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Feeling really negative and I don't know if I should continue my PhD?


harrisonfjord

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After a lot of thought and reflection I realized I am absolutely miserable in my program. Has anyone here quit their program early? I am in the process of finishing my QE, already completed classes. But I have no self worth anymore and feel hopeless. Therapy has not helped.

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Sorry to hear about your program :( A second MS might not be so bad, it would at least show that you got something in this time. But many places will only grant a MS if it's a different field than a previous MS.

Are there other types of leave available to you other than medical leave? If you quit the program, you would also lose your insurance and your grad income but no option to change your mind in the future. At my PhD school, students could take up to 2 years off to pursue other things before coming back. It requires getting approval from your advisor and your department, but usually this is okay if there is a good reason, and if the student is okay with the fact that they might not be able to pick up exactly where they left off (i.e. some projects can't go on hold for 2 years, so you will likely lose your project and would need to start something new.

Or, if your school allows you to work during a medical leave, then you could take a medical leave and do whatever you would be doing if you were going to quit. Nominally, the school has no control over what you actually do on leave, but of course, there might be conditions that your activities during the leave matches the intention of the leave before they let you return. You mentioned medical leave first instead of other types of leave, so if there was a medical reason, then perhaps if you could argue/show that you need some time away from grad school for your health but that doesn't stop you from doing other work, then you might be able to get a leave that allows you to do other things and decide in a year or two years if you want to return to grad school. 

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