Dropping out of Master's while applying for Ph.D. How to approach?

[Haroun]

Hi all,

i'm applying for PhD this fall and the problem is I won't be able to get my master's at my current school.

PhD programs I'm applying to don't require a master's degree at all, but the problem is the fact that I wasn't able to finish the thesis. (This is why I dropped out)

I'm not sure how I should explain this situation in my applications. Just be honest that I wasn't in a situation where I could conduct a full research?

I have some contacts with POIs in some of the schools I'm applying to. I met them and left a good impression with my writing samples and prospective research ideas. Maybe I should tell them what happened?

I know I will have to be honest with everything that has happened, but I guess I'm just afraid.

I'd appreciate any comments or advice.

[fuzzylogician]

Do you have the support of your Masters advisors? Will you get letters from any of them? Moreover, if they were contacted about you (which may happen even if you don't submit letters from them because people will be curious), what will they say about you and the circumstances under which you are leaving? That's the amount of information you will need to give and explain. It might not be advisable for you to go into too many details, but you need to help the adcoms see the bigger picture. If you are not successful with a MA thesis, why do you want to go on to do a PhD, and can you be successful at it? What will be different? I don't think there is any way around explaining what happened, and more importantly why you are still a strong candidate for a PhD despite it.