Quit and Reapply to a PhD Program

[jeffninja]

Hi all, I am a second year PhD student in a top 50 program. I don't like my current program because few faculties work on the subfield I am interested in. My advisor doesn't like me either and thus I decided to quit my current program and reapply for the 2016 Fall. I have good GRE scores (V168 Q166), good grades in statistics courses, and research experience (a good working paper ready for peer review). My undergraduate GPA is OK, but my graduate GPA is a problem. As an international student, I didn't do well in my first semester in US so now my GPA is only 3.5. I also taught an undergraduate class and did several RA works.

So is it wise for me to reapply to top programs? Will a low graduate GPA have a great impact on the application? Thank you for your attention!

[zenslakr]

Now is the time to abandon ship, if you are going to do it. Normally you can only transfer one year. Make sure you are upgrading to a higher level program, ideally top 10. If it was in your first semester and your grades improved, they will account for that. They will probably be familiar with your situation. Once you defend your proposal, it is kind of late to switch, so its now or never.

[jeffninja]

Now is the time to abandon ship, if you are going to do it. Normally you can only transfer one year. Make sure you are upgrading to a higher level program, ideally top 10. If it was in your first semester and your grades improved, they will account for that. They will probably be familiar with your situation. Once you defend your proposal, it is kind of late to switch, so its now or never.

Yes! I am ready for reapplying to a top 10 program but my only concern is my graduate GPA. I was told that top programs usually have cutoff point for GPA but they never admit that. I would be very disappointed if my application could not even pass the first-round screening.

[kaykaykay]

well, if you really do not like your advisor and your subfield does not work for you you should try to switch places. I would say that if this is the case though you would have to be even willing to switch to an equal or only slightly higher place ( hopefully better offers come by). 3.5 is not a very good GPA but of course a lot depends on the courses and the grades, I do not think that there are cutoffs , at least not below the very top 3-5(?) places. 

But be aware that you are in the same pool as everyone else who is applying when you are transferring and it is in the same way a crap shoot. I am not sure why you did not get in to higher ranked places the first time around but the admission committee will see the same numbers (if you did not apply that is a different story but still they will wonder). so I would definitely not quit before getting some other offers.

I transferred by the way and in my second round of applications I even applied to some lower level of schools than the one I was in. I do not know how much movement is out there but I have not really met other people who transferred (although of course this is not a conversation starter).

Good luck!

Edited August 12, 2015 by kaykaykay

[alphazeta]

Under typical grad school grade inflation, a 3.5 is pretty bad.  Given that you've been in grad schools, letters from faculty who know you as a grad student will be crucial (and much more important than letters from faculty who knew you as an undergrad were the first time around).  You need to find a faculty member, whether your advisor or not, who can vouch for you.  The ideal letter says something along the lines of "jeffninja is smart, hard-working, and insightful but his research agenda in XYZ does not fit with our department's strengths."  Get that letter and you can do quite well.  Worst case, you want a letter that says "jeffninja has not succeeded in our department but this is because his research interests do not correspond to our strengths."

In the absence of evidence to the contrary, committees are likely to assume that you left your previous department under unfavorable circumstances (e.g., failed or knew you were going to fail comprehensive exams, were told by faculty not to continue, etc.)  No decent program, much less a top program, wants to take a student under those circumstances, so explaining why you're leaving and getting someone to back it up is crucial.  The signals about what you did in your two years of grad school overwhelm everything else.

Additionally, the SOP will get much more weight this time.  If you were continuing into your third year at your current program, you'd be preparing a prospectus - and your SOP ought to reflect the focus and precision of someone at that stage.  You don't want to look like after two years of grad school, you're no better at discussing this stuff than someone heading into senior year of college.

[joesephsci]

I understand that It can be frustrating to be in a program where you are not happy, but maybe you should wait until you get offers from other schools, before quitting your current program. Don't give up what you have, unless you have something better set up (this doesn't apply if you judge not being in any program as better than being in your current program). I imagine admissions committees will not judge your motivation/ commitment to graduate studies if you are still in a program, but if you have previously quit a graduate program they might. 

[lovelycat]

I think it's better to apply now. If you apply next year, other programs will assume you failed your qualifying exam.

[cooperstreet]

why did you apply to a program where you didn't have shared interests w/ faculty, and why did they accept someone who didn't share their interests?

Getting in anywhere else w/ a 3.5 PhD gpa is going to be hard.

[jeffninja]

why did you apply to a program where you didn't have shared interests w/ faculty, and why did they accept someone who didn't share their interests?

Getting in anywhere else w/ a 3.5 PhD gpa is going to be hard.

Thank you for your reply. My advisor used to do what I am interested now two decades ago and I think my program admitted me because they wanted to improve the diversity. Before coming here, I have another MA degree with a GPA of 3.78. Do you think this will help?

Edited October 17, 2015 by jeffninja