Switching Programs After Leaving Disastrous Department

[Symb0lic0rd3r]

Hi, I'm looking for advice for a tentative run for an MA/PhD in various literature departments. Could be in my foreign language specialty or comparative lit. I was a PhD student in literature at a very prestigious university (East Coast, Ivy League). I graduated with a MA, and lived abroad for about a year as an exchange student at a European university. While being a grad student, the department was in flux, a transitional period in which a couple of professors left the department permanently, leaving only a handful of professors available to teach a couple of graduate seminars each semester. My cohort agreed that we were not really learning anything, and so did other exchange students who came to teach foreign language courses. The professors were difficult to deal with, to say the least, and there was a lack of professional development within the department. I didn't pay much attention to all of this, and just went with the flow, mimicking one of my professors who basically didn't give a shit, a blasé attitude. As a result, I wasn't very much liked, even though I was active within my research, and went out to make friends from other departments. As a whole, in the hiring interview panels for new professors, our cohort agreed that the department as a whole was isolated. And we made that clear to the professors who were interviewing for a position in our department.

 

Anyway, flash forward to that year abroad, with a new administration, new professors, etc... and I was literally and virtually kicked out by that new administration for BS reasons. I wasn't even an official student at my department. They basically stated that that they felt I wasn't committed to the program because I wasn't giving them substantive fortnightly reports on my "activities." Not sure what they were talking about, because I was never informed on what they were requiring. These "reports" were not even discussed in a meeting the former administration held about my trip to the foreign country. It was only afterwards, via e-mail, that they said they wanted biweekly reports of my activities.

Anyway, I did provide them with "reports," though I always had in mind that they wanted to know that I was just doing OKAY over in the foreign country. I never thought that my continuation in the program HINGED on these mini reports.. Then they brought up about my status... that I was in warning... etc.. that during the second semester I had all B's... etc.. It was only until MID YEAR ABROAD that they brought this shit up.


I told them they could go F THEMSELVES and withdrew on my own account after the new administration was unaware that I had already taken a MA out (they were wanting to grant me another one ). And apparently, two other grad students followed suit. 3 grad students left the program that year--and keep in mind this was a very very small department.

Even the damn curator apologized for what they were doing to me.

 

NOW,

 

My question is this. Would I still be a good candidate to pursue my PhD elsewhere? I know I can get the LORs, etc... Should I contact my professors from undergrad as well? Or did this school just f'ed me over? (well, not the school since it wanted to protect me from my department)

I'm asking, because I've spent a whole year applying for jobs and interviewing. No one wants to take me. I've tried switching careers, interviewing for BILINGUAL paralegal, etc... But the employers ask stupid questions like, "What is it that you want do with life?" What is it that you really want to do? "What do you think of the Iraq War?" .... "Your resume gives me the impression that you don't really know what you want to do".... "Show some passion man"

I will show passion once you THROW A CASE AT ME.

Since these job applications are going nowhere, I've started to study for an interpreter's certificate. I'm still curious though whether I have a shot at grad school again... with a more healthier and sane department.

 

Thanks

Edited June 25, 2014 by Symb0lic0rd3r

[fuzzylogician]

Generally speaking, yes, it's possible to overcome blemishes and past problems in your record, but it won't be easy. Your chances will greatly improve if you could get letters of recommendation from professors at the school you left. If you can't get any letters from there and instead will only have letters from undergrad or from non-academic employers, that will raise some red flags that you will have no choice but to address head on. Since you already have an MA, I don't know if there is a serious option for you to do an extra year at some program to show dedication and get better/more current letters, but that may be necessary if all your letters are outdated.

 

However, if the attitude that comes across here also comes across in your application, I think you may be sabotaging yourself. You read like you are blaming everyone and everything else for your failure and not taking any responsibility for anything. Maybe it's true that you were completely in the right and they were completely in the wrong, but not knowing the other side of the story, most people will tend to believe that the truth is somewhere in the middle and if you're putting it all on the other side then there is something wrong with you. I'd keep the explanations about your past short and focused on the facts, without blaming anyone for what happened. Focus on your current interests and your future goals. I think another issue I had reading your post is that it's really not clear why you want to do a PhD. It's not something you do just because you couldn't get another job--people like that tend to have a high likelihood of not graduating and schools therefore try to stay away from them. You will need to write a SOP that expresses your passion for research and gives compelling reasons for wanting to go back to a graduate program despite the bad experience you had in the previous program. So -- to answer your question, you are not doomed but you will be fighting an uphill battle if you are serious about applying to school again.

[Symb0lic0rd3r]

Yea, I´m odd and quirky. I´m an undiagnosed aspie . That is why the school in general was trying to protect me, and were ambivalent about this whole one-year thing abroad. Hey, but I'm doing my best. Yea, I like writing and doing research. That's what I've been telling employers this whole time. If they don't like my honesty and transparency, they can bugger off. I can get two good letters from my professors from the department I withdrew from (at least, they are willing to put in a good word for me in my employment references). I can get two from my undergrad school, and from my mentor who encouraged me to pursue grad school in the first place. 

 

I know I was completely in the right. I schooled those assholes on their Departmental Guidelines. If they had really wanted to help me to transition  into a new career, they would have made me Graduate Student Director right then and there.   

But thank you, I know it's going to be an uphill battle.

Edited June 25, 2014 by Symb0lic0rd3r

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

Well, I like you, if that's any consolation. The feeling I got about you from reading your post was that you're upfront and unapologetic. I mean that in a good way. I don't think you need any better of a reason to pursue a PhD than enjoying doing research. You don't need to throw a bunch of flowery words at me to win me over. But what I've gathered from two years on GradCafe is most people in academia are not like you. I mean that in a bad way. They were born with a fifth limb (in their anus). Keep doing your thing and I think things will work out for you. 

[Symb0lic0rd3r]

Haha, well thanks. 

I have the M.A, so I could technically apply for adjunct instructor positions. I was wondering if there would be a possible problem once the hiring manager notes that I "withdrew" from a PhD program on my academic transcript. How would I approach that?