's not an easy pill to swallow, but alas, we all get shit on from time to time! :wink:

[psycholinguist]

I...officially switched X and Y halfway through that last post. Wow. Not sure how that happened. * laughs *

Anyway, thank you so much for the good advice! It's not entirely that I can't get excited about Z; it's more that I'm not hugely thrilled about it the way I was about the one I visited first, and having to think about going to Z was a surprise. I'm getting used to the idea, though, and Z has enough things going for it that I'm hoping to come to really look forward to it sooner or later.

I really appreciate your input, especially about possibly thinking too far ahead. Thanks again!

[fuzzylogician]

I...officially switched X and Y halfway through that last post. Wow. Not sure how that happened.

I was wondering about that!

Assuming that by "getting your MA at school Z then reapplying to school X" you mean that you were accepted to an MA program at school Z, which you'll finish, and then you'll go on to apply to the PhD program at school X, then I don't think there's anything wrong with that. There's no betrayal involved in choosing a different program for your PhD than where you obtained your masters. In fact, I think it's a common and understood practice. But if you meant dropping from school Z midway through a PhD program after officially getting your MA, then that might be frowned upon.

[Stories]

I was wondering about that!

Assuming that by "getting your MA at school Z then reapplying to school X" you mean that you were accepted to an MA program at school Z, which you'll finish, and then you'll go on to apply to the PhD program at school X, then I don't think there's anything wrong with that. There's no betrayal involved in choosing a different program for your PhD than where you obtained your masters. In fact, I think it's a common and understood practice. But if you meant dropping from school Z midway through a PhD program after officially getting your MA, then that might be frowned upon.

Upon the same token, if you continue straight through School Z's program and do the PhD from the MA, you'll probably chop some time off of the total number of years spent getting the PhD. Just something to think about.

[psycholinguist]

But if you meant dropping from school Z midway through a PhD program after officially getting your MA, then that might be frowned upon.

That's the idea. I applied for the MA program, and my potential advisor said he was prepared to take me on to do an MA at his lab, but they admitted me to the Ph.D. (I think this was just confusion/red-tape on their part.) Maybe I should just get the MA and then take some time off.

Upon the same token, if you continue straight through School Z's program and do the PhD from the MA, you'll probably chop some time off of the total number of years spent getting the PhD. Just something to think about.

Yes indeed. If I did the whole MA/Ph.D. at Waterloo, I'd be out by 2013. If I transferred to the University of Toronto, it'd be 2014 or 2015 at the earliest. But although there are things I like about Waterloo, and I'm aware that the whole situation could change easily, I'm still finding myself yearning for the U of T. However, as mentioned, I'm probably getting ahead of myself and shouldn't worry about this until at least October.

[oldlady]

So how does this story end, psycholinguist?

Edited March 26, 2010 by oldlady

[psycholinguist]

No idea. Contact me in 2017 and we'll see. * grins *

jferreir was absolutely right; I went off to the safety-school figuring it would be fine, and it wasn't. First of all, to my amazement I discovered right away that I was in the wrong field. I loved minoring in cognitive-science as an undergrad, but I discovered now that I wasn't hugely interested in doing research in psychology. Linguistics is my passion, and I know I love research having to do with that. Second, even if I were going to do an MA in psychology, last year's safety-school was not a good place for me to do so. No one there was doing anything close to my interests: no psycholinguistics, no music-cognition, no mental imagery. I worked to catch up with the psychologists in statistics, and that was actually fine due to a fantastic professor, but there was no getting around the fact that I was barely the slightest bit interested in the research coming out of my advisor's lab. I liked TAing, and I liked being a graduate student, but I was in both the wrong school and the wrong field. All of the people in the department were great, but the mistake I'd made was assuming that any grad-school was better than no grad-school at all. Disillusioned and feeling sick at the thought of doing a second semester there, I apologised to my advisor and a bunch of professors, then filled out the paperwork, gave up my apartment, and left the program. I got an IT-job in another city and moved in January. It's not particularly stimulating work, but it's been much better than trying to force myself through a degree in psychology at the safety-school. I'm trying not to beat myself up about the false-start; at the very least, my ill-fated semester as a psychology-student cleared up my crazy longstanding ambivalence about which field to go into. I can't wait to return to linguistics. So, am now hanging around the board again while I attempt to do so. This year I had a much better SOP, given that I now actually know which field I want to be in. I met with the supervisor I want at my top choice a few times, and we discussed applying. I'm waitlisted at the moment, and so obviously it could go either way. If I don't get in, I'm going to do a year of volunteer research at the department, take a few extra courses to boost my application, and then reapply for a third year.

Thanks for your curiosity! I'm mildly embarrassed about how dramatically things have changed, but hey, that's how it goes sometimes.

[oldlady]

I can see why you might feel embarrassed, but I think your experience happens a lot more often than we know. Kudos to you for taking action, rather than continuing to unsuccessfully force a square peg into a round hole! I also like that you have a contingency plan, in case things don't work out with the waitlist this year. I wish you much good luck and will cross my fingers for you!

[psycholinguist]

I can see why you might feel embarrassed, but I think your experience happens a lot more often than we know. Kudos to you for taking action, rather than continuing to unsuccessfully force a square peg into a round hole! I also like that you have a contingency plan, in case things don't work out with the waitlist this year. I wish you much good luck and will cross my fingers for you!

Thank you so much! I found out this week that I got in off the waitlist. Thrilled! * still jumping up and down *