I want to continue PhD with current master adviser, but he said it is too early to make a decision.

[Luke000]

Hi there, it is my first post on the gradcafe.

I am a 3rd-semester master student in engineering and plan to apply for PhD in 2018 Fall.

My current master adviser knew me when I took his course in my first semester. When taking his course, I came to his office 2 times a week and I got A+ in the end. In the second semester, I talked to him and he was willing to guide me through master thesis. I did not started earlier on research because I was adapting to US as international student both emotionally and academically and I intended to finish all required course work in the first half of master study. 

I embarked on my research since this summer and it has been for 6 months or so. We met every week for 10 minutes and kept making progress. I talked to my adviser twice that I would like to continue PhD with him, in the September and today. And his response was consistent that, as I quote, "It is still too early to make an decision." Today I was hoping that he could gave me a clearer answer, "yes" or "no", so that I know if I still need to apply to other universities. It is already November. It would be early to make a decision for students he have never met before from other universities, but not for a student he know for 1.5 years. 

Do you think my adviser is "euphemistically saying no to me because he is not satisfied with my work" or "he just want to explore the applicants pool to see if he can find better applicant than me?"

Thank you for your time!

 

Edited November 13, 2017 by Luke000

[TakeruK]

Could be either. No matter what, if you want to pursue a PhD, at this point, you should definitely apply to other universities. Also, at many US schools, the advisor has very little say in who gets admitted. So he could really want to admit you as a PhD student, but the admissions committee may not pick you. In addition, at these US schools where a committee picks their PhD admits (unlike other countries where the advisor picks the student), it could be considered inappropriate to make promises to admit any student before the application window closes because this would be interfering with the committee's process. 

So it might be that the advisor will always say "it's too soon" until the committee starts to evaluate the candidates. In any case, you cannot assume that you will be able to continue with your advisor and should apply to other schools. Talk to your advisor about this though since you will need their reference letter. You can say that your first choice is to stay with him but if it's not possible, these are the other places you are applying to, and ask his thoughts.

[Luke000]

4 minutes ago, TakeruK said:

You can say that your first choice is to stay with him but if it's not possible, these are the other places you are applying to, and ask his thoughts.

Thank you TakeruK! I think your phrasing is better than mine! I said "If you have opportunity for PhD next fall". 

6 minutes ago, TakeruK said:

Also, at many US schools, the advisor has very little say in who gets admitted.

Yes... I do feel this. Thank you for mentioning this. I was just hoping it would be a different case for me. I am also applying to other universities now.