Need advice on dropping thesis option!?

[Laker438]

Hi all,

 

I am in a tough bind right now.

 

I am 6 months into my masters program and I am having second thoughts about completing a thesis.  My program offers a capstone project option (summer research with a small paper) or a thesis option (100 page or more paper).

 

I had trouble initially deciding which route to take and though that the thesis option would be more beneficial to me and honestly took a leap of faith when I told my advisor I would do the thesis option.  However, I will note that have had trouble in my undergrad writing lengthy papers and still do in the last 6 months in the masters program.  Therefore I am worried about completing the lengthy thesis.

 

The reason I am thinking twice about the thesis option is because I was asked to write an abstract to a conference on research I had not even done in one weeks notice and do not foresee getting done in time to submit a draft paper in February.  On top of that I am writing a literature review that I do not forsee getting done on time (next week) and the biggest part of all of this is that my advisor is re-applying for a grant for our project by the end of the month that had been previously denied.  I also feel that I am getting depressed from all of the work that is being demanded of me and think that continuing the thesis will exacerbate this problem.

 

I have to meet with the program advisor about my last semester’s GPA which was below a 3.00 because I just passed calculus (4 credits and not part of my curriculum but a required prerequisite).  

 

I am meeting with my academic advisor tomorrow and I am not sure if I just try to do the thesis option or just be honest with my advisor and tell him that I would be better off doing the capstone (summer research and small paper) as it fits my career goals better.  I want to end up teaching or working in a management or upper-level position not in higher level academia or research.

 

I am worried that my advisor will be mad at me as he is applying for this funding on the premise that I would be here for a year doing research and he is applying for a summer stipend in this grant as well.

 

I would still like to do the research which I think I could do in the capstone but I am not interested in writing a whole thesis.

 

Please let me know what your thoughts are on this issue.  Thank you.

Edited January 10, 2014 by Laker438

[fuzzylogician]

I'd try and approach the meeting with your advisor as an opportunity for a discussion, and not make any decisions before you talk to them. Bring up the difficulty you have with writing lengthy papers and explain your concerns. You could discuss issues such as your career goals and expected time for completion of the degree, and worries that the writing stages of the thesis will hold you back. Ask about how much research you can accomplish as part of the capstone project and whether it's possible for you to basically complete the research stages of the thesis as you had planned with your advisor but then not do the writing but instead opt for the capstone. As long as you approach this as a conversation, hopefully your advisor can see it as such. It may affect their plans if they were counting on you to do a certain amount of work/writing in a certain amount of time, but I'm sure they don't want a disgruntled student who can't finish their work or leaves the project half-way through. So it's good to bring things up early and come up with a plan. That way, everybody can be on board and be happy with how things come along. Good luck!