Problems with the advisor because i am a MA student?

[Tsareva]

Hi everyone. I am MA student in economics. My goal is to enter PhD program after graduation. Currently i am trying to develop a theoretical model in my independent study course. From the very start of collaborating with my advisor I have problems with him. He cancelled our meetings several times, once just "forgot" to come. During our short discussions he is condescending to me despite the fact that he wrote a recommendation letter for my PhD application: now i am starting to realize that it was not a good decision to ask him about that. But going back to our work: he ignores my letters where i am asking for meetings to discuss the model: to build a theoretical framework is not that easy without an advisor. Our rare meetings just have slowed down my research. And finally, after he has ignored another my letter where asked him to meet, i wrote him again and asked whether he wanted to work with me at all. He answered that he was not going to meet with me on a regular basis as i am a Master student and not his PhD student so he can listen to me only "from time to time". Furthermore, he said that if i am not satisfied with such a style of work i should "find someone else".  I am frustrated. Only few professors work in a field i am doing research in. One professor declined to be my advisor because his wife hadn't allowed to take extra obligations. And now this professor lacks attention to my research because of my master's status. Is that a discrimination against masters' students? The choice of professors familiar with my topic is getting smaller and smaller, basically only one professor is left to ask help from.  

Edited March 15, 2014 by Tsareva

[SciencePerson101]

PhD students are more important. Get over it please.

[bsharpe269]

I definitely disagree with the above comment...

 

I am a masters student and get the same attention as the phd students. The advisor realizes that I will be applying to phd programs and is making an effort to get work done fast with me so that I have presentations/publications on my resume. Regardless of whether youre a phd student, if you produce good work with him, he will be able to publish it and it with help him so in my opinion, he is shooting himself in the foot by being like this towards you.

[beccamayworth]

Hi Tsareva,

Professors vary a lot in the way they advise... some are more hands-on, some more hands-off. I'm sorry that your advisor's style doesn't seem to be a good fit for you, but it seems like the most productive thing to do now is to work with what you've got; try your best to work independently, maybe seek guidance from the other Prof you mentioned. Good luck!

Edited March 15, 2014 by beccamayworth

[quickoats]

Very similar things happened to me (not explicit "you're a master" though but I know it's the hidden line). Browsing through this forum, I noticed how many people are thinking about quitting mainly because of their advisors. Is it a shame to lose many talents in academia solely because of some hard-to-get-along-with advisors? Or it is just a part of the training for a graduate students, or an adult, to become mature by standing against setbacks and only those who make it could be called "suit for the world".

Edited March 31, 2014 by quickoats

[victorydance]

I don't understand why you can't go see him during his regular office hours? Most profs hold office hours at least once a week.

[St Andrews Lynx]

It also sounds like this professor is bad at responding to emails. A lot of faculty are (and it isn't anything personal). Perhaps part of the reason he isn't responding to your requests for meetings is because (i) he doesn't read his emails (ii) he thinks emailing is a waste of time when you could just discuss something face-to-face?

 

If you want to set up meetings with him in future, perhaps either call or knock on his door and ask if/when he's available for a 30 min chat. 

 

Part of the problem could also be that he expects you to work things out by yourself a lot more than you are currently doing. If all the PhD students in his group only meet with him once a month, then that is probably the frequency he expects to meet with you too. I can understand that it is frustrating to have an advisor who is a lot less invested in your project than you are. You might need to accept that you will have less face contact with this PI than you'd like until you finish your Masters.

[febreze]

PhD students are more important. Get over it please.

Get over yourself please.

[GradHooting]

PhD students are more important. Get over it please.

 

^^^^ This guy is a well-known troll among these forums.  It's a surprise he hasn't been banned yet.  Just look at his comment history.

 

Anyway, to the original poster: It sounds like you are having a particularly difficult time getting your adviser to interact with you.  That is not necessarily the norm for sure.  Every MS student (not sure how it varies for MA), in my department is very well looked after.  Most of them are involved in lab work, and some professors have it as a requirement that all of their master's students get published at the end of their two years.  The very fact that you're interested in pursuing a Ph.D. should get some interest from some people, hopefully.  Don't give up!  Sometimes it just takes persistence, finding them when they're in their office, etc.  Most of the meetings I've had with my own adviser have been quite impromptu, not that regularly scheduled.

Edited May 5, 2014 by GradHooting

[reinhard]

PhD students are more important. Get over it please.

Well is he wrong? I thought grad schools value and put more attention to Ph.D students because they have more potential to contribute to the department than a Masters Student could. That's why they get paid more for TAs right? Is that not the reason?

 

I am an incoming Masters Student myself so I guess it's nice to know it isn't true?

Edited May 6, 2014 by reinhard

[GradHooting]

Well is he wrong? I thought grad schools value and put more attention to Ph.D students because they have more potential to contribute to the department than a Masters Student could. That's why they get paid more for TAs right? Is that not the reason?

 

I am an incoming Masters Student myself so I guess it's nice to know it isn't true?

 

Of course he is.  He joined to troll these boards, making up stories the whole way.  He's trying to get a rise out of people (seriously, look at his comment history).

 

Read the second part of my previous post in this thread.  It answers your question.

[MakeYourself]

Having an advisor is a lot of like dating. At the beginning it might have seemed hopeful but over time he started to neglect you and act like a jerk. Dump him.

[danieleWrites]

The key words I'm reading here are "independent study course". I have no real idea what that means, but it's not a master's thesis. It's a course project. Even PhD students don't get hours upon hours of professor time to "work with them" on a course project. If you're having difficulties with this project for a single course, you should take part of the project or a similar project for the independent study course and reserve your current research goals for your thesis.

So, no, it has nothing to do with your MA status. It has everything to do with the fact that you want more effort than your project has value (in terms of the overall scheme of a program). Every semester, I write two or three papers (sometimes four) that have the potential to be published in a journal or presented at a conference in some fashion, providing I can kick out some quality work. With that kind of professional pressure on me, I would want to spend an hour or so a week with relevant professors trying to get my best work, but that's not going to happen. Not to me, not to anyone. I can get help, but the help will be of the set me on the right track and offer a suggestion or two here and there variety, not the kind of guidance that I would have for my dissertation (or had for my master's thesis).

Your first step should be to put away the sense of discrimination. Your second step would be to visit your professor during office hours to find out if he thought you were collaborating with him, or if you were doing an independent project with his oversight. You seem to think that you're working with your professor and he seems to think that you should be working on your own. This clash of understanding is causing your problems, not your status as a master's student. Without really knowing much about the situation, I'm assuming that you want far more from him than someone in an independent study course should want.

Edited May 9, 2014 by danieleWrites