Changing research from a masters to a PhD (and why I'm thinking of quitting...)

[EIA0010]

Hi everyone,

 

so before I get into my actual question/dilemma, I thought I'd give a little context. I completed my bachelors at an average school (not highly ranked or anything like that), where I ended up volunteering for a professor. In my final year, I decided to apply for a masters, and with me being a naive idiot at the time, only applied to two schools. One was my undergrad school with the professor I volunteered with (as a backup), and the other at the school of my dream, where I was in contact with quite a few professors over the year leading to my application. Anyways, I ended up putting all my eggs into one basket with the person at my dream school, to only be told he didn't have funding. I was devastated, but I guess in what was just a scramble to attend something for the following year, I accepted a position with my professor at my undergrad school.

 

What I should emphasize is that the research I WANTED to do at the other school was my dream. It's one of those fields where I could read up on for days on end. However, the work with my professor, although not something I hated nor was in completely in love with, was interesting enough. However, as the year passed, the project itself changed to something I just lost any interest for. Topic is interesting, but the direction it's going in is not something I'm interested in.

 

Now a year in, it's gotten to the point where I'm very concerned with my post masters plan. Having learned a lot more about graduate school from when I first applied, it seems as though I got myself in a terrible position. With my professor, the project lacks any direction, and I don't know if there will be something to show for it after my masters. The project itself has lost some of my interest with the direction it is going in.

 

However, more importantly, I'm concerned that with my current research, if I continue down this path, would put a big dent in my hope of doing a PhD at the school of my choice, but more importantly in the field that I want. What I'm doing now and the research I want to do are very different. Overall the field is similar, but the techniques are very different (for example, currently doing MRI work, but would like to switch to cellular biology), and trying to get a PhD position with a professor, where they know I have no experience with their techniques, that seems like a recipe for disaster. Like I mentioned, it was my fault from the start. I thought hey, I can do a masters, but then for a PhD make sure I got into where I wanted to. But now, it feels like going down this path is hurting my future. I personally have been told from different professors that transitioning to a different field is very doable, and at the same time, some saying it's very difficult (paraphrasing "why would a professor take you when  you have no experience in their field, when they can take another masters student who already had 2 years with the techniques they use"). 

 

I think every day I should quit, to leave a school I don't like (very little reputation), a project I'm looking motivation to work on, a professor where there are some issues with (not to mention I don't think I'll get a publication with him based on his recent track record of publications with his students), and more importantly, doing a masters in what I'm doing will prevent me from doing research in the future in my dream field. In retrospect, I should have only applied to schools I would have wanted to go to, for positions that would have provided a nice transition to a PhD (in retrospect with my new found wisdom), but it's all too late now.

 

Having said that, some issues that are present include that I was lucky enough to win a prestigious enough governmental scholarship that I've been told will be a big positive on my CV for PhD applications (assuming that if I quit, I lose this as well). Also, funny enough a committee member is friends with the professor of choice at the other school, meaning if I quit, I can't imagine a good word being put in from him if I asked for a LOR. Quitting will surely burn any bridges with him as well, since I've worked closely with him.

 

At this point, I don't know if I should quit to only start a new masters, or continue on for another year and just finish the masters. Maybe do another masters afterwards (although I've yet to here someone recommend this), then move onto PhD? I just feel like the current situation is hurting my prospects for the future instead of helping. Desperate for advice at this point! Thanks.

 

E.I.A

[rising_star]

In a nutshell, you can change your interests from MA to PhD. My master's and PhD research are broadly in the same subfield but are totally different in lots of other ways (think studying Greek poetry versus Italian plays) and it wasn't a problem when I applied to PhD programs. The point is to show the skills that you have learned and how they can help you pursue your PhD research interests. For the record, no one seemed concerned about the change in research direction when I applied. But I also didn't quit my master's. I did the research, wrote and defended my thesis, and graduated before starting my PhD program (though I applied for PhD programs during the 2nd year of my master's). Hope this helps!

[EIA0010]

In a nutshell, you can change your interests from MA to PhD. My master's and PhD research are broadly in the same subfield but are totally different in lots of other ways (think studying Greek poetry versus Italian plays) and it wasn't a problem when I applied to PhD programs. The point is to show the skills that you have learned and how they can help you pursue your PhD research interests. For the record, no one seemed concerned about the change in research direction when I applied. But I also didn't quit my master's. I did the research, wrote and defended my thesis, and graduated before starting my PhD program (though I applied for PhD programs during the 2nd year of my master's). Hope this helps!

 

Thanks rising star for that. Although the one professor did tell me it would be difficult, the general advice I've been told is like you said, that it's not difficult to switch fields.

 

I just don't know if at this point I should still stay in my program or quit, and reapply to the programs/field of work I would want to work in.

[dntw8up]

I suspect that quitting now would harm your future prospects much more than finishing what you started and then transitioning fields.

[EIA0010]

I suspect that quitting now would harm your future prospects much more than finishing what you started and then transitioning fields.

Yea that's what I thought. I spoke to a couple of colleagues and got similar answers. I hope I would be able to explain to potential PIs that me quitting was due to simply a difference in views/interests and what I thought was best for my future research, but some PIs would still take the quitting as a red flag.

[fuzzylogician]

Yea that's what I thought. I spoke to a couple of colleagues and got similar answers. I hope I would be able to explain to potential PIs that me quitting was due to simply a difference in views/interests and what I thought was best for my future research, but some PIs would still take the quitting as a red flag.

 

I agree with others in this thread that it's better to graduate with an MA than leave in the middle. Even if your interests have changed, at this point it'll help you much more to finish the MA and then apply for a PhD with a different concentration than try and explain why you quit your MA. Quitting would be a red flag to many professors--students' interests often change during the course of their studies, and quitting means you aren't flexible enough to adjust to the new situation, making it likelier that you'll quit your PhD program too, or that you'll become uninterested in it and won't be able to deal with that. At this point it's too late to apply for programs starting this Fall anyway, so I think the logical thing to do is stay in your current program this year and finish it, and at the same time apply for a PhD at a different school for Fall 2015. That way, you don't lose any time at all. Having a MA with a different concentration than what you hope to do for your PhD should not be a problem at all, as long as you are able to explain your shift of interests in your SOP. 

[Gvh]

Yea that's what I thought. I spoke to a couple of colleagues and got similar answers. I hope I would be able to explain to potential PIs that me quitting was due to simply a difference in views/interests and what I thought was best for my future research, but some PIs would still take the quitting as a red flag.

 

Again, I agree with what everyone is saying here. The postdoc in my current lab did her PhD thesis in Alzheimer's disease (neuroscience/neuroanatomy research) and is now working in very different disorder in her postdoc. So, even from PhD to Postdoc there can be some changes in direction, so long as you can justify your interests and show you have the aptitude/skills necessary.