Signup date: 02 Jul 2009 at 9:08am
Last login: 05 Jul 2009 at 8:56pm
Post count: 4
I felt the same about nine months into my phd. I realised very early on that university life and work was not what I had thought it would be, nor something I wanted to continue doing. However, I am also funded, in fact, that is one of the main reasons I agreed to do a phd (along with the desire to live a nice, leisurely life, legitimately occupied with some important thinking and tapping at the keyboard of course). I am paid quarterly in advance, and yes, you do have to pay back the proportion of funding given for time you have not completed in each quarter. And because it is hard to budget a lump sum over three months, I found I was always in desperate need for the next quarter's payment at least a few weeks before it was due. And then I would have to use that to pay all of the bills which had piled up. So, I could never afford to leave. And here I am, now 2 years and 9 months into my phd, and I've just been paid my final quarterly installment, and guess what? I hate my phd more than ever, I haven't done any work for a good few months, I can't seem to motivate myself to do anything at all (including in the rest of my life: friends, family, social life, general happiness have all faded away) And I still don't know how I'm going to support myself and my family come September.
My point is, don't let it get this far. Try to make a decision, and if you really want to leave, then be brave, get a job, sign on, whatever. Just do what makes you happy, and do whatever you can to avoid ending up like me. The longer you stay, the more your confidence will be drained, and the harder it will become to leave. Remember you already have a degree, and probably a higher degree as well, you will not be without opportunity for long. Good luck.
Have a look at this website as well, I found it very interesting. http://phdtips.blogspot.com/2009/06/when-to-quit-your-doctoral-program-ii.html
I am also at the end of my third year, with three months funding left, and a massive headache from trying to work out what to do. I have not enjoyed the phd from the start, but, like most people on here, am not the sort of person to give up easily. I wish to God that I had given up much earlier, and my advice to those hating it in earlier years is to leave while you still can! Like you, I have no motivation left at all, but for me, this has been the case for at least six months and in that time I have produced very little, and seriouslly disappointed my supervisor. I am now considering downgrading to mphil, and submitting the work I've already done as a thesis. But I can't seem to find any information on this pathway (probably because it is not what the uni wants students to do), and I'm worried about my sponsors demanding money back as I have not attained a phd. Does anyone know anything about this?
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