Leaving the previous university

[oqowa]

Hi, guys

So I attended some US university for 1 year doing PhD and then we decided with my adviser that it is my best interest if I look for a different lab and project. And now I`m going to apply for either MS or PhD program for Spring 2017 term at different universities and I don`t plan to hide the fact that I previously attended some US university, the problem is I don`t want to write about it in my SOP, like the reasons and etc. I understand that it would be better if I write but I don`t think it would be possible anyhow to give very reasonable explanations and moreover, whatever I write, I`m sure they will contact my adviser and they would rather believe my adviser than me.

The other problem is that I have U grade for research in my transcript and I don`t know what I can do with that...

[fuzzylogician]

I think you do want to explain very briefly, not going into details at all but just acknowledging that you attended this school and saying you left because of a bad research fit (or some other similarly vague but not negative statement). Don't blame anyone and don't sound like you're attempting to cover up. Also don't say anything your advisor will strongly object to, because there is a good chance s/he will say something different, and there is a good chance s/he'll get asked. In fact, in the ideal case you'll have a strong LOR from your advisor saying you're great, it was just a bad research fit but s/he expects you to be super successful somewhere else. Not having a LOR from your advisor will raise a red flag that it would be better to avoid (and if your advisor is not supportive, it would be very very helpful if someone else from your program would write you a letter, and -- again -- it'd be good if that letter cite something about a bad fit between you and your advisor as the reason for your leaving, as opposed to poor performance or some other serious problem. If you are worried about the U grades, you could include that in the short statement about this program, but it'd be better if a relevant LOR writer simply explains that the Us are a formal consequence of you withdrawing and not a reflection on the work. You also deal with this by talking about the research in detail and about how you plan to extend it or build on it in your next program.