Should I leave program?

[SarahSapouckey]

Hi, I really just need advice from people knee-deep in a PhD or have gone through this before, as I have no one to really talk about with this in my program and I tried with a faculty member and now I am afraid I am the black, hated sheep of the program. I joined a Molecular and Cellular biology program this fall and have been here 2 months. Despite number of things like misunderstanding their 'interdisciplinary' approach, and a terrible first rotation, I realize this was just simply the wrong choice. I am not passionate about the research, and I truly want to be in a neurosciences program. You are probably wondering why I joined MCB then. I simply messed up. I went with the program that I have a bachelors degree in (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) and what was expected of my after graduation. I though since this was an interdisciplinary program that had a few neurosciences members I can make it work. But I can't, I am not passionate about the program or the research in the program, and frankly the people are mean (although that is a silly reason to leave). I asked the program director is it is possible to switch to the neurosciences program as they have some overlapping and my first semester wouldn't be wasted. He was very offended and suggest I make MCB work and now I think the program doesn't like me at all. Yay. However, I have a meeting with the Director of Graduate studies next week to talk about possibilities of switching. My questions is, has anyone switched program before, and if I can't switch, should I consider leaving and re-applying to grad school next year. I see a few problems with this, Like I am a quitter, but I also realize I am just not a good fit for this program and I do not want to spend my life doing Molecular biology and genetic research. Is it possible to get accepted into another school after leaving a PhD program? Does anyone have experience? Thank you.

[VirologyPhDinTraining]

What specifically has you disliking molecular biology? In my masters degree I worked in collaboration (as a co-PI) with a neurobiologist. She did electrophysiology, which is about as neurobiology as you get. In order to get her new NIH grant she has had to move away from that and into RNAseq, in situ hybridizations, IHC and transgenic mice to further her research. Talking to other neurobiologists at SFN last year this seems to be the trend. Molecular biology is easily applied to neuroscience and you'll find that many are moving to use of those techniques in their research.

 

Also, you are aware that while grad school can determine your path, it doesn't lock you in. You can do postdocs after you graduate in neuroscience.  

[aberrant]

I know a few individuals who switched to different programs of the same school -- whether that be leaving my program, or transferred to my program.

There are a few things that you can do. For example, identify PIs from neuroscience whose research interests you. You then can communicate with those PI and see if they are willing to accept you as a PhD student. Typically, if they are willing to take you as a student, they will work with you -- go through all the paperworks, transfer process, and such -- so that you don't have to quit / re-apply the program (of the same school). You can also contact the program director to see if they are willing to accept you as a transfer student, and go from there. You can explain your situation to the PIs / program director and seek for their advice.

On 10/12/2016 at 4:07 PM, VirologyPhDinTraining said:

Also, you are aware that while grad school can determine your path, it doesn't lock you in. You can do postdocs after you graduate in neuroscience.  

That is absolutely field-dependent. Some fields, or even sub-fields (i.e. crystallography in structural biology) are more open to train postdocs who have no previous background / experience, while some other (i.e. electron microscopy in structural biology) typically doesn't -- unless it is a position from a lab that does both. Hence, it is also certain that if your PhD career doesn't overlap in any ways with what you want to do in postdoc, you are very unlikely to be recruited -- maybe with the exception of a stellar LOR from a well-known PI. That being said, if OP truly wants to work in the field of neuroscience as a postdoc, her PhD training absolutely needs to cover topics/techniques that are common used in neuroscience, despite being in MCB.

Edited October 23, 2016 by aberrant

[biotechie]

Many PIs have secondary appointments in other departments. It may also be possible for PIs you're interested in from Neuroscience to join your program as a secondary appointment so you don't have to switch. Then you get to join a lab you like, and your program stays happy, PLUS you still get to learn the interdisciplinary stuff the rest of your cohort is doing.

Neuroscience has a lot of very important field-specific techniques, such as patch/clamp and other methods that are difficult to learn and sometimes take years to master; if neuroscience is really where they want to be, I second Abberant's sentiment. I like my new field for my PhD, but I've focused on making my PhD studies broad in the new techniques I'm learning so I have options when I go to postdoc. This would be much harder if I wanted to do neuroscience.

[biochemgirl67]

I mean, you've got to do what's best for you.  But just remember it's actually very easy to apply molecular biology to neurobiology.  Because neuroscience includes cognitive and psychology, it might be more limiting if you later decide to something different.  It's paramount that you be sure about this before you do it because you won't get a do-over.  It just seems you are shooting into the dark with talking to the program director before you were sure/had a plan of attack.  Of course they aren't going to be happy!  And now you're thinking about going to a different school... but applications are due in a month.  Why did you choose this school/program in the first place?  Was it really that there was "expectations" after graduation?  Or did you have cemented reasons?  I just find it hard to believe that people would tell you that you had to go into molecular biology just because you did your undergrad in it because ~99% people change fields at least a little.  You should write those down to make sure this isn't a "grass is greener" type situation.

[JerryK]

I am in a completely different field but saw this post and thought my advice might be of help.

In my case, I entered a program in the Midwest but was unable to visit beforehand because I was overseas. Everything looked good from the website, email exchanges, etc. Within a few weeks, I realized that the university was not the place for me because the department was such a letdown and was a bad fit for my research interests. It was a strange situation where I clearly mentioned in my statement of purpose my goals and reasons for entering the program, but the program turned out to be a poor fit. It also wasn't a very serious program in my opinion. I needed something more challenging and this program had issues.

In my case, I left after one semester, worked for a semester, and am now in a different school that is a much better fit. Yes, I visited this time to make sure it would not be a mistake. Leaving the previous program was the best decision I could have made.

Also, you mentioned how the people in your department are "mean" but this would be a silly reason to leave. If you are going to be somewhere for years, there are other factors besides whether it is a good fit for your research. This is your life and in my opinion, it isn't worth being miserable for a number of years so you can get a degree from a certain school. My semester will go down as the dreariest experience of my life. It would have been a nightmare to be there for years.

In my case, my fellow grad students were an odd group that I did not connect with in any way whatsoever and this was a small factor. Several were in the program simply because it was an easy to gain admission to the program (student from foreign country with spouse in different program who needed to study something because a work visa wasn't possible, someone from different field who entered because there was funding, locals who just wanted to do master's degrees). I was in a small cohort with five other students and one guy had interpersonal issues and wouldn't even talk to other people or say anything in classes. Now I look back and laugh at the experience.

The thing I kept thinking about was how everyone said this college town in the Midwest would be a great place to be in grad school and it was very unpleasant. I was so happy to leave and head to a different program elsewhere that is a better fit.

Hopefully this will help you with your decision.