Should I write about my past withdrawal from grad school in SoP for a PhD?

[red_velvet]

Hey everyone!

 

I have finished my MA and 1 year of Ph.D., after which I had to withdraw from grad school for a number of reasons - beeing extremely burnt out, couldn't find a motivating research topic, some family curcumstances among others. I came back to my home country and have been working for a while now, but now I consider applying to Ph.D. programs again.

 

I think I'll have to write about my previous withdrawal because it's kind of obvious from my academic record, and I need to address it. How should I write about it? In what tone?

 

Any advice is welcome! Thank you in advance!

[iphi]

If you absolutely must mention it - i.e. the Adcomm will find out from your record or letters of rec somehow - then only mention the family reasons. The first two reasons you listed will not be looked upon favorably because you could have the same problem in their program.

 

Good lucl!

[red_velvet]

Thanks Iphi!

 

Thing is, I went straight from undergrad to MA, and then straight to Ph.D. - virtually non-stop. I should have taken a year off between MA and Ph.D., but didn't have a chance to do that. And, I kind of drifted into PhD, not gone for it because it was something I really wanted.

 

Now that I took some time off, regrouped, worked, I could think straight and decide that PhD is something that I want to do. And, I have strength and energy to find motivating topic. That's what I meant by burnt out.

 

When I contacted faculty members I'm interested in working with, I mentioned these reasons (not family reason, because I thought it's personal). I didn't get any negative reaction. Would it be strange if I write about family reasons in SoP when I already mentioned other reasons in email correspondence?

[maelia8]

I would stick with the reasons that you already mentioned in the emails - giving them more information in your SOP seems superfluous, and could even hurt your application. Don't backtrack or leave out anything that you already mentioned though, because that could also come across as devious.

[themmases]

I withdrew from a previous masters program, didn't mention it, and it was fine. The transcript from that program was in my application, but I just focused on my strengths otherwise. I wrote generally about switching fields, and how my interests and skills from the old field informed my approach to the new field. I left because of a combination of health problems (severe anxiety and depression) and having a job to go to instead that was less of a trigger than school. My interests didn't actually evolve until later when I was immersed in my job. I think if you've left a previous program, the question you need to answer for anyone reviewing your application is why you're right about wanting to go this time, when you were wrong before. Dwelling on how wrong you were before and why doesn't really help your case; demonstrating that you're now qualified to make a decision you've considered carefully does.

 

If I were you, I would briefly mention leaving a previous program for family reasons, then shift focus to how your activities during your time away made you a better candidate and reinforced to you that the PhD program is where you belong.

[red_velvet]

Thanks Themmases! Good to hear from someone who has been in a similar situation. Do you think it's ok to only mention family reasons although I've mentioned other reasons too in the emails to professors? 

[themmases]

In general, I think it's OK to mention just family reasons (or whatever reason puts you in the best light without getting too personal). I'd only allude to other stuff if you were specific enough about it to your POIs that you think leaving it out of your SOP could confuse people or make you look dishonest. Even then, I personally think it's better to mention it only briefly in favor of talking about your qualifictions and your future, e.g. "After leaving the program for family reasons, I worked on X and Y".